chuhan yao 683814 parta

STUDIO AIRJOURNAL2016, SEMESTER 1, ALEX HOLLANDCHUHAN YAO(ALEX)

3 CONCEPTUALISATION

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Part A. Conceptualisation 4

A.1. Design Futuring 6

A.2. Computation 9

A.3. Composition/Generation 13

A.4. Conclusion 15

A.5. Outcome 16

A.6. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES 17

REFERENCE 19

FIGURE 1: PERSONAL PHOTOCONCEPTUALISATION 4

I am Alex Yao, a student of the University of Melbourne from China. I am currently a Bachelor of Environment student majoring in Architecture.

I think architecture is an expression of art. Designing architecture shares a similar process with designing movies, music, etc. So like other artforms, what you observe and what you experience in your life are all going to become a part of your design concepts because, in my opinion, one’s design is one’s understanding and illustration of their life.

I did a lot of research about architecture masters such as Le Cobusier, Alvaro Siza and Tadao Ando. I am deeply fascinated by Japanese architecture design and industrial design. I think Japanese people are really good at observing every detail in the most ordinary daily life and turn them into their design. Their design are simple and practical, but still conveys an unique aesthetic thoery.

In terms of digital designing tools, I have general knowledge of AutoCAD. I managed Rhinoceros well and used it for most of my designs. I also have used Sketchup to quickly sketch out my initial design concept. I like to make physical prototype for my design because I think prototyping is the best way to refine my design. But now with the help of Rhinoceros in digital fabrication, I prototype with laser-cutted material.

INTRODUCTION

FIGURE 2: DDF PROJECT DESIGN BACK SHOT

FIGURE 2: DDF PROJECT DESIGN SIDE SHOT

5 CONCEPTUALISATION

This is my group design in a design project called ‘Second Skin’ for the subject Digital Design and Fabrication. The project aims at protecting people’s personal space with a second skin. The overall concept comes from my thinking of the analogy of human spine skeletons that extends. I personally think skeleton is an amazing artwork and greatly designed to support up our body.

In terms of fabrication we used Rhinoceros to laser-cut all materials and bolt them together with a LED light We also connected the top of each panel with a strip so when you think your personal space is offended, you can raise up the panels.

PART A. CONCEPTUALISATION

CONCEPTUALISATION 5

PART A.1 DESIGN FUTURING

As the reading Design Futuring suggests, it is currently a critical time for people to make a change. Damage from human impact to the earth is overwhelming and we are exploiting resources far faster than nature recovering from it. This phenomemon is known as ‘defuturing’1.So in terms of design futuring, there are two aspects that I want to talk about. The first one is our design approach to sustainablity, and the other one is how to ensure sustainablilty while developing economics and the contradiction between them.

For the aspect of design approach towards sustainability, I would like to take Bamboo Villa as an example. This villa designed by C&C DESIGN CO., LTD., shows a perfect way of how human can live with nature2. This Bamboo Villa locates in Nan Kun Mountain, deep in the embrace of Nature. Its design principle shows respect to nature, namely ‘come from nature and return to nature’. They tend not to change the local natural geography, such as grassland, streams, etc. In terms of materiality, they avoid using man-made materials such as concrete, and try to use more natural materials and manage to keep them to the most original form. As the name suggests, this villa uses bamboo for the most structural component and parts of decoration. Bamboo behaves well in load-bearing and it is ready to use just after some simple treatments. In terms of design, they absorb inspiration from local culture and local craftsman to make the building more blend into the local atmosphere.

The reason why I choose this design as an example of sustainability is that I think it avoids using most man-made materials that we normally use and did least damage to the environement and make the best outcome from it. Another the problem is that not enough people’s awareness were raised to actually take action to stick to sustainable life. So I think besides thinking about sustainable solutions and technologies, it is also important to propagandize the idea of sustainability to people. This design shows respect to the nature so when people appeciate this building they would also notice the importance of nature and do less harm to it.

