Studio AirJournalCheung Fung Ian Chan

My name is Ian. I am currently in my third year of the Bachelor of Environments at the University of Melbourne. I was born in Hong Kong and I came to Australia when I was in year 10, so I could continue my studies at high school and improve my English skills. I enjoy all kinds of sports and also travelling with my family and friends.

Before I arrived in Australia, all my life was spent in cities. When I was told that I was going to spend my last two years of high school in a place called Townsville in Queens-land, that was the first time I got so lost in life. From a city of 7 million people to a town of 200 thousand people, I flew from Hong Kong to Townsville. I still remember that moment when I arrived at the Townville airport which there is only 2 escalators, I began to think, is there even an elevator in this airport? I was right, there is no elevator in the Townsville airport. And not just the airport, there is no metro in the town, the bus comes every 2 hours, every shop close down at 4 pm…. The 16 years old me was so shocked and disappointed, that I think I spent the first half year there almost alone, without really making conversation to anyone. But gradually I started to realize without all those things you see in cities, the distance of people actually become closer. People walk instead of waiting for the bus and on their way, they can meet a lot of new faces to talk to and probably make friends; the shops close down so early people have nowhere to go at night, which they always host house parties and spend time with their friends. Spend 2 years in this little town made me get to know that the relationship among people can be this close, that was an experience that a city life can never give you.

By studying architecture, my aim is to use it to enhance the relationship among people. Especially in cities such as Melbourne, sometimes we are just too busy to mind other people’s business, that we missed out a lot of new opportunities to meet new friends. Through architecture, I wish I could create environments that can shorten the distance between all of us.

Content IntroductionPage Content1 Introduction

2 Architecture contribute ideas as discourse and to the culture

7 Design Computation

12 Composition/Generation

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15

Conclusion

Learning Outcome

16 Algorithmic Sketchs

17 References

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Part B Research Field

Part C Detailed design

Architecture contribute Ideas as DiscourseAnd to the Culture

Bank of China Tower

Architect: L.M. Pei

Location: Hong Kong

Year: 1990

Architecture changes through time, along with the human history. From the stone houses in villages to the skyscrapers in cities, the designs and contruction methods have been modified according to the change of culture and technology of mankind. Architecture is not just structures but also a language spoken by architects, describing and recording the fascinating and exciting evolution process of mankind

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Fig 1. Bank of China Tower 2

As a typical Hong Konger, the Bank of China Tower was the first real architectural project I got contact with. In our eyes, this building can almost be used as the symbol of Hong Kong. Its unique outlook and the X pattern on the outside of it made it become a landmark in the central business district in Hong Kong . The tower was designed and completed in 1990 by the Chinese-American architect, L.M. Pei. Not only the Bank of China Tower is revolutionary in terms of height (it was the first building outside the United States to break 305 metres tall), but also in designs, discovering new ways of thinking. The structure was one of the first and famous buildings focus on structural expression, it was design as mutiple triangular prisms combined with each other, which looks like growng bamboo shoots, symbolising livelihood and properity. This way of designing was not very common back in the 90s of Hong Kong, so this project actually inspired some of the projects after it to use structural expressionism as their designing principle. Apart from the design principles, the Bank of China Tower also created a precedent of constructing without

Ideas & Culture

consulting the Fengshui masters, this was definitely a revolutionary and radical act in the architecture industury. As it is almost a rule that every big project has to have a consultation from the Fengshui master before construction to prevent bad luck. Especially when sharp edges and negative symbol X appear on Pei’s design [4]. Although Pei was criticised by these acts but he managed to over-come these difficulties at last and completed the project. There-fore the Bank of China Tower project made a precedent of

of not following the superstitious belief that is so solid in the minds of the traditional Chinese people. Without the traditional beliefs, the future possibilties of architectures design can be much wider than before (the radical design of this project is what made it become a landmark). The tower continue to serve as the headquarter of the Bank of China, porviding a huge load of banking services. The tower made crucial contribution to strengthen the central business

The Thread

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FIg 2. Bank of China TowerFIg 3. diagram showing triangular prisms symbolize bamboo shoots4. Philip Browing, Architecture of L.M. Pei (New York: Kensington Book, 2008),p50

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The Thread is a project led by a group of students using drones to create a structure. These drones carry threads and move by themselves to create stucture that it is extremely difficult to be done by hand.. What the drones do show that architecture, engineering can be accomplished at the same time. Although the drones cannot do the design part of the structure, It still means that these two industries might have to be redefined in the future.

