Journal Air Part B

CONTENTSDESIGN FOCUSB1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

CASE STUDIES

DESIGN & TECHNIQUE / DEVELOPMENT

TECHNIQUE / PROTOTYPES

TECHNIQUE PROPOSAL

LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES

PART B -DESIGN APPROACH

B1 -DESIGNFOCUS

BIOMIMICRY

“Nature is a dynamic entity, and we should be trying to design our buildings, our landscape and our cities to recognize that,”

-Thomas Knittel

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/will-biomimicry-offer-a-way-forward-post-sandy/

Biomimicry comes from the word bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. It is a discipline that aims at emulating nature’s systems and their strategies, and applying it in design. We chose this approach because we believe that the study of nature offers many opportunities for our design in terms of aesthetics, structures and conceptual.

In a general sense, the argument about biomimicry arises from the increas-ing popularity of ‘Nature-inspired design’. More and more designers are looking for better solutions by studying nature. However, it does not always yield the results we expect. For instance, architectural projects driven by extensive R&D in biomimicry costs a lot of money and humans do not al-ways have efficiency as the highest priority. There are other factors such as building costs and time-saving that can affect the success of such projects, because at the end of the day, nothing will succeed if it does not gener-ate profits. However, on the other hand, biomimicry can offer a multitude of solutions to the problems we face nowadays such as global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, and I believe that this will help us transition from the industrial age to the ecological age.

http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_biomimicryhttp://biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/what-is-biomimicry.htmlhttp://www.ted.com/conversations/9/how_do_you_envision_biomimicr.htmlhttp://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/hphillips/Eden24.JPG

The Eden Project is composed of ar-tificial biomes that contain plants from different parts of the world. By observ-ing nature, the architects found that the most effective way of creating a spherical surface is by using hexagons.

Biomimicry is composed of four main components that relate to our design intentions:1. Efficiency - e.g. uses minimum material for maximum structural strength.2. Passivity - Performs without the use of external devices.3. Innovation - Designing that offers a new horizon of possibilities.4. Communication of ideas - Promoting the transfer of ideas, de-signs and strategies to the public.5. Adaptability - Ability to change in different situations (variables). The Pavilion is made of polygonal timber plates, structurally as-

sembled like the sea urchin’s skeleton. It is interesting how adopt-ing properties of biological structures can result in plywood sheets of thickness 6.5 mm being used to create a rigid structure. In the context of the Wyndham project, this property has a potential for development. Efficiency is what our team wants to achieve and the pavilion shows exactly that; minimum amount of material (and weight), for maximum strength.

The spatial experience has been taken into consideration as in the morning, it shades from the sun and offers framed views to the surroundings, while at night, the inner surface lights up and create an entirely new experience.

However, the main point that should be drawn from this kind of project, I believe, is the communication of a particular message to the user, and that message

ICD/ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION

http://www.dezeen.com/2011/10/31/icditke-research-pavilion-at-the-university-of-stuttgart/

MATERIAL EFFICIENCY

DIURNAL RESPONSIVITY

MESSAGE

CANOPY

http://designplaygrounds.com/deviants/canopy-by-by-united-visual-artists/

FALLEN STARThe Canopy is a 90 m long installation work form that is in-spired by the experience of walking through the dappled light of a forest. The thousands of identical geometries represents the leaves and are organised in a “non-repeating growth pattern”.

The aspect of this project that we found interesting is that it attempts to imitate an experience from nature. I believe that in a bustling city, Canopy can create an atmosphere of relaxation and serenity in the same way that walking through a forest re-produces. Applying it to a busy highway like in Wyndham would relieve emotional stress that traffic and highways can cause. Another interesting part of the project is its random movement of lights, thus creating difference experiences. Similarly, nature organises itself very efficiently according to certain situations.

For our project, we found the concept of moving light very in-teresting, considering the fact that a gateway is a static structure that is always exposed to sunlight.

Fallen Star is an installation that explores concepts like emer-gence, growth and regeneration. It is composed of different digital algorithms combined together through video mapping. Each algorithms create a different pattern and feel. We found this particular aspect of the project very exciting, however, ap-plying it to our design in a passive way would be challenging.

There is a direct interaction between the installation and the users, and this is what we want to achieve in the Wyndham Gateway Project. People are travelling at high speed in a car, and althought the structure is static, the experience could be responsive to their movement. This creates proximity between the design and the user, and thus, better communicate the message we want to convey.

http://www.suckerpunchdaily.com/2012/08/16/fallen-star-aa-dlab/

MOVING LIGHTS

DYNAMIC PATTERNS

EXPERIENCE

ILLUSION / PERCEPTION

INTERACTION WITH USER

B2 -CASESTUDIES

Using the definition of Skylar Tibbits - Voltadom provided on the LMS, we

created a few basic iterations resulting in changing densities and patterns.

