Yii Wei HOU526685

Tutorial Group 12-13Tutor: Tom & Finn

ABPL30048 Architectural Design Studio Air

2013 SM1

Introduction Previous Work

Part 1 Case For Innovation

1.1 Architecture As a DiscourseSon-O-House Beijing National Stadium

1.2 Computational Architecture Patricia And Philip Frost Museum Of SciencePort Authority Bus Terminal

1.3 Parametric ModelingZentrum Paul KheeSwissbau Pavilion

Reflection

Part 2 Design ApproachMatrix Exploration

Responsive Surface Structure IResponsive Surface Structure II

Matrix Exploration

Polish Pavilion For Shanghai Expo 2010Impossible Curve Sculpture The Morning Line

Reverse Engineering Process

Model PrototypeFirst PrototypeModified Prototype Details

Reflection

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Table Of Content

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Part 3 Project ProposalDesign Concept

AA Fractal Pavilion

Patterning Block Form Model Prototype

Form Finding Process

Tectonic Elements

Paper Model Prototype

Site Analysis

Digital ModelFinal Model

Driver’s ExperienceNight View

Learning Outcome

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87-8889-90

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INTRODUCTION

My name is Yii Wei Hou. I am a third year environments student majoring in architecture. I am from Malaysia and I came to Melbourne 2 years ago when I first started my course here in Uni-versity of Melbourne. I took Virtual Environments in Year 1 which exposed me to digital design technique that will be useful for Air Studio.

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PREVIOUS WORKVirtual Environments 2011 SM1

Design with digital media is different in many ways and it is indeed something new and foreign which can take time for people to recognise, accept and practise broadly.

Digital design is about conceptualising opportunities, testing them and bring-ing them to reality. Studying the prod-uct of design and the way it is con-ceived, generated and materialised in the digital media will be one step closer to fully understand the digital design process.

Past concept models like representa-tion, precedent-based design and ty-pologies are being replaced by new advanced concepts related to mod-els of generation, animation, perfor-mance-baseddesign.

Digital design is an important aspect for the fundamental of architectural education due to the fact that tech-nologies are constantly changing as we change the way we think and communicate, creating new de-mands of requisite knowledge and skills. This leads to reconsideration of the theoretical basis, its design meth-ods and related knowledge in relation to the ever-changing digital technolo-gies.

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Part 1

Case For Innovation

Architectural communications are composed of a wide range of items, including non-built and built, for example published mass commu-nications (magazines, books, blogs and web-sites), drawings, photographs, sketches, render-ings, CAD drawings and buildings; buildings are merely one of many types of architectural com-munications.Built architectural works are exposed to the out-er network of autopoiesis of architecture and they are also within the architectural discourse as points of critical reference. 1

Every architectural communication is seen as a contribution to the architectural discourse, re-gardless of the influence it has on the discourse, it changes the discourse. And, a change of dis-course is considered an achievement in any ar-chitectural work. Architecture discourse is ever-changing as new challenges/problems present themselves, re-quiring attention for new ideas and turns of ar-gument.

1.1 ARCHITECTURE AS A DISCOURSE

Reference1 Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of Architecture, A New Framework for Architecture, 2011, p. 1-28.2 Humberto R Maturana&Francisco, Varela, Autopoiesis and Cognition, The Realization o f the Livings D Reidel Publishing Com-pany (Dordrecht, Holland), 1980

Architecture is often seen as buildings but it is more than that, architecture is a system of communications; a system of communi-cations that consist of knowledge, profes-sional practice and artefacts which are interlinked. 1

This system of communications is intro-duced by the concept of autopoie-siswhichmeans self-production. 2

Thus, architecture as a system of commu-nications is a progressive process that con-tinues to innovate over time, constantly searching for better solutions for the prob-lems encountered.

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Son-O-house is more than just a piece of architecture; it embodies both ar-chitectural environment and interactive sound installation which makes it an interactive sounding architecture.

This works through the constant generation of new sound patterns activated by sensors picking up actual movements of the visitors. The purpose is for the sound to influence and interfere with the perception and the movements of the vsitors, thereby, creating a permanent interaction between the architec-ture, the sound and the visitors.

