Living Machine - Thesis Report_01

Copyright Demis Roussos Bhargava 2009

CONTENTS Intro: Biology as a referent for architecture Methodology ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 1: Creation § Information coding the built organism § Proteins as structural units § Self-similar structuring across the scale hierarchy § Information field of the built organism The work of Peter Eisenman – House 11a and the Biocentrum ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 2: Body – Functional Efficiency § The Green Machine: Sustainable architecture § Aesthetics and the machine § ‘Architecture of screens’: Interactive skins § Functioning of the program The work of Louis Kahn ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 3: Skin – Aesthetic Efficiency § Scale coherence at the human scale § Aesthetics as metaphor and as expression of the structuring system § Maximizing information content of the skin § Fractal dimension as a measure of the information field Temples at Khajuraho Sagrada Familia – Antonio Gaudi Barcelona Pavilion – Mies van der Rohe Pompidou Centre – Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 4: Selection of the built organism § Synergy – Aesthetic, technical and ecological efficiency § Defining the ecological niche § Context: Space and time § Site analysis

The work of Harry Seidler

Conclusion Bibliography


INTRO Every living organism on Earth represents a perfectly functioning system, well adapted to the environment as a result of millions of years of evolution. Nature can serve as both an

inspirational model and as a means to break away from stagnant patterns. Understanding how natural patterns organize built form can bring out the importance of biological patterns at different scales and levels of design, and indicate w ays to satisfy the needs and demands associated w ith human perception and behavior. This exploration is structured on the idea that Volw ahsen’s living architecture can be, in fact is, analogical to living organisms. Architecture can serve, in fact, as a metaphor for life. As a living organism, architectural composition would have to satisfy the following criteria: § it w ould have to be coded by ‘genes’ carrying information § those genes would encode structural units that densify and interact to form the entire

organism § the organism should present information that enables it to adapt to its environment

and respond to its users in a symbiotic relationship § the complexity of the architectural organism can be quantified, by the measure of the

information content presented by the geometry of its structural units § increasing complexity in the course of evolution of the built organism must be

modulated by compositional rules that prevent its expression from degenerating into a chaotic, unreadable composition

§ the built organism therefore must remain poised on the knife edge of chaos for it to be successful in its ecological niche: too much rigidity leads to stagnation and uncontrolled flexibility leads to chaos

The thesis project is a distillation of five years of education – an end product. On the threshold of architectural practice however, can it serve as a springboard towards developing a design philosophy? The fallout zone of the Concept in the design process then needs to be defined – does the concept subjugate the design by becoming a metaphorical representation as literal truth, or does it serve as an axis around w hich the process can revolve? In effect, the Concept is the concept.


METHODOLOGY

As an overall design philosophy, the idea of the Dark Tower has great appeal. A metaphorical construct, the Dark Tower is the lynch pin that encompasses and runs through all possible worlds of the multiverse. This opens up the possibility of drawing analogies between the Dark Tower and the shikhara of the Hindu temple as axis mundi. More importantly, it serves literally as a ‘central idea’ or axis for the design process – the possibility of condensing the macro-microcosmic continuum into built form. Within this range of scale, architecture as object has physical significance at the human scale of perception. The symbolic significance of the design philosophy then ties in w ith a more physical significance, directed by the design concept. In the case of this project, the functional requirement of a biotechnological centre naturally lends itself to the idea of representing the genetic process in architectural vocabulary. The design program can be further interpreted in such a way that the architectural object as metaphor transcends itself and becomes an opportunity to crystallize the design philosophy into a design method. The Scientist as God, manipulating genetic software coding living organisms, then becomes a pretext for the exploration of the Architect as God, Creating a living machine. The schizophrenia of architectural constructs that celebrate the creativity of Man while professing humility before a higher Being can either be rejected outright in favor of an outright proclamation of man’s (imagined?) supremacy, or taken to a higher level of resolution and clarity. A building as living machine would need to display the fulfillment of the following conditions: Technical efficiency: Activities that need to be accommodated and the personal comfort of the occupants – man and machine – of the built form should function w ith minimal wastage of energy. Economy of means can then serve as inspiration for the expression of the functioning of the built organism in its skin and skeleton. Aesthetic efficiency: It has to be ‘beautiful’ as an object to which people can respond and appreciate – the possibilities of aesthetics as metaphor or as expression of the structuring of the built form will form an essential component of the exploration. Ecological efficiency: As a new organism being designed to occupy a particular niche within the natural and artificial ecosystem of the site, the role of the building in its habitat needs to be understood. Flexibility allows the architect to choose the nature and intensity of effect he wishes his creation to have. There is, after all, only a degree of separation betw een the good doctor and the mad scientist.


SECTION 1: CREATION The design concept involves the representation of the process of genetic processes in architecture. More than metaphorical representation serving as a symbolic gesture that has no relevance to the physical reality of the building, genetic processes can be used as a method to understand the construction of built form as that of a living machine. The first part of this exploration involves understanding the creation of living organisms. INFORMATION CODING THE BUILT ORGANISM Genetic material was first created in the ‘primordial soup’ that was the earth’s oceans three and a half billion years ago. The first life arose from a collection of chemicals through a progressive series of chemical relationships, which can be explained briefly as:

atoms → inorganic molecules → organic compounds → living matter The energy for carrying out these reactions was supplied by solar radiation, heat radiation from the earth, and lightning. Evolution proceeds as a continuous process of mutation in genetic material, or through sudden jumps in organizational complexity. These variations occur as a result of different factors in the course of heredity, w hich may be external or internal. Human beings are one product of this variation in the original genetic information, in the course of evolution from the original unicellular organisms. Tracing the family tree of Homo sapiens:

organic compounds → nucleated cells → blue-green algae → specialized organs → fish → plants → reptiles → mammals and birds → primates → human beings

The DNA molecule is a long double chain of deoxyribonucleotide units, each unit consisting of three different molecules: phosphate, deoxyribose sugar and nitrogenous base. The nitrogenous base may be a purine, i.e. adenine (A) or guanine (G); or a pyrimidine, i.e. thymine (T) or cytosine (C). In each chain, the phosphate component carried by the carbon atom at position 5 of one

nucleotide unit is joined by a phosphodiester bond to the hydroxyl component of the carbon atom at position 3 of the sugar in the next nucleotide unit, providing considerable stiffness to the polynucleotide. These bonds form a long molecular thread of alternating sugar and phosphate components on the outside of the DNA helix. The nitrogenous bases are joined to the sugar molecules by glycosidic bonds and project on the inner side of the DNA double chain. The glycosidic bond develops betw een the first carbon of the sugar and the nitrogen at position 1 in case of pyrimidine bases and at position 9 in case of a purine base. The two deoxyribonucleotide chains are held together by


hydrogen bonds. Adenine of one chain is always joined to thymine of the other chain by 2 hydrogen bonds. Cytosine of one chain is always linked to guanine of the other chain by 3 hydrogen bonds. Thus, there are only 4 possible base pairs: A – T, T – A, G – C and C – G. The phosphate groups provide acidity to the nucleic acid. The structure can be summarized as a double helix. The DNA molecule comprises two long, parallel strands that are joined together by short crossbars at regular intervals. The two strands are spirally coiled about each other in a right-handed manner to form a double helix. The latter is of constant diameter and has a major groove and a minor groove alternately. The bases face the interior of the double helix, and the sugar and phosphate components form a backbone on the outside. In other words, the DNA molecule has the form of a tw isted ladder. Information carried by each strand of DNA codes the entire form of the living organism, with segments of each strand coding a particular protein, proteins being the structural units of biological form. These segments are known as genes. A gene may be defined as the unit of inheritance that is carried from the parent by a gamete in a chromosome, and it controls the expression (genetic information) of a character in the offspring in cooperation with its allele, other genes and the environment. PROTEINS AS STRUCTURAL UNITS The process of this expression of genetic information as structural protein units can be briefly described in three steps: a) Replication: DNA governs its own synthesis. The self-duplication property of DNA is

called replication. The two strands of DNA molecule separate and each strand serves as a template for the synthesis of a new strand alongside it. The sequence of bases present in the new strand is complementary to the bases present in the old strands. A w ill pair with T, T with A, C with G and G with C. Thus two daughter molecules from and identical to the parent molecule. Each daughter DNA molecule consists of one parent strand and one new strand. Since only one parent strand is conserved in each daughter molecule, this mode of replication is said to be semi-conservative.

b) Transcription: A particular sequence of nucleotide bases in the DNA strand (A, T, G

and C) is directly copied onto a complementary RNA strand. c) Translation: The genetic program now transcribed on to the RNA is read in

sequences of three bases (codons), each codon possessing information for one


amino acid, which in turn form proteins, which contribute to a morphological (structural) or a functional trait (phenotype) of the cell and, hence, the organism. The process is explained in further detail in the appendix.

It can thus be seen that genes contain the codes for synthesis of proteins, which are the structural units of living organisms. It may be posited here that a building is subject to the same organizational laws as a living organism, and the process of design of built form is thus analogous to protein synthesis in living organisms. The ‘proteins’ being synthesized in the formation of built volume are its structural units, each unit having its own geometry. These proteins display fractal properties.

