B. Criteria Design

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According to the interview with Los Angeles-based architect Doris Kim Sung, her architectural work tends to take inspiration from the biological world, particularly in the way she experiments and innovates with materials. Much of her work involves thermal bimetals, a material that expands and contracts with temperature swings; it can even act as a sun shade and ventilation system, without the need for electricity. She also admitted that digital tools play a huge role in biommetic architecture.They were used form-finding, generating the fabrication files, analyzing the structures and project the performance, and testing post-occupancy performance.

Biommetics was started by Otto. H. Schmitt in 1969 as a scientific approach that studies systems, process, and models in nature, and then imitates them to solve human problems. It lies at the intersection of design, biology, and computation. The architecture profession is rapidly embracing digital design technologies developed and applied in the framework of biologically inspired process. Put simply, nature is the largest laboratory that ever existed and ever will. In addressing its challenges through evolution, nature tested every field of science and engineering leading to inventions that work well and last. Adapting mechanisms and capabilities from nature and using scientific approaches led to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems, and many other benefits.

B.1. researCh FielD - BIOMIMICRY

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Nature has experimented with various solutions and over billions of years it has improved the successful ones.

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The frist level of biomimicry is the mimicking of natural form. For instance, the form of the beehive may be take to create a structure with multiple layers of repeating geometry (see case study 2.0), which can then be applied to water filtration system. The second level is the mimicking of natural process, or how things are made in nature. For example, the recursive process embeded in the growing pattern of plants can be taken to develop an algorithm that generates geometry growing as certain rules, so that project of any scale or any form can then be achieved with simple rules (see case study 1.0). At the third level is the mimicking of natural ecosystems. To mimic a natrual system, you must ask how each product fits in: is it necessary, is it beautiful, is it part of a nourishing food web of industries, and can it be transported,sold and reabsorbed in ways that foster a forest-like economy.

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B.2. Case stuDy 1.0

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Imagined as a ruin from the future, The Morning Line is a drawing in space, where each line connects to other lines to form a network of intertwining figures and narratives with no single beginning or end, entrance or exit, only movements around multiple centers that together trace out a dense web of ideas concerning the history and structure of the universe and our place in it.

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The project is chosen to be studied as recursive algorithm was used to create the base geometry unit and the fractal form. The power of recursion evidently lies in the possibility of defining an infinite set of objects by a finite statement. In the same manner, an infinite number of computations can be described by a finite recursive program, even if this program contains no explicit repetitions.`

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iteratiOns

SPECIES 1 - RECURSION FOR DEVELOPING SYMMETRICAL FORM

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iteratiOnsSPECIES 2 - INCREASING SIDES

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iteratiOnsSPECIES 3 - CHANGING GEOMETRY INPUT

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iteratiOnsSPECIES 4 - CHANGING METHOD OF EXTRUSION

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iteratiOnsSPECIES 5 - EXPERIMENTING LINES

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1.Possibilities

- Is it intriguing in terms of design development?

- Can it be developed into other forms?

- What are the possibilities of practical utilization (trash collection etc.) ?

2.speculation

- Dose it push the limits of the algorithm?

- Can it be developed into an evocative description of a possible future, desirable or otherwise? How?

3.Form

- Can it be defined as complex non-standard geometry?

- Can it be modified and fit into site?

- As it will be put into water, will it be structurally durable?

- Will graceful degradation or repurposing be achieved?

4.Fabrication

- Can the complex form be achieved with existing tools? If not, is there a possibility to optimise it?

- Can it be built with recycled, found, non-standard materials? How will that impact on the site?

5.activities

- Can it be interactive and respond to the environment and users?

- Can it encourage active bodily participation of users?

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seleCtiOn Criteria

suCCessFul OutCOMes

This form takes the geometry unit of The Morning Line project and repeats it by connecting each two triangular faces. Following this simple rule, it can be developed into any scale, such as water filter, platform, etc. By connecting the triangular faces, the hexagon sides of the geometry were joined at the edges with an angle, and therefore can be used to penal surfaces.

