ARCHITECTURE STUDIO AIRTeddy Cham

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTIONPART A. (Conceptualisation)

Design futuringDesign computationComposition/GenerationConclusionLearning outcomesAppendix - Algorithmic sketches

INTRODUCTION

My interest in architecture stems from the simplicity yet elegancy of buildings of the modern era, especially structures that demonstrates complicated paramet-rics that are only possible with the aid of digital design. In my opinion the ability to integrate technology and digital tools in architecture catalysts it’s efficiency and effectiveness. I dare say skill and knowledge with digital design is compulsary within the field of architecture today.

Coming from a heavily technical childhood with interests in physical model making and hand sketches my attempts of transitioning to digital designing over the past 2 years in University has been an interesting journey. The digital world and reality are hardly compatible and thus I've had a few difficulties grasping it's skills and knowledge. My novice knowledge and experience with Rhino has lead it to become my go to program for digital modeling.

I used the opportunity during Studio Earth and Landscape Exploration to learn about Rhino and how to produce a product using solely that program. However I feel that I am still extremely lackluckster and inefficient with it. I have great in-terests in this program, and the study of the Grasshopper plugin deeply intrigues me. I see the plugin as a quality of life upgrade for Rhino, and learning to use it will be extremely useful.

A. CONCEPTUALISATION

DESIGN FUTURINGTHE HSBC BANK HQ This innovation project by Fosters + Partners is built to become a statement of the confidence of banking in Hong Kong1. It expresses the nature of banking in Hong Kong within the built form; Foster made sure the building would be the highest quality both in name and reality for decades. To do this he implemented the "design strategy"; to shortlist contractors and professionals of the and inte-grate them into his organization.

The building was extremely revolutionary due to it's versitility. The ability for the building to adapt its internal and even external structure or to even move the building entirely meant the building could be changed or moved anytime2. Foster implemented a trussing bridge system in which 5 modules (which are portable) are built upon to create office floors (Figure 23). This meant internal rooms can be changed at any time in accordance to the function required. In addition, as the project was during the handover of Hong Kong back to China from Great Britain, there was tension and unease with the future of the situation. Foster + Partners made sure that the base modules and each flooring system can be detatched and shipped back to Great Britain should anything happen.

Despite being revolutionary and innovative, this method was rarely adopted in architecture. it is sim-ply too costly to create a structural system as rigid and versitile. Only clients such as the HSBC would be able to afford it and is such a cliche in architecture. As design futuring aims more and more

1 Foster + Partners, ‘Projects’, 2003 < http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/hongkong-and-shanghai-bank-head-quarters/>2 Futagawa, Yukio. ‘Norman Foster’, (1999).3 Figure 2. HSBC internal

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DESIGN FUTURINGNANJING ZENDAI HIMALAYAS CENTRECreated by MAD Architects, this project is expected to be finished by 2017. It is heavily influenced with the chinese ethos of "shansui" which is a way of connecting to nature1, the spiritual harmony be-tween nature and humans. This had some contribution to the field of ideas as it opened the doors to projects using the materials of modern buildings to meet the needs and requirments while trying to unify the it with the natural environment.

Although not entirely revolutionary2, MAD Architects approached designed the commercial towers to look like mountains that surround the natural garden inside. The verticality of the shading fins (Fig-ure 3) create a visually flowing pattern that is meant to portray waterfalls. The ponds and water-falls inside the complex not only serve to meet the ethos of Shansui, but to recycle rainwater for use within the facility. The village hub (Figure 5) in which people experience and connect to nature (Figure 4) will feel a sense of enclosure and security behing protected by the highrises that are designed to look like part of nature and creates an intimate and emotional experience.

This project is in construction, meaning recognition is not to its fullest yet. When finished in 2017, there is a higher probablility of architects in the ongoing disciplinary field to adopt such approaches due to there being legitimacy.

1 Caula, Rodrigo. “MAD presents nanjing zendai center at venice biennale < http://www.designboom.com/architecture/mad-architects-nanjing-zendai-himalayas-center-venice-biennale-06-05-2014/>2 Architectural Digest. “7 Innovative Architectural Projects”< http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/innovative-architecture-design-projects#1?>3 Figure 3-4. Nanhing Zendai Himalayas Centre

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Figure 4Figure 5

DESIGN COMPUTATIONComputing has become the pinacle of design processes. It has become the standard for every architectural project in the modern world. Not only does it make the Architect's job more efficient, it also allows for more complex details. The entire design process is changed with computing. Instead of hand drawing and drafting, CAD programs are used to create plans and sections. Using CAD software allows extreme precision in measurments and takes less time to achieve the same result hand drafting does. It also allows for importing of the CAD file into a 3D modeling software, which can then get 3D printed. This puts a focus on fabrication design and thus a shift of focus into the materials as well as the design. It can be rendered with materials, lighting, weath-er to produce a virtual tour of the project. Computing allows for complete integration within the complete design process. Creating a project in virtual reality allows clients to actually understand the building and its spaces and relationships. Projects like Zaha Hadid's Tokyo Olympic Stadium (Figure 6) and the Hong Kong Polytech Innovation Tower (Figure 6) were proposed to the clients using computer rendering before approv-al. Computing allows the product to be placed on the site to understand the relationship with it and how it would affect adjacent areas.