Even though the structure built in the project Thread was only done by threads, the capability of the complexity level reached by the drones can already be observed. It is a level that cannot be reached by bare human hands. However, this project does not only show us that engineering could be replaced by drones, it also show us that the design ideas of the architects will not be restricted by technology, as the drones might be able to complete a more complicated construction work level as we can now

More or less, we cannot predict the future, it remains unknown. But there is one thing that is certain, which is as the more the technogy is developed, the less restriction will be on the archi-tects design ideas.

ComputationDesign

Computers were invented in the 20th century, this invention surely had brought a great change to a lot of industries in the world, including architecture. Designers and architects have used computer to aid their design work for decades. I agree with Peters [8] , that computation is redefining the architecture industry. When design com-putation become more and more popular, 3D model can be done on computers in-stead of making physical models. These 3D models can even be used to simulate the building’s performace before it is even built. Also, design works can be done faster, accelerating the working progress of the whole project.

Innovative design that has never been done can now be accomplished on the computer by giving architects abilities to due with complex problems, opening up a lot of opportunities for unique and revolutionary building designs

Give opportunities to designsInnovative[5]

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Fig 5 Drones making a structure with stingsFig 6 Layout of the structure the drones are constructing7. Aerial robot thread construction (London: AA School of Architecture, 2013) < http://www.kokkugia.com/AADRL-aerial-robot-thread-construction> [accessed 17 march 2016]

8. Peters, Brady, ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15

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CCTV Headquarters

Architect: Rem Koolhaas & Ole Scheeren

Location: Beijing, China

Year: 2012

The CCTV Headquarters is not like any other ordinary towers. The structure is a loof of six horizontal and a vertical section, which together they form an irregualr grid at the front of the building with an open centre in the middle. This building is in such a radicial shape and it is extremely difficult to construct. Which the archi-tect himself, Rem Koolhaas, describe this buidling as something that can never be concieved by the Chinese nor construction by the Europeans [10].

Computation allows the architects to develope such a complex building form, designing computation surely made a great contribution in the process. Unlike making a physical model, producing a 3D model on the computer of this shape does not require a lot of effort and it saves them a lot of time, and even get a better outcome. Design computation can also provide aid in the simulation of extreme structure of this sort, to simulate whether the build would stand if it is built in this form. After numerous computer simulations and tests, the architects and engineers realised they had to build the tower in three parts first then combine it together [11].

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Fig 9 Facade view of the CCTV Tower10. Fraioli, Paul, “The Invention and Reinvention of the City: An Interview with Rem Koolhaas”, Journal of International Affairs (Oxford, Architectural, 2009)11. Paul Goldberger, “Forbidden Cities: Beijing’s great new architecture is a mixed blessing for the city”. (The New Yorker, 2010)

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Innovation Tower

Architect: Zaha Hadid

Location: Hong Kong

Year: 2013

The Innovation Tower is one of the building located inside the Hong Kong Polytechic University, Hong Kong. The theme of the project was to design a structure that stands as a beacon structure in order to symbolise the development of the design industry in Hong Kong. What hadid did was to completely destroy the traditional form of a tower and built a fluid structure instead.

The parametric structure of this tower was even more challenging and complicated to be concieved and constructed. Only with design computation we can produce a precise drawing and 3D model for the tower layout. And it is almost an immpossible or extremely difficult task to achieve if it was to be done through a physical model [10].

The more complicated and irregular the structure shape is, the more design computation can show its capability in the design and construction process. Computation gives the architects the ability to due with complex problems.

10. Wong, Perry, “The innovative architecture of Zaha Hadid”, (Comlumnbia, Architectural, 2008)Fig 11 The innovation Tower

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Composition/Generation

There was once we do not have computers, that all designs were to be hand drawn. At that time, architects have to decide all the details of their designs. And all that changed when design computering appeared

From the start of this profession, architects have been designing their projects thoroughly. They have to decide every single lines and form of the structure. Using a simple idea as the design principle, architectures starts to develop every details of the structure, deciding how it is going to be when it is built. It was very time consuming, and that is what we call composition architecture.

