FINAL SUBMISSION - Journal AA 2016 Melbourne

AA VISITING SCHOOL 2016

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To inhabit a space is to assimilate it to a body - Daniel Sibony

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introduction

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precedent study Lucy Orta Haus_Rucker_Co

site

11 site forensics

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dynamics

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site forensics: place & non place

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site forensics: personal space

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site forensics: avoidance study

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site analysis summary

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site forensics: flow _space

CONTENT

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design design method

25 parametric modelling

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index to aggregation

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computation

computation

- kangaroo

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- growth

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the making fabrication

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fabrication - assembly

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- connection details

fabrication

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- prototypes mapping to body

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configurations

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the social

reflection

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appendix

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biography

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credit

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bibliography

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- material

fabrication

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tensegrity system

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CONTENT

play

act 1

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act 2

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act 3

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the intersection

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IN TR OD U C TION

Elastica

is a architectural design project that looks at materializing the space that is inherently part of us, the personal space. Our personal space constrains and facilitates our interaction with the environment. It is influenced both by social structure and architectural product of our time.

within a flow of crowd that walked in opposite directions. This creates instances of possible collisions and how through the concept of personal space individuals negotiate the collision. We observed how the volume of the personal space expand and contract to maintain comfortable and safe volume of space.

To represent this space we are using the tensegrity system as the material system of choice. It possesses material qualities that are reflective of this personal space. The elasticity and the volumetric space it created provides an idealized approach to representing how this space reacts to social norms and conditioning.

Tensegrity as a system of compression and tension parallels the idea of the loading of social structure and architecture onto the personal space.

As architecture defines space, we would use the tensegrity system to visualize this personal space. We hypothesized the structure to be personalized and is an architectural extension to the body. As the body itself is a unified tensegrity system (biotensegrity) it’s natural for us to extend this system to include our architectural system as means of diagrammatically visualize the space.

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We started by looking at a busy intersection as an ideal site to observe pedestrian flow as well as individual and group behaviors influenced by regimented pattern (traffic lights), space and social norm. The outcome of forensic study narrowed our scope to behavior of individuals

To illustrate the social loading we created a play which include different actors in distinctive designs and choreographed social scenarios to display how the structure (hence the personal space) would react to social loadings. We believe the design had successfully achieve its objective and have future role in the architectural discourse.

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I think constraints are very important. They’re positive, because they allow you to work off something.

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Charles Gwathmey

P R E C E D E N T STU D Y

As

the project is quite unique in its approach, we researched design and architectural projects which explore the relationship between body and architecture. This is a useful exercise as it gave us ideas on approach, scale of structure, materiality, form, context as well as social dialogue generated from the projects.

We picked 2 projects , Lucy Orta’s Refuge Wear and Body Architecture (1992–1998) and Haus-Rucker-Co’s Environment - Tranformer 1968 as our precedent study. They represent two distinctive approaches in creating dialogues between body and architecture.

While Lucy Orta’s project uses the body and architecture to explore social issues, identity and communication, Haus-Rucker-Co through their installations, explored the idea of using architecture to change the perception of space.

The installations tried to resolve the issue of the utopian scenario when environmental degradation separate nature from people.

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Refuge Wear Intervention London East End 1998 Photo : John Akehurst 05 Refuge Wear Intervention London East End 1998 Photo : John Akehurst 06

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LU C Y OR TA

Lucy

Orta in collaboration with her artist husband Jorge Orta created wearable projects that link body and architecture to address social and political issue of the day.

08 The Habitent - Refuge wear (1992 ) Photo : unknown 07 Connector Mobile Village 1(2000 ) Photo : unknown 08

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Lucy Orta’s sketch, Lucy + Jorge Orta - Fabulae Romanae - Maxxi, Rome 2012 Photo : Cecilia Fiorenza 09

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These examples set the precedence on our scenario setting as we explore the implication of our design within the context of social interaction. Some of the questions posed in the design exercise were how is our elastic space Through her work, The Habitent - refuge wear /structure can deform and contract within the (1992), figure 07, she equates the body as social configuration when “loaded” with personal a building and the society having a “spatial and group actions (“loadings”). morphology” (Orta, 2016) which imprint structure and character in the urban space. Her design in Unlike Lucy Orta’s making a statement on social Refuge wear tries to highlight the social issue issues and political activism, our statement is of homelessness and how the homeless people neutral and we are trying to highlight what is treat personal space is the last belonging they inherently existing within ourselves which we have. The refuge wear according to Orta (2016) take for granted. helps to rebuild ones “inner strength” and establish his/her place in the environment.

