design studio air

Jin Huang2015

Paolo Soleri-Babel IIB

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Contents

Introduction

Part A - Conceptualization

- A01 Design Futuring- A02 Design Computation- A03 Composition & Generation- A04 Conclusion- A05 Learning outcomes- A06 Appendix

Part B - Criteria Design

- B01 Research field- B02 Case study 1.0- B03 Case study 2.0- B04 Technique: Development- B05 Technique: Prototypes- B06 Technique: Proposal- B07 Learning outcomes- B08 Appendix

Part C - Detailed Design- C01 Design concept- C02 Tectonic Elements & Prototypes - C03 Final Detail Model- C04 Learning outcomes

Reference

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Architecture is a perfect combination of design and engineering. One doesn’t need any more reasons than that to either walk away or jump in.Digital fabrication opened new ways to look at design and indeed will continue to influence designers for a long time.Ningbo, the city I was born and raised was perhaps previously unknown but now with the City Gallery and City museum designed by Wangshu, which the latter happens to be the winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2012. It is a first building that I deem appropriate for combining the classical Chinese architecture with contemporary demand and technology. Western architecture finished the transition is 20th century and so powerful is the impact that now the principles and forms are accepted all over the world. My ultimate personal goal is to reach a similar goal, a transformation of classical Chinese architecture into its real deserved contemporary form.As for digital fabrication, rhino and grasshopper is the strongest combination I have come across so far. Starting with Metasequoia, then progress to Maya and tried out Solidworks, eventually landing in 3dsMax, none of them compare to rhino in terms of NURBS capability and the parametrical modelling capability.Personally Finnish architecture is very interesting for their very unique concept behind them. And Finland has Moomins.Lastly I think we should all keep in mind that it is we designers who use rhino, not rhino that dictates our design. Making simply for the sake of making is not right for designers.

Introduction

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PART A

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A01 DESIGN FUTURING

POLY INTERNATIONAL PLAZAThe poly International Plaza introduces a concept of having exo-skeleton attached to a building. This might not be very ground breaking but the concept behind the skeleton structure is to optimize the structure by interpreting the building and the loads moving through as a metabolism system. The skeleton also allows joints of structures to be let loose in case of severe seismic movement to prevent the structure from being damaged. Hence the optimized structure uses least amount of material to reach desired strength. Another feature brought by the skeleton is the internalized space. The core tower serves the purpose of housing offices and the area between the skeleton and the core tower receives maximum natural light and could be used for meeting rooms. The skeleton solution allows atrium at the narrow end of the building, due to the loads are distributed to the frame, replacing conventional loading bearing walls. The innovation of the structural engineering shaped the form of the façade and the overall shape of the building and solves a number of issues a high rise office tower might have. Some newly designed high rise towers might be visually stunning but when stripped to the frame it is no different than the ones built decades ago.

Keith Besserud, Neil Katz and Alessandro Beghini, 'Structural Emergence: Architectural And Structural Design Collaboration At SOM', Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 48-55 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ad.1553>.

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BAUBOTANIKBaubotanik approaches the structural idea of a building in a rather radical way, which is using living trees and nurtures their growth to meet the demand of architects and engineers. The integration of living organism and artificial structure shows an incredible potential of future architecture. The Baubotanik is in fact more innovative than being environmentally friendly. Trees are naturally able to adapt to its growing environment and optimize its structure to face the rough conditions, thus by nurturing their growth it is possible to achieve a naturally optimized structure, and not draw from existing timber resource. The project is yet to make into actual usable built structure yet, but this method of growing a building is very attractive as it approaches the issue of sustainability in a very unique way. If the Baubotanik were to successfully construct a reliable system, it will open up new ways to approach construction and a new way of thinking sustainability.

Ferdinand Ludwig, Hannes Schwertfreger and Oliver Storz, ‘Living Systems: Designing Growth In Baubotanik’, Architectural Design, 82 (2012), 82-87 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ad.1383>.

