Project modeling 1

光影與可變牆體關係

facade

此提案為增建案，透過【光】與【影】及【折疊】希望能破除【內】與【外】的藩籬

並近一步連結空間關係...

The possibilities at the cutting-edge

Being in 21 century now, architecture is more free and flexible by computer design. The so-called digital architecture theory involves continued expectations of innovative computer graphic software and new images in the century. On the other hand, I am also considering about if this "conceptual image thinking method" would achieve the aim of "space of folding".

Recently (in the information era), almost everything has been influenced by the information age including the architecture. Since 1963 the fast invention of computer skill which include CAAD, A.I, 3D animation, model making have deeply impact to architecture design. Therefore there are multiple style of images that we can imagine in this digital era. When digital architecture this strong trend power comes, the definition of "digital architecture" still been debate and query. If the architects are satisfied with their "ART" works, do people like to live in the house, which covered by pc and internet? Some architects said "architecture is a liberated form" so the "free from" appears, another architects said "architecture is a container of information" so the "digital wall" appears…

Compared to the traditional architecture the digital architecture use computers or digital systems to help create or design even build, and the digital one use the different types of space environments, the differences are lots of combine information involved in digital design which is totally different than the traditional one. Every era has different technology, now the "digital" and "information" are the peculiarities. Apparently the changes are not only the form of the architecture but also the thoughts and process of design.

"The so-called [smart house] of tomorrow will be characterized not by its architecture, properly speaking, but by small-scale gadgets and the information systems to which they call wired." [1]

Since 1990 the digital technology made the form and space of architectures changed to curved lines or surfaces, so architecture became soft and the space inside became flexible. But when we look at all the forms that we called it "digital" are all free form and smooth. Could "free form" be "HARD" ? Or another types of free form which with lots of straight angles?

Too many possibilities...

J' @ UCA UK

Reference:
[1] J.Abbott Miller, Sings and Spaces, New York. Rockport Publisher, page 9

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO

Brilliant digital design


In this building, it is very difficult to use the normal shapes or geometry which we are familiar to combine or to describe its form, Just let me call it – unphysical architecture. However now we know that one part of his inspiration came from his messy drifts or some screwed up papers, and so that we could understand why it's that form! At first this kind of special design style made a huge wave in architectural field, and now it becomes to "Gehrian Style" !

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was established in 1925 by United States Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife as a memorial to a son who died April 26, 1922. The Foundation offers Fellowships to further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions and irrespective of race, color, or creed.

Meyer Guggenheim created a successful business importing lace, but made an investment in Colorado silver mines that put the Guggenheim family into the mining and smelting business, a business (the American Smelting and Refining Company or ASARCO) that expanded to include copper and nitrates not only in Colorado, but eventually in Mexico, Alaska, Chile, and other places around the world.

The first Guggenheim museum was built on fifth avenue in New York in 1959 by Frank Lloyd wright. Till now there are Berlin branch Venice branch and Bilbao branch around the world. Las Vegas branch closed last year. Before 1991 Bilbao is a small industrial town near by sea. Since the later part of nineteenth century Bilbao had been a bustling industrial and mercantile community , but in recent times, in the face of recession, it has been in the difficult position of making a transition to high-service industries.

After few years, Bilbao has a stunning Guggenheim museum branch which covered by shining titanium material, glass walls and massive limestone. There were 1300,000 visitors in the first year and there were over 4000,000 visitors in last 3 years , they were also brought over 4.5 hundred million US dollars incomes for the government and the city. Now Bilbao become the new art culture center of Europe, because of Bilbao "Guggenheim museum" is not only the name of art area. This regenerative power makes the city reborn, we call that- "Guggenheim effects".

Bilbao is in Basque region and it is also the fourth big city in Spain. The government put it in the plans of main upgrading city.


Area: 28.500 square meters

Schedule:

Begin Design – 1991

Begin Construction – 1993
Completion – 1997

Frank O. Gehry

That open area(site) is the geocultural triangle of Bilbao, the river is in the middle of it. There are three major cultural facilities around the museum, the Deusto university, the Bellas Artes museum, and the opera house.

No doubt compare to traditional architecture the digital architecture needs more and more high technology support. Gehry's design can be completely built because of Jim Glymph. He is good at digital technology and the most important staff in Gehry's studio, he brought Gehry's dreams come ture!

Mentioned about to build this kind of weird architecture it's not easy stuff. From the beginning of drafts and sketches transformed to the scaled model, and then use the digital 3D precision instrument transformed to computer model, after that the work team has to solve the plans and functions. Finally it will become to construction plans . It is impossible to be done without computers!

Ask yourself what's your first impression of Guggenheim? The museum in Bilbao covered by titanium? Or the famous architect – Frank O. Gehry? Or do you know what's the most important artefact inside? I think only few people know about the last question, this means the building itself makes a deeply impression to everyone than the "Guggenheim Museum" !


By the way, it's a pity that Guggenheim Museum Taiwan branch project which designed by Zaha Hadid, can not be approved by the government in 2004...

The space opportunity in Folding

Folding is a formal operation used to connect disparate elements of a site or building in a continuous multiple mixtures. This tactic is not just a theoretical skill. On a practical level, folding can be applied to various design problems in which disparate elements need to be related in such a way that they appear seamless. It provides a new way resolving junctions and compositions.

Folding can be considered a formal new style in architecture, it is based on new graphics. The aesthetic deconstructionist provides fresh formal outcomes, because it combines ordinary graphic operations in non-orthogonal compositions. Alternatively, folding departs from the operation cut, rotate, divide and when use with form generating software, is able to produce something entirely different. This new graphics has led to new kinds of forms, and these new forms means something.