The structure is derived from a choreographed set of movements of hands, limbs and bodies which are inscribed on paper bands as cuts, and the interac-tion between these bands results in natural curves. The basis of curling is used in the remodelling of the analog computing model to produce the extremely complex model of interlacing vaults which lean on each other or collide with one another to create dynamic shapes.

Son-O-House

Image sourcehttp://openbuildings.com/buildings/son-o-house-profile-38562

Location: Son En Breugel, The NetherlandsBuilding type:Public pavilionArchitect: NOX

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Image sourcehttp://crowneplazaparkview.com/beijing-national-stadium/

Beijing National Stadium

Beijing National Stadium

Location: Beijing, ChinaBuilding type: StadiumDesign team:Herzog & de Meuron, CAG Design Institute Beijing, ARUP, Beijing Urban Construction Group, Bouygues France

Beijing National Stadium, commonly known as “Bird’s Nest” has a rather traditional concept of Chinese ceramics, which later evolved to bird’s nest appearance in its façade design. The combination of the concept and innovative materials used sets new definition of modern architecture.

Steel structural members are concealed within a network of steel lattice exoskeleton enclosing a concrete core. The steel structure may appear to be random but every element is carefully integrated. According to Herzog & de Mueron, the combination of the elements creates a “spa-tial effect... (that) is novel and radical and yet simple and of almost archaic immediacy. Its appearance is pure struc-ture. Façade and structure are identical.”

Design of the stadium takes into account of the seismic ac-tivity, resulting in the concrete core to be constructed in eight separate zones. Each zone acts like its own building with its own stability system, yet at the same time, all zones act as a body in resisting seismic loads.

Sustainable features are integrated into the design of the stadium through environment-friendly features like use of solar power, harvesting rainwater and natural ventilation and lighting to create a sustainable powerhouse.

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Aesthetics and conventions of style which once served as basis of architecture are now insignificant, as designers are more in-trigued by the transfomations of forms that respond to functional influences and com-plex contextual. The advance in computa-tional design like parametric design gives rise to new possibilities that enables archi-tects to explore infinite variable potentiali-ties, thus rejection any sort of fixed solutions as architects are designing a set of princi-ples encoded as a sequence of paramat-ric equations in which design can be gen-erated and varied as needed instead of the conventional way of designing specific shape of the building. 2

Contemporary computational approaches to design embrace non-linearity, indeter-minacy and emergence that often have outcome of creative transformation and invention which is a great constrast to the tradtional conventional design method which adopts stable design conceptualiza-tion and monotonic reasoning. 2 Often, con-ventional design method is seen as problem solving and contemporary computational design method as puzzle making.

Architects are actually more involved in the making of the buildings when dealing with complex forms to ensure that they are in control throughout the buidling process. Therefore, architects play a key role in the construction of buildings via communicat-ing and controlling the information shared betweeen different parties involved.

1.2 COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

Reference1. Kalay - Architectures New Media (2004), p 1-25. 2. Kolarevic - Architecture in the Digital Age - Design and Manufacturing (2003), p 3-62.

The advances in computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufactur-ing (CAM) techonologies change the revo-lution of building design and construction practices. Extremely complex forms which seemed impossible to design , produce and assemble in the past have been made pos-sible through these technologies. Digital technology has become a paramount tool that directly integrates conception and pro-duction.

Computational design systems have assisted designers in many ways through taking care of smaller and larger elements of the design process. They are composed of drafting and modelling systems (speed up design process through drawing lines and other geometri-cal entities), analytical systems (provide ra-tional appraisal of designers' solutions) and knowledge-based design systems (propose design solutions). 1 Although each system is useful to designers, the systems have difficul-ties to communicate with one another due to their vastly different objectives, however, their asistance in communation among de-signers is inevitable via design information storage and query capabilities and systems. 1 Through the use of digital technologies, design information can be extracted, ex-changed and utilized readily.

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Patricia and Philip Frost Museum of Science is a 250,000 square-foot complex that houses a planetarium and the Living Core (a standalone aquarium and wildlife centre).

Through the use of a combination of computation pro-grams such as Rhinoceros, Grasshopper and Revit, the form of the Living Core was developed in which the struc-ture necessary to house the living support systems and flexibility required of the museum programming were taken into account along the process. The geometry of the end product is composed of curved, vertical and in-clined walls in seamless transition. The surface is covered in tile cladding and it is supported by a bent steel grid that spans between structural floor components. The size of til-ing remains constant to express the monolithic nature of the Living Core, while at the same time varying in concav-ity and convexity to create areas of dappled reflection which changes throughout the day.

