Week 6: Presentations

Well it's done, below the jump are our presentation boards that I finished at 3 this morning. I'm very happy with the graphic design and overall flow of the boards, I think it communicates a lot about our concept.

I'm a little hesitant on how our results will go, but I'm quietly confident due to the strength and resolution of our idea proposal and framework that logically structures it.

Closer images & discussion after the jump.
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When designing the panels I tried to contain images to panel boarders as to provide them with standalone integrity.

Although some information spanned across multiple sheets I think each panel communicates part of the concept, mostly through the division of the Maslow Heirarcy. The panel above contains rudimentary individual needs and basic information on our conceptual idea.

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Sources: [Original Works]

Week 5: Readings

Post idea development log and your reflection to reading materials.

• Erasing Architecture into the System
• Architecture as a Dissident Practice

Discussion and analysis after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Ideas 5: Preparations for Presentation

The main outcome from the previous tutorial was the resolution of the board layouts, the sketch after the jump explains how we are looking at presenting the ideas we have been discussing.
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As the above layout shows, we are trying to highlight the mirroring of the individuals and communities needs, and how they build on top of each other to reach the point of sustainability.

In addition to these needs are the project implementations of these in the middle area, as well as some context research of the surrounding social fabric.

Some main points we wish to cover are;

• Building Adaptation
  
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• Materials Recycling
  
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• User Experience
  
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Sources: [Original Works]

Week 5: Tutorial

Post your reflection on your take of Architectural possibilities in the future context that you imagined and discussed during the design-charette.

Good tutorial this week, although we have been working at developing and documenting our concept, until this tutorial we haven't had an appropriate structure or framework to unify all our ideas.

But Luke bought a really good idea to the table in the form of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Full account of the tutorial and discussions after the jump.
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So the concept of Maslow's heirarcy states that theire are different levels of human needs, starting out with the most basic physiological needs moving through safety, love, esteem and ending with what he calls self-actualisation.

When viewed diagramatically the needs tend to be arranged in the form of a pyramid, as shown above, to represent the requirement of basic needs before adressing the more complex higher levels.

Sources: [Original Works] Image Sources: [Original Works, Wikipedia]

Week 4: Readings

Post idea development log and your reflection to reading materials.

• Aesthetics & Architecture
• Architectural Weaponry

Discussion and analysis after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Ideas 4: Architectural Concepts

I've been trying to think forward to the architectural resolution of this project and what it might entail as a way of informing this first project in a constructive way.

Lately geodesic domes have been holding my attention as a way to quickly and easily create low cost large scale spaces for utilization in this project. I know the concept is fairly dated and has been done to death but I want to have a go at breathing new life into it by creating irregular shapes based on the geodesic principles.

After the jump is an account of the research I have compiled.

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So in order to construct some irregular shaped geodesic spaces I first need to understand the mechanics of how regular domes are created.

The idea is that all domes/spheres are based of an icosahedron, which is a 20 sided sphere made entirely of equilateral triangles. The dome shape becomes more and more apparent when you divide up these triangles and move the vertices out to the circumference of what they call great circles which travel around the sphere like the equator does to the earth.

The result is a whole bunch of triangular faces (not equilateral) that almost always join five others at their vertices. There are 12 exceptions to this however where the corners of the first order large triangles meet, they only adjoin four other triangles. It's still early days in my investigations however I think that the arrangements of these points will be key to creating irregular shaped structures.

The above image is an initial idea that has been rolling around my head for a while. basically the outer dome functions as an artificial sky, the panels of the dome can be switched from being insulated and opaque to being translucent and letting heat pass through. the result is a totally manufactured and controllable cloud patten that can shift and change throughout the day, keeping some spaces shaded and cool and others warm and sunlit.

To fit this idea into out concept my initial thoughts are to have the outer dome built and constructed professionally due to the required technology and materials to achieve its design parameters. The interior domes however could be user constructed as a part of our concept and modified of adapted to suit as the requirements for the space changes, all the while the large dome can be reprogrammed as required to shade or expose the areas that are created.