FIGURE 5: SIDE DOORWAY OF BAMBOO VILLA

FIGURE 6: BALCONY OF BAMBOO VILLA

Footnote:1. Fry, Tony, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (New York, NY: Berg Publishers, 2008) 2. ‘Bamboo Villa: Live in the Nature / C&C DESIGN’ (ArchDaily, 2016) <http://www.archdaily.com/779932/bamboo-villa-live-in-the-nature-c-and-c-design> [accessed 18 March 2016]

6 CONCEPTUALISATION

BAMBOO VILLA, LONGMEN, GUANGDONG, CHINA

FIGURE 7: BALCONY OF BAMBOO VILLA HERO SHOT

CONCEPTUALISATION 6

In my opinion, current mode of economic development is one of the decisive factor that influence our path towards sustainability. Basically, our development still partly depends on sacrifacing natural materials and discharge pollution. If we want to curb environmental polution, we have to pay money for that. So generally speaking, economic and sustainability are contradicted with each other. An example of Chinese real estate can explain the relationship. Vanke Group is the largest property developer. They designed Vanke City Garden in major cities across China, with a similar design style. Vanke City Garden in every city is a housing estate with exactly same design for every individual building inside1. This kind of design shows a very clear purpose of archiving the most commercial benefit. Also, due to large population in China, the building is designed in high density. So, a large amount of people’s daily waste and pollutions are centralized and they are unsustainability disposed because sustainably dispose them would require a large amount of money and most property management company would not do that. So these large property companies still need a big shift towards sustainability. But actually recently Vanke has taken social responsibility into consideration in their develpoment report. But there are still more groups and companies needing to make the shift towards sustainability rather than only care about own economic growth.

FIGURE 8: VANKE CITY GARDEN IN CHANGSHA, CHINA

FIGURE 9: VANKE CITY GARDEN IN CHENGDU, CHINA

PART A.1 DESIGN FUTURING

7 CONCEPTUALISATION

VANKE CITY GARDEN, CHANG SHA, CHINA

CONCEPTUALISATION 8

PART A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION

While the state of defuturing continue to get worse, the demand of effective design and technologies draw more and more people’s attention. At this stage, a computer-aided work mode is largely adapted by people, which can be defined as ‘Human-Computer symbiosis’. And in my opinion, computer is not just a tool anymore. It interact with people to create a better outcome that human can never archieve it alone. Computer contributes in every aspect in design such as conceptualization, fabrication, etc. So computer-human cooperation no longer just create an addition effect, it is more of a multiplication.

An example of Vertebrae Staircase designed by Andrew Lee McConnel can vividly illustrate how design computation add to our design1. The idea generated from a single vertebrae and came into being by exploring its shape and form. Exploring the shape by computer is the process how computer helps. With certain command and the computer can transfer an existing form into completely something else with its algorithm, which might trigger designer’s inspration.. This kind of transformation and exploration cannot be done without computer’s aid. Also, 3D rendered model enable designer to observe every detail of the model and freely change component at any time. This saves time of prototyping for multiple times. So in my opinion, design computation succeeds in leading our technology to a new different level.

FIGURE 11. VERTEBRAE STAIRCASE BOTTOM CHORD

FOOTNOTE:1. Hunter, ‘Vertebrae Staircase - Andrew Lee McConnell - Biomimetic Architecture’, Biomimetic-Architecture (Biomimetic-Architecture, 2013) <http://www.biomimetic-architecture.com/2013/vertebrae-staircase-andrew-lee-mcconnell/> [accessed 18 March 2016].

9 CONCEPTUALISATION

VERTEBRAE STAIRCASE

FIGURE 12. VERTEBRAE STAIRCASE PESPECTIVE VIEW

CONCEPTUALISATION 10

PART A.2 DESIGN COMPUTATION

Another very interesting example is the Beijing National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube1. The designing process, construction process, and functioning process are all computer-based. The building used ETFE clad structure with precisely calculated size of every single ETFE panel. The temperture, pressure conditions of each single are all under surveillance of a computer 24-7. Also, wind, temperture, moisture condition of every facilities are strictly monitored to ensure maximum efficiency and functionality. The building also sets a few records in architecture, such as using the most different shapes of steel structure, and the first architecture using ETFE as main surface material in China. Again, all these operations cannot be done without computer. So computation already become a part of design and a important factor during the design process.