Fractal structure of alveoli in the lung maximizes surface area for air exchange


DNA translation produces fractal proteins that themselves constitute fractal netw orks within the larger organism, in a system that maximizes surface area within a fixed volume to facilitate maximum efficiency of the living systems. Might the same structural pattern work in the built organism to maximize information presentation? A fractal can be produced by iterating (repeating) a basic function onto an object, w ith the result that each iteration adds a little area to the inside of the preceding figure, but the total area remains finite, since the figure produced is bounded by the area of the original figure. However, the length of the figure produced is infinitely long, as can be evidenced by coastlines which, because of their convoluted shapes, can never be measured accurately. The end result is that infinite length exists within a finite area, a seemingly paradoxical result. Fractal objects share certain characteristics that distinguish them from more traditional objects defined by Euclidean geometry. These include: Fractals have the property of self-similarity or statistical self -similarity. That is, upon magnification of the structure of a fractal, new structure emerges that appears identical or statistically similar to that of the original structure. The generating functions or algorithms for fractals are generally simple, but usually lead to structure that is amazingly complex The natural language for generating fractals is iteration or recursion. The dimensionality of fractals is non-integer i.e. they have fractional dimensions


SELF-SIMILAR STRUCTURING ACROSS THE SCALE HIERARCHY The self-similarity seen in fractals can be seen as ordering principles of objects, across their scales of perception. A common feature of all natural forms is the existence of distinct scales. Material fractures due to stresses and strains create a hierarchy of discrete scales in solids. Life is the result of complicated chemical and physical connections occurring at many different scales simultaneously. Metabolic and mechanical processes characteristic of living forms require a nested hierarchy of structures. Biological forms exhibit a discrete hierarchy of interconnected scales. Organisms can be characterized in terms of a multiplicity of intermediate relevant scales in the various functional systems of the human body: circulatory, respiratory, neural and locomotory. This hierarchy of structural and functional levels are more or less dense (i.e., have a high value of relevance over a continuum of scales) and mutually interact. Both density and interaction are therefore crucial features in a scalar hierarchy. The function, meaning, and being of living organisms takes place at the level of molecules as well as at the level of cells, organs, individuals, social groups or ecosystems, i.e., on different scales of space as well as time. The growth of most natural organisms is dependent on density: as soon as the distance between two neighboring relevant levels gets sufficiently large, a new intermediate level emerges. Thus the density of interacting levels seems to be one of the parameters subject to homeostasis in organisms.

Numbers like the Golden Ratio φ = 1.618 have been w idely used in the past to define the proportions of rectangular forms. They determine either the overall form or the plan of a building, both of which are of secondary importance, since we focus more on the immediate connections to forms and surfaces. Scaling governs the internal subdivisions of forms. Most natural objects exhibit a hierarchy of scales starting from their largest dimension, down by factors of e = 2.7 to the smallest perceivable differentiation. The use of e as a scaling factor prevents the rigidity and monotony that are often the consequences of a modular system.


INFORMATION FIELD OF THE BUILT ORGANISM Buildings as objects present information to their observers in what is essentially a secondary level of interaction. The interaction betw een the building and its users can be taken to another level by maximizing the information presented by the building in an accessible manner. Information content therefore has to be modulated by accessibility of the information. More importantly, how human users respond to that information can lead to a more interactive relationship betw een man and the machine in what is loosely termed as the ‘information age’. Information cannot, however, be designed. What can be designed are the modes of transfer and the representation of information. Information is an abstraction from any meaning a message might have and from any particular form a message might take. Information can be represented as a sequence of bits, or, equivalently, as a sequence of characters in a text or a string of numbers in base ten (or any other base). These mechanical rearrangements do not change the information in any w ay. The information is the same however it is represented. The form of information storage or transmittal – whether digital or analog, binary bits or decimal digits – is irrelevant to the issue of conveying meaning to people. Though information is an abstraction that is independent of form the way in which information is represented is of importance. The representation of the information is the plastic medium w ith which we work. In spite of technological advances, people's access to external information has not expanded beyond their optical, auditory, haptic, olfactory, vestibular, and gustatory senses. Designing the presentation of information partakes of the nature of both art and science. Instead of properties of empty space defined by some plan, it is actually the information field originating in the surrounding surfaces, which permeates the space and connects it to the human consciousness. Defined by large-scale geometry, empty volumes exist only in an abstract, mathematical sense. Abstract space has little to do with experienced space. At the other extreme from a collection of static, non-interacting simple forms and voids, in reality we have a complex system tied together by both static and dynamic interactions. Most important, this system is linked in a non- linear manner to its users. The presence of observers alters the state of the system by increasing the information content. Non-linear emergent properties - which create the most memorable features - arise from the interaction of individual components. Historical spaces were the result of intuition, traditional rules of thumb, social conditions, and the limitations of available materials. Historical building exteriors usually present a piecewise concave, fractal aspect, w hich optimizes visual and acoustical signals that transmit information content.


Information is presented to the observer in different ways. One such method of composition is symmetry of form. Architecture, as any compositional art, makes extensive use of symmetry. Besides the second and third dimensions occupied by the elevation and formal composition of the building respectively, the non-integral or fractal dimensions of compositional elements also presents information to the observer, through similarity symmetry.

Bilateral symmetry is by far the most common form of symmetry in architecture, and is found in all cultures and in all epochs. In bilateral symmetry, the halves of a composition mirror each other.

Translational symmetry falls in the category of space group symmetry, and is, after bilateral symmetry, the most common kind of symmetry found in architecture. Translation of elements in one direction is found in solemn rows of soldier-like columns, or in the springing succession of arches in an aqueduct. Cylindrical symmetry is that found in towers and columns. Rare examples of spherical symmetry may also be found in architecture, though the sphere is a difficult form for the architect because human beings move about on a horizontal plane.

Chiral symmetry is perhaps less well known than other types of symmetry but frequently effectively used in architecture. Chiral symmetry is found in two objects that are each other's mirror image and which cannot be superimposed, such as our hands.

Similarity symmetry is an instance of hierarchical linking of details across scale. Similarity symmetry is found where repeated elements change in scale but retain a similar shape, such as in the layered roofs on a pagoda, the forms of which diminish in size but retain their form as they get closer to the top of the building.


Spiral or helical symmetry may be thought of as a special kind of similarity symmetry. Helixes and spirals in architecture often represent continuity. In spiral staircases, the unbroken form expresses the continuity of space from level to level throughout the building. In this case, the internal details across scale contribute to the experience of a person moving through a built volume, involving a natural succession through the hierarchy.

Multiple Symmetries in Architecture Usually, however, buildings possess more than one kind of symmetry. The Chinese pagoda has both the cylindrical symmetry inherent in the building's organization about the vertical axis, and the similarity symmetry of the diminishing sizes of the layered roofs. A colonnaded temple facade may demonstrate bilateral symmetry, but it also demonstrates translation. These examples of multiple symmetries can be observed w ithout requiring us to change our viewpoint of the building. We also perceive multiple symmetries w hen we change our position relative to the building, as for example, when we move from outside to inside. Domes are a good example of this: From the outside, domes appear to be organized about a vertical axis. When viewed from the inside, however, they appear to be organized about a central point. The symmetry type that we identify at any given moment, then, is a result of our physical position in relation to the building.


Presentation of Information in the Horizontal Plane 1. Vertical facets and flutes close to the

ground: To obtain visual and acoustic information looking horizontally, a surface must reflect in a variety of horizontal angles. A structure is subdivided into vertical facets - thin vertical strips, or flutes - that offer many different angles of reflection. Non-reflective surfaces give a maximal signal when they are orthogonal to the viewer. Flat walls and

protruding elements of rectangular cross-section provide only one normal contact point. 2. Amphitheaters The ancient Greek theatre is the archetypal open-air concave structure, where the curvature gives a very precise acoustic and visual focus. Medieval plazas use concavity to great effect. Contemporary plazas are invariably rectangular, either too enclosed or too open - they fail to focus information.

3. Courtyards Vernacular domestic architecture employs the open courtyard as the largest living space. Its boundaries carefully direct information inwards. The same pattern applies to Medieval Islamic Madrasas, Caravansaries and Christian Cloisters.

4. Colonnades: Colonnades gave definition to space in the ancient world, and continue to do so today in street arcades. Regularly spaced columns create a partial enclosure. A colonnade has many more normal contact points than a continuous flat wall, and is thus a far more effective boundary for built space.


5. Columns and pilasters: A line of columns in front of it increases the reflectivity of a plane or convex exterior wall. These could be either whole columns in front, or half-columns in relief on the wall. The former solution is used in ancient Greek façades, the latter in European Medieval and Renaissance architectures. 6. Fluting on columns: An isolated unfluted column drum presents a convex surface having a single normal line of reflection. Fluting the column turns an originally convex surface into a piecewise concave surface, thus multiplying the contact points. On a larger scale, faceted or flanged minarets utilize the same effect.

Presentation of Information in the Vertical Plane The preceding examples facilitate information access on a horizontal plane parallel to the ground. We also have to consider all the vertical angles subtended between eye level and the total height of a building. In addition to the horizontal solutions, cases are listed now of visual and acoustical contact while a viewer is looking up.

1. Horizontal facets and flutes above eye level: In order to scatter light and sound downwards towards an observer, a surface has to reflect in a narrow range of angles in the vertical plane. Horizontal strips or flutes should be defined, oriented at a variety of downward angles. The general pattern leads to architectural features that present vertical lines around eye level and horizontal lines above eye level. The historical architecture of India employs this solution very effectively. Horizontal articulations w ith strictly orthogonal corners do not achieve the desired signal.


2. Roof edges: With the exception of those in desert climates, buildings historically had protruding roof edges or cornices. Without this edge, the connection of an observer to the building's height is lost. Roof edges define the interface between the building and the sky, and terminate the scaling hierarchy at the level desired by the architect. This termination could connect to the human observer at a comfortable scale with a range of details progressing through fractal scales up and/or down the hierarchy.

3. Roof corners: The roofs on Chinese, Japanese, and Korean temples all curl up at the corners. Overhanging eaves protruding towards the viewer are visually ambiguous, and possibly threatening, whereas corners that point up present surface information from the underside to an approaching person. This extends the effective signal to a region outside the building.

