STUDIO AIR

SEMESTER 2, 2015TUTOR CANHUI CHENSARAH HAQUE

2 CONCEPTUALISATION

CONCEPTUALISATION 3

Table of Contents

PART A CONCEPTUALISATION

Design Futuring

Design Computation

Design Composition/Generation

Conclusion

Appendix: Algorithmic Sketches

References=

4 CONCEPTUALISATION

I am a part time 3rd year Bachelor of Environments (Archi Maj.) student at UniMelb. I work as an architectural assistant for a company called element architects. Previously I worked as a trainee designer/draftsperson for a construction company and have also worked as an energy rater for an Energy Rating Specialist. I dropped out of an electrical engineering course back at home (Bangladesh) when I was 20 in 2007 and worked as an English Teacher for a year there. Architecture was my first choice and Electrical Engineering was my second. I failed the drawing test (drawing a human hand). So I ended up here in 2010, juggling between studying and working. I sit behind a computer and draft up parts of police stations and hospitals but I still can’t draw a hand that does not resemble a stick figure’s.

My interest in architecture is as cliched as it gets. I live, breathe and dream architecture. Archtecture is as intriguing as dreams in where you feel the sensory and textural emotions, capture a piece of architecture in a series of images just like a dream and generate further ideas like a dream generates. Yet you can never truly understand architecture just like dreams and that sense of lacking drives us to seek and break the boundaries of architecture.

This is my first parametric design course and I look forward to applying the theoretical and practical skills I gain in this course in actuality. Although I use Revit Architecture for most of my architectural work (both school and office) I chose to show a project of mine which I did for Studio Earth (big shout out for Tutor:Scott Woods). This was my first project, although a bit impractical and ‘whacko’ it has been completely executed without the use of computers using fineliners, markers and watercolour. I have a profound love for dystopian structures/worlds as well as biomorphic architecture and I meshed the two concepts for this project. I believe learning powerful ‘tools’ like Grasshopper will allow me to create emotive architecture just like fineliners, watercolour and paper allow us. In all honesty, I don’t want to be a bad work woman who blames her tools.

CONCEPTUALISATION 5

“PART A: CONCEPTUALISATION”“PART A: CONCEPTUALISATION”

DESIGN FUTURING

“PART A: CONCEPTUALISATION”“PART A: CONCEPTUALISATION”

8 CONCEPTUALISATION

PRECEDENT : GEHRY’S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

CONCEPTUALISATION 9

“In the world we live in, 98 per

cent of what gets built and

designed today is pure shit.”

-Gehry

The future of design is governed by

numerous constraints both natural and

human made. Not only do designers need

to take into consideration the current

constraints but due to there being an

increasing focus on sustainability (for a

good cause) design practices need to start

taking into consideration the impact fheir

decisions will have for coming centuries.

With resources depleting and limited

alternative resources design practitioners

need to invest in methods where goods can

be reused efficiently and economically.

Last year Gehry caused controversy

by flashing a certain rude gesture and

claiming 98% of what gets built today ‘shit.’

Although he apologised later and blamed

his grumpiness on being tired and with all

the media’s attenton focusing on his finger,

very little was talked about why Gehry

thinks 98% of what gets built is “shit”.

With heavy controls from the sketch

to built process, designers are always

bombarded with controls and backlashes.

Heatherwick points out the biggest control

- government (and corporations in this

current globalised world). Although these

controls are necessary, designers are still

only reponding to human-centric built

forms which do not respond well to the

evolving landscape over a course of period.

As Fry puts it, we are sacrificing the future

to sustain our current excesses, and at

this rate soon we can envision a dystopian

world with harsh edges and textures, where

a select few control all processes from

beginning to end stage and the rest of us

just try to make by (not very unfamiliar.)

The future of design is heavily dependent

on factors that designers can’t control

but designers can, with the advent of

more complicated technologies and

tools, help to build prototypes and

structures that evolve according to the

planet’s needs, not just human’s.

Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall is an

innovative study for all to be architects/

designers. The hall is representative of

his signature style - free form sculptural

which is possible through the usage of

digital tools that help to configure and

create sunch sinuous facades. Although the

facade material choice caused controvery,

we should stilll appreciate the lengths and

boundaries pushed by Gehry to break away

from traditional architecture that do not

work in the ever morphing landscape.

CONCEPTUALISATION 11

FIG.1: (EXPLAIN HERE & REFERENCE AT THE END OF YOUR DOCUMENT)

“Any government is potentially the worst client

in the world you could ever possibly want to have.”

-Heatherwick

14 CONCEPTUALISATION

The Seed Cathedral lead by Thomas

Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio based in

London is a leading example of architecture

that takes into consideration not just design

aesthetics and principles but nature by

mimicking it. To put it simply, the Seed

Cathedral is a box consisting of 60.000

seeds trapped in optical hair. These optical

fiber hair -7.5 metres in length and made

out of clear acrilyc, move with the wind

direction which give it a life-like form.

This structure was visited by 5000 people

each day and was one of the most pouplar

pavilions of the Expo. Heatherwick puts

it that the British government had very

small budget and therefore their idea was

to showcase an idea itself. This goes to

show how with our ‘parameters’ (such as

natural resources) still being limited, we

can still tweak and experiment to create

designs that would promote a more healthy

and sustainable approach to design.

PRECEDENT : HEATHERWICK’S SEED CATHEDRAL

CONCEPTUALISATION 15

DESIGN COMPUTATION

Computation is allowing architecture to

reform and blend in with the evolving

world. Computational tools enable

designers/architects to have a powerful

control over shapes and geometries and

enables to create not just aesthetically

pleasing forms but forms that mould

with the current evolving ecology.

Computation is enabling arhitecture

to steer away from harsh edges

and boxes and is allowing more and

more evolving prototypes that blend

in with the landscape. It allows the

possibility of creating complex patterns

through robotics which would be more

economical in the current global world.

Computation enables powerful control

over the ability to control units of a

whole and the beauty of computation

is the ability of changing only parts of

wholes without affecting other parts.

Computation is possible through

the application of algorithmic and

parametric thinking to produce

systems and components that are

forward thinking, innnovative and

PRECEDENT: AL-BAHAR TOWERS

allow to take in to consideration

multiple factors and parameters that

affect bulding systems starting from

landscape, site conditions and natural

influences as well as simulationof

interactions of the the systems with

the site and by tweaking parameters.

20 CONCEPTUALISATION

Such computational influence on architecture can be seen in Al Bahar

Towersin Abu Dhabi. Aedas Architects used the traditional Islamic

Mashrabiya lattice geometric shading as a precedent to iterate a more

complex geometric facde that responds to the harsh Abu Dhabi heat. With

parametric and algorithmic thinking, the architects build facade panels that

were responsive to the surroundings , in this case exposure to the sun. The

facade moves according to the sunlight to prevent overheating and glare.

In this case, computation is used to enhance an already existing

working system to suit a more large scaled project that respnds

to the needs of our time - efficiency and speediness.

CONCEPTUALISATION 21

22 CONCEPTUALISATION

PRECEDENT: BUBBLE BMW PAVILION

CONCEPTUALISATION 23

FIG.1: (EXPLAIN HERE & REFERENCE AT THE END OF YOUR DOCUMENT)

24 CONCEPTUALISATION

complete diigtal means - the first of it’s kind.