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A02 DESIGN COMPUTATION

Absolute Towers

Perhaps the piece that made Yansong Ma into a world famous architect, absolute towers bears the geometry that is not quite possible without the aid of computation. The twisted form of the façade is very different to the stereotype impression of high rise towers, which are usually rigid, with bold and strong edges. The early impression drawing felt like this tower would never stand on the ground firmly. Although very similar to the “Turning Torso” located in Sweden, the absolute tower is unique with it’s rounded, almost purist looking shape. The concept of the building when explained looks rather simple, but in actual terms of construction or even before that, visualization, conventional tools were not capable of generating such geometry.

I-mad.com, 'MAD', 2015 <http://www.i-mad.com/work/absolute-towers/?cid=4> [accessed 13 August 2015]. I-mad.com, 'MAD', 2015 <http://www.i-mad.com/work/absolute-towers/?cid=4> [accessed 13 August 2015].

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British Pavilion

The British Pavilion in world Expo 2010 has this stunning feature of its spike distribution, which is created with the help of generative design. This again rather simplistic form is not by any means easy to construct in only relied on manual methods. The complex structure and optimization to materialize such structure is completed with special software to tackle the problems. The materials used for the feature are also specifically optimized as they are very thin long rods and contain a specimen of some sort at the end of the rod, making the interior of the pavilion into an exhibition. Overall this simplistic yet complicated structure is surely a powerful demonstration of what design computation could do.

Heatherwick.com, 'UK Pavilion | Heatherwick Studio', 2015 <http://www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/> [accessed 13 August 2015].a

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A03 COMPOSITION & GENERATION

Philadelphia tower by Louis Kahn

This precedent dates before the introduction of the actual generative design. In this proposal or research project Kahn raised the idea of a structure that is continuous. This tower designed by Kahn has a unique form that is centered around the structure.The tower was never built but it showed the very early but not primitive form of generative design. Although techniques used are different, the drawing of the building shows a clear underlying principle in the generation of form and structure of the building, which could be described as a series of algorithms that dictates the form, structure and size of the building, which is comparable to the algorithm used in design today.

Louis I. Kahn, 'Toward A Plan For Midtown Philadelphia', Perspecta, 2 (1953), 10 <http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1566821>.

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Smithsonian institution foster and partners

The Smithsonian Institute occupies the former US patent building, and this addition covers the open atrium surrounded by the exiting heritage structure. Unlike other architecture projects that enjoy a site that can be flattened, cleaned and even leveled to the designers demand, this additional roof structure has a rather fragile and precious site that cannot be demolished or modified beyond recognition. According to Foster and Partners, the whole project after optimization only requires 8 columns to support itself. It shows the capability of generative design under controlled and restricted conditions, rather than just growing from plain ground. The individual glazed glass and members that forms the whole structure also shows how algorithm could enhance the process.Smithsonian institution foster and partners

Fosterandpartners.com, 'Smithsonian Institution | Projects | Foster + Partners', 2004 <http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/smithsonian-institution/> [accessed 13 August 2015].

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A04 CONCLUSION

Conclusion

For the Merri Creek project I would surely elaborate on what rhino and grasshopper are capable of. Merri creek being a park deserves better treatment and specifically the walkway along the river. Specifically relating to brief I would like to include functions such as water catchments to solve the issue of floating rubbish in the creek. Upon visiting the site the creek is definitely affected by the floating rubbish on the creek. Some moving parts of the system might be necessary as a fixed installation might not to sufficient. Also the segregation of pedestrians and bikers should also be part of the plan as the walkways are narrow with sharp bends, which makes the area less comforting for a walk.

A05 LEARNING OUTCOME

Architectural computing opened new possibilities to arguably all aspects of architecture design. Materials can be optimized in better and unseen ways to construct more radical pieces. On the other hand it also freed architecture from restrictions of material and engineering, as some optimization or even generation of formal ideas were not possible in the past. Of course as some critiques pointed out, designers shouldn’t be carried away by the capabilities of the software.

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A06 APPENDIX

This particular algorithm sketch was interesting as the basic curves forms the geometry to have both smooth surface that accommodates the distributed hexagon as well as sharp edge where it is very hard to fit surfaces evenly resulting in overlapping.

