Assignment 6: Studio Project Interior Rendering

Reiser + Umemoto Powerpoint Presentation

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy93YWKKeGWgxeaXKKKDFWLUxMf-S7ZIQMf_IZxG5XPbXiFfvdP5zkcga8EpHk8M-sbIXdnOTE7-kg747Rbd-1E9xZWlJDopyZyv5xQSaNaQm1VpkSfPai6NUDQ_w3xt1tFgTwcZLpw7E/s1600-h/O-14.jpg

Given by Allie Shabouk + Jazmin Smith + Karrah Vila on March 31st

Assignment 5 : Fabrication

Assignment 4 - Interior Cube Transformations

Reading 4: Blob Tectonics, or why Tectonics is square and Topology is groovy

In earlier times, there was only one formal construction for buildings. Buildings were structured upright, as humans were. Also, Tectonics only explored the possibly construction methods with the generally accepted ideas of architecture. Tectonics never took into account Blobs, or a more fluid and plastic-y architectural style. According to the the article, 'Blobs suggest alternative strategies of structural organization and construction that provide intricate and complex new ways of relating the general(universal ideals) to the particular(localized techniques of construction, and spacial techniques associated with use and organization).'

Blobs cannot be classified according to a general type, because no two blobs are the same. 'The form and organization of any given blob is contextually intensive and therefor dependent on exigent conditions for internal organization'. Blobs have no discrete envelope, they are very fluid, and like fluids, they have no internally regulated shape; they depend on contextual constraints or containment for their form.

According to the article, Blob construction is not very developed in contemporary architecture culture; most projects that use blob tectonics use it mostly for the roof of a building. Some examples of this is in Renzo Piano's California's Academy of Science and in Reiser + Umemoto's Yokohama Port Terminal proposal. These projects treat the roof structure as a volume that can be packed with program. Conventionally, there would be an average roof height and span that could be used for the entire structure.

In blob tectonics, the specificity of program is respected, and the roof surface drapes across the program like a 'wet cloth'. This creates a more connected building, and is useful for that purpose. However, is that being untrue to architecture? If I put a cloth over a bunch of blocks, I'm just disguising the blocks. If the technology is there, which it obviously is, architects should be designing entire buildings with this blob technology.

Assignment 3

Reading 2 ; Techniques and Technology

Technologies are something that must always grow and change. The article defines 'Technological Practice' as something that incorporates feedback, destabilizes, is process-driven, and is interdisciplinary. It's also something that incorporates perpetual feedback from the environment into the design process, rather than beginning with a preconceived design and applying it to a context. The article portrays technology as useful only when it's not being outdated. If technology is something that gets stuck in a rut, then it's losing what makes it useful. Technologies only gain meaning in their application. To be effective, new technologies require the invention of original techniques - methods that allow individuals to use technologies in specific contexts, to accomplish complex or difficult tasks. Efficiency is really important in a digital process, in terms of architecture, but when the program is only being used for efficiency of production, then eventually something will come along to replace it. The article mentions that in most conventional offices, younger architects simply use CAD to implement the hand-sketched idea of a senior designer. The software merely makes the task more efficient.

In the firm I work in, the only architectural digital technology that we use are: AutoCAD and 3dsMax with V-ray. Our designs are plugged into these technologies to create an image to show the client, or the contractor. There is no designing within the program itself. This directly correlates to the types of projects that the firm acquires; the projects that our firm gets hired for are very small and not ground-breaking. While doing small alterations to existing buildings is important work, and someone has to do it, my firm primarily does work on residential houses, and additions to those houses. I feel that the types of technology, and the uses that a specific firm makes out of those technologies, are directly associate with the kinds of work that the firm does, and is known for. If a firm doesn't show the public that it changes with the times, than the public that is looking for change will not hire that architect. However, this does not mean that there isn't work to be done that isn't groundbreaking and new. Not everyone wants architecture to look like it's a waterfall, and not everyone wants a building to be totally new and fantastic. There are those people who are turned off by these new styles of architecture, and there must be architects in the world for those people, who want to stay with the traditional and non-digital age architecture.