648412 hanting hong final journal (wiki)

My name is Hanting. I am currently in the third year of my bachelor degree and major in architecture.Over years I found it almost inevitable for architects to embed their memory of space whether consciously or not in to their design. Therefore, architecture has this strong quality that truly links the past and the future for individual and society. I prefer to see design as a process of seeking future possibilities from the past rather than a problem solving tool, and I believe the passage from past to present can be a map of our way to the desirable future, where new possibilities emerge as time requires. One of these new possibilities is digital architecture.Starting from 1970s, computer aided design has gradually increased its impact on conventional design industry. New technology altered the way information was processed and demonstrated: 3D modelling software allowed thorough communication of design ideas; NURBs increase precision in describing and constructing forms with curvature; BIM enabled synchronisation of design changes and analysis

INTRODUcTIONbased on complex building system; the popularisation of cNc equipment changed the top-bottom system of design industry into a lateral network. Thus it is necessary to understand how parametric design emerged through time, and how far it can go in the future.During the first two years of my degree, Ive had plenty of experience with parametric design and cAD tools such as rhino and 3ds max, yet my encountered problems rarely require the skill of scripting. The only time I used Grasshopper was in Digital Design and Fabrication, where we generated a waffle grid with an existing script. It was not until then did I realized that there is a huge gap between computation and fabrication although they seem to have connected directly as technology developed. This journal will continually discuss the future of parametric design and its realisation. Hopefully, at the end of this journal, all of my questions about digital design in previous and current design project will be answered properly.

COMTEMPLATION- STUDLEY PARK BOAHOUSE

ELEVATION FROM THE WATERFRONT 1:100

ELEVATION FROM THE EAST ENTRANCE 1:100

HANTING HONG648412

TUTORAL 6TUTOR: HEATHER MITCHELTREE

Table of contents

A. conceptualisation

A.1. Design Futuring

A.2.Design computation

A.3. composition/ Generation

A.4. conclusion

A.5. Learning Outcomes

Appendix - Algorithmic Sketchbook

B. critera Design

B.1. Research Field

B.2. case Study 1.0

B.3. case Study 2.0

B.4. Technique: Development

B.5. Technique: Prototypes

B.6. Technique: Proposal

B.7. Learning Outcomes

Appendix - Algorithmic Sketchbook

c. Detailed Design

c.1. Design concept

c.2. Tectonic Elements & Prototypes

c.3. Final detail model

c.4. Learning Outcomes

c. Detailed Design

c.1. Design concept

c.2. Tectonic Elements & Prototypes

c.3. Final detail model

c.4. Learning Outcomes

A. CONCEPTURALISATION

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According to Fry in the book Design Futuring, design takes on a determinate life of its own-designed things go on designing.1 As global environment is facing a vital change to a climate chaos, and this change results largely from human activities, it is time to reflect on what impact our design has on the reality and how we can control that. After all, the fundamental ability of designer is to prefigure what we create before the act of act of creation, which means we should take responsibility for all the impact our design may have.2

Therefore, design futuring has to confront two tasks: slowing the rate of defuturing and redirecting us towards far more sustainable modes of planetary habitation. This requires fundamental change in design profession. A great deal of knowledge that historically has been acquired as the corpus of the discipline underpinning a profession, and the manner of its deployment, could well need to be discarded and replaced in order for any real ability of the remade professional to drive affirmative change.3 As for architecture, changes of this discourse, such as deregulated pluralization of design activity, have happened in order to expand future possibilities. The point is, it is rather important for us to think about alternatives to current system, or just as Dunne said in Speculative Everything, For us futures are not a destination or something to be strived for but a medium to aid imaginative thought - to speculate with.4

The following case studies will demonstrate how architecture can contribute to field of ideas, technical workflows, patterns of living and ways of thinking. By seeking alternatives in design, they act as inspiration and cause changes to the world.

A.1. DESIGN FUTURING

1. Tony Fry, Design Futuring (Oxford: Berg, 2009).2. Fry, Design Futuring, 20093. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything, 2013.4 Dunne & Raby, Speculative Everything, 2013.