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PART B

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Research Field: Tessellation

The definition of tessellation in mathematical terms is to cover a surface with repeating shapes without gaps or overlapping. It has been around in the form of mosaic and ornaments since the early times of architecture. The application of tessellation on a larger scale could break down a complex surface and structure into similar elements and rationalize the complex geometry. In many existing precedents a complex structure is able to be broken down into simple components, often into a flat panel that could be cut and fabricated into cells. This enables the construction of many highly complex projects, as well as new ways to explore the new directions of future architecture. With the aid from digital design and fabrication, projects involving tessellation often produce a system with simplified components and optimized structure. The manufacturing and assembly of the design is then made easier, faster and more sustainable. Many precedents used compact yet rigid joint systems which again reduces the impact of a chosen site.

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Voussoir Cloud by IWAMOTOSCOTT is an indoor installation using cellular structures that can be unfolded flat. The ‘cloud’ does not have large structural members throughout, the integrity is obtained by the pure tension between each members. This precedent is chosen as I want to achieve a structure that does not require large amount of modification to the site, also a system that is easy and simple to fabricate and assemble.But of course this precedent has its own restrictions. The room enabled the structure to stand fully without visible structure beams or columns, yet this is not practical or possible for application in open air with no apparent walls to support the structure. The system of the ‘cloud’ also relies on being inside of a room, which shields the structure from the outdoor conditions.

Case Study 2.0

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The connection joints and the formation of the cells.

The structure has no large structure members, relying on individual cells.

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The mesh is based on a circular cutting curve. It demonstrated the flexibility of the definition to suit different terrains.

A similar version of the original but the goal is to fill the whole room. The iteration demonstrated interesting void created by the system, but it still required the upper ring to support the structure.

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The iteration is achieved by reverse the force applied to each point. Although this is not possible in actual structure or is valuable to the design, it still showed interesting geometry that could carry aesthetic value.

Based on a triangle mesh, which is the shape that has least amount of edge other than circles.

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Aoba-Tei by Hitoshi Abe is an interior design project within an existing building. It utilizes image sampling that projects the Zelkova tree of the local area to form a pattern on the surface. Although at the end not enough iteration were produced to push the design forward, some information from the process of the project is very important for my next research. At the actual assembly/installation of the project the thin metal sheets were bended by local ship builders using specialty techniques, which is costly and difficult. This is a reminder that a design has to be practical in actual assembly and construction.

Case Study 2.0

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Base Geometry*the original project used very thin metal sheet thus could be treated as a single layer surface without thickness. although the final constrcution suggested otherwise.

Circles projected onto the surface.

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Circles projected onto the surface.

Circles cut off from the surface.

Final cut geomrtry and unforlded surface

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The Shellstar Pavilion by MATSYS was located in Hong Kong as an outdoor pavilion for the ‘detour’ art exhibition during the time. The main materials used for the pavilion are Coroplast® sheets and zip ties. The form is supported by spines running through the structure, supporting the shape of the pavilion. The hexagon panels are almost planar but due to realistic constraints they are slightly bended, although at very small scale.It is similar to Voussoir cloud but implemented a few features that are more appropriate for the design that is going to be placed in Merri Creek area. First being this pavilion starts the form finding with anchor points attached to the ground it stands on, rather than within a confined room with walls sup-porting the structure. It also takes in consideration of the effect of wind by hollowing each individual panel. The shellstar pavilion is of course without its own problems. One major issue being the material used is mainly plastic, which would not stand up well against the condition of Australian outdoor open air. Constant solar exposure under the unforgiving Australian sun would accelerate the aging and deterio-ration of the plastic ties and the sheets used for the cells. Wind will also affect the structure greatly as the structure is very light. Lastly the structure still requires some form of large solid member to retain the form, which is not the most ideal solution system.

Case Study 2.0

The zip ties joints. Although it is appropriated and successful in this precedent, for my own design this type of joint should be replaced to better face the site condition, e.g. the Australian summer sun.