Due to nature of Miami climate, heat differential expan-sion joints to connect the tile cladding are given extra thought. This results in the development of a patterning process which is able to sustain the form's double curva-ture and test for maximum areas of deviation of a stand-ardised pattern through a meshing sequence, simplifying the control joint pattern to a series of duplicate parallelo-grams which can be cut from the rolls of tile and applied with ease.

Image sourcehttp://www.archdaily.com/343719/patricia-and-phillip-frost-museum-of-science-grimshaw-architects-2/http://app.lms.unimelb.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-416194-dt-announcement-rid-12019919_2/courses/ABPL30048_2013_SM1/Com-putation%20Works%20-%20The%20Building%20of%20Algorithmic%20Thought.pdf

Entrance

Initial pattern-generation progress

Patricia And Philip Frost Museum Of Science

Entrance

Initial pattern-generation progress

Atrium

Living Core envelope form Detail view of tiling pattern and control joint

Location: Miami, USABuilding type: MuseumArchitect: Grimshaw

Patricia And Philip Frost Museum Of Science

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" while physical form can be defined in terms of static co-ordinates, the virtual force of the environment in which it is designed contributes to its shape".

- Greg Lynn

Lynn integrated the use of particle emission in the pro-tective roof and the lighting scheme for the Port Author-ity Bus Terminal in order to visualize the gradient fields of "attraction" present on the site, created by the surround-ing forces like movement of buses and pedestrians. This phenomenon is the result of dynamic simulation where the forces that do not originate within the system itself have an impact on the motion of objects within the sys-tem. In other words, surrounding forces are fundamental to the form making in architecture.

Image Sourcehttp://cgg-journal.com/2005-3/04/index.htm

Port Authority Bus Terminal

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1.3 Parametric modeling

Parametric modeling creates endless opportunities for designers to ex-plore a wide variety of forms that will result in unique characteristic of each design created. This is made possible as parametric systems enable a new set of controls to overlay the basis controls, a great con-trast to conventional systems that provides mathematically motivated controls. 1

Architects are not professional mathematicians; therefore, they do not fully understand the underlying mathematics to effectively create a new model. Hence, it is common to find designers to reuse existing work because readily available code reduces the job of making a model significantly. Also, editing and changing code is much easier compared to creating a whole new code from scratch. It is more ef-ficient to start with a working model and progress in steps to ensure that the model always works along the process than creating a new model.

Parametricism developed as a style when the global economy was good, and many architects thought the parametric designs were pos-sible to be built due to unlimited budgets. However, in reality, many parametric designs remain unbuilt due to the high cost of construction. 2 Parametric buildings often lack consideration in integrating into the surrounding environments, in which users may find them out of context in the real world. Perhaps buildings with parametric design are more suited in the virtual worlds.

Reference1. Woodbury, Elements of Parametric Design (2010), p. 7-48. 2. Adam Nathaniel Mayer, Style and the Pretense of ‘Parametric’ Architecture.

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Zentrum Paul Khee

Zentrum Paul Klee’s design consists of a se-ries of waves situated on concentric circles. This design idea makes the geometry of the roof extremely complex which requires the unique rendering of each individual metre of 4.2 km steel girders. Also, each series of the steel arches is inclined at a different angle. To tackle such complex project, Pi-ano tested for several alternative solutions within the scope of his idea in order to achieve the best optimal outcome. During the design process, a parametric model of the steel structure was developed. And, this was used to map the geometry of the curved I-beams into two-dimensional plans for the steel contractor. 3 The steel contrac-tor was able to produce individual sections from steel plates through the use of high-precision computerized instrumentation and each section was welded together by labour. 4 The sections were welded together by hand as the curvature of the steel girders made machine welding impossible.

Location: Bern, SwitzerlandBuilding type: MuseumArchitect: Renzo Piano

Image sourcehttp://www.designtoproduction.ch/content/view/3/23/

Reference3. http://www.designtoproduction.ch/content/view/3/23/

4. http://www.fondazionerenzopiano.org/project/64/zentrum-paul-klee/genesis/18

In 2005, The CAAD Swissbau Pavilion was constructed at Swissbau fair in Basel to investigate the potential of the continuous flow of digital chain from Computer Aided Design (CAD) to Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM).

