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.

Reading 3

The designer initially identifies the elements of his or her subjective ideas. These elements are then translated into a generative code using genetic algorithms, which allow for the management of increasing complexity as well as the application of the code to various design solutions. Natural evolution is taken as the methodological model, with steps toward optimal form-making guided by the designer as she or he manages the generative design process. The designer works interactively with the program.

What this reading is saying is that architects are able to implement different digital aides in designing; Rhino, Maya, Soft Image, GENR8, . In order to begin the design process, the designer enters the currently known requirements, as well as his or her ideas about the design problem, into the program by creating a new constraint structure to restrict the space of possibilities for form growth. The random settings and the degree of tolerances left by the designer allow for necessary freedom within the generative process, resulting in unpredictable or unforseen results.

This is parametric design, which is basically a mathematical formula that requires values to be substituted for a few parameters in order to generate variation from within a grouping of entities. Parametric entities carry their attributes and properties within their symbolic representations. This then allows them to be manipulated and transformed in relation to these properties.

A building is similar to a human; there is a central working core of a building and human, there is a skeleton, there is skin and there are major functions. Just like a human, a building is subject to different parameters. Parametric design treats the project as a living breathing entity, that keeps growing and changing within the parameters; one key parameter for any project is Time. As time passes, a project must change. The world changes over time, and any project that designed will constantly be effected by these changes. Any digital software must take into consideration these changes, and deal with them.

Reading 1

What’s the difference between drawings by hand and drawings done on the computer? Drawings by hand, while outdated and time consuming, show a level of work and commitment that is easily overshadowed by computer-aided design. Clients will want to see more return for their money, and by taking advantage of the available technology, architects and designers can produce more for the same amount of work. “ A machine could procreate forms that respond to many hereto un-manageable dynamics. It would present alternatives of form possibly not visualized or not visualizable by the human designer.” (D’Arcy Thompson)

The introduction of technologies, or Information Age, is challenging not only the way we do architecture, but also how we manufacture and construct our buildings. Manufacturing advancements already achieved in automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding industries lend themselves to the field of architecture, and open up new dimensions for architectural design. “Architecture is recasting itself, becoming in part an experimental investigation of topological geometries, partly a computational orchestration of robotic material production and partly a generative, kinematic sculpting of space.” (Peter Zeliner, Hybrid Space)

Over the past few years, computer aids for design have been getting widespread use; CAD, CAM, Rhino, and Maya are only a few of the programs that architects use to expedite the design to construction process. They open up new opportunities by allowing production and construction of very complex forms that were, until recently, very difficult and expensive to design, produce and assemble using traditional construction technologies. “The contemporary digital architectures find their legitimization in their exploration of the latest technological advances, new digital means of conception and production, and corresponding aesthetic of complex, curvilinear surfaces. As a manifestation of new information driven-processes that are transforming cultures, societies and economies on a global scale, they are seen as a logical and inevitable product of the digital zeitgeist.”

These digital advancements open up new territories for conceptual, formal and tectonic exploration through digital morphogenesis, or form origination and transformation. These computational concepts include topological geometries, isomorphic polysurfaces, motion kinematics and dynamics, keyshape animation, parametric design, genetic algorithms, and performance. Modern architecture is characterized by a curving, always moving design. The introduction of digital modeling software into architectural design provided a departure from the Euclidean geometry of discrete volumes represented in Cartesian space and made possible the present use of "topological" geometry of continuous curves and surfaces that feature prominently in contemporary architecture.

Assignment 1

Reiser + Umemoto

By Allie Shabouk + Karrah Vila + Jazmin Smith

Design

One thing that is strikingly obvious about Reiser + Umemoto’s work is that it is unique. According to RUR, their work fits into one of two architectural worlds: one that is committed to investigation, enquiry and craft. They use these three principles to create their own tradition, as opposed to following the obvious tradition of the first world in which they do not belong. RUR suggest that they support the natural reality of architecture and express its deepest resources, creating architecture with its own version of “alterity”, or “otherness.”