Our design runs parallel to Lucy’s work where she quoted Daniel Sibony, to inhabit a space is We were also inspired by her works, Connector to assimilate it to a body (Orta,2016) whereas Mobile Village I (2000) figure 08 and Refuge her design tries to define the minimum personal Wear Intervention London East End (1998 ),figure space to create a place for refuge from the 05 & 06, which attached a social meaning to the environment. Our design strives to materialise design. The modularity of the structure allows this minimum personal space. the design to expand to cater for the communal need while maintaining individuality (Orta 2000).

The structure is composed of personal as well as communal space, figure 08.

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Pneumatic air-structures, EnvironmentTransformern (Flyhead, Viewtomizer, Dizzler), 1968. Photo : Gert Winkler 10

H A U S _R U C K E R _C O

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Haus-Rucker-Co, Grüne Lunge (Green Lung), outdoor installation at Kunsthalle Hamburg, 1973 Photo: Haus-Rucker-Co (top right) 11 “Haus-Rucker-Co: Architectural Utopia Reloaded”, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin. Photo : Erika Pisa 12

- Rucker-Co was a group of Austrian architects and artist (original members - Laurids Ortner , Günter Zamp Kelp and the painter Klaus Pinter) founded to test the boundary of art and architecture (Spatialagency.net, 1967). They produced installations in public space and personal apparatus to exhibit utopian architectural concepts influenced by Pop Art of 70’s.

We were particularly interested with the group’s “pneumatic air-structures” (Violano, 2014) figure 10, which conveys the idea of sustainable design which offered a solution to a utopian future where environmental disaster has degraded to a point where human is detached from its nature.

The apparatus provides enclosure from nature that defies traditional understanding of man and its surrounding.

In a slightly larger scale, Haus-Rucker-Co’s work , “Haus-Rucker-Co: Architektur-Utopie Reloaded” , exhibited in Haus am Waldsee (a private art and culture centre in Berlin) was described by Nicola Violano (2014) as the group’s reaction to the decline of the industrilised civilization in the era

when there was growing concern to protecting the environment. Violano (2014). suggested this reaction redefine the typical definition of space from the typical cartesian plan of walls and floors to “membrane” like structure, figure 12 & 13.

What we learned from this precedent was how Haus-Rucker-Co was able to create a meaningful dialogue between body and architecture with the environment as a reaction to the environmental problem caused by heavy industrialization during that era. By framing the work in a utopian scenario, they were able to bring forward their concern without being subversive.

In our scenario we would like to externalize the personal space which is not apparent visually but exists as part of oneself and very much influences by the surrounding and its architecture.

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“Haus-Rucker-Co: Architectural Utopia Reloaded”, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin. Photo : Roman März 13

Haus

SITE

The

site we have chosen is the intersection where the end of Elizabeth Street meets Flinders street. For several reason this is a busy intersection : 1. the side entrance to Flinders street station connecting all the platforms; from this entrance access to the bridge crossing the Yarra river towards the other side of the river where a number of office towers are located; 2. the northern side of the intersection is the end of a tram line along Elizabeth Street providing regular flow of people going to and from the location.

The site provides ideal scenario to observe pedestrian traffic flow especially when imposed by the pattern regulated by the traffic lights. The pattern allows for confirmation of behaviors if they are repeated in every cycle.

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Additionally, the site provides different vantage points for the team members to observe the behaviors from different angles. Our observational focus from elevated bird’s eye view made it more accessible to observe than it was at ground level.

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initial observations focused on 2 specific aspects of the site. Firstly, the waiting spots at all the corners of the intersection and secondly actual flow during the 30 second period when the traffic lights allow for pedestrian move.

The primary behaviour observed at the waiting spots was that individuals seemed to be in an “auto-pilot� mode regimented by the sound of the ticking of the traffic light. Most of the individuals were unaware of their surrounding with the majority being involved in individualistic behaviors such as listening to the music through the headphone, talking on the phone, interfacing with their smart phone or even just in a thinking mode.

We can also observe how initial distribution of space between individuals contracted as people negotiated themselves into the people already waiting. Then the space begins to expand again as they start crossing.