4. Arches: The stone carved Romanesque doorways and entrances to mosques are concave elements based on the arch. All of them focus surface information. In our times, the Sydney opera house is an example of an open arched entrance. Arcades on the street level serve the same purpose for an approaching pedestrian. 5. Domes and vaults:

From the Pantheon to the Hagia Sophia to the Taj Mahal, great buildings have recreated indoors the amplitude of enclosed outdoor space. Those interior spaces offer us lessons for generating pleasant built form. On a much smaller scale, covered structures offering protection from the weather - either attached, or freestanding - generate a vertical information canopy.


Curvature, fractals, and the multiplicity of observers The above examples describe the signal received by a single observer. It is necessary to consider an entirely distinct matter, which is the total subtended angle for which each solution works. This is equivalent to asking how many different observers, standing in different locations, will receive information from a particular structure. Clearly, the focus cannot be just onto a single point, because it is likely that other observers will not receive any signal. Each individual piece need not be concave - indeed, some solutions call for convex elements - yet the overall concavity requires a large amount of spatial differentiation on the smaller and intermediate scales. With enough segmentation, any magnification will show different substructures. This is one definition of a fractal. The stochastic process of building richly complex generates random fractals, detailed structures to surround urban space. In historical examples, ornament and decoration subdivide building façades on many different scales: the most effective of these create fractal geometry. A far-reaching consequence of enhancing the information field through geometric subdivisions is to endow building façades w ith fractal scaling, from the size of the buildings all the way down to the microscopic scale in the materials. Spatial coherence requires internal definition on successively larger scales, going up to the size of the entire region. A patterned expanse needs to define several distinct scales to create hierarchical linking. Therefore, while a detailed pattern might connect to the user at the smallest scale, simply repeating the design indefinitely without using intermediate scales w ill fail to connect the user to the larger space.


CASE STUDIES: CREATION The work of Peter Eisenman – House 11a and the Biocentrum House 11a and the Biocentrum Project can both be taken as ideal examples of the creation of the fractal object, demonstrating organizing principles and the metaphorical representation of the genetic process of protein manufacture respectively. HOUSE 11A

For Eisenman fractal scaling ‘confronts "presence, origin, and the aesthetic object" in the context of the site, the building program, and its means of representation.’ In 1978, House 11a became a central thematic motif in Eisenman's housing design produced during the Cannaregio design seminar in Venice. Eisenman used the concept of fractal scaling: § discontinuity, confronting the metaphysics of presence § recursivity, which confronts origin § self-similarity confronting representation and the aesthetic

object House 11a combines “L” forms in complex rotational and vertical symmetries. The "L" is actually a square, which has been divided into four quarters, and then had one quarter square removed. Eisenman viewed this resulting "L" shape as symbolizing an "unstable" or "in-between" state – neither a rectangle nor a square. The three dimensional variation is a cubic octant removed from a cubic whole, rendering the "L" in three dimensions. The eroded holes of two primal "L"s collide in House 11a to produce a deliberately scale-less object that could be generated at whatever size was desired. Eisenman then placed a series of identical objects at various scales throughout the Cannaregio Town Square. Each of these objects is a scaling of House 11a, from a man height object to an object too large to be a house, with the house sized object paradoxically filled with an infinite series of scaled versions of itself rendering it unusable for a house. The presence of the object within the object ‘memorializes’ the original form and thus its place transcends the role of a model and becomes a component and moreover a self-similar and self-referential architectonic component. House 11a is effectively scaled into itself an infinite number of times forming a kind of fractal architecture.


BIOCENTRUM AT FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN "In the Biocenter project found objects (the existing chemistry buildings) and a scientific paradigm are convincingly interwoven together, important in a work where the energizing drive behind the figure is the DNA pattern itself… we encounter a figurative architecture, -- a new 'speaking' architecture -- whereby through a felicitous exchange, an architectonic construction is brought to reflect the most profound building system there is, namely, that of life itself. Moreover through this 'con-fusion' of nature and culture, the exigencies of science-envy are momentarily sublimated, in a singular w ork that stands outside representation, except, in so far, as it represents the Faustian triumph of science; the alarming ability to 'invent' life in perpetuity.” Kenneth Frampton The Biocentrum w as designed on the basis of three criteria, as stated by Eisenman: § maximum interaction between functional areas and the people that use them § accommodation of future growth and change § maintenance of the site as a green preserve as far as possible Eisenman therefore abandoned the traditional method of setting spatial hierarchies that he felt restricted future growth. As an alternative, the Biocentrum explores the possibility of blurring the distinction between architecture and biology, by representing the genetic processes as opposed to merely housing them. To this end, the architectural process mimics the process of protein synthesis as a generator of form. The biological concepts of DNA process are interpreted architecturally as geometrical processes that then guide the design process. In addition, the similarity betw een fractal geometry and the geometry of DNA processes has been used to justify the usage of fractal geometry as an alternative to Classical Euclidean geometry. Besides the physical translation of the genetic process into architectural form, aesthetic articulation also involves metaphorical representation of the bases of DNA by using the colors that denote them as a method of decorating surfaces. The Biocentrum Project is important as it begins to hint at how the link between biology and architecture can be celebrated in built form. As an architectural artifact, how ever, it suffers from an incoherent presentation of the information that generates it, as is often the case with Deconstructivist architecture. The original intention of leaving the site as a green preserve has, through lack of resolution or the overpowering of the design process by the design concept, led to its literal translation into colliding forms that sit uneasily in a green void. Superimposing the genetic process on the design process is a bold move, but the efficacy of the resultant space has to be questioned.


SECTION 2: BODY – FUNCTIONAL EFFICIENCY Post-discussion of the creation of the architectural object vis-à-vis the information that it is coded by and encodes through detailing across scales how does the Creation function? Once the compositional technique and the generating philosophy have been identified, the next phase of the exploration entails identifying a set of functional targets that need to be set for the architectural machine. The architectural body of the building as machine can be deconstructed into the follow ing functional components: § The building as a machine that can run more efficiently (the building and the climate

installation are one). § The building as a system that can be organized more efficiently as an open system in

interaction with its environment. § The building as a container of activities of w hich the logistics can be improved. THE GREEN MACHINE: SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE In Architecture there are many ways a building may be "green" and respond to the growing environmental problems of our planet. This can be done while still maintaining efficiency, beauty, layouts and cost effectiveness. There are five basic areas of an environmentally oriented design – 1. Building Ecology Many of the products and systems used to build may be toxic: they may emit unhealthy gases and substances into the air for years after construction. This can be greatly diminished if, during the design process, adjustments and substitutions are made in the materials used. Additionally, HVAC systems can be designed to provide maximum levels of fresh air and minimum levels of mildew and mold build up. 2. Energy Efficiency By employing proven solar technologies and solar heating methods, thermal massing and insulation systems, energy can potentially be returned to the local pow er utility during even the hottest or coldest days. Energy use detectors and reflectivity can be used effectively and lighting and electrical fixture selection can dramatically reduce conventional electric use. 3. Materials Some materials are "harder" on the Earth's environment than others. Some wood species come from destructive forestry practices. Some materials require extensive processing and produce toxic waste. Others may be from renewable sources and relatively safe to produce. Building ecologically takes these regional and global factors


into consideration, while balancing these considerations with the use of the fractal properties of materials to achieve the desired functional and aesthetic solution. 4. Building Form The form of a building can respond to adjacent landform, vegetation and climate patterns. Incorporated into a design may be recycling facilities, layouts accommodating new more cooperative lifestyles, reduced flow water fixtures, and indoor planting areas. 5. Good Design Good Design is the consideration for what we are leaving those that will follow us. Buildings with longevity, ease of use, reuse, and beauty, will require less energy, less repair and more value in the future. Thoughtful design, attention to details, and use of quality materials and building systems w ill be much easier to sustain in the future than the mass produced, cheap and designed to fail components we frequently encounter. Concepts of Sustainability The major steps in a sustainable approach to site planning and design are as follows: § Model the ecosystem to establish an environmental understanding § Assess social-economic context § Establish acceptable limits of change § Design facility w ithin social and environmental thresholds § Monitor site factors throughout construction § Reevaluate design solutions between development phases Improving energy efficiency 1. Siting and Design 2. Shade 3. Ventilation 4. Earth Shelter 5. Thermal Inertia 6. Air Lock Entrance 7. Scale and Insulation 8. On site water collection and waste disposal 9. Solar water heating panels 10. Photovoltaic electricity 11. Recycling and use of local materials 12. On site grow th of food, fuel and building materials


More evolved design strategies can use of natural systems as a source of information: § Shade and evaporation of w ater are two important techniques adopted by organisms § Many insects only breathe in and never breathe out, so conserving w ater. They lose

their expiratory gases (carbon dioxide) by diffusion through the skin. § Flying insects produce large amounts of heat in their flight muscles, but cannot afford

to lose much water, so their blood becomes the equivalent of radiator fluid and the insect loses heat generated in the thorax by radiation from the abdomen.

§ A swarm of bees changes its behavior as the temperature increases. At low temperatures the insects huddle and present a solid shell to the world. At an external temperature of 30°C the sw arm seems to grow in size due to the incorporation of airways through the middle, which allow cooler air to convect some of the heat away. Bees sit at the front entrance of the hive, which is alw ays at a low position, and fan their wings so that air is driven through. Water brought into the hive by the foraging bees (some of it in gathered honey) evaporates and the nest retains its temperature of 30° to 35°C. Any undesired holes in the outside of the nest are blocked w ith a waxy material called propolis. This glues everything together and controls the airflow.

§ A number of caterpillars produce silken tents in which they shelter overnight. This enables them to keep a higher body temperature so that they are able to feed faster and earlier in the day.

§ Wasps make paper (carton) nests whose multiple layers provide very effective insulation allowing the nest to be built in shaded areas where they won't get direct sunlight and overheat. During the summer the nest is cooled by forced evaporation

Modern organic architecture looked at how organism worked: at systems, not at their shapes. It was fascinated by velocity, self-sustained processes, internal functioning - metabolism in a word. Bionic architecture itself was not about miming the complete plant or animal body, but rather about why is it working so well. “Organicism” in the latter discourse was not a celebration of the Body as a whole, but of the way it worked as a Mechanism - the ultimate metaphor of Modern architecture.