Sources: [Original Works]

Ideas 3: More Concept Diagrams

After the jump is some more
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Above is a diagram

Sources: [Original Works]

Week 4: Tutorial

Post your reflection on the people and their lifestyles in the future that you imagined and discussed during the design-charette.

This week we continued our discussion on our conceptual architectural entity and the preparations for our presentation in week 6.

Full account of discussion and ideas after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Ideas 2: Concept Diagrams

Below is a diagram of the function of our architectural entity, as discussed in the Week 3 Tutorial, discussion after the jump.
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Basically this diagram represents our initial discussions of how the space could operate, utilizing local, recycled and waste resources the building aims to provide a space for the reconfiguring of these materials into valuable commodities for individuals and the community. These in turn get used and are then recycled and become materials for the process to begin again. Of course there will always be a loss of resources and energy in this process, but it would be only a small fraction of the waste in the current model.

More elaboration to come.

Sources: [Original Works]

Week 3: Readings

Post idea development log and your reflection to reading materials.

• The Continuous Partial Everywhere
• How Buildings Learn

Discussion and analysis after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Week 3: Tutorial Sustainable Future

Post your reflection on the Sustainable Future that you imagined and discussed during the design-charette.

This week we formed our first project groups, and as a result didn't explicitly talk sustainable technologies and futures. instead discussion focussed on our first project and aligning all of us towards a common goal.

Instead we decided to research different sustainable technologies and applications in our own time. the discussion overview and resultant research is after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Reflections 1: Theme Group Allocation

We got our theme group allocations this week, I have been assigned to the Suburban theme group, which was my first choice, and although I still remain a little unsure if I have selected the most appropriate group for my current ideas and thinking the more thought I give it, the more I think I have chosen correctly.

More discussions and rationale after the jump.
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Pros

• Fully Defined Context & Site
  
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• Appropriate Scale for Community Concepts
  
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• Something else
  
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Cons

• Sustainable Community Better Suited to Regional
  
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• Freedom of Virtual
  
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• Urban
  
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Sources: [Original Works]

Ideas 1: Initial Concept

Last semester in an unrelated subject I was researching sustainable tech and the role of the architecture profession in the global context.

In short I came up with the idea that the architecture profession is shifting, just like it has been shifting for hundreds of years. But unlike the last hundred years which has seen the role of the architect gradually diminishing (engineering, building, project managing, ect. being broken off), I think that sustainable technologies represent an excellent opportunity for us as architects to step into the role of systems designers. As systems designers we would ensure that every aspect of a buildings sustainable ecology was working efficiently and harmoniously.

After the jump I shall digress into what the building ecology could entail.
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There are two examples that I have found that I would like to share; an office that utilizes the anabatic wind effect to passively cool the interior space, and a seawater greenhouse that utilises the natural elements to convert arid coastal areas into fertile productive land.

The Anabatic Office

The anabatic office is a project by Betillion / Dorval Bory Architecture Office in Coasta Rica. It uses the sun to heat a courtyard of air which rises drawing fresh cool air through the office to replace it, and the process repeats.

This manufactured wind is completely passive in terms of energy use, it could even be harnessed to generate energy from this movement of air, although doing so might hinder the ideas primary function.

Above is One idea that could be quite effectively integrated into this situation is if the black courtyard area was of a low thermal mass and slightly sloped to a collection point. then as night fell the thermal mass would radiate heat to the night air becoming slightly cooler than it's surroundings, this would in turn cause any moisture in the air to condense on its surface and when the amounts formed large enough droplets they would roll down to the collection point.

The Seawater Greenhouse

The seawater greenhouse uses seawater and ocean breezes to create a cool humid environment to grow plants and also produces fresh water and phosphates to feed the plants.