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PEDESTRIAN FLOW STUDY 19

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­- F L O W _ S P A C E D Y N A M I C S

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COLLISION

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21 Crowd build-up, populate area, comfortable distance contract

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Set heading for destination, negotiate path and safe distance expanded, pace increase

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Negotiate new path for collision avoidance or direct path achieved, maintained safe distance, constant pace

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Distination ahead with clear path, negotiate shortest path to destination, increase pace to complete journey

second aspect of the observation was to look at the behavior of the crowd and individuals during the 30 second movement when the traffic light goes green for pedestrians.

Prior to the 30 second period the volume of crowd at the designated stops grows gradually (figure 01 -02). As soon as, the green lights for pedestrians appear, the volume of the crowd starts to expand and distorts due to the different directionswhich individuals are taking.

Possible collision, negotiate new path to destination

01-02

The

It was also observed that there was an initial rush by the movement of individuals and they slowed to a constant pace which seemed to indicate a comfortable distributed distance among individuals had been reached.

It was also observed within the crowd, individuals negotiated the direction of their destination. They also seemed to negotiate avoidance of collision.

However in doing so, we had to understand the concept personal space and to some extend understand of the idea of place and non place which initially guided us to select the intersection as a “temporal non-place”.

From these observations, we narrowed our study to examine in greater detail how we could construct this personal space and its characteristics. We intend to represent this space into a material system that can exhibit the flexibility i.e. expansion and contraction imposed by the surroudings.

The “loading” onto the personal space, we hypothesized, is influenced by the social structure and norms. It’s the objective of oneself in a social scenario as this , the pedestrian crowd that one must maintain a comfortable distance from each other while allowing for individual flexibility and variations in movement.

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Collision imminent, negotiate comfortable distance

This collision scenario (figure 20-21) and the avoidance strategy had led us to believe that it’s related to personal space and demonstrated how this personal space is flexible. It contraction and expansion was based on the level of comfort

and avoidance strategy implemented to prevent collision.

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PLACE In

There is still ongoing debate in the true definition of place and non place. According to Agnew and Duncan (1990,p.2) place can be described by three elements of locale, location and sense of place. Within the context of our study, this definition is reinforced by our observation of the homeless person who have decided to locate himself at one of the corner where he can beg for money. That location is a place for him as he have ties and attachment to the location where he gained economic advantage from the steady flow of people passing by.

PLACELESSNESS

NON PLACE

that are not traditionally defined as place where there’s human attachment and interaction. Auge (1995, p.78) argues that supermodernity through internet and communication creates spaces where there’s extreme individualization occurs and minimal face-to-face communication exist in these spaces.A non-place can be characterised as spaces that offers “solitary individuality” while a place creates social environment (e.g. the face-to-face interaction between the homeless and a stranger giving money away) These extremes of individual behavior are prominently observed in sites where people are less likely to interact with each other but consume themselves with their own thoughts, music, engaging phone conversation, interfacing with the smartphone and ignoring the environment while at the same time detaching from the surroundings and the environment.

In contrast, according to Marc Augé (1995, p.78) due to over-modernity, non-place are spaces

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the context of this study, we looked at the definition of Place and Non-Place as a mean of understanding the characteristics of the site i.e. the intersection. Through our observations, we concluded that due to the individual behaviors the location exhibited the characteristics of a non place.

SITE FORENSICS ­-

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Personal

space according to Robert Sommer (1969,p.26) refers to an invisible boundary surrounding oneself in which one regards as psychologically theirs and if intruded upon one may feel anxiety. From the site observation the personal space seems to be flexible especially in a crowded place. There seems to be a limit as

to how close the proximity is. We can conclude this distance is very personalised and from observation once this distance is breached the person seems to start moving away to give space between his/her neighbour. However this may be impractical especially when observed at the waiting stop where the crowd would build up to a point that people are rubbing shoulders. In this

It’s

also interesting to observe the behavior of people when they adjust their safe distance and unconsciously distribute themselves within a crowd. Edward T. Hall (1968, p. 85-86) study on proxemic observed similar behavior of maintaining uniform distances among the pelican species in a crowd scenario.

He observed similar observation with people

situation we can only speculate that there will be a lot of anxiety during this period of waiting in crowd and such anxiety will recede when the affected persons can regain a safe distance.

This behavior can be be observed when the green light for pedestrian comes up , there is an increase in pace with everyone attempting to regain their personal space.