This is a typical fractal form. The reason why its been selected is that Im currently considering design water filtration system, and the layering property of this form might work out well.

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This form demonstrates an alternative for rubbish collection.The regularity of the geometry means that it is relatively easy to be fabricated. Meanwhile, as fragments are in two directions, the vertical fragments might form the structure supporting the horizontal ones.

This form interested me as it generates a tree-like structure, which can be used as structural elements supporting panels or membranes and develop into canopies, just as the tree does.

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The UK pavilion at Expo 2015 in Milan, designed by Wolfgang Buttress, is developed around the concept of the beehive, as the humble bee plays a unique role in our ecosystem, while strong parallels can be drawn between the culture and interactions in a bee colony and those in human societies.

The Hive is a 14x14x14 metre 3D cuboid lattice structure made from aluminium sited upon three metre-tall columns.A spherical void hollowed from its interior allows visitors to enter. People may seem like bees within a hive, and in this way the design plays with perceptions, shifting between the micro and macro. LED lights and audio-visual devices embedded in the structure allows demonstration of the activity in a real beehive.

B.3. Case stuDy 2.0 - UK PAVILION

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reverse-engineering

sTep 4: CreaTe mulTIple layer

sTep 5: roTaTe along CenTral axIs

sTep 6: TrIm wITh Brep

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sTep 1: sTandard hexagon

sTep 2: CenTralIzaTIon of poInTs

sTep 3: deformIng grId

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in the final outcome, the aim of reproducing the original project was achieved.The reverse-engineering algorithm managed to produce a series of hexagon grids within the cubic boundary and hollow of sphere inside. However, differences still exists as the way hexagons were arranged in the original project (spiral-like) is different from what was created in the reverse-engineering process (radiant).

for next step, this definition will be used as a form-finding tool to fit the hexagon structure in to different type of geometry and generate variation in density of different part so that it can be developed into practical system (i.e. water filtration system) in future.

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TOP VIEW

B.4. teChnique: DevelOPMent

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suCCessFul OutCOMes

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By rotating layers of hexagon grids around different axis, evocative forms are generated with simple structure. Again, as I am focusing on designing water filter, the overlapping layers with variation of density in different area are preferred. however, two major issues exists:

Firstly, how to provide these hexagon layers with structural support?

secondly, how to fabricate different size of hexagons in a less time-consuming way?

B.4. teChnique: PrOtOtyPesPrOtOtyPe 1

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Prototype 1 aimed to solve the problem of the mass production of hexagons in different sizes. an practical method is evidenced in the project of UK Pavilion 2015. Instead of fabricate them by cells, the project divided the hexagon grid into strips in two directions. Besides, this prototype also refered to the structural system and explored ways to support hexagon layers.

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PrOtOtyPe 2

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Prototype 2 tested an alternative system in terms of structure. Instead of using rigid connection, this prototype connect layers with strings to form a flexible structure. The advantage of this system mainly appears when it is put into water.

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PrOtOtyPe 3

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Prototype 3 is testing the possibility of using recycle material such as straws. The idea was to create a floating island that can capture rubbish and can be recollected. In this case, if the structrue is insulated and well-sealed, the site it can work on will extend to the whole merri creek

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B.6. teChnique: PrOPOsal

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WATER

MATTER USER

FILTER

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for designing filters, water, matter in the water, and user are the three things to be considered. our proposal is to build a floating platform that act as a filter at dights fall. gradiants of cell size are used to capture rubbish of different size.

water

water level

water flow & fishway

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Matter

user

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B.7. learning OutCOMes

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In Part B we started to work with reality and tried to seek methods to tranform algorithm into actural design. During this process, it is important to understand how things are different between computation and fabrication. Sometimes the properties of designed system can be made clearer when physical model is built.

B.8. aPPenDix - algOrithMiC sketChes

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