Archive for June, 2009
P_Wall(2006)
Oblique View
Front Elevation
Side View
Transformation of image into constraint points through the use of custom rhinoscript
Year: 2006
Location: Banvard Gallery, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Size: 15′ x 9′ x 1′
Description: This project investigates the self-organization of two materials, plaster and elastic fabric, to produce evocative visual and acoustic effects. Inspired by the work of the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac and his experiments with flexible concrete formwork in the 1960-70s, p_wall attempts to continue this line of research and add to it the ability to generate larger and more differentiated patterns. Starting from an image, a cloud of points is generated based on the image’s grayscale values. These points are then used to mark the positions of dowels which constrain the elasticity in the fabric formwork. Plaster is then poured into the mould and the fabric expands under the weight of the plaster. The resultant plaster tile has a certain resonance with the body as it sags, expands, and stretches in its own relationship with gravity and structure. Assembled into a larger surface, a pattern emerges between the initial image’s grayscale tones and the shadows produced by the wall.
Team: Andrew Kudless and Ivan Vukcevich with Ryan Palider, Zak Snider, Austin Poe, Camie Vacha, Cassie Matthys, Christopher Friend, Nicholas Cesare, Anthony Rodriguez, Mark Wendell, Joel Burke, Brandon Hendrick, Chung-tzu Yeh, Doug Stechschultze, Gene Shevchenko, Kyu Chun, Nick Munoz, and Sabrina Sierawski, and Ronnie Parsons
Tulum Site Museum
Aerial view of museum with Tulum city and ocean in the background
Site location
Site Circulation
Strata
Surface Density
Site Plan
Floor Plan
Aggregate structures
Year: 2005
Location: Tulum Mayan Ruin, Mexico
Description: This competition entry for an archaeological museum outside a Mayan ruin on the Cancun peninsula continues our research into cellular aggregate structures.
Site Location
As an extremely important archeological site, the primary concern at Tulum is the minimization of human impact on the landscape and historical artifacts. This is achieved through the relocation of the museum site to align with the existing flow of movement. This location avoids clearing large areas of forest as well as places the museum between the existing entrance and exit to the ruins.
Program + Circulation
Through the relocation of the museum site, a series of parallel circulation routes are established in relation to the program. The zone closest to the city wall will remain as the main path to the city entrance. The next band out is the museum which is considered as an alternate path to the city. Visitors enter on one end and exit near the entrance to the ruins. The outer band of program contains the offices, toilets, and cafeteria.
Strata
A series of concrete strips are arranged perpendicular to the flow of circulation. These strata are the foundations for the museum above and as retaining walls on the sloped landscape. In addi¬tion they choreograph a spatial rhythm that is experienced as the visitor moves through the site. Visually, they appear as submerged walls, echoing the existing ruins on the site.
Surface Density
In between the strata a paving system is laid whose geometry is based on the density of movement on the landscape. Areas of high density and low density circulation are paved with a differenti¬ated pattern that allows for both small and large size tiles simultaneously.
Aggregate Structures
The museum walls and roofs are composed of a 3D voronoi tile system which explores the nature of aggregate structures through voids rather than mass. The structure relates directly to the stone aggregate walls of the Tulum site: the structure could be considered as the materialization of the voids between the individual stones. Thus, the museum structure refers to the existing tectonic yet renders it lightweight and airy. It is the invisible made visible.
Techniques and Technologies in Morphogenetic Design
Year: 2006
Projects Featured: Honeycomb Morphologies
Voronoi Morphologies
Prototype testing algorithm
Prototype detail
2.5D surface voronoi drawings
2.5D surface voronoi FDM model
2.5D surface voronoi FDM model
3D voronoi drawings
3D paper prototype
3D paper prototype detail
Plaster prototype
Plaster prototype
Year: 2005-2006
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Description: Voronoi Morphologies is the latest development in an ongoing area of research into cellular aggregate structures. The voronoi algorithm is used in a wide range of fields including satellite navigation, animal habitat mapping, and urban planning as it can easily adapt to local contingent conditions. Within our research, it is used as a tool to facilitate the translation and materialization of data from particle-simulations and other point-based data into volumetric form. Through this process, it becomes much easier to produce highly differentiated structures that are responsive to local performance criteria.
