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DE MONCHAUX--SPACESUIT: FASHIONING APOLLO

In the second chapter of his book, Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo, Nicholas De Monchaux goes into the history of the [hot air] balloon. In the beginning, when the passenger balloon was first invented, both guesswork and science went into figuring out how to inflate and fly it. The notion of air was just becoming a popular idea, and inventors, scientists, and balloonists alike set out to discover the limits of both the invention and the human body. It was realized that when people are subjected to extremely high altitudes, a pressurized environment is required in order to maintain consciousness and therefore remain alive (otherwise, the balloon would continue to rise and the passenger would die). This realization lead into the development of a high-altitude suit, and later the space suit. Looking at this situation as an architectural problem to solve, the material testing required to make a suit that both allowed movement and was sealed enough to create a pressurized environment is extremely interesting.

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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.

GREENFIELD: DIGITAL FABRICATION

In today’s world, digital fabrication has become not only a matter of technological advancement, but also one of convenience and daily life. Digital fabrication has become something that was once only reachable by the few who had the opportunity (or money) to use machines like the CNC router or laser cutters found at so many places of architectural study. However, with the advent of more personalized methods, digital fabrication has entered the world of commerce. Machines such as small 3D printers, roughly the size of a small moving box, allow individuals to purchase their own methods of making for a reasonable price. With the new introduction to the market, digital fabrication is becoming accessible to a wider audience, enabling people to utilize new technologies for everyday jobs and conveniences. As technology continues to improve and change, it can be difficult for everyone to keep up with the latest and greatest, but a more basic widespread knowledge of digital fabrication gives the average digital fabricator the tools needed to stay up to date by preparing them to learn quickly and efficiently.

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

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.

AHLQUIST ET AL: MATERIAL SYSTEMS

In architecture, it is important to consider the best material to complete a job. Not all materials can be used universally; each has its own physical and atmospheric qualities. Although these qualities make each material suited to certain jobs, Ahlquist, along with his colleagues and his students aim to push the boundaries of these qualities. Just one example, Catie Newell and Wes McGee have transformed glass from being simply a material typically used in flat planes as windows into something more three dimensional. The material research put into this project has allowed the possibility of glass applications to grow. It can be used in different visual applications, and could possibly even affect a space acoustically. The main idea behind this research is to discover new ways of thinking about and manipulating materials so that any material can be used in a myriad of different ways. Ahlquist also looks at the use of new software and technology to further discovery.

CRAWFORD AND CARR

Personalization, to some extent, is a lie. It is interesting that when you really stop to think about making choices in consumer culture, those choices are extremely limited. These choices allow for the company to limit their inventory and mass produce while still making the buyer feel as though they are deciding for themselves. Crawford describes the process of a motorcycle owner “personalizing” his machine. Really, he buys the motorcycle in its most generic form and then has many choices of what to add on. This pseudo-personalization gives the consumer freedom in at least two ways, one of which is a bit backwards and unexpected: the person can choose their add-ons (to an extent), and the person is limited in how they can personalize. This limitation is freeing in itself because when given an infinite number of choices, a person gets bogged down in all of the many possibilities. When the choice is limited, the person can decide quickly and easily and move on.

Bailey, Dustin, and I used the pattern for a dancer to create our light drawings using the robot. After many trials with different colors, we figured out how to pause in the middle of the drawing and change the colors of the figure so that it would end up two-toned. We also slowed down the speed of the robot in order to create thicker lines and connecting points. At the places where the light shows up the brightest, we paused for several seconds, which typically happened at the moments of color change.

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Painting for Robots

Me, Bailey and Peyton took three different approaches to what the robot should paint with light. In the end we decided that rather than create something more robotic that we should focus on a more natural figure and try to replicate a one line drawing of a dancer to compliment the fluid movement of the robot more akin to that of Picasso’s light paintings.

RESEARCH THROUGH MAKING

I find the Empty Pavilion to be an interesting study on the impact of form. I enjoy the idea that each of the “lines” loosely follows a geometry and can possibly be seen as pieces of a familiar architecture. In this way, the pavilion is a bit like a Rorschach test; each passerby views it in their own way. This project is also intriguing due to its location. While the intent might not have been to make a statement either way about the decomposition of Detroit, the choice to use line work as a type of frame instead of using thicker members stirs up the notion of the frame of a house or building. The researchers unintentionally commented on the crumbling buildings that surround the pavilion.