S ITE FOR E N S IC S DISTRIB

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as well. This can only point to the fact that the uniform distance is influenced by the social norm and personal space is included as part of the uniform distance.

What we learnt from this is that personal space is inherent in us and through social behavior and norm this personal space suggests how we

interact and communicate consciously or non consciously among ourselves. This personal space is flexible and elastic while it also relates to a collective space which conforms to societal norm and produces expected behaviours.

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24 PERSONAL BUBBLE PERSONAL BUBBLE

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PERSONAL BUBBLE

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PERSONAL BUBBLE

I N D I V I D U A L , G R O U P & C R O W D C O L L I S I O N AV O I D A N C E 26

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Of

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足- A V O I D A N C E S T U D Y

particular interest to our study was the collision avoidance behavior in the pedestrian traffic flow at the intersection. The initial observations made through looking at the time lapse photos were that individuals do not take direct path to the final intended destination as they crossed the intersection. Similarly as a group (>2 persons together) the path was not direct. However the path was straighter than individual paths.

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Individual collision avoidance path

S ITE FOR E N S IC S

Group collision avoidance path

literatures and studies on collision avoidance in explaining the scenario posed. One of the study (Katamouzas et.al.2009, p.43) looks at the development of a predictive collision avoidance model using the following concepts :

How does this affect our design project? The collision avoidance study further confirms the role of personal space as the primary cause for the behaviors observed at the intersection.

These behaviors are scaled up from individual 1. Personal Space, the portable individual to group as well as the crowd at the intersection. territory designates a safe distance which can expand and contract depending on The observations indicate the flexibility of the crowd density and travel pace of the personal space not just during the stationary pedestrian. period but aslo when negotiating the path to the Our initial explanation for these behaviors 2. Scanning & externalization, using body destination to avoid collision. depends upon the important factor of personal language to signal to others of their own space which influences how a person or group intentions of the direction while constantly Finally the avoidance study also allowed us of individuals negotiate the shortest distance scanning the surroundings for a similar to devise a social scenario. We acted out the to the destination while keeping the personal signal. A resolved coordination is taken to intersection play and it demonstrated how the space intact during the journey. avoid the collision. structure facilitates the collision avoidance However such a conclusion can only describe 3. Principle of least effort, is utilized by situation. the situation partially. We searched for individuals to choose the least detour and minimal turns.

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S ITE A N A LY S IS SU MMA RY

The

observations that we have taken from the site forensic into our design process can be summarized as follows : 1.

2.

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It also demands a flexible personal space in order to negotiate the best path to the destination.

6. The non-place characteristics of the Personal space was a significant factor that intersection displayed the individualistic described most of the behaviors observed in behaviors as such personal space become the intersection. significant and territorial for individuals.

Personal space is inherently flexible and is both a personalised experience and preference.

Personal space is also constantly subjected to social structure and norms in a crowd environment.

Personal space is also incorporated into the steady state distributed distance among individuals observed in various studies of proxemics.

Collision avoidance is heavily influenced by personal space as well as other factors.

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D E S IGN ME TH OD

- PROCESS/ WORKFLOW

Our 01

M AT E R I A L S Y S T E M

SITE A N A LY S I S

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PARAMETRIC MODELING

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3 STRUTS I N D E X

I N D E X T O AGGREGATION

THE MAKING

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MAPPING: BODY

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TENSEGRITY

COMPUTATION

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CONFIGURATION

SCENARIO DESIGN

design methodology follows the basic process of understanding the site through site analysis. We looked for opportunities to mediate the surroundings or in this instance to understanding the dynamic of the site and behavior that we could elicit .

computational tools such as Kangaroo helped us to scale the project and test its viability. While the process of making allows us to test the limit of the material system as well as taking advantage of its flexibility and scalability to achieve the project objective. From the making process we tried to map the tensegrity structure to the body In the context of the workshop, we were given a tensegrity model as a mean of integrating the material system to work with. However we were two systems seamlessly. given a strict instruction to not ideate using the material system until we fully understood the From the mapping process, we created site and its potentials. We have to converge the a multitude of configurations which are material system and our findings from the site personalised. These processes are iterative anaysis to develop with a structural form which to ensure that we reached an optimised mediates the site. In our case the observation configuration which is suitable to each person. on the behavior from the pedestrian flow and collision study directed us to create a material We finally designed scenarios which simulate representation of the personal space using the social situations. These scenarios will show how tensegrity system. the structure performs in a social environment.