After the invention of computer and a variety of design comput-ing application followed by it, those details design become

unneccessary. As we only need to enter algorithms (methods or techiques to tell the computer to do something) and pa-rameters to generate a whole build with the similar patterns [14]. The two images on this page shows perfect examples of how design computation can aid the architects in the design process, saving a lot of efforts. Architects no longer have to spend time to decide every line or details of the building form. This is called the generation of the architectural design process.

Although it saves a lot of efforts which will reduce their operational cost, but I prefer composition architecture rather than generation. Deciding every details of the building does cost a lot of time, but it is as you do it, you create a unique part of the structure. Because that part is not generated by algorithms, but by your unique self. The outcome of the composition architecture may be not as neat as the gneration architecture, but each part of it is unique, this is one of the factors which produce great architecture masterpieces.

However, with no doubt the technology is going to improve in the future. And it may even overcome the shortcomings I mentioned above. But for now, I still belief that architects should decide every detai of their project instead of just enter algorithms and generate everything out.

Photo aboveDalian International Conference Centre

Photo on the rightGalaxy SOHO

Fig 12 Dalian International Conference CentreFig 13 Galaxy SOHO14. Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil, eds (1999). The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (London: MIT Press), pp. 11, 12

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ConclusionAfter all the discussion in part A, I might change my design approach a little bit. I am going to stick with the theme of creating a place or an environment that can shorten the distance between people, but I will add nature and design computation into my ap-proach. Which will become: Making good use of computation techniques to create an environment or a structure to shorten the distance among people and the nature. This approach is significant as I believe that we can only make this world a better place if we communicate and get closer to each other. Nothing can be achieved alone. And I think improving the relationship among people is one of the action that everyone can be ben-efit from it.

Learning OutcomesIn the past few weeks I have learnt a lot during lectures and studios, espe-cially skills on Rhino and grasshopper. I thought I could do anything and any shape in Rhino and CAD but I was wrong. Grasshopper can do much more complicated shapes and structures, and those forms are what we can-not do on CAD obviously, or even rhino. I believe getting to learn to use such a powerful program can allow me to have the ability to work on more complicated forms, giving me much more opportunities to explore on new designs that I would not have conceived before, just as I discuss in A2. However I feel like I am not familiar with grasshopper at all so I will defi-nitely have to watch the tutorials over and over again in order to master the grasshopper skills. If I had the grasshopper skills before, I would not have had so many restrictions on my design thoughts in my past design projects.

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References

Philip Browing, Architecture of L.M. Pei (New York: Kensington Book, 2008),p50

Aerial robot thread construction (London: AA School of Architecture, 2013) < http://www.kokkugia.com/AADRL-aerial-robot-thread-construction> [accessed 17 march 2016]

Peters, Brady, ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15

Fraioli, Paul, “The Invention and Reinvention of the City: An Interview with Rem Koolhaas”, Journal of International Affairs (Oxford, Architectural, 2009)

Paul Goldberger, “Forbidden Cities: Beijing’s great new architecture is a mixed blessing for the city”. (The New Yorker, 2010)

Wong, Perry, “The innovative architecture of Zaha Hadid”, (Comlumnbia, Architectural, 2008)

Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil, eds (1999). The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sci-ences (London: MIT Press), pp. 11, 12

Algorithmic Sketches

The image on the right shows sketches i produced when I was using the grasshopper and loft function for the first time. I selected this image to be displayed as I think the

very first piece of sketch I did should be kept as a record, so I can know my learning process on Grasshopper.

This sketches strengthen my argument that architects or any person involved in the designing industy has less limitation in concieving their design ideas now. Models of these shapes can never be made by hand if there is no design computation. With the program, we can now build whatever models in our minds, we can create any shapes that might not have appeared on this planet before.

I also created a tunnel, and a crystal kind of structure. Through design computation, we can ignore the physics rules that exist in real life and intead focus on creating new shapes and forms. Once again, I can breakthrough the limitations of physical models and create a 3D model with just parametric lines. Through trying numerous times of creating this kind of inrregular shapes, we might gain inspiration of a new design someday.

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B1 Research Field

B1 Research Field

Tessellation & Discomfort

I had not made up my mind of my research field until I went on the site visit to Merri Creek, because all of these fields seem the same to me.Merri Creek is one of the only places that can be hardly decribed as wild na-ture that I went to in Melbourne. However, this place was not giving off a relax-ing or comfortable atmostphere which it suppose to be. Instead, I was feeling odd which I later on found out that it is due to the skyscrapers I saw above the treeline. I might be the only one getting this odd feeling since the people on site seems to be enjoying themselves in this so called “nature”. I cannot help myself but to realise how much human had modified nature, that even protected environments like this is still surrounded by the things we made. From there I decided to amplify that odd and discomfort feeling on site so that peo-ple will realise what we had done that had put the nature at risk.

