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STUDIO AIRJOURNAL2016 SEMESTER 1

BY YITAO LIUTUTOR: JULIAN SJAAK RUTTEN

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

Part A. CONCEPTUALISATIONA.1. Design Futuring 4A.2. Design Computation 6A.3. Composition/Generation 8A.4. Conclusion 10A.5. Learning outcomes 10A.6. Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches 11

Part B.

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INTRODUCTION

My name is Yitao Liu. I currently study the major of architecture in the universi-ty of melbourne. This is my third year of a Bachelor of Environment. I was born in China and came to Australia when I was 16 years old. I have learnt a Chinese traditional instrument called ‘Guzheng’ since I was a little girl, it is a kind of Chinese zither. I also do well in drawing and painting. I like cosplay, litterally, ‘costume play‘. I enjoy dressing up and pretending to be the character I like. It is very interesting to change myself into a totally different image.As I like fine art very much, It is not hard for me to decide the major I want to study and my future career. Personally, comparing to design in other disciplines, architecture is more magnificent. It is not only important for our daily life, but also shows the character of one city or maybe become a landmark for one city. It is my dream to become famous and to leave some great works in the world.

about myself...

about work and experience with digital de-sign theory and tools...

Acturally, as I said before, I’m good at free hand drawing but weak at using techniques. I am a beginner of Rhino and AutoCAD. I did some work with AutoCAD and I found my skill has been improved by doing more practice. As digital design becomes more and more important, using the softwares like Rhi-no, Grasshopper and Auto CAD must be considered as a necessary skill for an archcitect. I hope to improve my skills through this subject and also throught doing more practice.

My work, done by using Auto CAD in Constructing Analysis

My Selfie...

Ken Kaneki, from the anime ‘Tokyo Ghoul’

My design work, done by free hand drawing

Personally, the theory of digital architecture is using computer techniques modelling, pro-gramming and imaging some structures that can not be done by free hand. By considering the development of techniques, digital design inspires designers and will bring a better future.

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Part A. CONCEPTUALISATIONA.1. Design Futuring

COMPOSITE SWARM

The Composite Swarm installation is an architectural prototype exploring the relationship of robotic fabrication, composite materials and algorithmic design. Designers of this project used the techniques of swarm intelligence. A swarm algorithm based on the self-organizing behavior of ants was developed for the project to negotiate between and compresses surface, structure and ornament into a single irreducible form. The surface of the installation is created through a digital swarm of components that are pro-grammed to make a continuous surface. The ornamental components are distributed with an algorithm based on the logic of ants that form bridges by connecting their bodies. The connection between components creates a complex ornamental and structural network.

Composite Prototype/Installation, Melbourne, 2013Design Director: Roland SnooksProject Team: James Pazzi, Marc Gibson

As the installation combines a fiber-composite sur-face and flexible foam components, which makes it too flexible to be self-supporting, a fabrication team is needed for this project. This project costed the least amount of material by its complex and specific form, and the excess of ornament.

This algorithmic approach is part of Kokkugia’s Behavioral Formation design process that draws on the logic of swarm intelligence and operates through multi-agent algorithms. For the future contribution, the prototype is intended to test composite tecton-ics for the future application to larger architectural projects.

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PHARE TOWER

Drawing on the power of parametric scripting, the design of the Phare Tower gathers disparate program-matic, physical, and infrastructural elements from the requirements of the building and synthesizes these into a form that seamlessly integrates the building into the idiosyncrasies of its site while expressing multiple flows of movement. In the spirit of the Paris Exposi-tion competition proposals, the tower embodies state-of-the-art technological advances to become a cultural landmark.

The Phare Tower is part of the redevelopment for the La Défense business district on the outskirts of Paris.

Informed by a commitment to sustainability and urban connectivity, the Phare Tower will distinguish itself as a beacon of optimism and progress.

Program, design and engineering, are integrated in an innovative vision for a 21st century tower, which emerges organically from its complex site condition to become, by virtue of its fluid and sensuous form, alandmark in the regional skyline.

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A.2. Design Computation

HANGZHOU OLYMPIC STADIUM

The development of design compita-tion has nearly 50 years. It can be seen as a digital continuum from design to production, from form generation to fabrication design, which is called Vitruvian effect according to Oxman. This new continuity begun to evolve as a medium that supports a continuous logic o f design thinking and mak-ing. It also enabled a set of symbiotic relationships between the formulation of design processes and developing technologies. In order to accommo-date these developments, a new and comprehensive domain of architectural theories is beginning to emerge in the intersection between science, technolo-gy, design and architectural culture.

The pictures above shown the Olym-pic Stadium in Hangzhou, China, was designed by NBBJ in collaboration with CCDI. It is scheduled for completion in 2013 as part of a sports and enter-tainment city featuring other recrea-tion facilities. It was designed with an architectural vocabulary of repetitive sculptural truss geometries.

During the design process, using of the customization of tools and implemen-tation of new compitational method-ologies helped the team to overcome the challenges they met. The design concept for the envelope was based on modularity of sculptural, petal-like steel trusses housing the technical systems. The preliminary form generat-ed, limited the addition of complexity to the envelope at later stages of the project thus necessitating the creation of a point cloud system that served as control points to parametrically manip-ulate the edge curves. The symmetry of the geometry allowed the luxury to develop one quadrant at this stage. This was beneficial as it aided the computa-tion process by enabling improved and faster iterations. A grasshopper algorithm was devel-oped to facilitate the conversion of the geometry into a wireframe structure, compatible with the engineer’s analysis tool. This enabled both teams minimize the time that would have been required in creating an engineering-specific model.

The parametric algorithm also had surface analysis integrated in it to test for the planarity of each petal. Kanga-roo physics, an investigational physics engine, was used in combination with a visualisation script to envision, tensile, compressive forces and areas of maxi-mum stress. Having this integrated at the early stage of design also improved the collaboration between the structur-al and design teams.Grasshopper was used at all levels of the project. Apart from its use in form derivation and structural design, the algorithm facilitated the co-ordination with other external documentation tools. 3D information was translated into Autodesk Revit which was in turn used to generate documentation sheets. The grasshopper script, also automati-cally unrolled the surfaces and provid-ed a spreadsheet with information on surface curvatures.

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TAIPEI NANGANG OFFICE TOWER

On the left is a 18 storey tower designed by the AEDAS. It has the inspiration from river pebbles. The concept was developed using a flow of parametric tools, such as Rhino, Rhino plug ins, grasshopper and Revit, to ensure precise information delivery. The representation of the design process was evolved from the use of manual sketches to virtual 2D and 3D images. The vertical green wall facade can be considered as the characteristic of the building, which was designed at the period of creating the initial sketches of river pebbles. The surface was rationalized using Rhino panelling tools to create the facade panels.

The benefits of using computation design can be seen from this project clearly. By using the grasshopper, the information ob-tained from the building geometry can be associated very well. Hence, it is much more effective and convenient to re-evaluate the design outcome when the design of the mass was going through a change. In addition, the ability of evaluating in grass-hopper is very important for the future design outcome.