The project followed functional rules in which optimized geometry for a given environment was created through a self-organizing process.5 The geometry of the pavilion resembles very much of a traditional coffered dome but it is vastly different in terms of the placement of the openings; the size and angles of the quadrilateral wooden frames (the compo-nents that form the structure of the pavilion) are adapted to produce asymmetric placement of windows.

An interactive software was programmed in Java to creative this adaptive geometry that stimulates a quadrilateral mesh growth on a sphere. The edg-es have to be aligned with the positions of the predefined openings and the

Image sourcehttp://www.generativeart.com/on/cic/papers2005/36.ScheurerSchindlerBraach_final.htmhttp://wiki.arch.ethz.ch/twiki/bin/view/Main/SwissbauPavilion.html

Reference5. F. Scheurer, A Simulation Toolbox For Self-Organisation In Architectural Design, in: S. Sariyildiz, B. Tuncer (Eds.), Innovation in Archi-tecture, Engineering and Computing (AEC), Vol. 2, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Rotterdam, NL, 2005, pp. 533-543.6. http://www.generativeart.com/on/cic/papers2005/36.ScheurerSchindlerBraach_final.htm

floor level and also, the mesh should attempt to optimize its size and angles as mentioned.6 The end product remains flexible as the structure can be easily altered by simply insert-ing or deleting meshes. The geometry of nodes and edges is exported to an XML file and this is used as a base for the remaining digital chain.

A script reads the XML file into CAD-software Vectorworks and 3D-model of the pavilion is generated with the exact geometries of 320 wooden frames (1280 parts). 6

A second script arranges the parts that are automatically numbered on the raw board for milling. Detailed information for drilling holes and milling the unique part is included when G-code (the production code for the CNC-machine that is the final outcome of the digital chain in which it acts as a medium in instructing the machine which tool to choose and where to move it) is exported for the board, easing the CAM process. 6

Swissbau Pavilion

floor level and also, the mesh should attempt to optimize its size and angles as mentioned.6 The end product remains flexible as the structure can be easily altered by simply insert-ing or deleting meshes. The geometry of nodes and edges is exported to an XML file and this is used as a base for the remaining digital chain.

A script reads the XML file into CAD-software Vectorworks and 3D-model of the pavilion is generated with the exact geometries of 320 wooden frames (1280 parts). 6

A second script arranges the parts that are automatically numbered on the raw board for milling. Detailed information for drilling holes and milling the unique part is included when G-code (the production code for the CNC-machine that is the final outcome of the digital chain in which it acts as a medium in instructing the machine which tool to choose and where to move it) is exported for the board, easing the CAM process. 6

Location: Basel, SwitzerlandBuilding type: PavilionArchitect: ETH

Swissbau Pavilion

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Reflection

There is a typical perception on designing in a conven-tional way, namely the through traditional media which relies largely on sketching, 2D representations and physi-cal models for design exploration. However, there are limitless potentials through designing in degital media as the designers gain benefits from design exploration like better understanding of kinetic design and design involving complex geometry which seems impossible to do through conventional way.

The use of digital tools in conceptual design involves reconceptualising the design process itself in a way in which design with digital tools is perceived as involving an inherently different process. Therefore, digital tech-nology is more than a design tool and should be con-ceived as a design medium.

The generative and creative potential of digital media, together with manufacturing advances are opening up new dimensions in the architectural field. The compu-tational advances like computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technolo-gies have great influence on building design and con-struction practices. They aid in the construction of more complex forms, opening up new opportunities, unlike in the past where they were too expensive and difficult to design using conventional construction technologies. Through digital producing, communicating and control-ling the information exchanged between numerous par-ties during the construction process, architects have an opportunity to regain more control and power amongst the parties involved.

Through this studio, students are able to sharpen digital design skills and we are more exposed to the current digitally-designed projects in the architectural field. This serves as advantage when we are out in the professional world.

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Part 2

design approach

Matrix Exploration

Our group is interested in biomimicry and we started off with exploring with voronoid based on Spanish Pavilion case study by Foreign Office Architects.