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Case study 1 - Metropol Parasol

The project by J. Mayer H. becomes the new icon for Sevilla, a place of identification and to articulate Sevillas role as one of Spains most fascinating cultural destinations. The Metropol Parasol scheme with its large structures offers an archaeological site, a farmers market, an elevated plaza, multiple bars and restaurants underneath and inside the parasols, as well as a panorama terrace on the very top of the parasols. The megastructure of timber waffle grows from the archaeological site in a decadent city square which used to have cultural, political and economic significants. This defines a unique relationship between the historical and the contemporary city and initiates a dynamic development for culture and commerce in the heart of Sevilla.

In his 1964 book Investigations in collective Form, Fumihiko Maki defined the basic concept of megastructure, writing: The megastructure is a large frame in which all the functions of a city or part of a city are housed... In a sense, it is a human-made feature of the landscape.1 Therefore, the Metropol Parasol could reasonably be considered a megastructure. Although it does not house all the possible functions of a city, this new and artificial urban landscape does contain several of themcommerce, leisure and public space. This speculative form provide an alternative of what contemporary city can be, while highlighting the need to recover the urban meaning of words such as square and market.It questions, critiques, and challenges the

way technologies enter our lives and the limitations they place on design profession through their narrow definition of what it means to be architecture. A project of such importance and scale could be seen as a radical attempt to initiate a process of metamorphosis within the urban space.

Metropol Parasol was not the first megastructure that has been invented, yet it was truly the first ones that have been actually built. The difference between paper architecture and built project is that the later one has closer association with the reality. Therefore, it was not surprising when the project of Metropol Parasol were made to be the focus of intense controversy by the economic crisis and political problems currently troubling Spain. Opinions about the project touch both extremes. Supporters of parametric architecture praise the structural design and bravery of the concept; other architects, meanwhile, see it as a narcissistic celebration of form that is totally out of scale and context.2

Protests against this project has never stopped even after it was completed. In other sense, it seem to have created, almost at random, a democratic public space with people having to be patient and able to wait a long time listening to the opinions of others, as well as observing and being aware of the diverse kinds of life that inhabit the city.3

1. Ethel Baraona Pohl, Waffle Urbanism, domusweb.it, 2011 [accessed 16 March 2016].2. Pohl, Waffle Urbanism, 2011 3. Magic Mushrooms, domusweb.it, 2011 [accessed 16 March 2016].

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vIEw PLATFORM OF METROPOL PARASOL

METROPOL PARASOL: PLAN


Case study 2 - Absolute Towers

As tools of real estate, tall buildings demand uncompromising practicality; anything against the most efficient solution means making a sacrifice for architecture. This particular instance of the battle between the desires for optimisation and excess were known as the chicago Frame dilemma, after the city that perfected the technical solution to tall office buildings and narrowed architects options considerably.1 The vertical sameness, usually taken for granted, becomes incongruous when paired with a free-form horizontal plane, and it takes centre stage; stacking becomes the subject of architecture.

However, rather than stacking straight up to an extrusion, in the Absolute Towers, each floor is rotated from the one below it. This then lead to the result that in the interior, concrete sheer walls and columns must appear and disappear and floor plans are subject to constant adjustment, and in the end no two condos have the same layout. There is an extreme disjunction between a simple idea and the complex difference it creates.

1. Matthew Allen, An Empathetic Twist, domusweb.it, 2012 [accessed 16 March 2016].


not in their plans (which are all the same shape), but in the cumulative effect of small rotations that follow different patterns in the vertical axis in each tower. The two charactersone perhaps feminine, the other perhaps masculinewere specified by simple formulas: from floors x to y, rotate 0.5 degrees; from floors y to z, rotate 4 degrees; and so on. While the figures are still humanoid, they have a genetically engineered calibrationan android feelthat is at home in contemporary culture.1

The use of successive rotation also gives the towers an undeniable formal impact from the street. The Absolute Towers are unfailingly compared to human bodies; they require the anthropomorphic turn of thought that focused architectural modernism on abstract forms in space. In doing this, the Absolute Towers are clearly based on a parametric system, a result of computational rules. Just as Matthew Allen wrote in An Empathetic Twist,The difference between MADs two towers as bodies in space lies

ABSOLUTE TOwER: PLAN

1. Matthew Allen, An Empathetic Twist, domusweb.it, 2012 [accessed 16 March 2016].


Huge changes have occurred since computing got involved in design process. To be specific, it changed the way information is processed, starting from 3D modelling to parametric scripting. Human input were gradually taken place of by computation, yet it is still vital in case of initialising ideas and optimising outcomes. As a result, the design profession might as well change as individuals from different discipline with different level of background knowledge of design are involved in the design. Meanwhile, there is a tendency for design and fabrication to be distributed so that the outcome can be personalised and has less constraint in time and space. Over all, computation provide alternatives in terms of form, logic and material to the current industry. The following cases provide a thorough explanation on how computation impacts on the architectural design.

