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.