In order to archieve that, making use of phobia seems to me a pretty good way to get people’s attention, or even a way to let them fear the damage that did to nature. Trypophobia, a type of phobia refering to the fear of clus-ters of small holes or bumps, is the type of phobia that most people are like to be disgusted by according to psychiatrist Carol Mathews, as it is based on the brain response that relates the shapes with danger (such holes might be holes made by insects or holes on wounds)1. To create such pattern and

shapes, tessellation will be ideal to be chosen as my research field, as it is to fill a plane using one or more geometric shapes without overlaps and gaps.

Voussoir Cloud

Precedent - Voussoir CloudThe precedent I studied was Voussoir Cloud, the latest installatio of IwamotoScott for the Southern California Institute of Architecture Gallery. The Voussoir Cloud is basically columns and vaults conisting of clusters of 3D petals made up of wood.

The IwamotoScott architects tried to create an warm atmostphere mainly by using wood as the constructing material to gain sensorial effects. Also they attempt to create a confutsion through the confluct of structure and materials.

There are a lot of fabricational concerns in the process of constructing this structure. Design computation played an extremely crucial role in producing such a complex structure like this, as it would be impossible to be build manually. The installation process is very complicated, since each petal within the design has a slightly different geometry. This is where rhino and grasshopper play the important part as computational script are developed using them to calculate the curve of each on of those petal.

The Voussoir Cloud project reveals many possibilities of design ideas in my head. The clusters of three dimensional petals created in the project inspired me of how to create clusters of holes on the site to make trypophobia. And how design computation can amplify the scale and desity of holes to create a more effective trypophobia. Other than that, the conflict created in the project is also what I would like to show in my project to represent the great difference between the modified environment and the nature2.

B2 Case Study 1.0

Changing the anchor points

Applying gravity and changing the stiffness

Changing the surface by twisting and bending

Changing points and exploration on free forms

Selection Criteria1. Intensive elements to create trypophobia2. Creates the sense of conflict 3. Can still be track back to project Voussoir Cloud

By playing with the geometries, forms and component options, this iteration performs its complexity in the arrang-ment. But what made it successful is not the arrangement but the conflict and chaotic atmostphere it gives off. Our design can definitely be created in this wayRatingVoussoir Cloud: 3/5Typophobia: 5/5Conflict: 2/5Overall: 3.5/5

Changing the anchor points allows quads to reach different levels. This does not just change the outlook of the design but also opens up a lot more possibilies for the quads functionRatingVoussoir Cloud: 4.5/5Typophobia: 3/5Conflict: 2.5/5Overall: 4.5/5

Adding gravity and stress to the mod-els pulls the design closer to reality. It can also be used to remind us that we cannot ignore the power of the natureRatingVoussoir Cloud: 34/5Typophobia: 3/5Conflict: 2.5/5Overall: 4/5

Through bending and other methods, changing the surface of the model opens up a lot of possibilities of how the design can be pushed further and done a lot of different waysRatingVoussoir Cloud: 2.5/5Typophobia: 5/5Conflict: 4.5/5Overall: 4/5

B3 Case Study 2.0

POLYP. LuxPOLYP. lux was the latest work by Softlab which was part of the Festival of Ideas. The structure is hung at the en-trance of St. Patrick’s Catholic School from the ceiling above. It is constructed by a gravity driven process, which is three pipes kind of forms of varieted length hanging downwards.The surface contains more then 1400 LEDs.

The design intent of the project is to slow down the visitors and encourage them to interact with the work 3

Reverse engineering Steps and Diagrams

Construct a model according to the original POLYP. lux project

Transform the model into mesh wash Grasshopper

Apply gravity using kangaroo physics

Adjust the boundaries of each quads using attractor points

Recreate the original surface form of the project through the use of boundary surface

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After mulitple attempts in reservse enginneering the POLYP. Lux project, there are fails are other outcomes that are comparatively successful. The two images at the bottom are fail outcomes as they do not process the curves and the pipes nor the original project at all. The pipes hang-ing down are stuck together that there are no space between them, making them look completely different from the origninal project.