AESTHETICS AND THE MACHINE The engineer, inspired by the law of economy and led by mathematical calculation, puts us in accord w ith the laws of the universe. He achieves harmony. The architect, by his arrangement of forms, achieves an order which is a pure creation of his spirit . . . it is then that we experience beauty. Le Corbusier The notion of functional art, most actively promoted by German writers and termed by them Zweckkunst, is most appropriately related to architectural theory under three headings, namely (1) the idea that no building is beautiful unless it properly fulfills its function, (2) the idea that if a building fulfills its function it is ipso facto beautiful, and (3) the idea that, since form relates to function, all artifacts, including buildings, are a species of industrial, or applied, art (known in German as Kunstgewerbe).


‘ARCHITECTURE OF SCREENS’: INTERACTIVE SKINS The need for representing or presenting information has already been discussed with regard to the factors that can be made to influence the creation of the building. The functional translation of this goal into architectural elements can now be looked at, with the understanding that the ‘aesthetic’ component of these elements will be studied in the larger context in the next chapter. ‘What is the architecture of and for the information revolution / age / society? Is it possible to honestly maintain a material and traditional understanding of architecture in a world increasingly dominated by disembodied, electronic information? Can w e approach architecture from an informational paradigm?’ The screen is a plane used to generate complete architectural orders – a simple element that can generate complex forms. Information can be presented through self-similar detailing across scale as discussed, and one element w ithin the scale hierarchy is the architectural plane, used to great effect by Mies van der Rohe. The plane can serve as a screen delivering and sensing pulses of information w hile retaining its original function as an element of architectural order. § “Walls need to be considered as opaque windows to other worlds, displaying

electronic productions such as artwork, cinema, daily news, environmental scenes, video games, virtual worlds, etc. Although the wall may still retain its traditional architectural properties of bearing loads and opacity, its most important function would be now to offer representations of other real or unreal places, events, etc.” In the case of this project, the dominating ‘view ’ would be that of the ideological axis of the Dark Tower, rising from its field of roses and ‘crying out in the voice of the beast.’

§ “Walls need to be considered as planes under continuous superficial metamorphosis.

If screens mutate their appearance, character, role, etc. by displaying different 'programming' (e.g., textures, light shades, shapes, materials, colors, etc.), they would be able to change the architectural quality of the w all. Considering that walls are the backgrounds against which space and activity unfold, implementing this concept would significantly affect the function and experience of architecture.”


Cyberizing the architectural artifact means nothing less than animating matter, turning it into a reacting organism that responds to and reflects the world of information and media. An architecture of screens may be designed so that it also w orks as a regulatory skin between internal and external environments. This would allow us to move from a view of buildings as mechanic, non-living systems to a view of buildings as smart, 'living' systems. In such a case, we move closer towards the stated goal of integrating aesthetic, technical and ecological efficiency in a synergy that encompasses the artificial and natural environments. ‘In turn, this will invite a refocusing of architectural work so that it brings together the material and the informational, the tectonic and the abstract, the real and the virtual, hence permitting the happy marriage betw een the two major forces that promise to occupy the minds of architects well into the next century: information and ecology.’ Possible avenues of exploration: The wall as ‘screen’ Large flat surfaces such as walls, floors, tables, or w indows are mainly passive and, where appropriate, are used to display decorative items such as paintings, photographs, and rugs. Although different projects and products centered on the theme of “home automation” have inspired various interactive displays, these are usually small or moderate-sized discrete devices, such as touch screens embedded into walls or tables. It is still unusual to see large portions of the walls, floors, or windows themselves used directly as interactive interfaces, except perhaps in niche applications such as those used for teleconferencing. Other interactive “smart room” approaches look at sensing full three-dimensional spaces, for example with computer vision techniques, and avoid concentrating expressly on the often more deliberate and precise interactions that can be expressed at the surface itself. New technologies, however, will enable such architectural surfaces to become sensate, following trends and concepts in “smart skins” that have redefined structural control and aerospace research over the last decade. The first is a low -cost scanning laser rangefinder adapted to accurately track the position of bare hands in a plane just above a large projection display. The second is an acoustic system that detects the position of taps on a large, continuous surface (such as a table, wall, or window) by measuring the differential time-of-arrival of the acoustic shock impulse at several discrete locations. The third is a sensate carpet that uses a grid of piezoelectric wire to measure the dynamic location and pressure of footfalls. The fourth is a swept radio frequency (RF) tag reader that measures the height, approximate location, and other properties (orientation or a control variable like pressure) of objects containing passive, magnetically coupled resonant tags, and updates the continuous parameters of all tagged objects at 30 Hz.


CASE STUDIES: FUNCTIONAL EFFICIENCY AND AESTHETIC ARTICULATION The work of Louis Kahn THE KIMBELL ART MUSEUM Louis Kahn's client asked for a museum w ith a human scale and galleries with natural light. The importance of this project for the purpose of this study is the w ay in which functional efficiency is achieved without compromising on Kahn’s goal of shaping space through the unification of light and structure.

A simple composition of parallel concrete vaults, the Kimbell Art Museum reveals itself to the visitor before stepping inside the building, with the porticoes that are a continuation of the building's vaulting. The “unnecessary porches” define the structural vocabulary of the whole museum: basically a concrete beam in the shape of a cycloidal vault, supported by foursquare columns. This simple structure is used, as was the case in most of Kahn’s buildings, to create an abstract order, a genesis for creating more complex space. The gallery spaces are not confined by the individual vaults but flow from one to another; the low "servant" spaces between vaults helping to define human-scale rooms. The creation of space on the interior through light is achieved through a freeing of roof space. Light diffusers spread natural light from a narrow slot to the sky along the undersides of the concrete vault. Casting an even glow throughout the museum the diffusers shield the Kimbell's work from the strong Texas sunlight. Kahn intended the light to serve as an indicator of the time of day but the even glow does not help to relate to exterior circumstances so much as three courtyards that Kahn created by slicing the vaults. Through a simple articulation of the structure, the building achieves a subtle aesthetic quality that does not detract

from its functioning. Instead, the clarity of the expression of served and servant spaces, while not carried forward to its resolution in Kahn’s Richards Medical Research Building, add to an aesthetic expression devoid of superficial ornamentation. Through an economy of means, the Kimbell Art Museum succeeds in understatement, unlike the drama of Wright’s Guggenheim Museum that perhaps overpowers its occupants – visitors and art.


THE SALK RESEARCH INSTITUTE The concept Kahn used separated the functional components of the institute into three parts: the Laboratory, the Meeting Place and the Living Place. The design takes full advantage of the site atmosphere by opening up a broad plaza between the research and lab wings providing a view of the Pacific Ocean and the coastline. The laboratories are separated from the study areas, and each study has a view of the Pacific w ith light pouring in. This allow s scientists to take a break from their experiments and clear their minds with a breath-taking view. As Kahn stated, he "separated the studies from the laboratory and placed them over the gardens. Now one need not spend all the time in the laboratories". The two lab wings are symmetrical about a small stream that runs through the middle of the courtyard and feeds into the ocean, a small

gesture that adds character to the courtyard. Materials used include wood, concrete, marble, water, and glass used in stark simplicity. Concrete, being ‘the stone of modern man’ was left w ith exposed joints and formw ork markings. Weathered wood and glass combined with the concrete to construct the outside surface. Inside, Kahn integrated mechanical and electrical services, hidden in a service floor under each laboratory to free the laboratory space. Interlocking volumes are present throughout the structure, all the way down to the furniture details. The servant and served spaces in the Salk Institute create a consistent order, which is evident throughout the design. The laboratories

act as the served spaces, while the servant spaces are represented by the studies. All of the ideas are initiated in the studies or offices, and the research is carried out in the labs.


RICHARDS MEDICAL RESEARCH BUILDING Kahn’s design is outstanding for its expression of the distinction between "servant" and "served" spaces. The servant spaces (stairw ells, elevators, exhaust and intake vents, and pipes) are isolated in four towers, distinct from the served spaces (laboratories and offices). Laboratory buildings had been designed this way for decades: Kahn elevated this practical feature into an architectural principle. The idea of building as machine is articulated in a coherent manner, w ith the vertical shafts containing the services forming an integral part of both the structure and its expression in built form. The building was designed with the clear understanding that ‘science laboratories are studios and that the air to breathe should be away from the air to throw away’. The service towers are attached to the stacks of studios, and include animal quarters, mains to carry water, gas and vacuum lines and ducts. Kahn explicitly drew the metaphor of the building as an organism when he compared the ducts as channels for air breathed in from 'nostrils' placed low in the building. The air is then ‘exhaled’ out through stacks high above the roof. Besides the obvious functional innovations Kahn made, several elements of Kahn's architecture came together in this building: a clear articulation of servant and served spaces, light, the integration of spatial, structural, and utility elements and, above all, “the integration of form, material, and process.” As Kahn said, "a building is like a human, an architect has the opportunity of creating life. The way the knuckles and joints come together make each hand interesting and beautiful. In a building these details should not be put in a mitten and hidden. Space is architectural when the evidence of how it is made is seen and comprehended."