INITIAL EXPLORATIONS

Initial explorations with the Fractal Tetrahedron by Aranda Lasch. Increas-ing the intensity of the tetrahedron on two different surfaces. Top and perspective views shows how the form changes. The second set of forms

is reminiscence of a decay/explosion.

THE MATRIX

The matrix displays a few interesting iterations we came across during the exploration of ideas.

In iteration 3, 4 & 5, a point attractor is used as the sun path.

1

2

3

4

5

6 7

REVERSE ENGINEERING

WIND ARBOR / NED KAHN

The Wind Arbor is a cable net structure composed of thousands of hinged elements that move with the wind, and this displays its patterns. We found that very interesting as this is not only a completely passive design, it randomly creates a different pattern as it reacts with the wind. Moreover, it provides shade to the building, and enhances its visual effect at the same time.

http://nedkahn.com/portfolio/wind-arbor/

Therefore, we reverse engineered the proj-ect in Grasshopper and tried to simulate different patterns from images and gradi-ents. Tubes were also included to make the structure stronger.

The process was successful, however, the main issue is the application of this con-cept in relation to our design intention. Several issues arises; it will not be re-sponsive to the user’s movement, rather to the wind movement. The visual effect will always be different, and will not follow a particular trend. A few interesting points though; it is completely passive and does not require external devices to operate,

Reverse Engineering Process on Grass-hopper:1. Surface is divided into rectangular panels2. Panels exploded to become seperate individual panels on the surface3. Each corner of a panel is associated to a component and two of them are chosen to form a line of axis4. The axis is connected to the rotation command.5. The radius parameter is varied for each panel by being connected to an image, where the colour of the image determines the angle of rotation.

B3 -DESIGN &TECHNIQUEDEVELOPMENT

pulse

trigger

carrying the message

ANALOGY

We used the analogy of the Neuron to further develop our con-cept. The main elements of the neuron being; the trigger, the pusle and the message. For instance, a pinch is the trigger which sends a pulse to the brain and consequently, the message is the pain. In the context of our design, the trigger represents the car and the light, the pulse is the movement of the car, and finally, the message is the resultant of these two, which creates a specific user experience and response.

PERSISTENCE OF VISION

Initially, we wanted to create the effect of moving lights from the Canopy installation. However, the main issue with that idea was the need for external lighting devices such as LEDs and lamps. We briefly explored the possibility of having LEDs on our design but it did not correspond to our fitness criteria. We wanted a passive design that does not use external devices. An inde-pendent installation. Thus, we explored the idea of persistence of vision (POV). Persistence of Vision is the “phenomenon by which an after image is thought to persist”. In other words, it is an illusion of the eye that results in the illusion of movement (as shown in the picture below). To start-off, we thought of creating static point lights that will appear to be moving with the user (car). As I mentioned previously, we wanted the ex-perience to be responsive the movement (speed) of the car.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2265/1981769207_a61e205ac8.jpghttps://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Persistence_of_vision.html

http://www.madehow.com/images/hpm_0000_0007_0_img0076.jpg

That brought us to investigate on the early movie projector and how it works. Basically, the system consists of three main elements; The light source (lamp), the shutter, and the film. The light source is constant while the shutter and film are in perpetual movement, and the combination creates movies we see on the screen. Figure A shows how they are positioned in the projector.

Figure B shows a rough sketch of how the concept can be applied to our design. By translating it in real-life, the sun becomes the light source, and the surface of the design is divided into two layers in order to filter and reflect the light to the moving car.

Figure A Figure B

A more detailed sketch of the design concept showing how the double skin will function at a specific time of the day. The first layer will filter light from only a specific direction, while the second layer will direct the light to the driver, but also refocus it, as they will be equipped with reflectors. This will create a series of bright openings within the installation and the move-ment of the user will result in persistence of vision.

THE BLACK BOXPROTOTYPING THE DESIGN CONCEPT

After some useful feedback from our tutors, we decided to test whether our design concept works in real-life. Therefore, we made a black box prototype with two strips of cardboard attached to the top (representing the two layers of the surface) and proceeded with the light testing. We shone the light at the top of the box, while rotating it similarly to the sun path and witnessed the resultant effect. RESULT: The concept proved to be successful! Moving the light from left to right causes different sets of slits to let in light.

http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/construction_pho-tos_of_somas_thematic_yeosu_expo_pavilion/http://www.e-architect.co.uk/korea/expo_yeosu_pavilion.htm

SOMA PAVILION

The Soma Pavilion in Korea is based on the natural movement principles found in the floral world to develop a kinetic facade. The fins (also called lamellas) control input of solar energy into the building. The fins are mo-torised and they react to the path of the sun to reduce energy consump-tion and increase efficiency. Not only are they efficient, they also create a moving spatial experience of fluid dancing curvatures. We explored this surface and decided to apply it to our design as it functions similarly to our conceptual sketches.

