005 | Reading

Loukissas | how do simulations know

Architects have used drawing as a way to transmit ideas to others as well as display expertise. Hand drawn technical drawings, details, plans, sections, elevations were passed from architect to engineer to contractor in an effort to build the vision of the architect closest to what had been scribed onto paper. With the proliferation of computers came new forms of representation and methods of transfer. With that can come technical issues such as redundancy and the loss of information as multiple users access/save over files. A few of the advantages include the ability to interact with the drawing to create realtime simulations of different environment/loading/force scenarios as well as the ability for drawings to grow in complexity and contain many layers of information and data that would be impossible/inefficient for a human to try to represent in one drawing. Instead of master builders, architects/designers are now seen as liasons that must interact/negotiate many social groups/domains to complete projects.

004 | Reading Response

Fabricating Architecture | Robert Corser

This reading is a short summary of the advantages and difficulties associated with the emerging technologies of CAD / CAM designed and fabricated objects/products/buildings. Projects teams have new issues involving but not exclusive to ownership of information, risk, and quality of product. Also included in the reading was an article describing SHOP's Porter House project which is notable due to the fact that construction drawings were not used for a portion of the build. Instead the 3d model was sent directly to fabrication. An interesting pairing of articles that highlights both the highs and lows of the new technologies being used in building design. 

003 | Reading Response

The Evolution of Form in Nature by Michael Weinstock

Do the transformation of forms in architecture mimic the evolution seen in natural forms and systems? Weinstock makes the case that because humans are part of nature the systems and forms we create go through the same evolutionary process as all living organisms. 

All forms of nature and all forms of civilization have architecture. We think nature is separate from mankind. This came from ancient ideas of paradise. Mankind was created for the perfection of nature, in a dominant relationship with it.

Natural history should be separated into 3 domains ;  usual nature, deviant nature and nature manipulated           by man (to produce the artificial). The making of technology (architecture) would therefore be a natural behavior that is developed / improved over time. 

"All forms emerge from the dynamic processes by which natural systems, both living and non-living, produce organized arrangements of material in space and time."

These natural systems over generations produce more and more complex organisms and forms.

“Natural forms are not created by a single force or event, nor by the simple coexistence of many parts; it is the interactions of each part to its immediate surroundings that initiates processes that over time produce coherent forms.”

“Cities are dynamic forms, constructed spatial and material arrays that are reworked and rebuilt over time, decaying, collapsing and expanding in irregular episodes of growth and incorporation.” The evolution of city arrangement coincides with the systems for movement of food, materials, water and manufactured artifacts. They also have become more complex over time.

"the material forms of living things are a diagram of the forces that have acted on them."

A very interesting read that attempts to explain the relationships of every organism and system and its change over time. 

002 | Reading Response

Schodek | Digital-Design

At what point do modeling softwares become so sophisticated that the physical model no longer offers any more information than the digital can (effectively rendering the physical useless)?

This excerpt is basically an overview of digital design principles that one may encounter when exploring the many various softwares available to today’s designer.

Key highlights include the difference between surface modeling and solid modeling, the complexities of different types of curvature, the display of shapes surfaces and curvature, and intricacies involved in parametric design. 

Also discussed is the relationship between the output and input with regard to different modeling programs/techniques. Output meaning digital display (representation)of the model in both 3d and 2d, as well as fabrication concerns. As the sophistication of software continues to increase, new methods of analysis are applied to digital models which can be used to inform/optimize the design and therefore influence the output. This is a process of refining digital input more and more until it is as close to the output desired as possible.

001 | Reading Response

Keepers of the Geometry    |   Yanni Loukissas

Loukissas is investigating the changes in the practice of architecture due to Computer-aided design. He begins by describing architecture as a relationship between three sets of standards: technical, economic, and aesthetic. He posits that architects are shifting from emphasis on aesthetically focused design to technically focused design as a result of new technologies in simulation (modeling). He documents this transformation in two firms, Paul Morris Associates and Ralph Jerome Architects.

In Paul Morris Associates office there is a single sort of ‘techie’ that is teaching CATIA to the rest of the firm. Each person seems to have a different view of the software and how it should be used to create architecture. Some people in the firm such as Thorndike and Laird find their identity in their expertise of the software and are important to the firm because of this knowledge. Whereas others, like Shales, have found a niche as a people-person due to her avoidance of learning the software. The principal, Morris, has developed a neo master-apprentice relationship with Thorndike. As they review designs on the computer Thorndike has a better understanding of how the software works but is able to receive feedback and tutelage from Morris on architectural design and principles while also helping Morris learn about computer-aided design.

At Ralph Jerome Architects they also have a ‘techie’ but instead of teaching everyone else the software he is the link between everyone else and the software. He is the keeper of the machines more than designer.

I think I would rather be at a firm like Paul Morris Associates where everyone is given the responsibility of learning the software. Even though there is more turmoil about how it should be used, it encourages everyone to be a well rounded designer that is capable with different design tools. This reading suggests that a sort of unstoppable change in architecture is happening and it is up to each individual to decide how to respond to that change.