“Their work adumbrates figures which come out of a shadowy existence and into a light not yet disturbed by reflection. The structures of their buildings refer to a melancholy, somber and yet deep, ethical awareness which suggests that architecture of the future will not emerge gradually from a contemporary technique, but will burst forth suddenly, fully dressed in its ever-melancholic armour” (Benjamin page 7).

The design process is similar to others’, that of schematic concept, testing, and development through plan, section and elevation. The function of the building and context are very important to Reiser + Umemoto. It has been said that their designs seem to be derived from the surrounding nature, with topology most affecting the design. Function plays a key role in how nature affects the design. The programmatic elements are heavily tested. RUR note that the design must be worked from a string of problems. One problem is that of formalism when it becomes indifferent to function. Time is also a problem when not considered to be linked to the project in any way.

The Shenzhen International Airport exemplifies the idea that even though we live in a technological world, it is not required or should not be encouraged everywhere. This airport serves its inhabitants according to their needs; it humanizes technology. There are spaces inside that are diverse but globally connected. With focus on structure, design and technology, RUR transforms the word “architecture."

Technology

In regard to practice it is not just the specific use made of technological innovations that is fundamental. It is rather that technology has provided the models in terms of which these innovations are to be understood, and, just as significantly, the computer has become a device that is inseparable from the design process itself. The developments of complex surfaces, the shifts in how topology operates have become the work of animation and computer generation.

The firm does all their drawings digitally, rendering buildings in their future sites, and creating 3-d models to do digital tests upon. Reiser + Umemoto use technology that is available to everyone, but they create new and innovative ways to use this technology. Their June 2008 Vector Wall, on display in the MOMA, used the laser cutter, but was imagined through the multidirectional patterning that the machine was capable of. Through this approach to fabrication, a standard material may transcend its dimensions not only in the x and y axes but also in the z axis, increasing its ability to accommodate environmental variables, and therefore increasing the variety of its uses.

RUR uses a new geodetic system in their work. The property of a geodetic system is to carry all loads along the shortest possible paths, hence producing a criss-cross pattern supporting members. This results in a structure that is extremely light and strong. It might even be called redundant. If some portion of the structure is removed or lost, the stresses are simply rerouted to the remaining members. It acts as the structural tissue of the building that has the capability to change and adapt. This is utilized in their Cardiff Bay Opera House, Wales. The invention of computer-linked design and fabrication has made this system more and more technically feasible.

Construction

Though many of their projects are conceptual, construction plays a major part in the realization of Reiser and Umemoto’s designs. They believe in embracing the incomplete as a way to articulate the function of a design. According to Reiser + Umemoto, finalizing a building stops its function from fully being realized. Attempting to force so much control over architecture makes the building unable to explore the potentially infinite number of possibilities a building can take on.

In the Yokohama Port Terminal, for example, Reiser and Umemoto used shed construction to fully emphasize idea of incompletion. The design called for homogeneity and uniformity toward one goal. In order to realize this in their design, a structural system that also called for homogeneity and uniformity toward one goal was needed. Shed construction allowed for the correct repetition and focus and that was needed. The changes that Reiser and Umemoto made to the basic 19^th century shed design enabled them to communicate the need for incompletion.

As far as materiality goes, Reiser and Umemoto use steel framing as their main source of structure. Usually this is paired with a concrete core and glass paneling. However, they occasionally break from these materials for something more unconventional. One instance of this is when Reiser and Umemoto partnered with Ove Arup and Partners on an installation called the Flux Room. This room was used to measure the changing effects of magnetic fields and was built with magnets, copper wire, styrene, fishing line and drinking straws.

Works Cited

Benjamin, Andrew. Reiser + Umemoto: Recent Projects. Great Britain: Academy Editions, 1998.