A.2. DESIGN COMPUTATION


Case study 1 - Heydar Aliyev Centre

The design of the Heydar Aliyev centre establishes a continuous, fluid relationship between its surrounding plaza and the buildings interior. Elaborate formations such as undulations, bifurcations, folds, and inflections modify this plaza surface into an architectural landscape that performs a multitude of functions: welcoming, embracing, and directing visitors through different levels of the interior.1 with this gesture, the building blurs the conventional differentiation between architectural object and urban landscape, building envelope and urban plaza, figure and ground, interior and exterior. By introducing computing into design process, the project discarded conventional vocabulary of modern architecture, such as point-line-plane composition. Instead, it used one surface to wrap up the whole space, providing a strong sense of fluidity.

Another thing that is truly impressive in terms of computation in this project is that the form generating strategy is coincided with construction method. what takes Sydney Opera House six years can now be achieved in two steps. Firstly, within the parametric space, all kinds of curves are defined by NURBs, which gives them mathematical qualities for structural analysis. Secondly, when NURBs geometry transforms into mesh, it automatically use linear items to approximate the curves, which can be seen as the guideline for structural members to be introduced into the system.

HEyDAR ALIyEv cENTRE

HEyDAR ALIyEv cENTRE: cONSTRUcTION

1. Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu, Heydar Aliyev center, domusweb.it, 2015 [accessed 18 March 2016].


One of the most critical yet challenging elements of the project was the architectural development of the buildings skin. Our ambition to achieve a surface so continuous that it appears homogenous, required a broad range of different functions, construction logics and technical systems had to be brought together and integrated into the buildings envelope. Advanced computing allowed for the continuous control and communication of these complexities among the numerous project participants. 1

1. Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu, Heydar Aliyev center, domusweb.it, 2015 [accessed 18 March 2016].


Case study 2 - Messe Basel New Hall

The additions to the Messe Basel exhibition halls complex have recently completed by Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, Switzerland. The project has three halls in total, and two of them are characterized by their abstracted expanded metal skins, with parametrically designed openings that seem almost to breathe as they offer views of the city in very precise points, primarily the social areas above the city Lounge, towards the public life of the city.1 These articulated twisting aluminium bands modulates and reduces the scale of the large exhibition volumes to its surroundings. T They are not simply decorative elements but a practical means to regulate the fall of natural light on adjacent properties and to add weightlessness and dynamism to the old exhibition hall which was referred to as the monolithic big box.

The 15,000 brushed aluminium panels that make up the faade were individually cut and bent in response to a parametric script that translates two-dimensional elevation drawings into a three-dimensional reality.2 Therefore, computation plays an important role in this innovation. A new way of regulating material performance has been discovered, which made the building envelope appears less like a gleaming building box and more like an artfully woven, metal basket. Moreover, it opens up a new field where an ordinary material can be transformed into something special. In this large convention centre in Basel, the result being a convention centre that really feels more woven in to its surroundings.

1. Herzog & De Meuron: Messe Basel, domusweb.it, 2013 [accessed 18 March 2016].2. Woven Aluminium Faade Materia, Materia, 2013 [accessed 18 March 2016].


Generation of unexpected results through computation has the ability to go beyond the intellect of the designer. Based on a problem-solving program, further options can be explored with the aid of computer. However, to get preferable results from self-emerged generation, the designer should take on an interpretive role to understand the results of the generating code, knowing how to modify the code to explore new options, and speculating on further design potentials.1 This ability to control the generation at a macroscopic level is known as algorithmic thinking.

By engaging algorithmic thinking into design process, computation has gradually changed its role from a digital tool to a vital element that is integral to the design itself. Performance analysis, material analysis, tectonics and parameters of production machinery used to be separated disciplines in the design industry, yet now are incorporated into one whole system.2 Although this new system allows for performance feedback at various stages of an architectural project, creating new design opportunities, it can be problematic as human input can never be eliminated from the process, which increases the risk during decision making. Moreover, once the physical construction started, the flexibility of parametric scripting no longer exists, which means it will be far more difficult to modify things at this stage than it in conventional architecture industry. The following examples will articulate the advantages and shortcomings of generation and scripting.

