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This project is a bridge designed for pedestrian and cyclist accross Rathdowne Street. The basic idea is to convey a feeling of being in the woods through the shadows casted within, and hence reminding the users about the beauty of the natural environment, and eventually pull the users closer to the natural environment. Though not relat-ing the design to the landscape, it is related to the context as the bridge is connect-ed to the Carlton gardens. Walking through Carlton Gardens from afar, the bridge can be seen as blending in with the trees in the gardens, yet stands out among the trees due to its white colour. The shape of the bridge cover is generated through simplica-tion of tree branches. I was having the image of a cyclist riding in the woods while looking up at the trees howering above, with glimpses of sunlight fighting its way through the leaves and branches. This is the intended spatial experience of the bridge.

Personal ProjectBridge Accross Rathdowne Street

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This London Aquatic Centre by Zaha Hadid designed for the upcoming 2012 Olympics got its form inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion. Its main aims are to create spaces and a surrounding environment closely related with the river landscape beside it. Looking at the building’s undulating roof, it looks as though it is growing out from the groud. Through Hadid’s design, it occured to me that architecture should stay close with the surrounding natural environment and be closed to it, or part of it for the design to be meaningful to the environment. It could also be observed that architecture is like a growth process: starting from a basic structure found in nature, it grew to form a more complex and newer forms through processes such as extending, spreading, turning and twisting. In comparison with my former project, I can relate with Hadid’s design in the sense that I was looking at designing something that moves closer towards the natural environment. Hadid’s design was very lanscape related while mine was related only to the form of natural element but not with the landscape. I feel that generating ideas and forms closely related to the nature produces a more comfortable spatial experience. As the eyes travel accross the building, it is also easier to view the building together with its surroundings.

Aquatic CentreLondon, UK

Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher

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Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall designed in 1987 is one of his most ambitious large-scale project in LA. It is intended to establish a sense of place by hav-ing an intriguing design and also extensive gardens and out-door performance spaces. Gehry’s method of de-signing is usually beginning with a very rough sketch of his idea of how his design should look like and how it is to sit on the site. He experiments his design by mak-ing various models and choose the best out of them. It sounds like Gehry’s approach in designing is more physi-cal and hands on but in fact, to achieve the current form of the exterior wall, he used CATIA software. The soft-ware enabled him to reduce construction costs, and for that period of time made the unconventional form an engineering possibility. I think that Gehry’s work served as inspiration for young architects and his usage of un-conventional forms proved that there are no forms that could not be built. The same goes to Hadid’s design ap-proach. With the aid of computer and softwares, more forms could be generated and designs that were once doomed to be unbuildable now stand in front of us, into-ducing us new living experience and new spatial quality.

Walt Disney Concert HallLos Angeles

Frank Gehry

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Topological Geometry

Topological geometry are geometric forms that are not usually affected by chang-es in shape or size. Through computationally-based processes of continuous one-to-one transformations or elastic deofrmations, such as stretching or twist-ing, it will still remain unvarying. Transforming and deforming it results in infinite number of forms. Their intrinsic property of one-sidedness have a potential in architecture as the boundaries between the interior and the exterior are blurred, and when translated into architecture, avoids the distinctions og “inside” and “outside”.

An interesting sample of the study of topological geometry is the Möbius Strip and studies of how to utilise the möbius into architecture were made. A pure Mö-bius Strip is analised and modified to allow a person to walk along it and to make habitable space out of it.

Generative Design

Moebius Band modified to create internal space

Moebius seating

Moebius school

Moebius museum

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A built example of the usage of Möbius Strip is the Moebius House designed by Ben van Berkel. The conceptual pos-sibilities of geometries are challenging but the conceptual qualities are often difficult to truly show tectonically. Moe-bius House on the other hand did show some extent of the usage of topological geometry.

In the house, the understanding of movement is reinforced by the changing positions of the two main materials used for the house, glass and concrete, which overlap each other and switch places. As the loop turns inside ourt, the exterior concrete shell becomes the interior furniture and the glass facades turn into inside partition walls. As the house is used for both work and living, van Berkel has managed to five an additional meaning to the Moebius strip diaram which is the blurred limits between working and living.

I find this method of generating form is intriguing as it provides many possibility that can be further developed into something new and fun. Computation can ease the explora-tion of more complex form spatial qualities.

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