The two images above shows the outcome after I applied gravity into the models using kangaroo physics. That had made the form of the iteration to change, showing more curves in the structure instead of just pointy ends. Although there are still a lot of room to make it look like the original project more but it is comparatively success comparing to the other ones I generated

B4 Technique: Developement

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Selection Criteria1. Intensive elements to create trypophobia/discomfort2. Creates the sense of conflict 3. Can be constructed by both artificial and natural materials

In my perpective, the intensity of clus-ters of small holes or bumps is still the main focus and the most crucial idea. As it is the most common element that cause discomfort and trypophobia in people’s mind. It can be emphasized through adjusting the value of the distance to make it look more intense. So this is probably the most valuable iteration RatingPOLYP. Lux: 3.5/5Typophobia: 5/5Conflict: 2.5/5Overall: 4.5/5

If our project aim is to create phobia, it can also be achieved through chaotic arrangement of patterns. The free-formed itera-tion done here can be used to represent the conflict between hu-man and the natureRatingPOLYP. Lux: 1/5Typophobia: 4/5Conflict: 5/5Overall: 3.5/5

If our project’s aim is to create instensive holes to cause typophobia, it does not have to be holes digging in but they can be quads coming out of the ground. It might bring inspirations to us later on in the design processRatingPOLYP. Lux:3/5Typophobia: 4.5/5Conflict: 2/5Overall: 4/5

B5 Techique: Prototypes

B5 Technique: Prototype

MaterialsWhen we are considering about material to use in our design, we did not just consider how they are going to be fixed together or assembled, but we also want to express our design themes throught the use of materials. Which is the conflict between the nature and the environment modified by human.

The material we chose to represent nature is plywood. As mentioned in B1, The Voussoir Cloud project also used wood as their construction material, which creates atmostphere to gain sensorial effects. As wood is a natural element, using it as one of the material of our design will help to give off the sense of nature. Using plywood has a lot of benefits, including its sta-bility and high impact resistance. Also, plywood does not really react to any chemicals so we do not have to worry that it will corrode over time. In order to create the sense of coflict, the other material we chose to use is iron. As we all know, iron is a material that cannot be used before manual processing. So iron will be a good choice used to represent that human has modififed the environment so much, regarding how our heavy indus-try convert a simple material into such huge and heavy object. The most commonly know chemical effect on iron is oxidation, which is also known as rusting, causing the exposure of the surface for corrosion. We chose iron to be our material not just to create a conflict, but also allow it to corrode so the structure does not stand forever, implicating artificial elements does not last forever; while the plywood that does not corrode stay standing

Our design prototype on site

Our chosen site on Merri Creek

Which is over the Merri Creek Trial

Our design is composed of iron frames supporting a plane of tessel-lation on top of it. It would be built over the Merri Creek Trial allowing people (jogglers most) to go under it.Giving them a trypophobia expe-riece when they see the tessellation plane. Although the Merri Creek is frequently flooded, but the site we had chosen is not on or near the creek, so flooding is not really our concern. However, the rainwater and other source of water source will affect our design. Such as raining over the structure will cause the iron frame to corrode from time to time, afffecting its structural performance from time to

time. Even though its design is meant to be corroding, but structural instabilty of the structure will endanger the safely of people going under it. Therefore, the structure has to be eventually removed when the corrosion start to cause serious effect on its structural performance. Material test is not possible due to our material choice

B6 Technique: ProposalThere was absolutely no idea in my mind of what we are going to do for our design. The day we arrived at this patch of greenery all i got was this odd feel-ing that nothing seems to be right, that is when you think that things do not fit. The reason that I believe to cause this weirdness is the buildings I saw above the treeline. What even made the site more odd to me is that people are inter-acting with the site without feeling what I was feeling. In my perspective, users of the site is using the site as an escape of their busy lives, which is actually a false sense of security as they did not espcape but instead still trapped in this environment modified by human. In our design, we aim to break this false sense and get people realise how we have put our world at risk by modifying it too much.

As I have mentioned in the previous parts, our design is a tessellational plane with numerous of cones hang down, supported by iron frames. We selected these two materials in order to create a conflict through using iron and ply-wood to represent modified human world and the nature respectively. Where plywood creates atmostphere to gain sensorial effects. As wood is a natural element, using it as one of the material of our design will help to give off the sense of nature. While iron used to represent that human has modififed the environment so much, regarding how our heavy industry convert a simple ma-terial into such huge ad heavy object. The chemical reaction of both materials was also a crucial factor that affect us when choosing materials to use, this was mentioned in B5. That iron, representing artificial product, will eventually fall; while plywood, representing nature, will stay standing.