A.3. COMPOSITION/GENERATION

1. Brady Peters and Xavier De Kestelier, Computation Works, 20132. Brady Peters and Xavier De Kestelier, Computation Works, 2013


allows demonstration of the activity in a real beehive.The advantages of computer generation is fully utilised in this project. Although the general form of the structure is the composition of cube and sphere, the infill of 169,300 individual aluminium components and the connection details could be nearly impossible (and pointless) to be achieved without digital support. And the role of generation is not limited to this. Generation has the natural advantage in terms of biomimicry, as they both followed the process of self-emerge, and generation opens for human input so that the whole project is still controllable. As a result, the structure generated integrated a high level of complexity, while providing strong sensory experience to visitors.

Case study 1 - UK Pavilion

The UK pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, designed by wolfgang Buttress, is developed around the concept of the beehive, as the humble bee plays a unique role in our ecosystem, while strong parallels can be drawn between the culture and interactions in a bee colony and those in human societies. The Hive is a 14x14x14 metre 3D cuboid lattice structure made from aluminium sited upon three metre-tall columns.1 A spherical void hollowed from its interior allows visitors to enter. People may seem like bees within a hive, and in this way the design plays with perceptions, shifting between the micro and macro. LED lights and audio-visual devices embedded in the structure

THE UK PAvILION AT EXPO 2015

1. Grown In Britain, domusweb.it, 2015 [accessed 18 March 2016].


Case study 2 - Serpentine Pavilion 2013

Inspired by organic structures, Fujimotos signature buildings inhabit a space between nature and artificiality. The Serpentine Pavilion 2013 was one of his project that aim to create a structure in between nature and artificial world. The organic form of the pavilion with a lightweight and semi-transparent appearance allowed it to blend into the landscape, while the repeating rigid grids generated to represent the artificial side of the design scheme.

It was truly a splendid form with inspiring logic embedded. However, it exposed the shortcoming of generation, as it failed in terms of functioning. The design was supposed to create a space functioning as a caf, yet the architects impossible attempt to integrate the caf within his white metal lattice resulted in a bar top made of cubic modules that were protected from the rain by polycarbonate discs. compromising occurs quite often as designers sometimes get lost in the parametric space and pay too much attention to test possibilities and achieve expressive performance. As a result, what the architects of the Serpentine Gallery pavilions are confronted with is, in fact, their struggle to understand architecture as an autonomous art form rather than as a social and aesthetic practice that participates in the production of cultural narratives and dominant structures of power.1

1. Marina Otero verzier, The Avery Review | Fair Trade: Architecture And coffee At The Serpentine Gallery Pavilions, Averyreview.com, 2015 [accessed 18 March 2016].


Part A explained the history and theory of design computation, starting from the concept of speculative design, to the essence of algorithmic thinking. As a new and effective design approach, computation and generation can be used to explore future possibilities and incorporate manufacturing into design process. The characteristic of self-emerge has made generation an innovative method as it goes beyond the intellect of the designer yet can be controlled with simple rules. In this way, design will be parametrised so that it can be modified with quantity and analysed with variables that affect the performance of the outcome. Therefore, solution to complex problems with multiple stakeholders and conflict interests will be optimised.

A.4. CONCLUSION


In this part, the concept of speculative design interested me most, as it regards future as a medium to aid imaginative thought. In doing this, the approach of computation and generation was introduced. In my previous design studio, different possibilities were tested by pick one of the sketch models as a direction for further development. Now with the aid of computation, all of the ideas can be generated to the final stage and compare with each other for the best solution, and thus the approach might changes designers view towards future.

A.5. LEARNING OUTCOMES


A.6. APPENDIx


These forms are generated by loft, contour and cull respectively. Modiy the list of the items can result in different forms, which have been explored during pracatce

B. CRITERIA DESIGN

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According to the interview with Los Angeles-based architect Doris Kim Sung, her architectural work tends to take inspiration from the biological world, particularly in the way she experiments and innovates with materials. Much of her work involves thermal bimetals, a material that expands and contracts with temperature swings; it can even act as a sun shade and ventilation system, without the need for electricity. She also admitted that digital tools play a huge role in biommetic architecture.They were used form-finding, generating the fabrication files, analyzing the structures and project the performance, and testing post-occupancy performance.