FIGURE 13. WATER CUBE IN DAYLIGHT

FOOTNOTE:1. ‘About Us’, Water Cube, 2010 <http://www.water-cube.com/cn/about/intro/index.html> [accessed 18 March 2016].

11 CONCEPTUALISATION

FIGURE 14. WATER CUBE IN THE NIGHT

THE WATER CUBE, BEIJING, CHINA


PART A.3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION

As stated in A.2, design computation is now deeply involved in our degin process. It speeds up the design process, and also changes the procedure and outcome of our design. It also enable us to use a new way of generation with the help of computer. After a single component is designed, computer can help to generate different forms. However, we still need to critically think about the design process comparing to traditional composisiton deisgn. In this chapter I will talk about the pros and cons using computation design comparing with the traditionoal composistion architectral design.

Refering to a traditional architectural exmaple of Pacific House in Hong Kong, China, which is deisgned and built in 1960s, the design procedure and structure is different from modern computation design1. Basically, Chaokang Zhang, the designer of the Pacific House, kept most of his work on papers. He mapped out his concept and the ideal structure to be used for the building, and then considered and discussed about the best way to combine them together. Also, after the concept was visualized, the form of the building was altered considering about the sunlight penetration, size of the window and structural loadbearing quality. He still managed to make the building look ideal under the guarantee of structural performance2. So in conclusion, traditional composition requires more of arcitects thinking and architects’ communication with structural engineer and fabrication workers, and the design outcome is more of a cooperation between people. The design process is relatively longer and requires more material inputs because there are more alternation in construction and prototyping is one of the most effectice way to test out their design.

FIGURE 15: PACIFIC HOUSE, HONGKONG, CHINA

FOOTNOTE:1. FirmStudio, ‘Man Hing Hong’, 2016 <http://www.mhh.com.hk/eng/retail-pacific-house.php> [accessed 18 March 2016]2. Zhang, Fuhe, ed., Study and Preservation of Chinese Modern Architecture, 5th edn (China: Qinghwa University Publisher)


PART A.3 COMPOSITION/GENERATION

Computation design has a different character. Computation design is more about giving the architecture life. By algorithm and scripting the architecture is more flexible and dynamic in shape. Also, it does not require as much of professional knoeledge in different field. With your clear design concept, computer can finish most calculation in terms of structure and materiality1. The following example can perfectly illustrate opinion. Hexigloo is designed by Tudor Cosmatu, Irina Bogdan, Andrei Raducanu, and some guests and students2. They explored about the parametric flow and the pavilion turned out to be dynamic. Also, this building is a great example of the design generation. From the structure we can see it used hexagon as a single panel and then generated different forms of hexagon as well as the way panels stack with each other. This perfectly shows that generation as a newly developed computer-aided design form become popular recently.

But with all the benefits brought by computation, we still need to critically analyze computation. Are we still generating design by ourselves? Is computer just helping us to design or is computer actually designing for us? I do not want to argue about the benefit of deisgn computation, but when we design we should not rely on computer generation for everything -- good to have computer aids but try not to let it take over.