In the example of this idea I found the greenhouse was actually producing more freshwater than it required for the plants inside. So it was set-up to distribute the excess water to the surrounding landscapes, and one year after it's construction, the baron land that surrounded the greenhouse was littered with small plants and shrubs (shown below, unfortunately I couldn't find the before picture).

These two technologies are examples of building design that requires a great deal of integration and planning that is only really achievable if everyone is managed and on the same page. And it's this service that I think architects are in the prime position to provide.

Sources: [Original Works, Betillon Dorval Bory, Seawater Greenhouse]
Images: [Original Works, Seawater Greenhouse]

Week 2: Readings

Post idea development log and your reflection to reading materials.

• Urban Form And Locality
• Tsunami Stones
• Greenwashing

Discussion and analysis after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Week 2: Tutorial Future Scenarios

Post your reflection on Social and Cultural contexts that you considered and discussed during the design-charette.

So we had our first tutorial today, very similar to last year. Discussing concepts surrounding the four theme groups and possible future scenarios.

After the jump is an overview of our discussion.
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Urban

We started off discussing the urban scenario of removing vehicles from central business zones as London has since early last decade.

• Reclaiming Roadways for Urban Farming
  
  With the roads being mostly free from congestion there is the opportunity to utilize this space for other activities, the first one that came to mind was urban farming. As farming is inherently a space consuming activity that requires a connection to both the ground and the sky to work effectively. Although the surrounding buildings hinder this connection to the sky and the earth is covered and heavily compacted there are ways around this.
  
  
  
  
  As shown above you could locate the deep planting to the center of spaces to minimize roots interfering with foundations and services. the space would also have more and less light zones which could be utilized accordingly, and activities that don't require light could be located appropriately.


• Access for Emergencies
  
  As the city centers are still quite populated with people there will invariably still be a need for vehicular access in special circumstances, for example; medical emergencies, construction, goods delivery, cleaning and maintenance procedures and a range of other activities that are made easier or even possible with the aid of vehicles.
  
  So unfortunately it seems the above idea of totally reclaiming the road space for production is infeasible, it could still be adopted on a reduced scale though.


• Public / Personal Transit System
  
  If the central congestion zone is large enough then a public or personal transit system would be required for quick easy movement throughout the space. This could be anything; a light rail system, trams, bicycle network or even a Futurama-esque pneumatic people tube.
  
  
  
  
  The main point is that all of these solutions would still require space, and very probably that space would be similar to the ones we have allocated now. The existing infrastructure would at the very least take time to depart from this model.


• Boundary Conditions
  
  This is a really interesting concept that we stumbled onto in our rantings, but its to do with the idea of change between environments and the conditions that arise at the edges of the two.
  
  Looking at the example of excluding cars from congested areas I came up with the rational that the edge of this 'de-congested' zone would see an increase in materials intensity. As is would become difficult to transport goods and materials into the center of the area most of the material transactions would occur at this boundary. Things like; markets, consumer stores and others would gravitate to here as it is as close as they can get to the major populated center while still being accessible to high volume transport, as the graph below demonstrates.
  
  
  
  
  In reality though this may not be the case, the fact that the goods and consumables are transported directly to the city center might be what makes it the city center. In this hypothetical I envisioned the city center being populated by high intensity activities rather than materials such as; arts or performance spaces, museums & galleries, offices and corporate work places and other activities that don't require a high material input to sustain them.
  
  
  
  
  Essentially this model I expect would produce the above kind of patterns with high density low materiality areas being skirted by high materiality boundaries and a consolidation of major transport corridors. In essence it's almost what we have now with roads and city blocks but the distances have been increased to the point where it is uneconomical to further transport goods to the center of the areas.

Suburban

The idea of retail spaces in the future is an interesting one, I personally think that the consumer model they rely on is fundamentally flawed, here's the an overview of the discussion we had.

