Corpus - experimental housing

This is an experiment to build a three-storey extension to the existing three-storey housing in Otaniemi using thermal clay block masonry structure. Burnt clay is one of the oldest and most used materials in human history. Its use in architecture has been developed through the course of time. It started from monumental masonry structure in Mesopotamia and developed further in Roman era thanks to the invention of arch structure. The evolution of masonry structure reached its peak in Gothic architecture. After the Gothic period, the evolution of masonry structure almost stopped. It was Gaudí who succeeded in developing masonry structure further, eventually continued by Dieste. The use of burnt clay changed radically when wall and facade became free from structure in modernist architecture. Meanwhile in Finland traditional massive masonry construction survived until 1960s when industrialization and the new thermal insulation regulations made massive masonry quite uneconomic and unrealistic. Thermal clay block masonry construction has been developed since the air quality in buildings came to be discussed in 1990s. As examples of use of the thermal clay block consturction I present two buildings. One from Finland cladded with hand-made bricks to adapt to the surroundings. The other from Croatia with a crystal-like shaped outer shell supported by steel frame hanging out from the main clay block volume. The space in between the volume and the skin is actively functioning as a mediator between the volume and the external environment. I found that the space between the volume and the facade presents many possibilities. Then I present the use of brick in Otaniemi. There is a certain idea of use of brick by Alvar Aalto in the sense of weight and permanence. I also present the idea of relationship between interior and exterior in architecture of Alvar Aalto before I finally present my own design for the experimental housing. In my design the core of the building is monolithic thermal clay block construction, which is supported functionally and environmentally by the access corridors and the balconies. The building is cladded with clay shingles to adapt to the surroundings

Biomimicry architecture : structures improving by imitating nature

This Final Degree Project consists of a research paper on Biomimicry Architecture, learning from other authors and drawing my own conclusions. It is a topic that I am passionate about because you can understand the way of designing from another point of view based on what nature provides us. Learn where the term comes from, how it applies to architecture and ways to apply it. I think that the structures have to be considered from the beginning when creating to obtain a good project. Purpose Nature is a clear example of optimal structures. Architecture should take more advantage of it, and continue to investigate its structural patterns, how different models work in nature and learn from it to be able to project and design in architecture achieving new forms. Nature is wise. There are many types of organisms in the world, both in the animal and plant kingdoms, and each of them has a form that has evolved according to its function. Therefore, there are thousands of examples of structures with different sizes that correspond to different stresses and situations. Clearly you can learn many things from nature, not only the structure. Therefore, this is the area in which the work will focus, the idea is to learn how to apply knowledge that nature gives in architecture. Architecture arises from the need to protect oneself from the environment and to provide a better quality of life. If we go back to prehistoric times, the first architectural constructions were built from the materials that were available in their context and learned from the influence of their surroundings. This can be seen both from their peers and from the observation of nature. Nowadays, we have it so incorporated that we do not stop to observe. We learn a way of designing by imitating other architects, and we follow that idea without taking into account that those architects did it for an older reason that is not necessary in today’s world. We should not be satisfied with this

PARA(NOIA)METRIC: ARCHITECTURE BEYOND THE EDGE OF RATIONALITY

Nowadays, efforts are being tremendously put in order to facilitate opportunities for the fourth industrial revolution to play a real role in the destiny of architectural design and construction. Parametric design and digital fabrication are some of the tools that have been contributing in this uprising for the last two decades. The amount of solutions developed so far has, sometimes out of curiosity, been used in alternative ways that occasionally lead to highly appreciated outcomes, and sometimes immersed us in worlds of rationally controlled complexities that might be not so useful. Some of the highly sophisticated computational design processes strengths are easily capable of hallucinating us with the ridiculously marvelous forms that make us see unimaginable things and which, by the help of digital fabrication, are sometimes attainable. However, and basing oneself on some rationality keys in architecture, the question of the real need for such complexities to be the predominant scheme of our thinking strategies arises. One specific issue that is tackled in this paper is the influence of technologies in architecture from a critical perspective. With great impact on all ages of architectural history, sooner or later, technology has influenced the way in which buildings were conceived, documented, and constructed. It is to say that a great deal of effort has been put throughout time in order to innovate, understand material behavior, and to find an aesthetical balance between science and art. In this sense, the argument of the digital technologies in architecture will be set up as a not too long time frame, only a few decades long, but due to the constant progress of technology, it seems that advancements in design and fabrication are either slow or not accepted yet. The speed is an issue not due to the fact that there are not clear innovative principles, but because of its wide variety of tools being developed constantly that opens the possibility for creative exploration, to the point that the simple can become complex, the material can become immaterial, and the rational can become humanly irrational. Not because it is not geometrically or parametrically descriptive, but due to other parameters that maybe are not in need for provision right now. The paranoia comes with the idea of delivering a concept in a way that requires efforts greater than building non-standard architecture, leading to the frustration of building a challenge that requires extra determination, manpower, advanced machines, or just more money for all of that. However, this is related to the customization design philosophy that architecture in many ways was imposed to follow for many reasons. It is therefore questionable what the role of sustainable development would be among all this mess