For the design of our structure, it is a tessellational plane with numerous of cones hang down, supported by iron frames. The reason of having a tessel-lational plane (with intensive clusts of holes) is attract the users attention and also create a feeling of discomfort, so to let the users feel how we feel. Vegeta-tions will be grown inside the cones hanging down, they can only be observed outside the structure. When they walk through it, all they can see are the cones

wrapping around the vegetation, representing how human had build around nature. Just like how we build cities everywhere and just reserving small amount of green spaces. Reminding us if we keep building in this way, the green space will be gone sooner or later.

Anyways, there are still a lot of opportunities and limitations that will affect this design proposal later on when we go deeper. Identifying them earlier will defi-nitely inspire us to come up with more design ideas.

Opportunities:1. The site chosen is close to the local council, which will raise the awareness to environmental issues2. The site is close to schools, especially early learning centre, which the design can be usesd to educate the younger ones that human has changed the envi-ronment too much

Limitations:1. Building such huge structures with iron might already be a waste of resources, or even harming the nearby ecosystem2. The structure might scare off or even endanger animals by putting a “un-natural” structure on site3. It is difficult to constructure as the arrangement of the tessellational panel is extremely complicated

B7 Learning OutcomesAt the start we were told to ananlyse a precedent project and download its definition and modify it. I had no idea how it works at the moment I down-loaded it. I decided to explore on tessellation but I did not even know what to modify in order to change how it looks. So I gave up at some point and went to the other research fields such as patterning and panelling. But still at that time I still did not know how to create or even manipulate the definition to create now iterations. Later on I figured that I should not run away from the problem. So I went back to where I started off with, tessellation.

In the learning process I seeked a lot of help from my classmates and they are really helpful (sorry I did not come to you much). Step by step I figured out how to play with the definitions, then I start to create new stuff myself. However, there are still objectives that I cannot really achieve such as the reverse enginnering part. Where I failed to make the curves as smooth as the real project is, even though I think I got the points and the plane right...

As for the research fight, it definitely helped me understand a lot mmore about architecture and the role of design computation. Such as how materials affect on the architectural langauge; how some complex pattern can never be done manully.

B8 Appendix - Algorithmic Sketches

ReferencesCarol Mathews, Phobia: Trypopobia (London: Kenton Book, 2007),p87

Voussoir Cloud (USA: School of Architecture, 2016) http://www.archivenue.com/voussoir-cloud-by-iwamotoscott-with-buro-happold/[accessed 17 march 2016]

POLYP. Lux (London: St. Patrick, 2014) http://designplaygrounds.com/deviants/polyp-lux-by-softlab//[accessed 10 march 2014]

Peters, Brady, ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp. 08-15

Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keil, eds (1999). The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sci-ences (London: MIT Press), pp. 11, 12t

Part C Detailed Design

To construct a tensile structure with steel frames and inten-sively organised sisal ropes among the natural area to create the sense of conflict. Aiming to raise the people’s attension towards the human’s interference to the nature Our chosen site

Merri Creek

Merri Creek Trial

Site Map

Site Analysis

Open areas

Vegatation

The site we chose is an open area, which during the construction process the drones would not have to go around trees

Populated areas

Most of the visitors in this area of Merri Creek only use the trial which makes it the most populated area. So it is ideal for us to build the structure on top of the trial

Drones are very useful tools in the engineering process of architecture. The drones can carry ropes, threads and move by themselves to create stucture that it is extremely difficult to be done by hand.. What the drones do show is that architecture, engineering can be accom-plished at the same time. Although we still have to do the design process, the drones do contribute a lot in the construction process.

The capability of the complexity level reached by the drones is outstanding compare to those done by hand or other traditional building methods. It is a level that cannot be reached by bare human hands. Drones does not only tell us that they can complete the en-gineering process, it also show us that the design ideas of the architects will not be restricted by technology, which this advantage became very useful in our developing process

Building with drones

In this project, apart from the form finding of the steel frame, we have put drones in use at a large extent. Such as in constructing the intensive rope structure in order to create a typophobia effect. There are a lot of advantages in using drones to construct our design, as the level of complexity of the rope arrangements is so high that it is very difficult to be archieved by hand. Also, if we are using drones to construct the structure, the process can be simulated using grasshopper before actually going on site to construct it. In this way, a lot of failed attempts during the process can be avoided in the simulation process.