Biommetics was started by Otto. H. Schmitt in 1969 as a scientific approach that studies systems, process, and models in nature, and then imitates them to solve human problems. It lies at the intersection of design, biology, and computation. The architecture profession is rapidly embracing digital design technologies developed and applied in the framework of biologically inspired process. Put simply, nature is the largest laboratory that ever existed and ever will. In addressing its challenges through evolution, nature tested every field of science and engineering leading to inventions that work well and last. Adapting mechanisms and capabilities from nature and using scientific approaches led to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems, and many other benefits.

B.1. RESEARCH FIELD - BIOMIMIcRy

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Nature has experimented with various solutions and over billions of years it has improved the successful ones.

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The frist level of biomimicry is the mimicking of natural form. For instance, the form of the beehive may be take to create a structure with multiple layers of repeating geometry (see case study 2.0), which can then be applied to water filtration system. The second level is the mimicking of natural process, or how things are made in nature. For example, the recursive process embeded in the growing pattern of plants can be taken to develop an algorithm that generates geometry growing as certain rules, so that project of any scale or any form can then be achieved with simple rules (see case study 1.0). At the third level is the mimicking of natural ecosystems. To mimic a natrual system, you must ask how each product fits in: is it necessary, is it beautiful, is it part of a nourishing food web of industries, and can it be transported,sold and reabsorbed in ways that foster a forest-like economy.

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B.2. CASE STUDy 1.0

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Imagined as a ruin from the future, The Morning Line is a drawing in space, where each line connects to other lines to form a network of intertwining figures and narratives with no single beginning or end, entrance or exit, only movements around multiple centers that together trace out a dense web of ideas concerning the history and structure of the universe and our place in it.

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The project is chosen to be studied as recursive algorithm was used to create the base geometry unit and the fractal form. The power of recursion evidently lies in the possibility of defining an infinite set of objects by a finite statement. In the same manner, an infinite number of computations can be described by a finite recursive program, even if this program contains no explicit repetitions.`

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ITERATIONS

SPEcIES 1 - REcURSION FOR DEvELOPING SyMMETRIcAL FORM

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ITERATIONSSPEcIES 2 - INcREASING SIDES

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ITERATIONSSPEcIES 3 - cHANGING GEOMETRy INPUT

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ITERATIONSSPEcIES 4 - cHANGING METHOD OF EXTRUSION

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ITERATIONSSPEcIES 5 - EXPERIMENTING LINES

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1.Possibilities

- Is it intriguing in terms of design development?

- can it be developed into other forms?

- what are the possibilities of practical utilization (trash collection etc.) ?

2.Speculation

- Dose it push the limits of the algorithm?

- can it be developed into an evocative description of a possible future, desirable or otherwise? How?

3.Form

- Can it be defined as complex non-standard geometry?

- Can it be modified and fit into site?

- As it will be put into water, will it be structurally durable?

- will graceful degradation or repurposing be achieved?

4.Fabrication

- can the complex form be achieved with existing tools? If not, is there a possibility to optimise it?

- can it be built with recycled, found, non-standard materials? How will that impact on the site?

5.Activities

- can it be interactive and respond to the environment and users?

- can it encourage active bodily participation of users?

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SELECTION CRITERIA

SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

This form takes the geometry unit of The Morning Line project and repeats it by connecting each two triangular faces. Following this simple rule, it can be developed into any scale, such as water filter, platform, etc. By connecting the triangular faces, the hexagon sides of the geometry were joined at the edges with an angle, and therefore can be used to penal surfaces.

This is a typical fractal form. The reason why its been selected is that Im currently considering design water filtration system, and the layering property of this form might work out well.

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This form demonstrates an alternative for rubbish collection.The regularity of the geometry means that it is relatively easy to be fabricated. Meanwhile, as fragments are in two directions, the vertical fragments might form the structure supporting the horizontal ones.

This form interested me as it generates a tree-like structure, which can be used as structural elements supporting panels or membranes and develop into canopies, just as the tree does.