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We used parametric modeling and grasshopper tool to inform us of possible configuration of the tensegrity system which may suit our scenario to further develop its potential to scale and grow to fulfill the project objective. The use of

PA R A METR IC MOD E LLIN G

The

purpose of developing a 3d model and using parametric tool i.e. grasshopper was to investigate the following scenario

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1. To perform computational work using a particle physic system i.e. kangaroo for form finding.

2. To quickly discover the potentialities of the design for scaling up and aggregation.

3. To fabricate and assemble large number of indices to create an aggregated prototype takes a long time. By using a parametric tool, we can develop a 3D model of the design quickly and explore various configurations without needing to fabricate.

4. The use of parametric tool is also important to assist us in documenting the process and tagging parts for fabrication.

Despite its potential the making process dominates over the parametric modelling as soon as we have agreed upon a design. Due to the less complex nature of the design and the subject, we were able to quickly develop prototypes using the “making� process and arriving at the final design without performing much computation.

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3-STR U T TEN S E GR ITY SY S TE M GRASSHOPPER DEVELOPMENT

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GE OME TR IC TR A N S FOR MATION 01

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shared member e rotation plan

shared member

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transformed unit mid point

mirror plane mid point

index

transformed unit

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AGGREGAT ED UNIT

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C OMP U TATION

TOP VIEW

ISOMETRIC

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TENSION MEMBER DIMENSION & TAGGING

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STRUTS DIMENSION & TAGGING

- FORM FINDING/KANGAROO

BRANCHING FROM ONE SHARED MEMBER

TOP VIEW

STRUT MEMBERS USED AS SHARED IN SEQUENCE TO GENERATE CIRCULAR NETWORK

SHARED MEMBER

C OMP U TATION

- GROWTH

The

computation work done through grasshopper allows us to iterate, grow the index form and explore the potentials of the form when they were aggregated.

GROWTH FROM ONE BRANCH

INDEX UNIT

The growth of the network depends on which shared compression member we selected to share with the subsequent aggregated unit.

Once a shared member has been selected the geometric transformation will be performed on each cycle of the iteration.

A strategy was needed to select the shared compression member. For the purpose of the testing to display the potential of the index, we used an algorithm to randomly select from the 3 struts to become the shared member where the geometric transformation occurs.

However, due to the simplicity of the deisgn and approach the outcome of the “making” process was sufficient to arrive at the final design.

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TH E MA K IN G

The

making process in our design workflow represents the most signicant portion of the entire workflow. The making process allowed us to do the following effectively: 1. Test our ideas and explore different tensegrity systems.

2. Explore the materiality of the system to fit the objective of the project.

3. To test different aggregation designs.

4. To visualize more effectively the mapping of our tensegrity system to biotensegrity system.

process to be iterative . The result of each iteration produced a prototype and at the end we would combined some of these prototypes into the final design. They are a combination of different scale of the indices as well as a different aggregation design.

Additionally, each iteration converge to better and improved connections detail, better fabrication technique and improved material selection.

The exploration of the different ideas, material systems and materiality forces the design

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- M AT E R I A L

Laser cut node joint attached to timber dowel 31

Soft metal necklace hooks crimped to elastic cords 3mm diameter 32 Elastic cords 3mm diameter 34 Laser cut metal node joint ,1 mm thickness, 15 mm diameter with 8x2 mm circular holes 36

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Laser cut mdf node joint , 3mm thickness, 15 mm diameter with 8x2 mm circular holes 30 Lycra elastic fabric (not made it to final production)

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assembling elastic cords and end hooks

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assembling end hooks

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- A S S E M B LY

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assembling end hooks

PROCESS 1 A S S E M B LY O F E L A S T I C C O R D S W I T H E N D H O O K S , 3 9 - 4 0 2 A S S E M B LY O F D O W E L S W I T H N O D E J O I N T S , 4 1 - 4 4 3 CONNECTING THE TENSION NETWORK (ELASTIC CORDS), 47-56 FORM, 57-61

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4 C O N N E C T I N G I N D I C E S TO A G G R E G AT E D

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FA B R IC ATION

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- A S S E M B LY

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connecting the tension network to the compresison members

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connecting indices to form aggregated unit