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Each panel are hollowed to reduce the effect of wind on the shell like structure.

The zip ties joints. Although it is appropriated and successful in this precedent, for my own design this type of joint should be replaced to better face the site condition, e.g. the Australian summer sun.

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Establish a base geometry Triangulate the geometry

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Transform them into hexagons Apply a force to each point, with forced planarization to keep hexagons flat.

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The purpose of this development is to modify the expressions obtained from reverse engineering at case study 2 so the iteration will better suit the site and the brief. The result of reverse engineering still has many of its own shortcomings and problems, such as using plastic zip ties as joints. The development is aiming to solves these problems and achieve a reasonably resolved solution to counter the sites conditions.

The final chosen iteration went through a few different selection criteria. The panels are triangulated to better fit the purpose of fabrication as they will remain flat. Multiple entry/exit channels are provided by the tessellation process. The anchor plane is also not following a regular pattern which meant it could adapt to difficult contour conditions.

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The structure needs further refinement to be fabricated as this is only iteration at a rough state. Although at this scale some kind of beam might be essential to support the structure, a better joint system should be developed to make the shell structure form without external support.

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CERES environmental park is a combined effort of different groups to restore the once run down and polluted Merri creek area. Over the years the group’s effort had attracted much attention to address the issue of sustainability and innovation in designs. During my site visit a large number of school excursions are held, yet the park lacks installations to shelter visitors of the park by offering a place to rest without being exposed directly to sunlight. Some existing pavilions are either small or uses conventional structural systems that requires very large beams or columns to be stable. Duplicating these existing ones is not an ideal solution for a park that has been just recently restored. The construction of such also requires leveling the ground to some extent and will inevitably permanently change the site of the park.Thus the proposal is to design a pavilion that could be deployed to site without having large heavy structural members, and could be manufactured using sustainable material. The assembly of such project should be simplified enough that no special tools or personals are required. As an outdoor park the system should also be resistant to many harsh site conditions such as constant strong sun exposure, occasional extreme weather including heavy rain and strong wind. The Merri creek area being out in the open air meant that many parts of it will not have level ground and will be difficult position for conventional structure systems. Thus to avoid repeating the shortcoming of existing structure, the system should be able to adapt to complex terrain such as large height difference between anchor points, to reduce the need of impacting the site.Although an elegant system that is light and compact being rigid and strong seems to be a paradox, parametric design should be able to find a balance point between the 2 criteria. The social aim of the pavilion is also to pass out a message that architecture could be advanced and simple, rather than mysterious and complex. By providing larger room for shelter visitors of the park would have a new social interaction space. A further concept, although might be a stretch, is that school children or volunteer groups will be able to help in the fabrication and construction of the pavilion, which would enhance the media attention on CERES and contribute towards their effort.

Existing small shelter space, small, heavy and not very friendly.

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CERES environmental park is a combined effort of different groups to restore the once run down and polluted Merri creek area. Over the years the group’s effort had attracted much attention to address the issue of sustainability and innovation in designs. During my site visit a large number of school excursions are held, yet the park lacks installations to shelter visitors of the park by offering a place to rest without being exposed directly to sunlight. Some existing pavilions are either small or uses conventional structural systems that requires very large beams or columns to be stable. Duplicating these existing ones is not an ideal solution for a park that has been just recently restored. The construction of such also requires leveling the ground to some extent and will inevitably permanently change the site of the park.Thus the proposal is to design a pavilion that could be deployed to site without having large heavy structural members, and could be manufactured using sustainable material. The assembly of such project should be simplified enough that no special tools or personals are required. As an outdoor park the system should also be resistant to many harsh site conditions such as constant strong sun exposure, occasional extreme weather including heavy rain and strong wind. The Merri creek area being out in the open air meant that many parts of it will not have level ground and will be difficult position for conventional structure systems. Thus to avoid repeating the shortcoming of existing structure, the system should be able to adapt to complex terrain such as large height difference between anchor points, to reduce the need of impacting the site.Although an elegant system that is light and compact being rigid and strong seems to be a paradox, parametric design should be able to find a balance point between the 2 criteria. The social aim of the pavilion is also to pass out a message that architecture could be advanced and simple, rather than mysterious and complex. By providing larger room for shelter visitors of the park would have a new social interaction space. A further concept, although might be a stretch, is that school children or volunteer groups will be able to help in the fabrication and construction of the pavilion, which would enhance the media attention on CERES and contribute towards their effort.