• Linear Shopping Model
  
  By linear shopping model I mean something similar to Ikea, where you identify what you would like in a display setting and from there you collect the product from the warehouse or distribution centre. This type of approach, over say a supermarket model, would use less space particularly if the warehouses were amalgamated to a central location that serviced multiple retail outlets in a urban setting.
  
  Of course this isn't a particularly revolutionary model, and it is probably widely used already today, but I think it is an important step towards a sustainable future. This is still, however, a consume and dispose model and slowly the worlds resources are being captured and locked in little packets then distributed across the globe making it very hard to reuse or recycle these resources.
  


• Cyclical Shopping Model
  
  What we need is a more closed loop system, where items are broken down and reused in the manufacturing process, waste products being utilized in the production process


• Advertising Space
  
  This concept is fairly obvious, in fact many people already do it today, we go check out what we want in store and then find it for much cheaper on the internet at home. This utilizing of the retail store as a dedicated advertising space for products is a great idea, but the stores need to go one step further and provide a digital presence for people to purchase their products at a reduced price or they risk losing their customers to cheaper competitors. The next two points describe ways that the store could supply extra value for purchasing either in-store or from their digital representation.
  


• Space to Experience Products
  
  The example we talked about here was a sports store that's connected to a sports centre providing a chance for would be purchasers to experience their products before purchase.
  


• Distribution Model Re-think
  
  Didn't really get too far with this idea train in terms of an idea for a resolution, but we all seemed to agree that there is a lot of wasted energy in the transportation of goods and materials. Obviously its all but impossible to completely negate but it could be minimised but utilising local resources and local manufacturing, or at least have a system or network that sources things from the closest possible location.
  


• Distributed Manufacturing
  
  We were talking(well I say we but the other guys I was talking to utterly dismissed the idea) about 3D printers and a distributed manufacturing model. By localising the manufacturing you have reduced transport and reduced excess, As products are manufactured on demand rather than a projected demand.
  

Regional

The discussion really slowed at this point however the idea of a self sufficient community excites me greatly, below are some of the points we discussed.

• Analysing Systems
  
  We were talking about analysis existing systems to either enhance their productivity or utilise their
  


• Closing Resource Loops
  
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• Adaptive/Modular Design
  
  X
  


• Utilize Local Resources
  
  X
  

Virtual

And lastly virtual, the discussion had all but stopped at this point so I've just made up a few ideas after the tutorial and discussed them a bit below.

• Immaterial - Non tangible
  
  X
  


• 3D Printed Products
  
  X
  


• Distance Becomes Less Important
  
  X
  


• Virtual Space Nodes
  
  X
  

Lots of Interesting things were discussed during the tutorial, obviously I've put my own spin on everything and left things off that didn't interest me, but i think this project shows a lot of promise to be intellectually engaging and socially challenging.

Sources: [Original Works]
Images: [Original Works, Futurama Television Series]

Week 1: Readings

Post idea development log and your reflection to reading materials.

• Beyond Architecture
• Tobias Revell
• 32 Innovations

Discussions and analysis after the jump.
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Sources: [Original Works]

Start of Blog (Round Two)

Start of Blog.... Again!

So this is my second attempt at this subject, on the first run through last year I was in a particularly bad head-space I had a myriad of ideas on what I wanted to do with the design task in front of me. Unfortunately due to over-committing to other subjects and having a few personal problems I found myself at the end of the semester with tonnes of ideas very little practical resolutions to them and not much documentation to explain them.

So here I am to give it another crack, I still have grand ideas for this subject but I'm determined to resolve them in an architectural entity.

In the next few posts I plan to outline some of the technologies that have been piquing my interest lately, and my initial ideas on how to incorporate them into a built form.

After the jump I shall also begin compiling a list of these entities with links to the future posts and sources.
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Interesting Things

• Passive & Active Thermal Efficiency
  
  This includes a range of things; proper insulation, intelligent design, trombe walls, heat pumps, heat sinks, thermal masses.
• Sun Tracking & Utilization
• Modular Elements
• Basically This

Sources: [Original Works, TED]