Rough sketches showing how the sun scoop could be implemented into our design.

The sketch above shows a structure composed of several strips. Each strip consists of the sun scoop pattern and divided into different modulations in order to let in light only at a particular time. The next question we asked ourselves was: How do we create a structure that will hold the strips to-gether and also the two layers? Thus, we decided to look at nature itself, more specifically at self-supporting structures found in nature.

SUN SCOOP OUTER SKIN

Reproduced model of the sun scoop on Rhino.

A rough sketch showing how the installation could cre-ate the experience we want.

SELF-ORGANISING STRUCTURES

FRAME MORPHOGENESIS

When we explored Andre Sharris’ study concerning self-organising structures, we were particular interested in the cellular-like pattern of the bone tissue. Sharris mentions that the structure is optimised in way which gives it a high strength to weight ratio.

http://www.andres.harris.cl/?page_id=2

The pavilion he designed follows the same principle and its morphology is defined by the external pressures of the site, such as sunlight and winds. This particular approach is very informative as it is more respon-sive to the surrounding environment. Sharris mentions that the structure is optimised in way which gives it a high strength to weight ratio. This leads to a minimum amount of material for an optimal structural strength, which is exactly what we want to achieve in our project (material efficiency).

Following the same principle as in Andre Sharris’ case study, we applied it to the sun scoop frame.

PERFORMATIVE ITERATIONS

DIGITAL MODELLING

Development of frame, connecting structure and reflectors.

B4 -TECHNIQUEPROTOTYPES

We tried 3D modelling to test the modulation of the design. The first attempt was a failure as the skin was too thin. Therefore, one of the component’s top skin broke during the process. This gave us an idea that the initial design itself have to be strengthened for it to perform structurally well in real-life. We then thickened the structure and the second attempt was a success!

3D MODELLING

First attempt

Second attempt

B5 -TECHNIQUEPROPOSAL THE CONDUIT

B6 -LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES

Throughout Part B of the project, we witnessed the incredible develop-ment of a simple concept (moving light), into a complex structural and visual element. The reason for that is due to our very long discussions and arguments concerning every aspect of the design. We spent a lot of time discussing the conceptual idea, rather than its visual characteristics and how it may look like. In doing so, we ensured that we built a strong foundation on which to support the rest of the project. We came across a lot of hurdles on our way. At first, the complexity of our concept was hard to grasp, but gradually, we used that to our advantage to increase our knowledge through research which gave us new ideas. This was constantly backed up with precedents from all kinds of fields of study, ranging from biology to construction. We were constantly looking for ways to improve our design.

Using Rhinoceros and Grasshopper together enabled our design to expand and stretch. Without digital modeling, we would not have been able to de-velop our project to such an extent. Other media also aided the process, such as prototyping and sketching, and it allowed us to test properties such as structure, scale, form, fabrication issues, etc.

Having chosen Biomimicry as our design focus allowed for a better under-standing of the interaction of different elements in a system, since it is the very essence of nature. Nature itself is an entire system consisting of an infinite number of sub-systems. Hence, we developped our understanding of the relationship between architecture and its surroundings. We learnt how external factors such as sunlight, wind, movement of cars, time could impact on our project. The dynamic aspect of architecture is something that has to be taken into account, and parametricism help us do that.

The feedback essentially said that our approach was focused on trying to do too many things at the same time, rather than focusing on what we really need.

Indeed, we focused on the material and structural properties of our project quite extensively and this lead to our focusing away from the real purpose of the project. We let the material and structural properties and perfor-mance guide the design without focusing on what kind of experience we want the user to have. I agree with that, however, we have not yet put our design into context, and this is why the “pulses” do not coordinate and assemble yet. Once we put the design into context, we will be able to develop what kind of message we want to create and whether changes have to be made according to that. I believe though, that there is a need to further refine our design based on our design intentions.

The next step to be taken is a better understanding of our site and con-text. This will allow us to determine, for instance, which views are to be framed and emphasized, or what kind of experience we want the users to get at particular times of the day, and also, the consideration of night time.

PROLOGUE