Folding as a philosophical framework makes explicit architecture’s nature as neither entirely deterministic nor entirely random. This is an obvious but important observation. Just as chaos is different from true randomness, folding architecture is different from truly random forms. The condition of architecture is that form is neither truly random nor essentially meaningful, so architecture can formally be conceived of as pseudo random.

Apply my concept into Villa Savoye, which is a special monument for modern architecture and try to test in different methods to find out what will be appeared after cut, divide or rotate the original plans. After that, use the simple skeleton reconstruct those broken shapes into 3 dimensional objects, and try to find out the connections between those skeletons. Compose them with the hidden relations in random. These skeletons will show other possibilities of new folding forms, which come from the original site spirit.

It’s a kind of experiment to transfer graphics from 2D to 3D objects without system thoughts. I expect that it will produce a functional space within the folding form. Hopefully it can show my definition of folding architecture.

As Simone Brott said: “Folding is the obvious design methodology for form generation.”

THE CONCEPT OF FOLDING FORM

Bosnia,Free-state,Lebbeus Woods,Undated

      When we talk about "digital design" most of people will only focus on three-dimensional, but how about two-dimensional? Is it still digital design? Or it is only an image not a design? By using computer's help, the designer can break through the exist form of space which designed by straight line mainly for thousands of years, in place of it is organic form body which is designed by free form and line. And it is more directly and efficiently modifying, pull and drag, or construct the models on the computer screen(real time), it also shortens the process of designing form and making decisions. Except organic free form, the relation between time and space is another important issue in digital projects. By using the function of animation morphing in the software, designers can easily destroy the only corresponding relation between time and space, and then proceed to find out and to discuss the possibility of "form follow time".

   "Soft, complex" and "free, flexible" of the free form design projects are the first impressions for people. The volume of space is not a solidity building block anymore, the sense of "pure geometry" has been replaced by "twist", "dissolve", and "movement" spatial volumes. The new type of design has come.

   If we observe and explain contemporary architecture from the digital angle, we can find there are two main concepts inside ; De-formation and In-formation. De-formation is through computer drawing programme quickly shaped non-line form and combine CAM skill produce 3D computer images or physical models. It also can apply to physical architecture constructions. In-formation is trying to put the latest media and information concepts in the architectural design. In-formation architecture is towards to comprehensive interactive development, it is emphasis on communication and interaction with the environment, in other words what could be called "Hi-tech organic"  architecture.

   "The fold" represents another choice of Cartesian coordinate system, in the process of "fold", the graphic and background have been changed. In other words, the real space in three-dimensional "fold" is not related to visual space in two-dimension anymore.

   The concept of folding has been discussed for a long time in lots of areas, like architecture, mathematics and physics. In traditional architectural concept, the "fold" had been thought of as a neutral Cartesian coordinate. But nowadays architects changed this concept to "animate form" or "organic form", this is based on calculating media and it also finds another answer in "time and space". We can think "fold" is an action or a movement, and in some architect's case they think of it as deconstruction, like Daniel Libeskind and Lebbeus Woods. In the 1980s a new tendency was born ; deconstruction, which was also called "new modern architecture" in its beginning. It was meant to replace post modern architecture. A very significant difference of this style is that it started rather from an intellectual movement than from a significant building marking it's beginning. The new slogan was "form follows fantasy" similar to the tradition formula pronounced by Sullivian "form follows function".            J' @ F²s

La Habana Vieja,The Wall,1995,Lebbeus Woods

TREND

Digital Architecture

   When digital architecture this strong power of trend comes, some people think about future and face to past. Could we solve the problems of living and society that the architects concern for last century? If the architects are satisfied with their art works, do people like to live in the houses which covered by pc and internet? Some architects say “ architecture is a liberated form” so the “free form” appears, some architects say “architecture is a container of information” so the “digital wall” appears…  Compare to the traditional architecture the digital architecture use computers or digital systems to help create or design even build, and the digital one use the different types of space environments, the key points are apply and combine the information of design, it is totally different than the traditional one. Every era has different technology, now digital and information are the peculiarities, apparently the changes are not the form of the architecture but is the thoughts and process of design. 

   "Internet architecture" and "virtual architecture" are parts of digital architecture, the first one is about the definition of space become blurred because of the internet space , there are two kinds of spaces exist at the same time but one is real and the other is cyber so we have to redefine the meaning of space . The second one is about the skill of Virtual Reality , it makes walls not only walls but also a visual experience and a information media . When Bilboa Guggenheim Museum finished in 1997 the definition of digital architecture is only "free form" but now digital architecture includes "internet architecture" and "virtual architecture" two more , these 3 concepts rich the variety meanings of spaces . One character of digital architecture is "information architecture" its concept is based on human and use media to connect information , it offer a place for people to communication , space will become a "container of information" For example the books in libraries can use the digital skills to change the real spaces to virtual informative spaces and it can save a lot of spaces where put shelves and books . Another example is museums before it is a place for collect and exhibit but now we can link the internet and use the virtual guide visiting in a virtual space it just like you are in the museum noting different , and its function not collect and exhibit but it is a place for people to change information or social and educational services . We can realize these differences by seeing Bilbao Guggenheim Museum in Spain (by Frank.O.Gehry in 1997) and Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle (by Frank.O.Gehry in 2000) .

   Since 1990 the digital technology made the forms and the spaces of architectures changed to curved lines or surfaces, so architectures became soft and spaces became changeable. I believe after few years we will not describe this kind of architecture as “digital architecture” because it is “Architecture”.                     J' @ F²s

      

    

This is trend...