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The UK pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, designed by wolfgang Buttress, is developed around the concept of the beehive, as the humble bee plays a unique role in our ecosystem, while strong parallels can be drawn between the culture and interactions in a bee colony and those in human societies.

The Hive is a 14x14x14 metre 3D cuboid lattice structure made from aluminium sited upon three metre-tall columns.A spherical void hollowed from its interior allows visitors to enter. People may seem like bees within a hive, and in this way the design plays with perceptions, shifting between the micro and macro. LED lights and audio-visual devices embedded in the structure allows demonstration of the activity in a real beehive.

B.3. CASE STUDy 2.0 - UK PAvILION

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REvERSE-ENGINEERING

STEP 4: cREATE MULTIPLE LAyER

STEP 5: ROTATE ALONG cENTRAL AXIS

STEP 6: TRIM wITH BREP

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STEP 1: STANDARD HEXAGON

STEP 2: cENTRALIzATION OF POINTS

STEP 3: DEFORMING GRID

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In the final outcome, the aim of reproducing the original project was achieved.The reverse-engineering algorithm managed to produce a series of hexagon grids within the cubic boundary and hollow of sphere inside. However, differences still exists as the way hexagons were arranged in the original project (spiral-like) is different from what was created in the reverse-engineering process (radiant).

For next step, this definition will be used as a form-finding tool to fit the hexagon structure in to different type of geometry and generate variation in density of different part so that it can be developed into practical system (i.e. water filtration system) in future.

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TOP vIEw

B.4. TECHNIqUE: DEvELOPMENT

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SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

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By rotating layers of hexagon grids around different axis, evocative forms are generated with simple structure. Again, as I am focusing on designing water filter, the overlapping layers with variation of density in different area are preferred. However, two major issues exists:

Firstly, how to provide these hexagon layers with structural support?

Secondly, how to fabricate different size of hexagons in a less time-consuming way?

B.4. TECHNIqUE: PROTOTyPESPROTOTyPE 1

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Prototype 1 aimed to solve the problem of the mass production of hexagons in different sizes. An practical method is evidenced in the project of UK Pavilion 2015. Instead of fabricate them by cells, the project divided the hexagon grid into strips in two directions. Besides, this prototype also refered to the structural system and explored ways to support hexagon layers.

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PROTOTyPE 2

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Prototype 2 tested an alternative system in terms of structure. Instead of using rigid connection, this prototype connect layers with strings to form a flexible structure. The advantage of this system mainly appears when it is put into water.

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PROTOTyPE 3

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Prototype 3 is testing the possibility of using recycle material such as straws. The idea was to create a floating island that can capture rubbish and can be recollected. In this case, if the structrue is insulated and well-sealed, the site it can work on will extend to the whole merri creek

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B.6. TECHNIqUE: PROPOSAL

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wATER

MATTER USER

FILTER

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For designing filters, water, matter in the water, and user are the three things to be considered. Our proposal is to build a floating platform that act as a filter at dights fall. Gradiants of cell size are used to capture rubbish of different size.

wATER

water level

water flow & fishway

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MATTER

USER

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B.7. LEARNING OUTCOMES

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In Part B we started to work with reality and tried to seek methods to tranform algorithm into actural design. During this process, it is important to understand how things are different between computation and fabrication. Sometimes the properties of designed system can be made clearer when physical model is built.

B.8. APPENDIx - ALGORITHMIC SKETCHES

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C. DETAILED DESIGN

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In part B, a garbage collecting platform that subject to water level was proposed. However, as my teammate Jonathan and I were exploring different fields, the original proposal seem to have the two techniques forced together without consistency. Meanwhile, adding on the function of viewing platform seem to have disrupted the completeness of the proposal as a garbage collector. Therefore, weve decided to focus on creating a garbage collector with collapsible cells. yet the one attribute from the original proposal that we decided to kept and explore further was the instant response to water level change.

Hexagon was chosen to be the basic geometry of the cell. The reasons are as follows: Firstly, our original idea was closely related to biomimicry, and we are still interested in it even if it is just about taking forms from nature. Secondly, as we discovered in part B, only polygons with sides of equal numbers can be collapsed completely in one direction.