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eye hook on timber dowel

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eye hook on timber dowel

FA B R IC ATION

- C O N N E C T I O N D E TA I L S

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mdf node joint

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mdf node joint

FA B R IC ATION

- C O N N E C T I O N D E TA I L S

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FA B R IC ATION 67

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- PROTOTYPES

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2 units - aggregated 3 strut index 66 2 units - aggregated 4 strut index 67 1 unit - 3 strut index using lycra as tension fabric 68 1 unit - 3 strut index using lycra as tension fabric 69 1 unit - 3 strut index 2 x scale 70 3 units - aggregated 3 strut index 71

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2 units - aggregated 3 strut index square rods compresion member 72 3 units - aggregated 3 strut index 73

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FA B R IC ATION

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- A G G R E G AT E D P R O TO T Y P E S

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Spiral vertebral masts Photo : Tom Flemons 75 Tensegrity tower Photo : Kenneth Snelson 76

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MA PP IN G TO B OD Y

The

- BIOTENSEGRITY

concept of biotensegrity is still a metaphoric idea introduced in anatomy to explain why living forms are structurally stable yet flexible enough to resist damage (Flemons, 2016). Stephen Levin uses Buckminster Fuller’s tensegrity concepts to describe a system of total body modeling where the limbs are a semi-rigid assemblage of the compression members interconnected with viscoelastic tensional members of tendons, muscles and connective tissues (Flemons, 2016).

In this project, we would like to use the idea of diagrammatic description the personal space as a tensegrity structure similar to how the tensegrity system model certain parts of the body successfully if not all.

in different directions, but rather a metaphorical concept that mimics the structural principle of tension and the compression network of tensegrity system. The loadings are described as social structure and norms that impose on to the system rather than the actual physical Due to this parallel, we hypothesize that the loading. tensegrity system could be an ideal material system to visualize personal space as it has been used in modeling the body through biotensegrity. As Tom Flemons (2016) has suggested the tensegrity system, should not be seen as a “building system” but rather how According to Levin (2016), biotensegrity can a form is organised and described in the most describe many organ systems including the spine economical use of energy and material. (figure 75) which connects the limbs, head and tails to the rest of the body. He made reference This principle is in accordance with our approach to Kenneth’s Snelson’s Tensegrity tower (figure in describing the personal space as not a 76) as a structural parallel. structural system that can actually take loadings

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Biotensegrity force lines and nodes

Elastica tensegrity system force lines and nodes

Changes made align to biotensegrity

MA PP IN G TO B OD Y

- BIOTENSEGRITY

Mapping

of various tensegrity geometries onto body anatomy require understanding the role of the body parts and the forces involved. Such mapping has been attempted and researched.

This is particulary useful for the application of robotics and prosthetics.

Sommer (19xx) described personal space as not necessarily being a spherical bubble nor having equal distance extending out from the body. Our tensegrity system can only be an approximation and personal indication of how a person describe his/her personal space. In our configurations, the scale of the index and the aggregation design is purely of the individual However such attempt is unnecessary in our group member’s personal taste and her attempt effort to materialise the personal space. As to visualize her defintion of her personal space. personal space is rather arbitrary and more of a psychological space than a real space, the real focus was to map our design to provide seamless network of tensegrity system focusing on the main nodal points of biotensegrity being the pelvic, arm and leg tensegrity system. The main nodal points become the connection/pivot points for our tensegrity system.

77 Biotensegrity + Elastica tensegrity system

Biotensegrity model Photo : Tom Flemon 77a

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1

CONFIGURATION

CONFIGURATION

2 C ON FIGU R ATION S

Biotensegrity force lines and nodes

Elastica tensegrity system force lines and nodes

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Changes made align to biotensegrity

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TH E SOC IA L PLAY : A C T 1 79

Act 1

Passing by and connecting

to explore the social play when two individuals are walking past each other and making a connection i.e. friends meeting another by coincidence or by arrangement.

moved away the structures will disconnect and becomes 2 separate personal spaces.

Of course, the system can be scaled up to multiple networks of tensegrity systems performing similar act of expansion and The personal space merges into a bigger contraction depending on communal activity as collective space as they walk together. The well as individual actions. structure facilitates the scenario by providing a hooking pivot which would latch both networks together becoming a larger tensegrity system.

As the structure facilitates individuals as well as communal needs, the system contracts and expands as necessary. When individuals need to share something, they will move closer together and as such the personal space becomes more and more singular. Alternatively, when individuals require privacy and need personal space, the individual will move away thus expanding the volume of the personal space. Consequently the structure will deform and becoming more and more distinctively two spaces.