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Image sourcehttp://www.achimmenges.net/?p=4411

Responsive Surface Structure I

This project explores the changes of wood when exposed to different level of humid-ity in the environment. The main goal of this project is to produce a surface struc-ture which is able to adapt the porosity of its skin and related cross-ventilation in re-sponse to the surrounding humidity with-out any sort of mechanical control device.

Once exposed to changes in relative hu-midity the opening and closure of each local component results in different de-grees of porosity over time and across the surface, which is both structure and responsive skin. This high level of integra-tion of form, structure and material per-formance enables a direct response to environmental influences with no need for additional electronic or mechanical control.

Project: Responsive Surface Structure I, ICD Research Project Designer: Steffen Reichert Year: 2006

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Responsive Surface Structure II

Image sourcehttp://www.achimmenges.net/?p=4638

The second phase of the research project focused on the develop-ment of a more integral system that combines both the reactive skin and load bearing structure within one material system. Material used is wood laminate and through vari-ations in local thickness and fibre direction, a system of opening and closure of each component in rela-tion of surounding moisture content, adjusting its skin porosity over time. Similar to the first phase of the reser-ach, no additional electronic or me-chanical control is required for the system.

Our group abandoned this bio-mimicry concept because it is too complex to work out an algorithmic definition in the Grasshopper that will calculate/determine the curving of the wood veneer. So, we decided to go with another direction which is patterning.

Project: Responsive Surface Structure II, ICD Research Project Designer: Steffen Reichert Year: 2008

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Matrix Exploration

Our group did this matrix exploration based on the biomimicry concept behind the Responsive Sur-face Structure. We explored different type of form of the individual component, however, this bio-mimicry concept was abandoned because it is too complex to work out an algorithmic definition in the Grasshopper that will calculate/determine the curving of the wood veneer. So, we decided to go with another direction which is patterning.

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The pavilion features a perfo-rated façade, inspired by tra-ditional Polish folk-art paper cutouts. The cut-out patterns has not only aesthetics value but also illustrates Poland’s his-tory, culture, economy and every-day life. The cut-outs change from folk forms into organic ones, then into a city-map and industrial patterns (a metaphor of migration of peo-ple to cities from countryside. This purpose is also one of the interests of our group through patterning in terms of show-ing the significant features of Wyndham city such as its his-tory and culture to the gate-way users.

Location: Shanghai, ChinaBuilding type: PavilionArchitect: WWAA Architects

Image sourcehttp://www.dezeen.com/2010/06/03/polish-pavilion-for-shanghai-expo-2010-by-wwaa-architects/

Polish Pavilion for Shanghai expo 2010

The pavilion also provides an exceptional experience when visitors enter the interior space by shaping/manipulating the outer skin patterning in such a way that the sun rays shining through would chisel , by light and shade, the space under the vault. This concept can be applied to the gateway pro-ject in which through pattern-ing, the contrast between light and shade will create a visual impact on the gateway users.

Polish Pavilion for Shanghai expo 2010

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Impossible Curve Sculpture

Image sourcehttp://cleverspec.com/portfolio/ics-21-157-zigzag-44/

This art piece consists of parabolic curves cre-ated from straight lines. The process to create these curves is through physical algorithm. The string is derived from one point to another in which each point is either the origin or the end of the strings. This theory gives rise to the inspiration for our patterning for the gateway project which will be explained later.

Designer: Adam BruckerYear: 2012

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The Morning Line is both ruin and monu-ment, the blackened frame of a cathe-dral-like structure; a drawing in and of space; an ‘anti-pavilion’.

Unlike traditional architectural pavilions, The Morning Line takes the form of an open cellular structure rather than an enclosure.The Morning Line looks into fractal patterning in which each com-ponent grows and multiplys to build up the structure. We are intrigued in the growth of the component to generate an interesting form, thus, we will further explore this aspect for our future direc-tion.

Location: Various (Seville, Istanbul, Vienna)Building type: PavilionDesigner: Matthew Ritchie, Aranda\Lasch

The Morning Line

Image sourcehttp://www.tba21.org/pavilions/103?category=pavilions

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We started off with a basic shape of hexagon and explored different pattern that can be generated through hexagon as a basis. The scale of the hexagons were altered and they were rotated to create some interesting forms. Also, the hexagons were aligned at the centre of the previous hexagons to generate recursive patterning.