Programs like ArchiCAD and Revvit are made for design processing. Users can alter the floor plan alone and it would result in the sections, elevations and even the 3D model to change in accordance. With the use of Rhino, double curved surfaces can be easily produced, allowing for more conceivable and achievable shapes and opening up for more designs. The Olympic Stadium in Tokyo in particular contains double curved edg-es and this design was created with the use of computation. The grasshopper plugin allows the creation of parametric designs by writing the rules/algorithmic procedures and allows the development of a new form of design in architecture

However, although computing has greatly changed the design process of architecture it must not be exclu-sively used. It is also important to sketch as it allows you to understand the spacial relationships without the hindrance of computing tools. For example, exclusive use of ArchiCAD would result in commercialised and standardised buildings whilst Rhino would create organic surfaces. People like Frank Gehry uses sketches (Figure 8) and physical models to quickly help his clients understand his design whereas a computing process can take days to create.

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COMPOSITION & GENERATIONComputerisation in Architecture is seen as a tool of design devel-opment. Architects use it to create neat plans and drafts and also to virtually represent them. However, technology can not only be the tools of our design but they can help generate them, allowing architects to extend their abilities to deal with complex situations. The use of computation provides a framework for negotiating and influencing information to create complex forms that are not ran-dom but derived from algorithims. An algorithim is a particular set of instructions, and in the medium of computation they must be written in a code. Programs like grasshopper provide these coding functions, propelling Rhino into not only a design tool to express an architect's idea but to generate them using algorithims and a given set of points. This is known as parametric modeling, where distribution points can be described using a finite number of parameters. It is a process based on algorithmic thinking enabling the expression of parameters and rules to create a form obeying them. Computation not only changed the way architects design but also how a project is built and cuases shifts in the dicipline's defi-tion and boundaries.

Fosters + Partners are very well known for their computation in their later projects. The use of algorithims and parametrics gives form to designs that obey commands. The Kan Shatyr Entertainment Centre (Figure 9) is creat-ed with a form finding algorithim that quickly generated cable-net structures (Figure 10) around it. The algorithim and parametric model was used to define the building form. The Beijing International Airport (Figure 12) shows how computation is extremely important especially in bigger projects. An algorithim created parametric model of the roof (Figure 11) which consists of over 60,000 beams covering an area of 3.9 million sq feet. The use of computation allowed the entire project to finish within 5 years. A more brilliant example is the roof strcture of the Smithsonian Institution, once again designed by Fosters + Partners. An architect named Brady Peters written an algorithim gen-erate the geometry of the roof.

Computing generation does come with it's costs though. The algorithims, if not written well or flexible enough can become restrictive of the final outcome. It can become the hindrance of the product rather than propel it. Also, many talented designers simply do not have the knowledge of coding; expressing their creative ideas may become hard with computing generation. Computing generation requires an open minded approach as the outcome is up to the parametric modeling to decide so it will be different to what the designer has envisioned. There comes the dan-ger of computation replacing the role of the designer, as only coding backing is required and in the future it might take over an architect/designer's job.

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Figure 12

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CONCLUSION

Part A has looked into design futuring and the use of computers as a tool for architects to design with.

The aid of computer programs can help improve our efficiency and presentation.

Computing uses digital not as a tool to present ideas but to completely create them.

Algorithmic thinking gives the computer certain commands to follow in order to generate a design.

Computation allows the sharing of codes, tools and ideas.

Allows the architect to stimulate building performance, structural, material and tectonic analysis.

Through computation complex models can be constructed and given performance feedback on immediat-ley.

Invention of new designs and techniques will cause shifts in our dicipline's definition and boundaries.

Architecture may one day become obselete, being replaced with computation as more algorithims are able to generate more innovative designs.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

I have grown a much greater appreciation of digital design during Part A. Not only is it vital in today's architecture field but it is also a big upgrade over traditional methods. Coming from a drawing back-ground I was stubborn and would prefer hand drawing over computer models as I saw it to be supperior. After the study of Part A and the importance of digital design I felt that it is time to drop the pride and fully embrace it.

I have learnt of the difference between computerisation and computation. Computation is a new concept to me, using algorithims and parametric modeling to entirely generate a design has fascinated me. Previ-ously I thought designs had to be generated by the designer. Learning about the Grasshopper plugin has opened me up to new opportunities for design although I am having difficulties understanding the coding aspect of it.

I would have liked to apply the knowledge I've gained in part A and apply it to my Architecture Studio Water project. Being a hand made model, it was not as aesthetically pleasing. The design was hindered greatly by the limitations of hand modeling, and i felt that if I had used Rhino or Grasshopper as a tool it would vastly improve. My design uses web beam structures to create a glass dome, and I wished I had used Grasshopper algorithims to determine the form of it instead of doing it randomly by hand.

ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

Using the loft commands in grass-hopper allows the constant manip-ulation and evolution of the same curves. It is way more efficient than manually inputting the loft command everytime a curve was changed.

The poppulate 3D along with Delaunay edges creates points within a ge-ometry that is connected with triangulation. Quick and easy way to pro-duce triangulated frameworks around a specific geometry.

Baking a delaunay edge surface with points from poppulate 3D creates triangulated intersections and creates unique mass surfaces. Part of the surface is subtracted to mess around with the geometry.

REFERENCESArchitectural Digest. “7 Innovative Architectural Projects”< http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/innovative-architecture-design-projects#1?>

Caula, Rodrigo. “MAD presents nanjing zendai center at venice biennale < http://www.designboom.com/architecture/mad-architects-nanjing-zendai-himalayas-center-venice-biennale-06-05-2014/>

Foster + Partners, ‘Projects’, 2003 < http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/hongkong-and-shanghai-bank-headquarters/>

Futagawa, Yukio. ‘Norman Foster’, (1999).

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