Experimenting with internal and external

pressures enabed the designers to come up

with a moulded system that resembled the

shape of water droplet. Using 300 sheets of

One such early architecture which uses

computation is seen in the pavilion at first

BMW trade fair. The structure represented

two drops of water that have merged

and was designed and constructed with

FIG.2

CONCEPTUALISATION 25

possible due to efficiency of computation,

revealed structural difficulties. The system

then later incorporated aluminium framing

to hold the glass like structure - all done

with the help of computational tools.

spherical Plexiglas, and using computational

based milling to thermoform the sheets to

polyurethane moulds a smooth structure

was achieved. However simulation and

trial and error of a full mock-up was

COMPOSITION / GENERATION

COMPOSITION / GENERATION

28 CONCEPTUALISATION

Computation enables the process of

composing and generating ideas and

structures that are complex and respond

to the environment like a living being.

However, form generation is not a

random process that is achieved through

just data manipulation. A huge thought

process goes behind the formation and

generation of these complex structures.

Most importantly, how these structures

respond to the environment and integrate

in the landscape is the starting/driving

point for all designers in generating

diverse forms and compositions.

PRECEDENT: METROPOL PARASOL

CONCEPTUALISATION 29

Metropol Parasol in Spain, designed by

Mayer-H is an exceptional example of large

scale building that used computational tools

to create the largest timber structure.

32 CONCEPTUALISATION

ICD/ITKE’s research bionic pavlion

2013-14 explores the usage of

materiality and form through

algorithmic/parametric thinking. By

going back to nature the researchers

found that a beetle’s wings and

abdomen are like a protetive shell yet

lightweight in it’s construction. By

mimicing natures and with the help

of geometric morphology, two types

of fiber polymer were chosen based

on their intrinsically different and

similar qualities - glass and carbon.

Advanced robotics allowed the

researchers to create the frame

and then wind on the polymer fiber

on to the frames creating panels

that look like biological cells.

With no waste and cut off pieces

and by the use of computation

researchers are able build structures

like this pavilion that are responsive

to natural settings. With computation

making little to no error, this

complex geometric composition

is possible because of it.

CONCEPTUALISATION 33

PRECEDENT: ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION 2013-2014

FIG.1: (EXPLAIN HERE & REFERENCE AT THE END OF YOUR DOCUMENT)

CONCLUSION

Computational tools have given designers

/architects the ability to have vast and

powerful control over their designs. We forget

our ancestors used to communicate via cave

paintings. If one argues that true creativity

is lost due to digital tools, then a caveman

can say the same about pen and paper.

LEARNINGOUTCOMES

I am not proficient in parametric designing

due to my inability in using the particular

digital tools. However, to reiterate, once

well equipped, I intend to be a good work

woman who does not blame her tools.

APPENDIX: ALGORITHMIC SKETCH

APPENDIX: ALGORITHMIC SKETCH

40 CONCEPTUALISATION

CONCEPTUALISATION 41

References:

2013-14, ICD-ITKE, and Institute Design, ‘ICD-ITKE Research Pavillion 2013-14’, Monograph, 2015 <http://monograph.io/icd/icd-itke-research-pavillion-2013-14> [accessed 15 August 2015]Aveva-bocad.com, ‘Metropol Parasol: Aveva-Bocad.Com’, 2015 <http://www.aveva-bocad.com/

fr/references/project/metropol-parasol.html> [accessed 15 August 2015]

Cilento, Karen, ‘Al Bahar Towers Responsive Facade / Aedas’, ArchDaily, 2012 <http://www.arch-daily.com/270592/al-bahar-towers-responsive-facade-aedas> [accessed 15 August 2015]

Heatherwick.com, ‘UK Pavilion | Heatherwick Studio’, 2015 <http://www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/> [accessed 15 August 2015]

Jones, Rennie, ‘AD Classics: Walt Disney Concert Hall / Frank Gehry’, ArchDaily, 2013 <http://www.archdaily.com/441358/ad-classics-walt-disney-concert-hall-frank-gehry> [accessed 15 August 2015]

solutions, wemove, ‘Bubble - FRANKEN\ARCHITEKTEN’, Franken-architekten.de, 2015 <http://www.franken-architekten.de/index.php?pagetype=projectdetail&lang=en&cat=0&param=overview&param2=21&param3=0&> [accessed 15 August 2015]