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Reverse Engineering Process

These are the final outcomes in which each pattern has its distinctive form.

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This is the matrix exploration of the form that the pattern sits on, derived from The Morning Line case study. Different parameters were explored included extrusion point, number of sides of the polygon, mirroring, as well as the radius of the trim edges. This exploration has led to forms that are far too com-plex to integrate in the pattern, so we moved on with experimentation of simpler geometry.

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Reverse Engineering Process

This is the exploration of the geometry, different iterations were experimented, including the type of polygon and the radius of trimmed edges.

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The pattern shown previously is placed on the surface of the geometry in which a great contrast between na-ture (organic patterning) and man-made (geometry) can be expressed through the design. The organic pat-terning integrated in the design aims to reflect Wynd-ham City’s goal in creating a sustainable environment through continuous work in conservation and preserva-tion of nature. On the other hand, the geometry reflects the advanced technologies in supporting Wyndham to achieve its goal to become a greener city. The pattern-ing gives rise to the play between light and shade, cre-ating a strong visual impact, which in turn attracts more visitors to Wyndham, as well as providing a different at-mospheric experience to the users of the gateway.

Surface panel

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Model Prototype

This is the first prototype made and there are few flaws in it. The notching didn’t join perfectly, leaving gaps between the joints. So, this model had to be put together with the aid of superglue. Also, the patterning thickness was way too thin, making it more prone to breakage; a few snapped when being assembed together.

Thus, we modified the notching, taking into account the thickness of the MDF board which was neglected the previous time, as well as, increasing the number of joints for a more stable connection. And, the patterning thickness was made thick-er to give a stronger structure.

First Prototype

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Modified Prototype

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Details

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Reflection

Based on the feedback, we will continue to work on our design, particularly in terms of in-tegrating the patterning to the whole struc-ture, rather than to individual component (the prototype). This allows the patterning to be more visible to the users from a distance in a large-scaled structure. But first, we will have to figure out the form of the whole structure be-cause at the moment, we have only worked out the individual components. We have to start thinking about the relationship between these individual components and how they would come together in a harmonious way. As mentioned, we are intrigued in the grow-ing form generated through patterning in The Morning Line case study and this is where we will draw inspiration from in generating an in-teresting form that reflects Wyndham as a rap-idly growing municipal and creates strong vis-ual impact which subsequently attracts more visitors to Wyndham.

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Part 3

Project Proposal

“We will create a healthy, safe, vibrant, proud and harmonious community, while respecting our

environment.”

-Mission for The Wyndham City Plan 2010-2014

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Patterning

Design Concept

Organic Visual Impact

Wyndham is a municipal that has continuous work on conserving and preserving the nature including the wetlands,grasslands and forest areas. This important goal of Wyndham is recognised and incorporated into our design through the expression in patterning which is the main inter-est of our group. We believe that the generation of pattern-ing that is somewhat organic and raw is ideal to the gateway project, sending signals to the public that Wyndham’s focus on the sustainability of its environments is significant despite being a rapidly growing municipal. Wyndham is able to gain its own identity instead of becoming a cluster of continuous suburbs with no special character or possibility for reflection on its place history through the gateway project in which its identity is vastly differentiated from the rest of the municipals. We also hope to achieve visual impact through patterning, as mentioned in the precedent of Polish Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010 where patterning creates a strong visual impact through the play between light and shade. The visual impact is aimed to attract new visitors to Wyndham city, as well as to encourage the return of existing users to experience what Wyndham has to offer.

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AA Fractal Pavilion

Location: London, UKBuilding type: PavilionYear: 2005-6Architect: Dana Behrman, Amandine Kastler, Tessa Katz, Eli Lui, Jess Randzio, Evonne Tam, Hiroaki Toyoshi-ma, Naiara Vegara, Simon Whittle, William Yam

Image sourcehttp://www.jesserandzio.com/SummerPavilion.html

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This pavilion was designed and built by a group of Intermediate Unit 2 students of AA (Architectural Association) with the goal of exploring advance techniques and uses for timber construction.

Based on the proportions of the golden mean, a fractal pattern of repeating flanges and beams spi-rals outward from the top of the structure into the smallest leaves. Generation 0 is the top beam and flanges parallel to the ground just below the can-opy. Some manipulation of the basic script allows the third generation flange to extend downward into the ground, where they act as the structural legs of the pavilion. Generations 0-3 are structural elements and Generations 4-9 are decorative ele-ments.