Another project that I looked at was Storm Glass. I found it interesting that the researchers were using glass tubes to create thickness, along with weather and interior lighting, instead of typical window treatments used to produce the same effects. I enjoy this particular use of science in the design world—it shows that there is such an overlap between disciplines and that each discipline can learn from the others. This project also makes the viewer reconsider what is “inside” and what is “outside.”

Empty Pavilion and Storm Glass both seem to be attempting to reach the same goal via two different methods. While one uses simple line work to create three-dimensionality, the other uses scientific methods and lighting. Empty Pavilion on the surface might be deemed more “design” based; Storm Glass utilizes other humanities studies to create the design. Both projects are successful. Both projects generate interest.

JANE BURRY: THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PROBLEM

There are several different kinds of technology used to make the vision of a design come to life. When utilizing these technologies, it is important to realize that each program has its own underlying rules that govern the way in which they can be used to create geometries. These rules are used to create primitive geometries which can then be transformed into the design of the architect, but we must realize that there are limitations to what each program can do. Our ability to put many programs together might allow for a greater number of possible outcomes.

Burry also comments on a certain degree of randomness used in programs. While “randomness” does not really truly exist, there is a possibility that near-randomness combined with the very calculated rules of architectural modeling and computer design software allow for more creative design, or designs that have not been seen or created before.

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Low Relief Milling (Project 5)

Group: Dustin Dewitt, Peyton Steurer, Bailey Surbrook

The forms for this milling were inspired by a painting by Paul Kremer and the colors were influenced by work from Neil Denari. The forms compositionally were arranged to read as a series of impressions into the foam. The grid strengthens this relationship by remaining uniform between the upper and lower surfaces. In addition, the paint scheme also calls attention to this by producing the sensation that the surfaces from the two outer forms were once apart of a continuous upper surface.

ANTOINE PICON: CYBERNETICS IN ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING--PATTERNS, SYSTEMS, NETWORKS

The intersection between architecture and technology is an interesting one, particularly in the mid-1900s. First, computer technology began to be combined with architecture. This is especially evident in the work of Archigram with Plug-In City and Computer City, among others, where modern technology was integrated into the architecture itself as well as the proposed method of how these cities would run. Then, during the Cold War and the widespread threat of the atomic bomb, technology was combined with architecture in a different way. It began to be thought of in a way that would help to mitigate the effects should an atomic bomb be dropped and people forced to rebuild and survive. It is so intriguing how technology can intersect with architecture in different ways and to allow people to communicate for different reasons. Now, in addition to using technology for safety, we implement it into architecture for convenience and precision.

Low relief milling idea. Form inspired by Joel Shapiro painting.

GREG LYNN: ANIMATE FORM

Most people probably think of architecture as unmoving and static. However, is there a requirement that architecture remains this way? Why do architects continue to design architecture that stands still? There are so many ways that architects can go against this notion. They can design an architecture that is perceived as moving—maybe it plays on the memory of motion through form, maybe it directs the observer through a path which creates physical movement. Maybe, the architect could design an optical illusion within the architecture, which can be seen in works such as those by Peter Kogler. Architects could even possibly design an architecture that actually moves itself, which is exemplified by the restaurant in Reunion Tower in Dallas, where the floor slowly spins, granting the diner to a 360 view of the city over a period of time. Architecture of motion might be something to look towards in the future.

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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.

MANUEL DELANDA AND MARIO CARPO: ARCHITECTURE AS EVOLUTIONARY

The notion of architectural evolution is an interesting one, especially when, at the same time, one considers the structural engineering behind it. Although DeLanda says that making multiple iterations of pieces of a building is important, he also makes sure to note the importance of making sure these pieces still work as structural members. For this reason, a person would think that design software would have structural code written into it in order to ensure the possibility of the designs created.

Architectural evolution does not only apply to the quick design of a single building, but also to the history of architecture as a practice itself. Carpo, in introducing architecture as allographic, describes the movement away from architects who designed and built their own structures towards an architecture where the architect designs but designates the building process to an outside party. He says that it is a shift from craft to art. This might make a person wonder: as we move farther into the future of architecture, what are we losing?

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