SECTION 3: SKIN – AESTHETIC EFFICIENCY Trying to define beauty can be an exasperating, even seemingly pointless exercise. Dissecting the concept of beauty can be akin to dissembling a watch – without the overall structure function ceases. Self-organizing systems? The exploration therefore involves understanding two possible ‘applications’ of aesthetics – as metaphor and as expression of the built system, and the possibility of integrating the two in the architectural body. As stated previously, information presented by the body can represent the generating philosophy as well as the internal functioning of the building. Information overload, however, can lead to a chaotic assemblage that cannot be comprehended by the observer. Organizing this information through all scales of the built form, both through ornamentation and articulation of the structure, requires certain rules to be laid down. SCALE COHERENCE AT THE HUMAN SCALE A mathematical rule helps to achieve visual coherence by linking the small scale to the large scale. Two separate processes achieve scaling coherence: (a) A discrete hierarchy of different scales follow ing from physics and biology and (b) Connections between the components of the scalar hierarchy - forms are related on

each individual scale, and linking forms on the small scale to forms on the large scale creates an overall coherence.

The scaling hierarchy establishes the proper subdivisions, and the relationship between the different scales in a building. To achieve coherence, however, it is necessary to go further and link the distinct scales together via similarity techniques. The follow ing list summarizes how to connect the different levels of scale to each other: ü Define recognizable units through contrast in color and geometry at all scales in the

hierarchy. ü Tie different units together through symmetry, overlapping designs, a common grid,

complementary shapes, and matching colors. ü Every unit needs a boundary that is itself a unit on the next-smallest scale - units

should couple sequentially with adjoining units. ü Units of different size can link with one another by having a similar shape, so the

same pattern repeats at different magnifications. ü Similar patterns of decreasing size can be nested to define a geometrical focus, and

this should coincide w ith a functional focus. Contrast is necessary because it establishes the different scales that we connect to.


Rule 1: The w hole idea of coherence is to harmonize components, which requires all the components of a design to be clearly articulated. Rule 2: emphasizes the need for multiple symmetry in architecture. The scaling hierarchy guarantees that symmetries can be defined independently on each level of scale. A building w ith scaling coherence has an enormous number of internal symmetries: there is one overall unit of scale, and an increasing number of units populating each scale of decreasing size; symmetry can act on all of these units. Rule 3: achieves coherence by tying the different scales together through contact. Successive forms in the hierarchy are paired geometrically. It is the smooth progression of scales that leads to coherence. Rules 4 & 5: establish a necessary link between structure and function that is all too often ignored in contemporary buildings. Scaling coherence defines an infinite number of decreasing levels of scale in any design. For practical purposes, however, a low-end cut off for the minimum detail is imposed. Taking this low er limit to be (1/4) in = 6mm provides a useful rule for estimating the total number of different levels of scale. If x0 is the smallest size of a design sub-unit (corresponding to n = 0), and X = en-1x0 is the largest overall size, then we can solve for the number n of distinct scales. Rounding off to the nearest integer value, n is computed as follows (Salingaros, 1995): N = 1 + lnX - lnx0 Obviously, X and x0 need to be expressed in the same units. For example, if w e are going to measure the overall dimension X in meters, then choosing x0 = (1/4) in = 6.4X10-3m gives the total number of different scales as approximately: N = 6 + lnX (m) A building of height or width X meters therefore needs to have distinct sub-units of n different sizes in order to appear coherent. Even when it has the required number of scales, the relative sizes have to correspond to the scaling hierarchy. The degree of coherence depends on the similarities and boundaries of all the different scales. If a building has either significantly fewer levels of scale, or significantly more, it will appear incoherent. The preceding text lays down rules that can aid the design process. Rules are made to be broken.


AESTHETICS AS METAPHOR AND AS EXPRESSION OF THE STRUCTURING SYSTEM ‘Glass (...) was, quite clearly, the ideal “skin” (...) the purpose was to produce maximum invisibility for the w all and maximum visibility for the structural skeleton of the building.’ Peter Blake (1977:72) From the Greek 'aisthesis', aesthetics is broadly defined as pertaining to material things perceptible by the senses, and is more precisely defined by Baumgarten in Aesthetica (1750), as 'phenomenal perfection' perceived through the senses. Thereafter in general usage, there remains an emphasis on subjective sense perception, but with particular reference to aesthetics and beauty generally associated with the broad field of art and human creativity. Aesthetic theory has tended to collapse experience into w hat is perceived through the five senses, whilst privileging sight and hearing over touch and taste, leaving smell 'at the bottom of the heap'. Subsequently there has been a recognition that this separation of sensual experience is inadequate and that a more systematic approach is called for that recognizes the body as a whole as an integrated system. The poet sometimes comments on his own work, which he compares to a car well built by a deft craftsman. Vedic aesthetic consisted essentially in the appreciation of skill. The purpose of the imager was neither self-expression nor the realization of beauty. To him the theme was all in all, and if there is beauty in his work, this did not arise from aesthetic intention, but from a state of mind w hich found unconscious expression. The Shilpan (artificer) piously acquiring knowledge of various sciences, such a one is indeed a craftsman. Aesthetic emotion – rasa – is said to result in the spectator – rasika – though it is not effectively caused, through the operation of determinants (vibhava), consequents (anubhava), moods (bhava) and involuntary emotions (sattvabhava). Extended development of a transient emotion tends to the absence of rasa. Pretty art that emphasizes passing feelings and personal emotion is neither beautiful nor true. A work of art may and often does afford us at the same time pleasure in a sensuous or moral way, but this sort of pleasure is derived directly from its material qualities, or the ethical peculiarity of its theme, and not from its aesthetic qualities: the aesthetic experience is independent of this and may even be derived in spite of sensuous or moral displeasure. Religion and art are names for one and the same experience – an intuition of reality and of identity.


"It [the Crystal Palace] has not a sufficient amount of decoration about its parts to take it entirely out of the category of first-class engineering and to make it entirely an object of fine art." James Fergusson "A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture . . . the term architecture applies only to buildings designed w ith a view to aesthetic appeal." Nikolaus Pevsner Whatever the justification for such assertions, it must nevertheless be recognized that neither of these authors suggests that aesthetic appeal or art are synonyms for superfluity. It is thus as misleading to imply (as Fergusson implied) that architecture is civil engineering plus ornament as it is to imply (as Le Corbusier did) that the status of the two professions is to be distinguished by the relative superiority of beauty over harmony.


MAXIMIZING INFORMATION CONTENT OF THE SKIN Emphasis laid on a purely visual experience of architecture has led to a reduction in the information field generated by architectural composition. Glass is used either as a mirror, or as a transparent “skin” whose primary function is not to protect, but to unveil, even expose the structural skeleton. Fractals define a scaling hierarchy that is complex at every level. The special case of "self-similar fractals" has the additional property that structure revealed at each level of magnification is related by scaling. That is, the substructures when magnified by the appropriate factor are all similar to each other. Self-similar fractals are mathematically simple; since their structure is repeated at different magnifications to create the w hole, they require only one basic algorithm (design) to generate. A fractal connects several different levels of scale. There is one basic design in a self-similar fractal that is repeated at different magnifications, and this links all the scales together: they interact. In a statistically self-similar fractal some structural property is similar at each scale, thereby linking the different levels of scale. Whether established via similarity of form on each scale, or through some other common qualities such as texture or symmetries, this scale-connectivity property of fractals creates a hierarchical linking. Hierarchical linking attaches forms and textures to geometry, and so to an observer. It is impossible to link forms hierarchically if they are empty, since in that case the absence of substructure leaves too few sub-scales to link together. The concept of self-similarity is closely tied to "metapatterning" – the w ay large patterns are composed of smaller patterns, w hich are composed of smaller patterns, etc. The way pattern emerges in a fractal is also dependent on specification. The specifying limits of a fractal can be thought of as its genetic code or DNA – the code specifies the growth and reproduction, i.e. scaling, of the fractal in self-similar patterns. The information field of the built organism can be maximized through detailing across the scale hierarchy. When the building skin clearly articulates the internal processes and the information that generates it in a coherent manner – both as metaphorical ornament and as structural expression – then the creation can be said to be aesthetically efficient.


FRACTAL DIMENSION AS A MEASURE OF THE INFORMATION FIELD The measures of information previously mentioned – i.e. content and accessibility - can be further elaborated upon in an architectural context. The perception of architectural forms can be divided into two aspects, as above: (i) The information content depends on the design, geometry of forms, and their

subdivisions, insofar as design organizes elements in particular ways. (ii) Information access is governed by the orientation of surfaces, their differentiation

on the smallest scale, and the microstructure in the materials. These independent factors generate the information field, which distinguishes between empty forms on the one hand and two opposites – organized or disorganized complexity – on the other. Complex ordered patterns have a large information content, which is tightly organized and therefore coherent. Chaotic forms, however, have too much internally uncoordinated information, so that they overload the mind's capacity to process information. Random information is incoherent: by failing to correlate, it cannot be encoded. These extreme conditions can be observed in some examples of Modernist and Deconstructivist architecture respectively.

The materials used in building façades play a crucial role in creating the spatial information field. High-tech materials are a necessary component of any new architecture, but they minimize surface information if used thoughtlessly. We have to start using materials, both old and new, with the aim of enhancing surface information. Historical buildings employ traditional materials in a way that maximizes optical and acoustical information at all angles: an incident signal is dispersed in all directions so that many observers can receive it.

Textured surfaces with articulated relief reflect signals in different directions. Relief, surface texture, and sculpted decoration reflect sound and light all around (non-specular reflection), w hereas pigments absorb an incident ray, then re-radiate the energy in all directions (scattering). Relief patterns throughout traditional architecture distribute sound and light, making a wall partially reflective at an oblique angle. Smooth polished walls reflect only at a single normal (orthogonal) angle to their surface. There is no optical contact above eye level.


Building exteriors in dark colors minimize information access, independently of any surface relief. Bare concrete is usually a matte medium gray, w ith poor reflective and light scattering properties. Large panes of plate glass create informational ambiguity: the visual signal indicates a surface, but there is no information. Depending on the angle, dark tinted windows are too transparent, too reflective, or too absorptive to define a spatial boundary. The only way to reinforce the visual signal is to use a structural frame between windowpanes.