The project was developed though both 2D and 3D voronoi cellular structures. In both cases, a field of points is used to determine regions of space, or cells, that are closer to a certain point than any other point. As the cells are not constrained by a fixed geometric topology, the cells properties can be tuned in much more specific ways than a tradition rectangular or hexagonal cell arrangement. A custom-designed script was written to connect Rhino with Qhull which did the actual voronoi calculations. The script also digitally unfolds, labels, and prepares the geometry for CNC fabrication.
This technique was developed in collaboration with Jelle Feringa of EZCT Architecture and Design Research in Paris.
For more information about computing convex hulls, voronoi diagrams, and other triangulations, check out the qhull website. Qhull is used in Matlab and many other computational geometry applications.
Suture Chair
strong>Date: 2005
Description: An extension of the Honeycomb Morphologies/Manifold research project, the Suture Chair project uses a double-layer honeycomb system to provide both strength and flexibility to the chair. The shape of the chair itself is developed through multiple sources. The chair is designed to enable rocking and also multiple seating configurations. The outside boundary of the chair is in the shape of a suture curve, the same curve used to stitch tennis balls and baseballs together. This ring provides a boundary on which a mathematically defined minimal surface known as a Enneper surface spans. Through an iterative process whereby different variables were used within the equation, a design was established which had a desired maximum thickness at the edges and a minimum thickness at the center. Thus, where the honeycomb is the least dense, its cell depth is greatest. Likewise, the center of the chair has the highest density of honeycomb members and thus requires the least amount of structural depth in the cell.
Demonstrating Digital Architecture
Year: 2005
Projects Featured: Honeycomb Morphologies
Description: Publication of the Far Eastern International Digital Architecture Design (FEIDAD) competition in 2004. Matsys won a Design Merit Award.
AA Projects Review 04/05
Manifold Installation at the AA Projects Review 2004, Photo: Francis Ware
Honeycomb Prototypes. Photo by Sue Barr
Cellular Form-Finding. Photo by Sue Barr
Manifold prototype. Photo by Sue Barr
Manifold prototype. Photo by Sue Barr
Date: July 2005
Location: The Architectural Association, London
Featured Projects: Cellular Form-Finding, Honeycomb Morphologies
Honeycomb Morphologies
Manifold Installation at the AA Projects Review 2004, Photo: Francis Ware
Variable transparency of the wall
Detail of Manifold
Floor detail of Manifold Installation
Manifold Installation
Manifold Installation rendering
Cut files for Manifold
Manifold Installation process
Honeycomb prototypes
Honeycomb Prototype detail
Honeycomb Prototype exploring cell depth and curvature parametric link
Plaster form-finding model
Plaster form-finding model
Date: 2004
Location: London, UK
Description: This research was pursued as part of a MA dissertation in Emergent Technologies and Design at the Architectural Association. The central aim of the research is the development of a material system with a high degree of integration between its design and performance. This integration is inherent to natural material systems for they have been developed through evolutionary means which intricately tie together the form, growth, and behavior of the organism. In industrial material systems, the level of integration is far lower resulting in wide and potentially problematic gaps between its means of production, its geometric and material definition, and its environmental performance. This research explores integration strategies for a particular industrially produced material system for use in architectural applications.
This research develops a honeycomb system that is able to adapt to diverse performance requirements through the modulation of the system’s inherent geometric and material parameters while remaining within the limits of available production technologies. The Honeycomb Morphologies Project is based on the desire to form an integrated and generative design strategy using a biomimetic approach to architectural design and fabrication.