The idea of fractal patterning inspires us to look into the concept of recursive subdivision. Starting with just one block of the model prototype and through a recursive script, we hope to achieve a form that follows the rule of recursive subdivision.

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Patterning

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The pattern starts off with a polygon. The polygon is divided and the vertices are used as reference point for the next one, this pro-cess is repeated to obtain a continuous curve of polygons. The polygon is scaled and rotated based on the previous polygon in a recrusive manner.

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These are the exploration for the form of the individual block to apply the patterning on. The first exploration led to forms that are way too com-plex to apply on patterning. Hence, this inspires us to look into more basic geometry in the second exploration. We are intrigued with the idea of the contrast between the soidity of basic geometry and organic delicate patterning.

Block Form

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Block Form Model Prototype

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Form Finding Process

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These are the various forms generated through the recursive subdivision script, with three genrations for each iteration.

We started with a basic tetrahedron, fol-lowed by determining the start and end of the recurisive curve, where each tetra-hedron is scaled and rotated in a recur-sive manner along the curve. The form generated is copied and repeated using the previous generation, creating recur-sive subdivision.

Although these forms may seem alien, they look pretty familiar because they mimic the natural forms in our surround-ings, for example, antenna, coral, tree branching and DNA form. This script al-lows us to generate infinite amount of out-comes that are vastly different from one another , and it is able to adapt to the cli-ent’s preference and liking.

The script within each cluster in the script above.

Form Finding Process

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The final form chosen for the gate-way project is the second genera-tion form shown here. This form is an ideal form as it looks like a flowing, 3D spiral form that would complement the patterning when the patterning is applied onto it. The reason we didn’t pick the third generation form is due to the extreme complex and dense form generated; this would overpow-er the patterning applied onto it, in which the users are unable to view

Form Finding Process

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A single block is composed of the components shown which includes four polygon faces and four triangles that close up the edges. Dovetail joint is chosen to assemble the parts together as it has a strong bond and it is an efficient way in terms of ma-terial usage. The series of pins and tails are cut ac-cordingly (the red edge fits into the green edge) to ensure all parts fit together perfectly.

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Tectonic Elements

We did another experiment with the dovetail joint in which the con-cept of recurisive subdivision is in-corporated. The size of the pins and tails varies from one end to another, it gradually decreases towards the middle part and returns back to its orginal size on the other end.

We discovered that the recursive joint has a stronger bond compared to the normal dovetail joint, making the overall structure more stable and strong, aside from the aesthet-ics effect it adds to the structure.

The next 2 pages lay out a range of photos on the detail of the recur-sive joint.

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Tectonic Elements

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These are the bracket joints that would hold the individual blocks together. The angle between the blocks varies, hence brack-et joints with different angles are used. Two bracket joints are shown here: top one is for nar-row angle while the bottom one is for wider angle. The drawing on the left shows how the bracket joint would be attached to join 2 blocks together.

Tectonic Elements

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Paper Model Prototype

We tested some prototypes before fabricat-ing the final model. The patterning was not applied onto all the blocks due to time and budget as the fabrication of the patterning will take a lengthy time and it is too costly.

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Landscape can be thought of as an aesthetic term – a view through a window, or through a

camera lens, or a landscape painting. Humans stand objectively apart from landscape, as the subject gazing at the object. Although it is an

aesthetic term the bond between the ‘viewer’ and the landscape is interconnected.

-Wyndham City Lanscape Context Guidelines March 2013

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Image sourcehttp://chartingtransport.com/2012/10/30/spatial-changes-in-melbourne-journey-to-work-2006-2011/

Site Analysis

We did some research on the population density of Wyndham and Melbourne. The density map shown on thel left identifies the population density starting to increase from Wyndham city to Melbourne city. A concept of the way the gateway is positioned on site is developed through this research. The structure is placed on site in a way that the less dense por-tion (larger blocks) is situated facing Wyndham and more compact portion (smaller blocks) is facing the direction to-wards Melbourne city. It is positioned in this way because we want the gateway to symbolise the journey where the drivers experience traveling from more rural area to urban area. In other words, the gateway represents a threshold between rural Victoria and urban Melbourne. Also, the gateway is situ-ated on the highest point of the curve along the freeway. This enables the drivers to view the gateway from multiple angles when approaching it, further maximising the visual impact of the gateway.