There have been attempts made to measure information content in biological organisms using bits as quantifiable units. The Shannon and Weaver system of using the bit as a measure of information does not allow for the semantics of information, its context or its meaning. However, the ‘bit count’ does provide for crude measure, for example the bit count for humans has been calculated as 1012 bits. The Human Genome Project (HGP) carries this thesis of quantifiability of genetic information further, by attempting to determine the function and structure of all the genetic information possessed by the average human. In effect, it is an attempt to create an inventory of the order of nucleotide bases A, T, G and C. Fractals have non-integral dimensions and the higher the fractal dimension, the more complex are the fractals that can be generated. Fractal dimension can be calculated using the Box Counting Method: The box-counting method is an algorithm based on the self-similarity dimension. It is commonly used to analyze both self-similar and scale invariant images. Consider putting the fractal on a sheet of graph paper, where the side of each box is size h. Instead of finding the exact size of the fractal we count the number of boxes that are not empty. Let this number be N. Making the boxes smaller gives you more detail, which is the same as increasing the magnification. In fact, the magnification, e, is equal to 1/h. The formula for fractal dimension is D = log N / log e. With this method we can change it to: D = log N / log (1/h) Making h smaller w ill make the dimension more accurate. For 3-D objects cubes are used and for 1-D objects line segments.


CASE STUDIES: AESTHETIC EFFICIENCY TEMPLES AT KHAJURAHO Results

TEMPLE FDfr FDs FDp FDAV PC

Chaturbhuja - - - 1.567

Jagadambi Devi - - - 1.560

Lakshman 1.684 1.710 1.750 1.714

Viswanath 1.694 1.755 1.773 1.740

Kandariya 1.731 1.780 1.776 1.762 FDfr = Fractal Dimension of the front elevation FDs = Fractal Dimension of the side elevation FDp = Fractal Dimension of the perspective view PC = Period of construction


SAGRADA FAMILIA AND THE BARCELONA PAVILION The monumental church El Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family) is Gaudi’s most famous work, the finest example of his visionary genius, and a w orldwide symbol of Barcelona. The architect undertook the task in 1883 on the site of a previous neo-Gothic project begun in 1882 by F. del Villar. Gaudi dedicated his life, in his later years to the exclusion of all else, to carrying out this ambitious undertaking that due to his sudden death was left unfinished.

BARCELONA PAVILION – MIES VAN DER ROHE Mies's famous words were 'Less is more'. There is a timelessness associated with his work that transcends modern architecture - past the ‘glass boxes’ that he designed with scrupulous attention to detail (he also said, 'God is in the detail'), with which lesser architects eventually filled our cities. His style speaks of a stripping, a simplicity that will surely always stand as design aesthetic.


POMPIDOU CENTRE – RICHARD ROGERS AND RENZO PIANO The Pompidou Centre takes the articulation of the aesthetics of the machine in an intriguing way. To fee internal space for efficient functioning of the building, all the services are placed outside. In effect, the architectural body possesses an exoskeleton, ass compared w ith the endoskeletons seen in buildings previously discussed. Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers created a building that does not try to hide its construction but exposes its technology and its supporting skeleton to the observer. The skin of the building – plate glass – is protected by the exoskeleton. Here the minimal information presented by the glass skin is more than compensated by the building skeleton that celebrates the complexity of the machine. The services are given articulated coherence through brightly colored exterior pipes, ducts, and other exposed services that are color coded to represent the function each serves. Each part of the building is displaced from its system/structure and loudly displayed towards the exterior, to be widely visible. Every single function is expressed in a separated exterior shape/volume. By letting the parts free, the internal mechanism of the architectural body, w ith the vital systems sustaining it are articulated boldly: circulation/transportation, water pipes and electricity wires in the city, structural elements and their correspondents in the building. Thus the building equipment becomes the real visual facade. One disadvantage of such an aesthetic expression is that the building becomes a literal metaphor interpreting the link between architecture and industrial technology. The expression of the internal functioning of activities users pursue finds no articulation outside, w ith internal flexibility compromising spatial quality.


SECTION 4: SELECTION OF THE BUILT ORGANISM ‘Building environmentally conscious requires the architect to think about the relation between the building and the ecological and climatological system within which the building functions. In a wider sense the architect must take a standpoint on the relation between nature and culture. We have to search for a meaningful symbiosis.’ Jacques Vink and Piet Vollaard SYNERGY – AESTHETIC, TECHNICAL AND ECOLOGICAL EFFICIENCY The facade is determined by the functions that it must fulfil: ventilation, lighting, cooling and heating. The whole building can be interpreted as a system, with input and output. The weather conditions outside the building and the energy that is created by the activities in the building can be utilized for optimizing the inner climate. The facade is then a filter between inside and outside that actively regulates instead of passively protects. Buildings should be able to get energy from their direct environment, interacting with the outside climate and the users as an open system. Aesthetic translation of the structure and the metaphor the built form represents is important. When these properties are allied w ith interactive materials such that the building responds to its environment, a potent synergy is arrived at. Built form displays statistical self-similarity in different ways: the end result is to achieve scale coherence. The desired result can be summarized as follows: § The building skin clearly articulates the functioning of activities and the service

systems. § The skin becomes a membrane between the controlled internal environment and the

‘hostile’ external environment, responding to changing conditions. § The skin then possesses beauty by virtue of its functioning as an element interacting

with microclimate and users of the niche. § The entire building system is developed on the basis of achieving an aesthetic that

celebrates the detail as ornament occurring at all levels of the design system. The building system itself functions as both a metaphor of the design process as expression of the genetic process and a macro-microcosmic continuum symbolized by the Dark Tower, and as delight in pure architectural form. Therein lies the possibility of true beauty.

§ The question of an Indian identity for the machine is explored through achieving a distillation of the logic of the Indian aesthetic experience.

§ The building skin, its skeleton and life systems expressed in a unitary composition that acknowledges its environment while demonstrating a consciousness or self-identity can achieve a state of synergy.

The work of Harry Seidler achieves, in part at least, this synergy.


CASE STUDY: THE WORK OF HARRY SEIDLER The design philosophy of Harry Seidler is based on a ‘consequential methodology of approach, w hich brings into unison considerations of social use, technology and aesthetic expression.’ The early minimalist approach followed by him gradually gave way to a more detailed aesthetic expression using advanced technology. The underlying design aim, however, remained ‘to achieve the most, practically and aesthetically, with the least possible means’. His work demonstrates a totally integrated work of art, with interior design, furnishings, equipment and selected artw orks receiving equally dedicated attention to become a cohesive whole, a philosophy Seidler termed “gesamtkunstwerk“. Aesthetics and energy efficiency form a consistent design aim. Long span, column-free flexible interiors that integrate mechanical services within the depth of structural floors form a recurrent system in his larger projects. The aim of aesthetic and physical longevity predominates, an aesthetic that rejects what he called “heritage stylisms”. Seidler quoted Walter Gropius’ view about the much-maligned term International Style that, to him, the only structures that could truly be labeled international in style w ere "those classic colonnades, borrowed from the Greeks, placed in front of important buildings anywhere from Chicago to Moscow to Tokyo". In terms of aesthetic articulation, Seidler was very much in favor of a minimalist expression. His design philosophy is one that puts paid to Venturi’s clever turn of phrase that ‘less is a bore’. As Seidler states, ‘to do the minimal only leads to dullness, stagnation and rejection, but to do little in such a way that riches result, visually and tangibly – that is w here our direction lies! Ponderous, earthbound, pyramidal compositions standing flatfootedly, exposing their childish broken pediment "metaphors" in order to make us feel closer to "history", ignoring and defying all constructional, let alone structural logic, are the tantrums of a rich spoilt child delighting in being contrary and shocking us with corny stylistic idioms, not to say ludicrous bad taste.’ Seidler’s approach to naturalism was one of defiance, as opposed to abject surrender to the natural forces confronting him. According to the noted architectural theorist Paul-Alan Johnson, Seidler achieved a symbiosis between the natural forces and the systemics of building that belies his statement of nature as a hostile environment in w hich the building sits. Perhaps this very recognition of nature as an opponent makes for dynamic architecture that acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses that it must overcome or encompass to its own advantage. Symbiosis or parasitism? ‘By placing natural qualities at the heart of his architecture, Seidler is paying homage to the pow er and force of nature but daring them to beat him, all the while saying ‘I am in command here.’” That is, perhaps, not such a bad way of going about design.


BERMAN HOUSE Built in virgin countryside near the top of a deep valley with a w inding river below, the house is placed against a rock cliff with a suspended living area and projecting balcony overlooking the dramatic natural setting. Following the rocky plateau, the plan is arranged on two levels w ith the glazed pavilion of the living area below the upper bedroom wing. Utilizing the site's ample sandstone boulders, support and projecting screen walls anchor the house into the rugged terrain. A dam wall between two rock cliffs creates a deep natural swimming pool with an ample water supply in the case of bushfires. The house is built entirely of fireproof materials. HANNES HOUSE The waterfront site faces a branch of Sydney Harbor toward the North. Although narrow, it enjoys a tranquil setting with a view across moored yachts toward a public reserve and golf course on the opposite shore. The living areas of the house are arranged on three floors. Due to the slope of the ground, the garage, entrance and main living room are on the centre floor, the dining/family room and kitchen below, and all bedrooms above. A part-basement service floor contains a w hirlpool and sauna, all connected with the outdoor pool terrace. The three stories of the house are joined spatially by an open void that allows views up and down from every level with drama added by the freestanding, circular, glass elevator. Built


over the steep drop to the water's edge, the swimming pool is reached from the family/dining area and has below it, covered space for a boat.