FIGURE 16. HEXIGLOO PAVILION PERPECTIVE VIEW

FOOTNOTE:1. Ganea, Simona, ‘Hexigloo – Pavilion in Bucharest’, Design And Concept (Home Decorating Trends - Homedit, 2011) <http://www.homedit.com/hexigloo-pavilion-in-bucharest/> [accessed 18 March 2016]


PART A.4 CONCLUSION

Recently, with the technology developing rapidly, it has already become a trend that computer-aided design is going to become dominant design method. Design computation would be an effective tool against the current defuturing situation. We need to design more sustainable architecture with the newest technology which would give us a chance to fight against defuturing. Design computation involves different softwares and different tools. Sometimes it is not even just about computer. Some newly developed systems and appliance are also from computation systematic thinking. Design computation changes our design procedure entirely, from conceptualization, calculation to fabrication. What’s more, computation changes our way of architectural composition and generation, enabling us to explore different forms and structure by just designing a single component and let computer to generate for us. Design computation is the shift that leads us into a new era, enabling our development to transform into sustainable path. So it is benefical for entire human race.


PART A5. DESIGN OUTCOME

Generally, during the three weeks I learnt about the application of design computation, namely grasshopper skills and I did algorithm sketches. But the learning outcome is far beyond that. I think the algorithm sketch exercise enhances my design thinking. The algorithm exercise doe not only refer to computer software exercises. It also refers to algorithm exercises in a broader scale. For example, the Block’hood game is good for algorithm thinking. In the game we use our existing material and resource to build building, namely use input to exchange a solid property as an output. So we use materials to create protection and shelter for us, which can improve our living standard and become more useful. Algorithm skills can be really good for us to use and create a much better and more fancy outcome for us. But I also think we should not abuse using it. algorithm skill cannot take place of our design thinking. So still cooperative with traditional composition method and try to create something more than anything you can create with only a single method.


PART A6. APPENDIX - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES



REFERENCE:‘ABOUT US’, WATER CUBE, 2010 <HTTP://WWW.WATER-CUBE.COM/CN/ABOUT/INTRO/INDEX.HTML> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

‘BAMBOO VILLA: LIVE IN THE NATURE / C&C DESIGN’ (ARCHDAILY, 2016) <HTTP://WWW.ARCHDAILY.COM/779932/

BAMBOO-VILLA-LIVE-IN-THE-NATURE-C-AND-C-DESIGN> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

CHINA VANKE CO. LTD., ‘VANKE GROUP’, VANKE WAN KE <HTTP://WWW.VANKE.COM/CITIZENSHIP.ASPX?TYPE=18> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

FIRMSTUDIO, ‘MAN HING HONG’, 2016 <HTTP://WWW.MHH.COM.HK/ENG/RETAIL-PACIFIC-HOUSE.PHP> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

FRY, TONY, DESIGN FUTURING: SUSTAINABILITY, ETHICS AND NEW PRACTICE (NEW YORK, NY: BERG PUBLISHERS, 2008)

GANEA, SIMONA, ‘HEXIGLOO – PAVILION IN BUCHAREST’, DESIGN AND CONCEPT (HOME DECORATING TRENDS - HOMEDIT, 2011) <HTTP://WWW.HOMEDIT.COM/HEXIGLOO-PAVILION-IN-BUCHAREST/> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

HUNTER, ‘VERTEBRAE STAIRCASE - ANDREW LEE MCCONNELL - BIOMIMETIC ARCHITECTURE’, BIOMIMETIC-ARCHITECTURE (BIOMIMETIC-ARCHITECTURE, 2013) <HTTP://WWW.BIOMIMETIC-ARCHITECTURE.COM/2013/VERTEBRAE-STAIRCASE-ANDREW-LEE-MCCONNELL/> [ACCESSED 18 MARCH 2016]

LERNER, J., 2014. MAKING DEMOCRACY FUN: HOW GAME DESIGN CAN EMPOWER CITIZENS AND TRANSFORM POLITICS, P.121, 135 - 147

PETERS, BRADY, AND XAVIER DE KESTELIER, COMPUTATION WORKS: THE BUILDING OF ALGORITHMIC THOUGHT AD (UNITED STATES: JOHN WILEY & SONS, 2013)ZHANG, FUHE, ED., STUDY AND PRESERVATION OF CHINESE MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 5TH EDN (CHINA: QINGHWA UNIVERSITY PUBLISHER)

chuhan yao 683814 parta

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