In terms of the design process, the ability of the drones and its simulation in grasshopper also allows us to breakthrough the technical barrier. Which we no longer have to think about how we should have our design that is able to be constructed in reality. Relating to our design, we can achieve a more complex and more intense rope structure to create a stronger sense of typophobia. We generated the rope structures using the flightpath we had in the grasshopper simulation.

In relation to our site, it is a relatively opened area which gives the drones less limitation during its construc-tion process. Final outcome - 3D model

The form of the frames in our design was found through the exploration of contouring in grasshopper. The rope structures are then built on top of it on the anchor points and ac-cording to the flightpath generated in the grasshopper simulations

Design development diagram

Flight paths

Turning points-anchor points

Black lines-form of the frames generated by contouring

Construction process - Form finding of the structural frame

The method we used to find the form of the steel frames was by contouring. Which we took the contours of our chosen site and used it to explored on the topic of contouring in grasshopper. Eventaully some of the more successful iteration was taken on board to form the steel frame in our design. The iteration shown in figure 3 to 6 were too complicated to be used to do further simulation of the rope structure so we took a step backward, and used simplier iterations (figure 1 and 2) as the form as our framework

Tessellation, being the other research field we explored on, the process did not go as smooth as the other one. As the exploration seems to reach dead ends re-garding to our design proposal and ideas. The forms, shapes and iterations generated during the process of exploration were not what we wanted compared to contouring. The iterations generated in contouring were not suitatable to create the tensile structure we planned for, allowing users to pass through under it. Although the explorations were not as useful, it still gave us inspiration on the development of the instensive rope structure. As tessellation is all about instensive arrangement of shapes. This became handy when we were to construct the rope structure in order to create the typophobia effect and the sense of discomfort

Fig 1&2 Steel frame form developed through contouring Fig 3 to 6 Contour lines taken under the process of lofting, extruding etc.

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Construction process - Grasshopper drones simulations

Steel frames - found by contouring

Red lines (flight path) - found the flight path simulation ac-cording to the predetermined marker points in grasshopper

Green lines (ropes) - ropes carried by the drones along its flight path to construct the rope structure

This is a fail simulation. Although the flight-path simulation does show that the drone flew through the frames but the ropes it was carrying has failed to be attached onto the anchor points on the frame

Turning points - they are the an-chor points for the ropes to be attached on, generated by the predetermined marker points

There had been a lot of failed simulations during this con-struction process. The images on the left which the white lines are used to represent the steel frame; green lines for the sisal ropes and red lines for the simulated flight path, demonstrated how the con-struction of the structure will fail in different circumtances. This includes having too many anchor points on the frame, which is the case shown in the last image on the left; the speed of the drones being set too fast that it flew away dur-ing the simulation causing the flightpath to go completely off the boundary. Or the speed of the drones being set too slow that it takes hours to finish the simulation, which in reality the batteries of the drones only last up to half an hour. WIth some many drawback factors, after numerous of attempts of simulations with adjusted speed and marker points, we came up with some successful simulations, constructions of our design

Construction process - Grasshopper drones simulationsAfter we numerous attempts of failure, we tried to avoid the reason causing the simlution to fail. Eventually we came up with simulations that were relatively more suc-cessful then the ones shown in the previous pages. The most crucial factor causing this big improvement is the gaps between the steel frames and the anchor points. We were too focused on making the frames exactly identical to the real contour, which turned out that the gaps between the frames were too narrow for the drones to fly through. As the most common drones used are approximately 1-2 meters wide and tall, the gaps be-tween the frames at start of our development were not wide enough for the drones to fly through, causing the simulations to fail. After we made the gaps among the frames sider, some of the simulations still fail. Later on we figured out this was caused by the predetermined mark-erpoints set in grasshopper. The points were too close to each other which even the drones could fly through them, the ropes would not attach. We then decreased the markerpoints and adjust the flight speed as well, eventually came up with more successful simulations shown here

Increasing the gaps between frames, ropes still could not be attached to anchor points in almost part of the structure