C.1. DESIGN CONCEPT

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In order to materialize the geometry, a series of experiments were conducted to test the possibilities of kinetic hexagon grids. To begin with, we found that a hexagon can be folded into a rectangle, yet when hexagons connect with each other, it gets more complicated as the number of hexagons increases. As is shown in the image, folding hexagon into rectangle require forces acting in multiple directions, yet only buoyant force was considered to be utilized in this project. Therefore, we went on exploring other ways to transfer hexagons into rectangles. As a result, we found that if the orientation of hexagon is changed, the hexagon grid can be transferred into brick-masonry-like rectangles under the force in one direction. However, in this case, the base of the structure turned out to be unstable. Finally, we decided on fabricating the one with poping-up layers as is shown on the left. As for this system, floaters on the top layer need to provide enough force to carry the whole structure in water.

PROTOTyPE 1

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PROTOTyPE 2

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After the first prototype was produced, we reflected on the system and created a more flexible one as the second prototype. In this prototype, all panels were changed into fabric except the horizontal ones. The cells therefore can vary in orientation and size, while lighter structure made it more likely to be workable with the buoyant force. To be spicific, the whole top layer can be made of floatable material so that it acts as floater of the system.

By then a preferable system was settled. we began to think of how the installation can respond to the site condition.

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SITE ANALySIS & RESPONSE - OBSTAcLES & LOcATION

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SITE ANALySIS & RESPONSE - vIEwING & AccESS

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SITE ANALySIS & RESPONSE - RUBBISH SIzE

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FORM GENERATION- REcURSIvE ALGORITHM

6l

1. ScALE + MOvE * using expressions for calculating vector

2. ScALE + MOvE (recursive) 3. MOvE *reusing the expression on y direction

SEcTION

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SITE ANALySIS & RESPONSE - FLOw

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FORM GENERATION- OvERALL FORM

1. PROJEcT * project the hexagrid onto a surface whose normal follows flow direction

PLAN

2. ScALE + MOvE * scale in only x and y direction to keep the horizontal plate from being tilted

3. LOFT * graft the hexagon list

4. TRIM * trim it to fit in with the site and ensure the individual cell is neither too long nor too short

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USAGE DIAGRAM

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CONSTRUCTION DIAGRAM

1 2

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FRAME FABRIc

FASTENERS FILTRATION BAG

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5 FASTENERS FOR FILTRATION BAG

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while finalizing the construction diagrams, several changes were made to the prototype 2 for better performance of the system. Further explanation will be given in the following chapter.

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C.2. TECTONIC ELEMENTS & PROTOTyPES

As is mentioned in C.1., two prototypes were produced, and weve decided to develop the one on the left based on following reasons:1.Although the prototype on the right is standardized in form and will be beneficial to assembly process, it lacks flexibility as a system, and iterations are difficult to be involved to respond to site context.

2.As only buoyant force is utilized in this project, the prototype on the right might be too heavy to be carried upward.

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Several modification has been done to the chosen prototype. Firstly, the horizontal bridging between the panels were moved backward so that the filtration bag could go into the cell.

Secondly, connection detail was changed from metal fasteners to bolts and strip fasteners in order to provide enough friction to keep the fabric in place.

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Meanwhile, fasteners for the filtration bag was also added on to the design for the same reason as is mentioned above.

Finally, the fabric edge and its connection with the filtration bag were treated carefully to achieve both pleasent appearance and structural integrity.

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C.3. FINAL DETAIL MODEL

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C.4. LEARNING OUTCOME

- Technique limitationsOriginally we want to create actual gradient hexagon grids instead of scaling ones, yet it was conflict to the kinetic system because the actual gradient hexagon grid may change the orientation of hexagons while the system was requiring at least one horizontal plate per hexagon so that the idea could work. The exploration of gradient hexagon grid will be included in the algorithm sketchbook.

- Learning objective and outcomeIn this subject I have gained a basic understanding of algorithmic design by analyzing precedents and developing our own project with this approach. Ive developed a set of computation and computerizing skills and am ready to challenge advanced techniques in the future. However, I do realized that there are disadvantages of computer-aided design. For example, the design process is separated from the reality and designer will always have to keep in mind of how things actually works when engaging with digital tools. Nevertheless, there are helpful plug-ins for grasshopper such as kangaroo that can link digital form with physical world. Overall, our team is satisfied with the design outcome as we reflected on our work constantly with critical thinking until the best decisions were made.

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Documents

648412 hanting hong final journal (wiki)