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Due to the panels are perfectly planar, rapid prototyping is not a very relevant technique here. Panels can be cut with laser cutter, card cutter or even, manually depending on the material and the size of materials. Joints are positioned on the edge of each panel thus neglecting the need for a large amount of different unique joints, which avoid the trap of having to develop such systems. By having the planes in triangle shapes also allows possible use of off the shelf as joints.

A few methods of panel joints are theorized.Trying to replace the fragile zip tie joint a number of replacement are sought. The intensions of door hinges are that they will adapt to different angles formed by the tessellated panels. Door hinges are rigid, resistant to outdoor environment, as well as being the off the shelf, which means they are proven to perform. Yet the metal joints are heavy and costly compared to the cheap and compact zip ties.

A new concept is to use joints that are widely seen in furniture design, the box joints, which is by cutting tooth on the panel and joining them together. This method is not yet experimented before interim presentation but will be tried later. This method could also help towards the idea of removing large structural members such as beams to further enhance the advantage of the pavilion.

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Also considering the safety of the structure, the removal or rounding of pointy ends of each panel should considered as on a large scale they are potentially dangerous, and does not provide much structural advantage.

A trial model is carried out using cardboards to construct the panels. Yet it was not successful due to the method of making. Although great structural strength is demonstrated, it is based on the glue used and the very regular geometric base mesh used.

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Many problems are encountered during this stage and some of them were solved. Yet there is much more to be finalized and resolved, such as the joint system of each individual cell. Although the approach would be able to solve part of the issue listed in the brief, simply adopting the solutions from the precedents are not practical on the particular site.The interim presentation showed many flaws of the current solution and some very important comments and suggestions were given by the panel to guide the next stage of design.As the panel pointed out the whole system should aim to take on a difficult site to demonstrate the arguments proposed, rather than just settling on an existing site that is flat and easy. Simply sitting on a flat piece of ground does not demonstrate the full potential of the design either.The model failed to sort out the tectonic systems. Recommended by the fabrication lab coordinator, a more sufficient and effective system should be developed to prove the innovation of the system. An approach is suggested by the tutor to establish a system that uses the thin panel material to form a strong system. Overall the design is currently at a very rough state and much more work is required to bring up the standards.

Learning Outcome

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PART C

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Design Concept

Feedback from interim presentation revealed an important weak spot of my design which is the lack of proper tectonic joint. To make the design proposal into an actual physically possible structure it is essential to find out a proper way of creating a rigid joint that is as simple as possible. The reason being is first of all it will be simple to fabricate and assemble on site, secondly reduce potential risk of a joint failing which could lead to injuries. The aim of the technique is to create a structure that does not require any large solid members which are widely seen in similar projects. Ceres environmental park is fragile thus large solid beams or column should be avoided if possible. Secondly as the design proposal is situated in a public park, it should be friendly and can serve a purpose to the visitors. The design proposal would also sit outdoors exposed to weather conditions, which again need the structure to be simple and reliable.During interim presentation it is suggested not to use plastic zipties as a solution to the joint system for first of all the quick aging of plastic in constant sunlight and weather exposure, and for aesthetic reasons. Plastic zip ties are not ideal both aesthetically and structurally. It is also too convenient for a solution that might land me in the pit of plagiarism.

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Find centers of the panels

Establish connections

Panels bite together thus would not slide apart, and they are joined at a fixed angle thus they will not fold or bend

Technique diagram

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Due to the method used in form finding process, the whole structure can be broken down into individual cells. This reduces the complexity of the structure.

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Fabrication concept

The panels will be fabricated with laser cutter.