HARRY AND PENELOPE SEIDLER HOUSE Although this house is located in an established suburb it is secluded in a steep valley adjacent to a natural bush reserve which assures privacy. Outlook is onto unspoiled nature and a creek running along the bottom of the site, which turns into a gushing waterfall during rainy periods. The garage is at the top, directly off the street, cantilevered over a rock ledge. Approach to the house is across an entry bridge which leads into the topmost of four half levels which follow the slope of the land down. The top level accommodates kitchen, dining and library. The second level the living space and main bedroom, the third the children's rooms and playroom level with the garden and the bottom a studio, utility and guest suite. The visual aim of the design is to extend the horizontal freedom of space vertically by opening the various levels into each other and creating a two-and-a-half storey high open shaft between them.


MELLER HOUSE The long side of this steeply sloping rocky site faces Northeast tow ard Sydney Harbor. The 160 m2 house maximizes this outlook by exposing every room's glass wall and terrace to the view and arranging them in three longitudinally split-level floors connected by ramps. The resulting horizontal spaciousness is amplified by the vertical openness that penetrates all levels. The opposing roof slopes impart a dynamic quality to the building's profile that expresses the different floor levels. Construction is of cavity brick w alls and steel beams supporting timber floors. The upper floor is cantilevered over a huge rock boulder that remains untouched.

ROSE HOUSE

This is the second of a group of houses Seidler built after his arrival in Australia in 1948. The minimal structural steel frame stands on 4 columns 10 m x 8 m apart from which diagonal hangers give support to the raised floor 20 m x 8 m which projects 5 m at each end. The in-line arrangement faces all rooms to the northern view, shaded by a continuous terrace. The structural frame is exposed both inside and out. Contrasting with the rectilinear building form are the diagonal lines of the suspension members which find their counterpoint in the expressed slope of both exterior stairs; solid on the 'void' north side and projecting on the more solid south side.


TRADE GROUP OFFICES Built along one side of Canberra's "Parliamentary triangle", this complex of government offices is designed to house separate but related Federal Trade departments w ith a working population of 3000 people. The different departments required separate entry-identities and easy communication between their offices. The requirement for universally flexible office space resulted in a system of 16 m wide connected 5 storey wings joined by circular vertical access cores, creating two open courtyards between them. Uses not readily accommodated in the column-free office wings are housed in separate freestanding buildings placed in the landscaped courtyards (theatre, cafeteria, etc). A systematized repetitive structural- constructional scheme dominates the architectural concept; only three precast prestressed elements construct the office floors; a 26 m long facade beam (with recessed continuous windows between them); a 16 m span 1.5 m wide "floor plank" and a 1.5 m long column element, erected by means of

moving crane gantries. The prestressing anchorages are visible on the exterior by their stainless steel caps. ROSE SEIDLER HOUSE

The first house to be completed by Seidler was for his parents. The ample site and a desire for maximum interior spatial interplay resulted in a hollowed out square plan exposed on all sides but opening the living space and sheltered terrace to the preferred northern orientation and valley view. Living and sleeping areas are separate, joined by a central family room, which can be joined with the alcove-type bedrooms or made part of the living space by a dividing curtain. The rectangular mass of the building is hollowed by the open central terrace and the adjacent two storey high well piercing the building vertically, allowing light to penetrate into the

otherwise dark centre. From the rectangular structure 'tentacles' reach out and anchor it into the surrounding land, the stone retaining walls, the ramp leading to the garden (and future pool) and the louver fence shielding the drying yard.


DEFINING THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE Ecological efficiency then involves a number of variables – at the local level of the site the living machine is designed to respond to neighboring architectural morphology, site climate and features, people and their behavior patterns, so that the building has a controlled impact. At a larger level, it will exist in an Indian context, with all the attendant peculiarities of pride and disillusion that that phrase might evoke. How does one develop an Indian image for w hat is a western dominated science? And, can the acceptance of this challenging task lead to an architectural Creation that one can take pride in, as an Indian and Creator? To attain an ideal – as opposed to real – perfection in architecture, the context must influence the design process. CONTEXT: DEFINING SPACE AND TIME ‘White light, and then –a blade of grass. One single blade of grass that filled everything. And I was tiny. Infinitesimal. The greatest mystery the Universe offers is not life but Size. Size encompasses life, and the Tower encompasses Size.’1

‘We live in a world of vastly varying social and economic climates. What is possible and in fact desirable in one country w ith ample, willing and undemanding labour but poor technology is unthinkable in a location w ith advanced industrial potential and high labour costs. Such considerations w ill inevitably produce regional differences in buildings even if the common aim is to create a subtle orchestration of spatial intricacies.’ 2 ‘The heart and essence of the Indian experience is to be found in a constant intuition of the unity of all life, and the instinctive and ineradicable conviction that the recognition of this unity is the highest good and the uttermost freedom… Though the details of our plans may change, and the contours of our building, we may learn from India to build on the foundations of the religion of Eternity.’ 3 ‘The atoms themselves are composed of nuclei and revolving protons and electrons. One may step down further to subatomic particles. And then to w hat? Tachyons? Nothing? Of course not. Everything in the universe denies nothing.’ 4 What is religion? Belief. Science is a religion. 1. Stephen King 2. Harry Seidler 3. Anand Coomarasw amy 4. Stephen King


CONCLUSION As stated, the end result of the exploration would be a built fabric or skin that faithfully expresses the internal skeleton of the building, achieves maximal aesthetic, functional and ecological efficiency, and presents and represents information generating it and coded by it. While pursuing an analogy between buildings and organisms is difficult, as until now buildings have been closed systems that do not interact with their environment, a higher level of interaction can overcome this problem to a certain extent. More importantly, the architectural object as a metaphorical construct can give way or be assimilated by pure architecture. ‘We now seek a sense of the infinite and yet simultaneously the intimate - a sense of the beyond in the immediacy of the present.’ Fractal processes and designs can provide the basis for connecting ideas, memories, architecture, and formal elements. Whether they exhibit the austere simplicity of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion or the raw exuberance of Antonio Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, buildings can either touch a chord or strike a nerve, depending on how they present information to us. An economy of visual means can be organized to create architectural assemblage where the design concept resonates at all scales. The built organism can incorporate the technical and aesthetic efficiency of natural organisms, while adapting to external conditions such as regional context, the design brief, and the personal idiosyncrasies of the architect himself. Detailing across scale can result in great architecture: living machines that people can respond to and that themselves respond to people in a symbiotic relationship that is mutually beneficial. Lessons learnt from our past in the context of modern science can be used or subverted to create the perfect living machine. As Mies van der Rohe said, God is in the details. Ten Principles 1. The Place: "Respect the land" 2. Hierarchy: "Architecture is like a language" 3. Scale: "Buildings must relate first of all to human proportions" 4. Harmony: "The playing together of the parts" 5. Enclosure: "An elementary idea with a thousand variants" 6. Materials: "Let where it is be what it's made of" 7. Decoration: "A bare outline won't do; give us the details" 8. Art: "Art should always be an organic and integral part of all great new buildings" 9. Signs and Lights: "Don't make rude signs in public places" 10. Community: "Let the people who will have to live with what you build help guide your hand"


SITE ANALYSIS: DEFINING PLACE The following sheets constitute an analysis of the site and its context: 1. City level location map 2. Campus map 3. Site plan 4. Existing building expression 5. Topographical features of the site 6. Slope analysis 7. Surface drainage 8. Climatic data 9. Existing flora and fauna ‘The city is a granite garden, composed of many smaller gardens, set in a garden world. Nature in the city is far more than trees and gardens – it is the air we breathe, the earth we stand on, the water we drink and excrete, and the organisms with which we share our habitat. It is a broad flash of exposed rock strata on a hillside, the overgrown outcrops of an abandoned quarry. It is rain and the rushing sound of underground rivers buried in storm sewers. It is water from a faucet, delivered from pipes from some outlying river or reservoir, then used and washed away into the sewers, returned to the waters of river and sea. Nature in the city is an evening breeze, a corkscrew eddy swirling dow n the face of a building, the sun and the sky. Nature in the city is dogs and cats, rats in the basement, pigeons on the sidewalks, raccoons in culverts, and falcons crouched on skyscrapers.‘ At the larger level of the city, the building as a living machine has to have its ecological niche identified. A few minutes from the traffic sink that is Dhaula Kuan is the site on which the Biotechnology Centre is to be designed. The quiet Delhi University South campus with its peripheral road network contrasts starkly with the traffic that passes by at a fair clip just outside, on the Benito Juarez Marg. Defining a place for an institution then needs to consider that the requirements for an atmosphere for research – that exists already on site – needs to be balanced by the need to attract visitors from outside the hallowed precincts of academia. The opposing characteristics beg the formation of a couple – a distillation of the forces of physics in a biological institute using pure architectural forms: a celebration of the levels of interdisciplinary correspondence that should be the norm rather than an aberration. The physical body of architecture then radiates a sphere of influence over the city that operates in conjunction with an implosive habitat. That habitat and the levels of influence the built body may have need to be understood.


CITY LEVEL LOCATION MAP


1. Site 2. Life science building 3. Computer science building 4. Director’s office 5. Student’s centre 6. Auditorium

7. Electronic science building 8. Arts faculty 9. Arts faculty 10. Jain Management Centre 11. Financial management centre 12. Benito Juarez Marg 13. Site access road 14. Cul-de-sac 15. Campus parking 16. Campus entrance

CAMPUS MAP

View down cul-de-sac To the north of the site is the

life science building, with the computer science building at the end of the road. The ‘controlled’ nature of the maintained lawns on the left contrast with the wild sprawl existing on the site. In the

design for a facility that is essentially about ordering the processes of nature and bringing them under man’s control, the opportunity to explore a more inclusive relationship between man and nature presents itself…naturally.


