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Animate Form

In Animate Form, written by Greg Lynn, architecture is linked with the concept of stasis. Animation implies movement and change, while architecture is often connected with the idea of stagnancy. The connection is described in five key ways including permanence, usefulness, typology, procession, and verticality. Lynn argues that present-day architecture is the opposite, its mobilized with both time and force. Architecture now offers a wide range of potentials within its flexibility and Lynn believes bringing animate form into architecture will integrate life and movement into its stagnant state. Computer aided design techniques and digital fabrication present the architectural discipline with the possibility to utilize new tools and rethink itself, though Lynn has yet to offer any explicit solution to realize his dream.

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Material Systems Research

The reading discusses the design methodologies used to invent new material types and digital fabrication methods. There is a focus in the field of material systems on the development of materially and spatially adaptive architectural skins. Architectural skins are complex membranes that have the ability to sense and respond to materials, exchanges in information and manage energy. Adaptable architecture is a fascinating thing that has been made possible with the innovations in digital fabrication. Adaptive architecture is already being utilized in places like Abu Dhabi, at the Al Bahr Towers, where the window lattices open and close according to the sun’s position. The possibility for architecture to be designed with the ability to be responsive relative to human behaviors and environmental changes truly indicates the exciting potential for future architectural innovation.

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Through the process of photogrammetry the reconstructed images gives the form a different material quality. The digital model represented the physical model well.

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Radical Technologies

The reading by Adam Greenfield addresses the possibility of a coming digital fabrication revolution. What if all things we encountered in the world were digitally fabricated? With the advancement of technology such as the Replicator 2 3D printer, discussed in the reading, just about anything you imagine can be produced. Digital fabrication equipment is becoming more affordable and readily available and will begin to generate an economy based on personal fabrication. Greenfield brings up an interesting point about desire for forbidden things in fabrication with the example of the 3D printed pistol. The ‘Liberator’ was a usable gun, made to be downloaded online, printed, and assembled by anybody. Will this digital fabrication revolution make our world a more dangerous place if this is how it is being utilized?

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We wanted to capture the diverse curved surfaces of the model through lighting in the photographs. 

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Using only a maximum of six cuts, we tried to produce forms that ranged from almost symmetrical to completely asymmetrical. We experimented with the ability to form individual cuts, but also looked at what happens when one cut runs through another, breaking boundaries.

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The Degeneration Effect

The Degeneration Effect by Nicholas Carr discusses an optimistic outlook on autonomous machinery and its ability to relieve our minds of monotonous daily chores. By unloading these tasks to technological assistant aids, he believes that we are able to focus our mental energy on more important tasks. I find the topic of autonomy and independence thought-provoking. Carr touches on my concern for these advancements by bringing to light that, “We may lose something with each upward step, but what we gain is, in the end, far greater.” My question is, as we progress in automation technologies, what is the extent of what we’re losing? Does this loss include independence due to our tendency as humans to become overly reliant on technological aids?

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Team: Zach Effa, Vanessa Alvarez, Emma Rumrill

We used 15 seconds of exposure for the first test. The robot made unexpected, stagnate movements that were unplanned causing the images to not capture the full path.

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Research Through Making

Knit Architecture, led by Sean Ahlquist, Wes McGee, and Anthony Waas explores the possibilities of knitting technology and how the machine allows the designer to create detailed, elastic and complex typologies from various materials. Social Sensory Surfaces led by Prof. Sean Ahlqvist is a similar project because of the use of the CNC knitting machine. This amazing project works to develop technologies as surfaces to engage children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is the part of design that interests me most, because it is used to improve the life of an individual. The project aims to improve gross motor skills and engage social function and communication. 

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For assignment 6 we are importing unique curves into the Kuka KR-60 robot and will track the motion with long exposure images, capturing light paths.

Group: Emma, Zach, and Vanessa

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Cybernetics in Architecture

Picon discusses the evolution of cybernetics within the architectural setting. Cybernetics has worked as a dynamic resource for architecture in many aspects. For example, the megastructural movement. The megastructural movement worked to distort the lines between architecture and the city. Using cybernetics, these projects improved the circulation and connectivity within spaces. These improvements allowed the designer to customize different factors involved in space making based on the desired spatial and functional patterns of its users. The basic office design layout, for example, benefited greatly from the improved connectivity provided through cybernetics. In an attempt to integrate between man, machine, and corporation, a new instrumental corporate office architecture was created through systematic modularity and repetition. 

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Printed model on foam. Zach Effa and Emma Rumrill.

The grid shifts as the floor plates step down. We tried to create a sense of depth by using highly contrasting colors.

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Model, inspired by Joel Shapiro, to be routed on foam.

By: Emma Rumrill and Zach Effa

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“The Alphabet and the Algorithm”

Mario Carpo writes about the separation between design and building in the architectural profession. Architecture was once autographic, meaning a structure was designed and crafted by the architect. Architecture is now allographic, meaning it is designed by an individual and crafted by others. Carpo questions this evolution referring to it as a shift from craft to art. Architects must be able to convey their design ideas and data information to others, such as builders, through the use of notations in drawings/models. Transmitting necessary information from the designer to the builder is significant in the process of architectural design to architectural production. The development of computer aided design significantly changed the design process as well as the ability for the designer to transmit complex ideas to the builder. The three-dimensional space visualized in the computer allows the viewer to experience and understand designs better than ever before. 

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Group - Emma, Peyton, Zach

The material we used was PETG which gives a nice opaque finish; however, we had to omit the small circles near the tabs because\ the blade tips kept breaking due to such a small radius. 

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Computational Design Thinking

It is argued that the main challenge of computational design is articulating the mode of thinking. Computational design processes consist of two things, the way in which they function, and what they are comprised of. Because of the infinite algorithmic procedures involved in computational design, the process tends to be iterative and repetitive, much like the exploration with the GIF in the ‘Algorithmic Beauty’ exercise for this course. The designer then becomes the ‘author’ through interacting with the computational design system rather than manually, allowing for incredibly complex forms. Computational design has added endless possibilities in the world of architecture with a profound impact on the understanding and perception of form, space, and structure.

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Vases of Volumetric Assembly