*Although due to thickness of material CNC milling machine might be required, but as each plane is completely planar thus the difficulty of fabrication is not too different.

Panels can then be stacked in groups and transported to site.

*Each panel is a triangle with longest edge not exceeding 1.7 meters thus they can be eas-ily arranged for logistics.

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Due to the method used in form finding each cell can be assembled in sequence and individual to other ones. This will reduce the complexity and labor required for the assembly on site. As the park is run by volunteers with appropriate instructor they can even do it by themselves.

The overall structure can then be assembled panel by panel. Temporary support will be essential. Panels are perfectly planar and do not require welding, thus no special equipment or highly skilled labor is required.

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Prototypes

an eraly trial, this version does not utlize much of tectonic joint thus only shows the form of overall structure. Yet from this model the structre provides suffecient internal space and shelter.

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The panel with basic joints. the panels are properly joined and will not slide apart. However this only solve the problem of panels joining. on a small scale model it will properly stand on its own yet for a 1:1 scale structure it will potentially collapse.

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Learning outcome and reflections

Studio air being the subject that heavily engages with algorithmic design and digital fabrication is very eye opening to me. This studio introduced me to this new way of looking at design and generating it. Parametric design gave the ability to set out principles and let the form and structure ‘evolve’ to a series of different iterations. It revealed more possible iterations than traditional methods of design or form finding process.

Studio air also introduced a new definition of architecture that is on a more experimental level. Many precedents studied in this studio come in various forms such as a installation or a monuments, some of them are even temporary. These projects serve a purpose of exploring the potential of architecture and its future, which gave me a new perspective in the definition of architecture. Studio air also introduced digital fabrication which is indeed a vision of the future.

Yet being only a semester long there is a lot of new techniques and concepts to take in and convert to my own skillsets and knowledge. The final product of the studio is not 100% satisfactory due to restriction on time and my yet to be adequate skills on rhino and grasshopper. If more time were given the final product of the design would be much better than the current version. Grasshopper is indeed a powerful design tool that allows users to create a wide range of custom tools and expressions to help the design.

The service provided by the fab lab is very helpful and second to none. Although I did not require much help from the consultants, the quality and speed of each order is in fact better than other fabrication services found outside the school.

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References

Keith Besserud, Neil Katz and Alessandro Beghini, 'Structural Emergence: Architectural And Structural Design Collaboration At SOM', Architectural Design, 83 (2013), 48-55 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ad.1553>.

Ferdinand Ludwig, Hannes Schwertfreger and Oliver Storz, ‘Living Systems: Designing Growth In Baubotanik’, Architectural Design, 82 (2012), 82-87 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ad.1383>.

I-mad.com, 'MAD', 2015 <http://www.i-mad.com/work/absolute-towers/?cid=4> [accessed 13 August 2015]. I-mad.com, 'MAD', 2015 <http://www.i-mad.com/work/absolute-towers/?cid=4> [accessed 13 August 2015].

Heatherwick.com, 'UK Pavilion | Heatherwick Studio', 2015 <http://www.heatherwick.com/uk-pavilion/> [accessed 13 August 2015].a

Louis I. Kahn, 'Toward A Plan For Midtown Philadelphia', Perspecta, 2 (1953), 10 <http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1566821>.

Fosterandpartners.com, 'Smithsonian Institution | Projects | Foster + Partners', 2004 <http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/smithsonian-institution/> [accessed 13 August 2015].

Iwamotoscott.com, 'VOUSSOIR CLOUD - Iwamotoscott', 2015 <http://www.iwamotoscott.com/VOUSSOIR-CLOUD> [accessed 5 November 2015]hitoshi

Abe, Atelier, 'Aoba-Tei // 2004Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan // Atelier Hitoshi Abe / 阿部仁史アトリエ', A-slash.net, 2015 <http://a-slash.net/index.php/projects/aip/2/> [accessed 5 November 2015]

Matsysdesign.com, 'Shellstar Pavilion « MATSYS', 2015 <http://matsysdesign.com/2013/02/27/shellstar-pavilion/> [accessed 5 November 2015]