Meeting up and connecting

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If the social interaction ends and the individuals

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TH E SOC IA L PLAY : A C T 2 84

Act 2

Passing by and maintaining personal space

to explore the situation when two individuals, strangers, who pass by each other without making any social connections. This is most typical scenario in an intersection where eveybody is minding their own business, The individuals will try to maintain a comfortable and safe distance between themselves. If necessary the tensegrity structure will contract , figure 87-88, to allow the preservation of the personal space.

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TH E SOC IA L PLAY : A C T 3

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Momentary connection

Disconnection

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Act 3

to examine a scenario of a brief social contact between two passing individuals. If these individuals are friends or know each other through social norm they would acknowledge each other by saying hi or waving. When they approach each other or are in close contact the structures can latch to each other, figure 82-83, for a brief moment and detach instantly , figure 84 ,once the social connection ends.

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The personal spaces may briefly form a larger singular space but will disconnect immediately after the social event ends.

the CHARACTERS CONFIG 01

TH E SOC IA L PLAY

CONFIG 02

: the INTERSECTION

The

intersection combines all the different scenarios presented. They can be in an aggregated configuration of the different scenarios.

the S TA GE

The tensegrity structure attached to each individual may form a larger communal network if there’s a social affinity among the individuals.

This can easily be indentified in a group scenario where personal spaces are merged into a singular space.

Similarly the scenario in which different tensegrity systems can latch on and off can exist with the situation within a larger group of people briefly interacting to acknowledge each other’s presence or to negotiate the preservation of their individual personal space.

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In most instances the intersection will contain the very basic scenario of strangers maintaining each others’ personal space, contracting and expanding their individual tensegrity system to maintain each others defintion of comfortable and safe space.

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R E FLE C TION

The

two weeks of design process which has the expectation of the production of an architectural work and emerging from it with a wearable design project was a mind bending experience for me.

In the making process, I have learnt to negotiate my ideas into the design work when working collaboratively. As a team we learnt to use the making process to test our ideas and develop with prototypes which we critically evaluated and refined on the cycle of making. We could see the impact of I enjoyed the process of site forensics, discovering changing the material use in prototypes. affected underlying patterns and meanings through a deep its performance and constantly refined our making understanding of the site. This is something that approach through the iteration of prototype making. had not been emphasized in all of my prior studio learning. I thoroughly enjoyed the flexible process Although I fully comprehend the complexity which encourages questioning and criticizing of the group work, I was not prepared for the situation site. . in which individual domination limited full group participation. The individual dynamic became a The tutors in AA facilitated the experience giving hindrance to group interaction. In order to become directions which stimulated critical, ongoing a relevant group member, I have learnt to focus on conversation during the group work process. my strength and offer my expertise.

Their involvement in setting the standard for the representation of our ideas for presentation drawings In my opinion and experience, it’s important to find has given me more consistency in my techniques my own footing in a dynamic group collaboration, i.e. the diagrammatic ability to represent the ideas especially when relevant in a real world situation using axon diagrams, succinctly using different where architects are collaborators among team of representational drawings like section drawings, experts. exploded axon, plan views in combination each to address a specific aspect of the site or design.

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A P P E N D IX

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TOP VIEW

C OMP U TATION

- T E S S E L AT I O N

Early

in our design process we used grasshopper to scale the index to a tesselation deisgn using an iterative algorithm.The purpose of this exercise was to see the potential of the index to scale up to an architectural form in this case possibly either a wall or flat roof.

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P E R S P E C TIV E

TES S E LATION - 3D R EN D E R IN G

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89

E X H IB ITION

- PICTURES

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E X H IB ITION

- TEAM MEMBERS

RIZAL AMBOTANG

LI HAN

LOLA GIUFFRE

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91

Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain.

B IOGR A PH Y R I Z A L A M B O TA N G is a 3rd year architecture major who is passionate about architecture history and computational design.

His idols varies from mies van de rohe to ansel adams to robin williams. He is also an avid photographer and travels as much as he can to see the world before g l o b a l w a r m i n g t a k e s o v e r. h e ’s a l s o a technogeek.