Towards a bio-shading system concept design methodology

Cities and buildings play a critical role in setting the conditions for human well-being while contributing to more just and environmentally conscious societies and economies. The design of environmentally and socially meaningful buildings has benefitted, in the past two decades, from scientific progress in the fields of computation and materials, as well as from a new way of looking into Nature as an inspirational example. This research focuses on the design of shading systems for building façades, assuming that biomimetics and computational design are a valid and proved combination. The main research question is how to develop architectural shading systems mimicking the adaptation strategies of Nature. The challenge is addressed by developing a design methodology for the creation and optimization of solar control systems based on the biological adaptive systems of terrestrial plants; creating a transfer and interpretation process of biological concepts to an architectural lexicon; and creating a universal methodology applicable to a diverse set of climatic, functional and local contexts. The research proposes a bioshading system design methodology, developed on a problem-based approach. Starting with the architectural challenge of design, solutions are sought in Nature to solve specific performance requirements of shading systems. The development of the methodology rests upon an informed process that integrates and interrelates three domains: architecture, Nature, and artifact. The ‘architecture’ domain is based on the conceptual process, the computational and parametric environmental analysis, and a diagnosis that informs the understanding of the performance requirements that need to be fulfilled. The ‘Nature’ domain is defined through an abstraction process: sustained by a mapping of plants’ features and adaptation strategies, the creation of a meme semantics triggers a performance-based design process. The ‘artifact’ domain is the physical materialization of the design concept, enabling its evaluation and emulation. The Nature-inspired design methodology developed in this research makes it possible for architects to solve the challenges of shading building façades, integrating local climate-related performance requirements with formal architectural criteria, using biomimicry as a mediator. In a step-by-step path, the user identifies specific project-related requirements, discovers and explores natural processes that guide inspiration, and conceptualizes a design proposal that is further simulated and prototyped.As cidades e os edifícios desempenham um papel crítico na definição das condições para o bem-estar humano, contribuindo para sociedades e economias mais justas e ambientalmente conscientes. O projeto de edifícios com significado ambiental e social beneficiou, nas últimas duas décadas, do progresso científico nos campos da computação e dos materiais, bem como de uma nova forma de encarar a natureza enquanto modelo inspirador. Esta investigação centra-se no design de sistemas de sombreamento para fachadas de edifícios, assumindo que a biomimética e o design computacional são uma combinação válida e comprovada. A principal questão de investigação é como desenvolver sistemas de sombreamento arquitetónicos mimetizando as estratégias de adaptação da natureza. O desafio é abordado através do desenvolvimento de uma metodologia de projeto para a criação e otimização de sistemas de controlo solar tendo por base os sistemas de adaptação biológicos das plantas vasculares terrestres; criação de um processo de transferência e interpretação de conceitos biológicos para um léxico arquitetónico; e criação uma metodologia universal aplicável a um conjunto diversificado de contextos climáticos, funcionais e locais. A presente investigação propõe uma metodologia de projeto de sistema bioshading, desenvolvida através de uma abordagem problem-based. Partindo do desafio arquitetónico de projeto, são procuradas soluções na natureza para resolver requisitos de desempenho específicos de sistemas de sombreamento. O desenvolvimento da metodologia tem por base um processo informado que integra e interrelaciona três domínios: arquitetura, Natureza e artefacto. O domínio 'arquitetura' tem por base o processo conceptual, na análise ambiental computacional e paramétrica e num diagnóstico que informa o entendimento dos requisitos de desempenho a serem cumpridos. O domínio 'Natureza' é definido por meio de um processo de abstração: sustentado por um mapeamento de recursos e estratégias de adaptação das plantas, a criação de uma semântica de memes desencadeia um processo de design com base no desempenho. O domínio "artefacto" é a materialização física do conceito de design, permitindo a sua avaliação e emulação. A metodologia de design inspirada na natureza desenvolvida neste trabalho de investigação possibilita aos arquitetos resolverem os desafios de sombreamento de fachadas de edifícios, integrando os requisitos locais de desempenho relacionados com o clima com critérios formais de arquitetura, usando a biomimética como mediadora. Num percurso progressivo evolutivo, o utilizador identifica requisitos específicos do projeto, descobre e explora processos naturais que orientam a inspiração e conceptualiza uma proposta de projeto que é simulada e prototipada

Design paramétrico a partir da digitalização 3D de geometrias da natureza com padrão de crescimento espiral