The system developed in this research presents an open framework through which the designer can work, enabling a more integral relationship between the various conflicting and overlapping issues in the development of an architectural project. The research represents a tool, waiting to be actively used with specific project data and embedded in a built artifact.
The Manifold installation was a large scale prototype constructed for the AA 2004 Projects Review. The installation explored the research developed in the Honeycomb Morphologies Project and extended it to a more architectural scale.
Credits: Andrew Kudless with help from Jayendra Sha, Nikolaos Stathopoulos, Giorgos Kailis, Matthew Johnson, Ranidia Lemon, Muchuan Xu, Grace Li, Scott Cahill, and Wongpat Suetrong.
C_Tower
C_Tower Elevation
C_Tower Plans: Plan ocillates between 3 sides and 12 sides
Year: 2004
Location: London
Description: This short (1-day) research project explores the use of large scale cellular structures in the design of towers. The tower is built up from a series of cells, each spanning 15 floors. The nature of each cell is to expand horizontally as load is applied. This force is countered by tension in the floor plates. The facade is composed of two types of cells, one of no curvature and one of single curvature. A parametric model was produced to explore the rotation, height, and size of floors.
Cellular Form-Finding
Plaster form-finding model
Plaster form-finding model
Analysis of prototype
Plaster prototype 2
Plaster prototype 2 detail
Various plaster prototypes using balloons withing balloons
Plaster prototype
Plaster prototype
Year: 2004-2009
Location: London
Description: Inspired by the work of scientists William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Joseph Plateau, and D’Arcy Thompspn as well as the designer Frei Otto on the geometry of cellular bodies, this ongoing project explores physical form-finding techniques and aggregate structures. In an attempt to embody the knowledge gained through an investigation of the physics and mathematics of minimal surfaces, surface tension, and cellular aggregates by Kelvin, Plateau, and Thompson, the project looked to physical experiments that would reveal the basic laws of aggregation. Cellular bodies (water filled balloons) were allowed to self-organize into packed clusters. By casting the negative space around the cellular aggregates, it was possible to easily fabrication what are called cellular solids (solid foams). The research began in London while at the Architectural Association and has continued over the years, informing many other projects such as C_Wall, Voronoi Morphologies, and P_Wall.
Betweeness
Year: 2003
Projects Featured: White Noise
Description: A book published by Bullseye Glass documenting the making of the various glass screens
White Noise
White Noise elvation
White Noise side view
White Noise Detail
White Noise Detail: air bubbles create opacity and white color
Year: 2003
Location: Bullseye Gallery, Portland, OR
Description: A collaboration between Bullseye Glass and Allied Works, this project explores ideas of modularity and flexibility while maximizing the glass’s material qualities through the most minimal means. The system consists of two glass panels: one straight, one curved. Each panel is kiln-formed from a even gradient of glass frit. The smallest frit creates more air bubbles as it is heated, causing the glass to become more opaque. Likewise, larger frit creates less air bubbles and a clearer glass. These panels are arranged and rearranged on site by the owner between two tracks. The ability to position each panel in multiple ways on the track allows for a system that is both flexible and minimal.
Credits: Andrew Kudless and Keith Alnwick (Co-Project Leads) while at Allied Works Architecture
300 Veils
Kobe, 1998
Kyoto, 1998
Osaka, 1998
Kita-ku Kyoto, 1998
Osaka tower, 1998
Year: 1998
Location: Kansai Region, Japan
Description: This project began as a documentary exploration of contemporary Japanese urban form, specifically the rapid life-cycle of buildings. The use of fabric screens during the construction or demolition of buildings was researched as a sign of numerous Japanese architectural, economic, and social conditions. Over a course of nine days, the three cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka were documented for their quantity of these screens resulting in over 300 photographic sites. Through a series of smaller projects, issues involving the technology and logistics of the screens, their abstract aesthetic form, and their potential as public works of art were explored.