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RIZAL AMBOTANG LOLA GIUFFRE LI HAN OTHERS‐BIBLIO

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B IB LIOGR A P H Y Akehurst, J. (2016). Refuge Wear London’s East End. [image] Available at: http://www.studio-orta.com/files/image_721_thumbnail_en.jpg [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Augé, M. (1995). Non-places. London: Verso. P. 79-85 Connector Mobile Village 1(2000). (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.studio-orta.com/files/image_526_thumbnail_en.jpg [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Fiorenza, C. (2012). Lucy + Jorge Orta – Fabulae Romanae – Maxxi, Roma 2012. [image] Available at: http://www.artribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ Lucy-+-Jorge-Orta_FabulaeRomanae_fotoCeciliaFiorenza_14.jpg [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Flemons, T. (2016). intension designs - the geometry of anatomy. [online] Intensiondesigns.com. Available at: http://www.intensiondesigns.com/geometry_of_ anatomy.html [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Flemons, T. (2016). spiral vertebral masts. [image] Available at: http://www.intensiondesigns.com/images/IMG_1482_spiral_mast.jpg [Accessed 17 Feb. 2016].

Green, D., Agnew, J. and Duncan, J. (1990). The Power of Place: Bringing Together Geographical and Sociological Imaginations. The Geographical Journal, 156(1), p.2.

Haus-Rucker-Co, (1973). Haus-Rucker-Co, Grüne Lunge (Green Lung), outdoor installation at Kunsthalle Hamburg, 1973. [image] Available at: http://blogs. walkerart.org/design/files/2016/01/Haus_Rucker_Co.jpg [Accessed 18 Feb. 2016].

Hall, E. (1966). The hidden dimension. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Hall, Edward T., Ray L. Birdwhistell, Bernhard Bock, Paul Bohannan, A. Richard Diebold, Marshall Durbin, Munro S. Edmonson, J. L. Fischer, Dell Hymes, Solon T. Kimball, Weston La Barre, S. J. Frank Lynch, J. E. McClellan, Donald S. Marshall, G. B. Milner, Harvey B. Sarles, George L. Trager, and Andrew P. Vayda. 1968. ‘Proxemics [and Comments and Replies]’, Current Anthropology, 9: 83-108.

“Intersection of Elizabeth St and Flinder Street.” -37.818167°” N and 144.965022” E. Google Earth. February 20,2016

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Karamouzas, Ioannis, Peter Heil, Pascal van Beek, and Mark H. Overmars. 2009. ‘A Predictive Collision Avoidance Model for Pedestrian Simulation’, Motion in Games (9783642103469): 41.

B IB LIOGR A P H Y März, R. (2014). Installation view, Haus am Waldsee, 2014.. [image] Available at: http://images.adsttc .com/media/images/54a2/c1ad/e58e/ce70/6600/0003/large_jpg/300_installation_view_HaW_(c)_Roman_Maerz_II.jpg?1419952437 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

Collision Avoidance Model for Pedestrian Simulation’, Motion in Games (9783642103469): 41.

M Levin MD, S. (2016). Biotensegrity - a new way of understanding anatomy. [online] Biotensegrity.com. Available at: http://www.biotensegrity.com/index.php [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016] Orta, L. (2016). Studio Orta . Artwork. [online] Studio-orta.com. Available at: http://www.studio-orta.com/en/artwork/3/Refuge-Wear-Habitent [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Pisa, E. (2014). “Haus-Rucker-Co: Architectural Utopia Reloaded”, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin. [image] Available at: http://www.domusweb.it/content/dam/domusweb/en/architecture/2014/12/17/haus-rucker-co_architecturalutopiareloaded/04_HRC-Ballon-fur-zwei_Erika-Pisa.jpg [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016].

Snelson, K. (2016). Tensegrity Tower. [image] Available at: http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/5551/8513760_1.jpg?v=8CBB26EB39FD5F0 [Accessed 18 Feb. 2016].

Spatialagency.net, (1967). Spatial Agency: Haus-Rucker-Co. [online] Available at: http://www.spatialagency.net/database/haus-rucker-co [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

The Habitent - Refuge wear (1992). (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.studio-orta.com/files/image_367_thumbnail_en.jpg [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].

Violano, N. (2016). Haus-Rucker-co: architecture and utopia. [online] domusweb.it. Available at: http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2014/12/17/haus-rucker-co_architecturalutopiareloaded.html [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

Winkler, G. (2016). [image] Available at: http://www.spatialagency.net/2010/07/26/hausrucker_1-960x690.jpg [Accessed 23 Feb. 2016].

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I tell my students: you must put into your work first effort, second love, and third suffering.

Glenn Murcutt

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