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Site Analysis

A photomontage of the final model on the site plan, showing the position and orientation of the whole structure on site.

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Digital Model

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Digital Model

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Final Model

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There is a problem present in the final mod-el in which it is unable to stand on its own. We have considered the fact that the structure might be too heavy, so the un-necessary parts are taken out, leaving just the frames to provide structural integrity. However, that didn’t solve the problem.

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Further exploration on the footing system is carried out in order to support the whole structure of the gateway. Two concrete paddings are placed at the points where the structure meets the ground to support the load. Concrete piles with reinforced steel connect the concrete paddings to the concrete footing.

Final Model

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Driver’s Experience

Our gateway project looks entirely different when viewed from a distance and close up. From far, the effect of recurisve patterning in the geometry is more visible to the drivers. However, as the users get closer to the gateway, the effect of recursive patterning is further emphasized in the patterning applied on the the individual tetrahedrons (Refer to the series of photos on the left and the video at-tached in the dvd). There is a sense of duality and layering in the project which is expressed through the overall form of the structure and the patterning.

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Night View

The play between light and shade is visible during nighttime as well, aside from during daytime. With the in-stallation of the LED lights, the visual impact is made possible, bringing a whole new level of experience to the drivers at night. Also, the lighting cre-ates a slightly different atmosphere to the users in comparison to the ef-fect of sunlight, which is able to at-tract more users to the Wyndham through the gateway.

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Based on the feedback from the crits in the final presentation, there is a problem with our focus in which there is too much attention given to the experimentation and too little given to the direction/path of the project. We were too intrigued by the infinite possibilities, or rather the unknown outcome that the script is able to generate, that we lost the design direction. The unknown factor is not necessarily considered a disadvantage, however design with a clear direction would have a greater impact that demonstrates characteristics like individualism and uniqueness, the qualities that Wyndham is seeking. Hence, we should gain more control throughout the design process which will be reflected in the final outcome through control in the script used. In our design, some blocks are intercepting which poses a problem. Our next step would be to further develop the script that we have created to gener-ate a more controlled form. Also, we should include the site parameters into the definition if more time were given, instead of arbitary form find-ing exploration so that the design would be more related and specific to Wyndham

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Learning Outcome

Computational systems are becoming more significant in the contempo-rary design practice today compared to the past. Parametric design is a computational method, acting as a generative design tool in architec-ture, as well as analytical method. Parametric design has the potential to expand the design exploration space through the use of variables of the algorithm as parametric systems are essentually based on algorith-mic principles. An algorithm is defined as a finite set of intrustions with an aim of fulfilling a purpose in a finite number of steps. That means that an algorithm takes one or a set of values as inout and produce an output through a series of computational steps. Algorithmic design has the ability to discover new areas of unpredictable potential through exploration of generative processes. Algorithmics is able to generate and manipulate a range of design entities including design variables, mathematical ex-pressions and operations, logical operations, geometric form and many others. This enables the designers to gain greater control over their design as an algorithm deals with complexities of design much beyond form with precision.

The generative and creative potential of digital media, together with manufacturing advances are opening up new dimensions in the archi-tectural field. The computational advances like computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies have great influence on building design and construction practices. They aid in the construction of more complex forms, opening up new opportunities, unlike in the past where they were too expensive and difficult to design using conventional construction technologies. Through digital producing, communicating and controlling the information exchanged between nu-merous parties during the construction process, architects have an op-portunity to regain more control and power amongst the parties involved.

Some are attracted to the buildings produced by the digital technology; the others think they provoke established formal conceptions of architec-ture. Buildings that are complexly shaped or patterned are affecting in novel ways our perceptions of surface, form and space. In many recently completed projects, patterning is primarily decorative that serves little or no function; technically, it is largely superficial, which leads to questioning of the social, economic, political and cultural significance of the orna-mentation of the buildings. The difficult part would be making some basic distinctions about different kinds of ornament in architecture in which the challenge is to avoid creating a singular, outstanding form (the effect) but a subtle, contextually responsive and responsible experience (an affect); this is essentially what we would like to achieve in our gateway project.

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