Increasing the gaps among anchor points and adjust the flight speed as well, ropes could then be attached to most of the an-chor points of the structure

Flight PathRope

Final constructed form

This was the final constructed form we took on board of our project. The ropes were attached successfully onto the anchor points after the adjustment we made on the grasshopper simulation. The frames are not identical to the actual contour but it was enough to represent it. The rope structure is intense so to create the typo-phobia effect

Ropes are connected to the anchor points on the frame, where these anchor points all have a one meter gap away from each other. giving the drones a minimum clearence to fly through and attach the ropes. Loops for one or two circles will be done here to ensure the rope does not comes off

Ropes carried by drones were attached onto the anchor points on the steel frame

Each end of the steel frames are put firmly into the ground for at least 3 meters, ensuring enough load bearing ability

Drones would speed up when they are not going through turn-ing points, this speed up the construction process. Allowing the process to be done in reality before the drone’s battery go flat

One drone will be used in the construction process. This was almost what we did in the grasshopper simulation

Prototype

This was our design protoype, showing the how the steel frames were put up on the site

However the rope were not constructed in the way of how our simulation was done. As there were no anchor points attached on the frames so the ropes were just simpily wrapping around the frame

Prototype and detailed anchorsAlthough the prototype model did not demonstrate the use of digital fabrication of the rope structure. The detailed anchors and the prototype of it was still be-ing considerated and constructed. First of all, the rope structure is constructed in a zig zag way on top of the steel frame. The steel frame will be constructed off-site. When they are transported to site, they will be put firmly into the ground for at least 3 meters deep, ensuring that the structure provide sufficient rigidity. On the other hand, the anchors are not constructed seperately from the steel frame. Instead, the anchors are done on the steel frame. They are dents curved on the whole of each of the steel frame, allowing the ropes be attached to them when the drones fly around them. These dents also have a 1.5 meter gap away from each other, which will avoid the chance of failure during construction (tested in the grasshopper simulation mentioned above). According to our test to these prototypes, the drones should be able to hoop around these anchors easily. As for aesthetical reason, the connections of the ropes to the frames is not obvious too using this prototype

Steel frame - constructed off site, transported to the site and put firmly into the ground as basic structure Anchor - 1.5 meters away

from each other, allow drones to attach roped to it easily

Anchor - the way it is de-sign can hide the knot and hoops of the rope

Sisal rope - the rope mate-rial chosen for our project, strong, durable, cheap

ModelBird View

Scale 1:100

ModelFront View

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ModelSide View and Top View

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Step one: contruction of steel framingThe form was found through the ob-servation of the site contour and ex-plorations on contouring in grasshopperSteel frames with the anchors on them are constructed off site due to the heavy fabrication process, they are transported to the site and put firmly into the ground for at least 3 meters

The area where we took the con-tour lines from

Step two: construction the rope structureThe form of the rope structure was found through numerous drone simu-lations done in grasshopper. This form comes from the most success-ful simulations. Material for the rope used is sisal due to its strong, durable and cheap characteristic. The tension is very suitable to our design as well

Rope structure is constructed by drones flying around the frames according to the simulated flightpath

Diagram of fabrication process

The instensively constructed rope structure aims to cre-ate typophobia to the vivitors going through the structure or looking at it, generating a sense of discomfort, making them aware of the structure

The height of the steel frame are from 1.3 meters to 5 me-ters, which means that at some point users have to dodge to avoid hitting their head against the steel frame, cre-ating a sense of discomfort, making them aware of the structure

The use of steel in such a natural environment was use to create a conflict between the nature and human

Through raising the awareness of visitors to the structure; the use of materials to create con-flict, we hope to remind how people how we have modified nature in such a great extent that it needs to be stopped

Diagram of visitors’ experience

Plan

Scale 1:100

Section A-A

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Section A-B

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Horizontal section

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Learning outcomesLooking back at my learning process in the studio, I realised I have learnt a lot, a lot more than the previous studio. As studio air does not teach you harder and more complicated stuff, but there are also much more work to complete comparing to studio earth and water.At first, I had no idea how to use grasshopper when I was introduced to design computation. Even towards the mid point of the sememster, I am still very lost. But through numerous attempts and seeking help from others, gradually I start to understand the basics of grasshopper. I become able to create definitions and manuupulate them towards the end of the se-mester. So I think keep on trying and not giving up is crucial in the learning process. Especially in a course that is as hard as this one