The Life Science Building immediately opposite the site uses primary Euclidean forms to bold effect. Emphasis of the horizontal and vertical lines through shading devices performs the dual role of protecting the internal spaces from the heat of the Delhi sun and providing a distinct

identity to the building. Materials are used in their ‘natural’ state, nature here referring to the Modernist idea that honesty in building expression results from letting materials ‘be what they want to be’. Horizontal lines in the building façade are articulated through exposed concrete bands. Vertical articulation arises through the use of piers that are faced with dressed stone. Large, blank walls are given character through the use of random rubble as a fascia. The building form is primarily a long rectangle broken down into more

accessible scales through the use of horizontal and vertical sub-divisions, with its linearity punctuated by octagonal forms to emphasize access points into the building. By virtue of its location and expression, the Life Science Building has a strong presence and therefore will have an influence on the design of the proposed Biotechnology Centre.


The Life science Building and the adjacent Computer Science Building display certain characteristics that can be encapsulated as follows: The use of materials in their ‘natural’ state – exposed concrete, random rubble and dressed stone A bold use of pure geometrical forms

A clear articulation of the structure on the façade: horizontal and vertical lines of the structure are extruded beyond the fascia to provide shade and compartmentalize the elevation mass into rhythmic bays The lawns fronting the Life Science Building are well maintained, and contrast starkly with the site opposite it, which is densely overgrown. This raises the possibility of incorporating existing ‘wildness’ into the design as a counterpoint or as an inclusive whole in a

building ‘couple’ – two opposite forces acting together. The diagram below further elaborates on the creation of a dynamic couple:


The Delhi University South Campus lies on the offshoots of the northern part of the Aravalli hills locally known as the Delhi Ridge in southern Delhi, at an average altitude of 213-219 meters above sea level. The vegetation is primarily tropical thorn forest. More than 50% of this land is covered with vegetation with no major permanent water bodies. The land is therefore dependent on the monsoon rains for its water supply. Quartzite rocks form the base of the campus. The soil cover on the lower areas is formed of weathered material. Tropical thorn forest is spread over this soil cover under semi-arid climatic conditions. § Dense vegetation area, seen in the lower parts of the Campus which consists of thick base of

soil cover holding fast growing and drought resistant perennial species;

§ Woodland like area i.e. the areas covered by widely spaced trees, or other vegetation and § Scrubland that covers more than fifty percent of the total Campus area. It includes perennial

drought resistant varieties of shrubs and bushes. The quarries that form the edge of the site to the east are approximately 2.5m deep. In a design program that involves the study of nature in a human controlled environment, the design can subvert the concept of man as a separate entity controlling nature. Instead, the design process then involves encompassing the natural features of the site in solid-void interfaces with the building so that the functioning of the building machine is carried out in tandem with the natural forces on the site. This objective can be made with the qualification that the impact that the

building will obviously have on the ecosystem is modulated to achieve the most efficient interaction. Efficiency here refers to the fact that influences of the environment – building couple on each other are tempered by the understanding that functional efficiency will not suffer. To this end, interactive skins between inside and outside will form an essential component of an architecture that blurs the distinction between the two, to the level that the built form overturns the program of scientists studying nature. Instead, the scientist learns in nature, and the natural


features on site present an excellent opportunity to carry out an experiment of environment – building ‘auto-cannibalism’. The distinction between ‘internal working environment’ and ‘external habitat’ then loses its clarity.

The delineation between internal and external environments and its ‘fuzziness’ involves redefining the wall as plane in favor of the wall as screen. The screen is a plane used to generate complete architectural orders – a simple element that can generate complex forms. Information can be presented through self-similar detailing across scale as discussed, and one element within the scale hierarchy is the architectural plane, used to great effect by Mies van der Rohe. The plane can serve as a screen delivering and sensing pulses of information while retaining its original

function as an element of architectural order.


An analysis of the existing conditions on site and the design program leads to the development of the following conceptual intents and parameters:

§ The building skin clearly articulates the functioning of activities and the service systems.

§ The skin becomes a membrane between the controlled internal environment and the ‘hostile’

external environment, responding to changing conditions.

§ The skin then possesses beauty by virtue of its functioning as an element interacting with microclimate and users of the niche.

§ The requirements of the design program for scientists to ‘observe’ nature and manipulate it in a controlled internal environment is distorted by the design solution involving using existing site conditions

§ For instance, the visitors’ centre can become an active integration of the building environment-natural environment. In such a case, the quarries on the site could become nodes where the membrane separating inside and outside reality is at its thinnest. Here there is no museum displaying nature and no greenhouse serving as a repository for alien plant forms – the visitor will be inside nature

§ The entire building system is developed on the

basis of achieving an aesthetic that celebrates the detail as ornament occurring at all levels of the design system. The building system itself functions as both a metaphor of the design process as expression of the genetic process and a macro-microcosmic continuum symbolized by the Dark Tower, and as delight in pure architectural form. Therein lies the possibility of true beauty.

§ The question of an Indian identity for the machine

is explored through achieving a distillation of the logic of the Indian aesthetic experience.

§ The building skin, its skeleton and life systems expressed in a unitary composition that acknowledges its environment while demonstrating a consciousness or self-identity can achieve a state of synergy.


§ The climate analysis in conjunction with the stated intents provides more than rudimentary data according to which the ‘right moves’ are made. The built skin should respond to changing energy conditions and not be a fixed response to an idealized climatic state.

§ Existing paths and circulation movements if retained offer the possibility of maintaining continuity for the present users while forming a spatial and temporal thread that runs through the design.

§ ‘Paths’ of exploration include linking the students’ centre to the site using existing circulation, using existing parking at the foot of the hill and creating pedestrian axis that can pass through the quarry greenhouses as an introductory experience to the development

§ Opening out views towards the open quarry and emphasizing linkages with the director’s office, the life science building, the auditorium and the computer science building at the micro-level, and with the city as a whole through functional and formal gestures

Cyberizing the architectural artifact means nothing less than animating matter, turning it into a reacting organism that responds to and reflects the world of information and media. Architecture of screens may be

designed so that it also works as a regulatory skin between internal and external environments. This would allow us to move from a view of buildings as mechanic, non-living systems to a view of buildings as smart, 'living' systems. In such a case, we move closer towards the stated goal of integrating aesthetic, technical and ecological efficiency in a synergy that encompasse s the artificial and natural environments.


THE SITE AND FORCES OF INFLUENCE: AN INITIAL PLAN OF ACTION


Monthly average temperature

6.3

9.5

14.5

20

26

28.527

25.824

18.5

11

8

21.4

24

30.5

36

40.439

35.533.9 34 34

28.4

23

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Month

Tem

pera

ture

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23 18 13 8 13

74

180 173

117

10 3 100

20

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100

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160

180

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Rai

nfal

l (m

m)

Monthly rainfall 23 18 13 8 13 74 180 173 117 10 3 101 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


Monthly average Relative Humidity

68 67

49

3539

53

75

80

72

5653

69

3835

2319

16

36

59 61

51

32

25

42

0

10

20

30

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RH

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RH (am) RH (pm)

RH (am) 68 67 49 35 39 53 75 80 72 56 53 69

RH (pm) 38 35 23 19 16 36 59 61 51 32 25 42

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. The Shape of Space Graham Nierlich 2. Space is the machine Bill Hillier 3. The Architect’s Eye Tom Porter 4. Architectural Morphology J.P. Steadman 5. Does God Play Dice Ian Stewart 6. Superforce Paul Davies 7. Origins Rediscovered Richard Leakey 8. The Sleepwalkers Arthur Koestler 9. The Architecture of the Jumping Universe Charles Jencks 10. The Blind Watchmaker Richard Dawkins 11. Nature in Question J.J. Clarke 12. A New Model of the Universe P.D. Ouspensky 13. Chaos James Gleick 14. About Time Paul Davies 15. The Evolution of Information Susantha Goonatilake 16. Imagenation: Popular Images of Genetics Jose Van Dijck 17. Ecology and the fractal Mind Victor Padron and Nikos

A. Salingaros 18. Chaos, Fractals and Self-Organization Arvind Kumar 19. A Text Book of Biology P.S. Dhami 20. Nature’ s Numbers Ian Stewart 21. Cybertrends David Brown 22. The Theory Of Architecture Paul-Alan Johnson 23. Architecture in the 20th Century Udo Kultermann 24. Fractal Expressionism Richard Taylor, Adam

Micolich and David Jonas (Physics World Vol.12 No. 10 October 1999)

25. The Hindu Temple Stella Kramrisch 26. Patterns of Transformation Adam Hardy 27. Concept of Space IGNCA Publication 28. Architecture, Time and Eternity Adrian Snodgrass 29. Living Architecture Andreas Volwahsen 30. Form, Transformation and Meaning Adam Hardy 31. The Hindu Temple: Axis of Access Michael W. Meister 32. Architecture of the World: India Andreas Volwahsen


33. Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu) Percy Brown 34. The Legacy of Khajuraho A.G. Krishna Menon 35. Dissertation Geetanjali Chordia 36. Dissertation Harsha Vishwakarma 37. Dissertation Rishi Dev 38. Hindu Temples: Models of a Fractal Universe Kirti Trivedi The Visual Computer (1989)5 39. Jurassic Park Michael Crichton 40. The Lost World Michael Crichton 41. Timeline Michael Crichton 42. The Dark Tower I : The Gunslinger Stephen King 43. The Dark Tow er II: The Drawing of the Three Stephen King 44. The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands Stephen King 45. The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass Stephen King 46. Queen of the Damned Anne Rice 47. Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Bill Watterson

Goons 48. Interrogating Modern Indian Architecture A.G. Krishna Menon

(Architecture + Design Vol. XVII No.6 November-

December 2000) 49. Bionic Vertical Space Javier Pioz, Rosa Cervera

and Eloy Celaya (Architecture + Design Vol. XVII No.5 September – October 2000)

50. Time Magazine Special: The Age of Discovery

Documents

Living Machine - Thesis Report_01