A modelagem de geometrias da natureza pode ser um processo complexo devido ás características orgânicas dos elementos. Propõe-se com essa dissertação identificar geometrias espaciais que sigam o padrão de crescimento espiral observado na natureza, utilizando as Tecnologias 3D como ferramentas para o processo de projeto. Para a execução do trabalho foram investigadas os Métodos de Biônica, Crescimento Espiral e a Sequência de Fibonacci, Engenharia Reversa e Design Paramétrico. O processo de representação dos elementos foi realizado em conformidade com a Metodologia para o Desenvolvimento de Produtos Baseados no Estudo da Biônica com o acréscimo das tecnologias de digitalização tridimensional e de processamento de nuvem de pontos, complementado pela parametrização de superfícies à base de curvas. Foram utilizados três processos para modelagem de curvas paramétricas representadas (i) pelo desenho de linhas sobre a malha digitalizada em 3D, (ii) por programação visual no software Grasshopper e (iii) por programação com scripts Python. Foi avaliada como melhor alternativa para o Design Paramétrico a utilização da programação visual otimizada com a programação por scripts, a qual apresentou melhor aproximação entre as curvas analisadas. Estudos de casos realizados com elementos da natureza (abacaxi e pinha) demonstraram a viabilização do método. Desta maneira a sistematização do conhecimento permitirá a proposição de um modelo paramétrico baseado na Biônica para fase inicial de inspiração e concepção de alternativas do projeto de produto.Modeling the geometries of nature can be a complex process due to the organic characteristics of the elements. It is proposed with this dissertation to identify spatial geometries that follow the pattern of spiral growth observed in nature, using 3D Technologies as tools for the design process. For the execution of the work were investigated the Bionics, Spiral Growth and Fibonacci Sequence, Reverse Engineering and Parametric Design. The process of representation of the elements was carried out in accordance with the Methodology for the Development of Products Based on the Study of the Bionics with the addition of the technologies of three-dimensional digitization and processing of cloud of points, complemented by the parameterization of surfaces based on curves. Three methods were used for modeling parametric curves represented by (i) the drawing of lines on the 3D scanned mesh, (ii) by visual programming in the Grasshopper software and (iii) by programming with Python scripts. It was evaluated as the best alternative for Parametric Design the use of optimized visual programming with programming by scripts, which presented better approximation between the analyzed curves. Case studies carried out with nature elements (pineapple and pine cone) demonstrated the viability of the method. In this way the systematization of the knowledge will allow the proposition of a parametric model based on the Bionics for the initial phase of inspiration and design of alternatives of the product design

Immersion Into Noise

Joseph Nechvatal's Immersion Into Noise investigates multiple aspects of cultural noise by applying our audio understanding of noise to the visual, architectual and cognative domains. The author takes the reader through phenomenal aspects of the art of noise into algorithmic and network contexts, beginning in the Abside of the Grotte de Lascaux

Immersion Into Noise

Joseph Nechvatal's Immersion Into Noise investigates multiple aspects of cultural noise by applying our audio understanding of noise to the visual, architectual and cognative domains. The author takes the reader through phenomenal aspects of the art of noise into algorithmic and network contexts, beginning in the Abside of the Grotte de Lascaux

Mouldable Solids: Exploring Organisational Grid Strategies to Enhance Mud Architecture

Mud is a material with deep origins in human ecology and vernacular architecture. Despite housing one-third of the world’s population and almost half in developing countries, the application of mud as a building material has diminished over the years, perhaps due to a worldwide application of industrialised building materials and practices, as well as the perception of mud as a primitive material. On the contrary, mud is cheap, reusable and sustainable yet critical challenges relate to material behaviour and performance. The researcher takes the standpoint that mud architecture is a material practice and explores organisational grids consisting of skin and skeleton to enhance structural performance. Three areas of interest combine to demonstrate how mud as a material operates in a contemporary context: (1) The Natural Philosophy of Aristotle and ibn Sina to understand the transitional state of matter and force-form relations; (2) Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion and Hooke’s Law to understand force-displacement relationships; (3) Information theory to represent parameters and conditions as information in organisational strategies. While mud is of interest, other materials explored include plastic, concrete, clay, and adobe as they categorise as mouldable solids due to their transitional states. Where a careful focus on mud regarding material, form, motion and force, the research deploys the technical with the philosophical to negotiate the capacities of this particular mouldable solid. The hypothesis is that the greater the variance in the skin and skeleton grid, the better the resilience and adaptability a body has due to the complex interconnections between the parts that make up a whole, organising and re-organising to withstand forces. The dissertation celebrates mud as a reconfigurable architectural material rather than static and outdated, allowing for a multi-approach solution to contemporary and standardised materials in the current industrialised context