ARI

FUNG CHEUK YIU KRISSY

2014 SEMESTER 1

CAM | VICTOR

S T U D I O

J o u r n a l

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INTRODUCTION|about me

CONTENTS |

contents

Introduction PART A Conceptualisation Design Futuring Design Computation Compositioin to Generation Conclusion Learning Outcomes

pages

3 4 5-11 12-17 18-232425

My name is Krissy. I’m a thrid year Architecture student at the University of Melbourne. When I was young I have no idea what I’m going to become and I just started my Architecture course in Melbourne regarding on my interests in drawing and handcrafts. Unexpectedly I start to develop interests in this subject. I truly enjoy learning to use any softwares, as well as conceptulizaing my ideas into real things. I do think architects are responsible for bringing posi-tive changes to the world, although it is an extremely tough job as it would be against the the way how the whole world works today. I guess I am a pragmatic person. Despite my desire to make some little changes to the world, my treasure of family often stops me from being an architect as my future career. I greatly admire those who dedicate most of their life in their pursuit of goal and persist their values. I hope I could have this courage and bravery some days later. I love tennis and swimming. It is a bit hard for me to speak in front of people and I’m trying hard to do my best. Yet in my personally life I really enjoy interacting with my friends. I treasure every opportunity to talk to someone as exchaning information with one another is invaluable to our life progress.

I like using Sketch-up, Revit and AutoCAD, as well as the adobe suite to accomplish my work. I have done Virtual Environments in my first year and had some knowledge about Rhino and Grasshopper. I will try my best to get the most out of this subject by learning parametric thinking and enhancing my skills in Grass-hopper.

Water Studio 2013

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The definition of architecture is not necessary constrained by a building. It is a broad discipline, one that is both intellectual and physical consisting of an amalgam of intension with iteration. it could be anything ranging from form to abstract ideas.

Architecture is a product of the context. Over the centuries, ‘what’ and ‘how’ it is built changes. Factors affecting the shift becomes diverse especially when we are overwhelmed by information and technology, resulting a complex physical and social context.

The study of architecture is important because the stories tell us how to further under-stand ourselves and the place we habitat.

1| Peters, Brady. (2013) Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought, Architectural Design, 83, 2, pp 8-15. 2| Schumacher, Patrik (2011). The Autopoiesis of Architecture: A New Framework for Architecture (Chichester: Wiley), pp18.3| Patrik. The Autopoiesis, pp11.

What is the meaning of architecture?

The answer to this question has never been definite; in-stead, it changes over time - the order and symmetry in classical orders and Beaux-Arts, the rawness of materi-als and structural honesty in the Gothic, the elimination of reductsupport in modernist. Nevertheless, independent of the medium used and the various underlying beliefs, the significance of architec-ture has one thing in common – its interactive place-making qualities.

Visual properties are neither nor the only ultimate ob-jective of designs.The power of architecture lies within its position of interdisciplinary junction, possessing the inherent functional and social political properties. It is always the creation of discourse within its surrounding context, adaptable to the addition of qualitative human

experience which makes architecture remarkable. The meaning of architecture is thus the construction of ree]lationship between the physical artefacts and public – between the architecture and the people [1].

It is possible to categorize architecture – as a network of communication – into systems of ‘artefacts’, ‘knowl-edge’ and ‘practices’, such that its ‘ultimate com-munications’ would variously service different social systems within the society [2]. Indeed, the concept of Autopoetic System of communication includes also the constitutive moment of self-observation, self-demarca-tion and self-description[3].

Therefore, it is essential to maintain an ongoing flow of communications, such that unique components and structures would be generated to suit the ever-chang-ing and varying context and needs of people.

DESIGN FUTURING |the power of dialogue

PART A CONCEPTUALISATION |WHAT is to be built ? HOW it will be built ?

4.1Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art by Steven Holl. How designers combine ‘old’ and ‘new’ depends on their interpretation of the future. 4.2 A render of a building designed in a bicycle hemlet, showing how contemporary digital technology allows designers to virtually (and potentially) construct designs.

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5.1 The Gateway Arch (St. Louis Arch), Missouri, 2008. Built as a monument to the westward expension of the US, Its manifesting height dominating the harbour is used as a device to communicate the country’s eminence.

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Dialogue could not be made meaningful and effective if it does not suit the contemporary era.

Also, it is not only a technical issue, but also an ethical one. What can us as designers bring to people? What responsibility should we take – how can we better the current state of the globe?

Damage to the planet’s climate and ecological sys-tems is still increasing which exposes humans’ life to growing dangers; yet it is obvious that we are lack of abilities to change, and to solve problems. The gap between what are we doing and what we actually have to do in order to curb our currently destructive nature and conduct is great. We fail to correct our self-cen-tredness.

Design is at the front of the transformative action. It reveals humans’ ability to prefigure ‘what we create before the act of creation’, determining the characteris-tics of our fellows. As the ones who adapts and create our future cities, it is particular important for designers to note such self-destructive values. It is ignorant and irresponsible to create something that is not addressing energy and resources consumption, our future generation, in paral-lel with architecture and the city space.

‘We actually exist in the medium of time as finite beings in a finite world.’ [4].

Since how long we now exist is determined by the con-ditiona of the planet which are defined by what we are doing, we should not distinct future from our present existence.

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4| Fry, Tong (2008). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice (Oxford: Berg), pp 11.

6.1 and 6.2 shows the exterior and interior of the Guangzhou Opera House by Zaha Hadid. The striking skeleton and glazing, as well as energetic curved finishing give a rich sense of aesthetic. 6.3 On the other hand, how people communicate with the building in real life suggests the gap between designer’s intention and the interpre-tation of the public.

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7.1 The Mountain Dwellings, Denmark, BIG. It is one of the greatest examples of communicating the idea of passive design through the structures responses to the surrounding environmental qualities.

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The M+ Museum, as a core arts and cultural facility in the West Kowloon Cultural District, stands promply on the land of Hong Kong. As one of the criterias in the design brief, the building is meant to promote ‘visual culture’ which includes not only visual art but also architecture, design, fashion, graphic and product, mocing image and popular culture.The architects have come up with a solution which meets the needs of the brief as well as creating a ‘landmark’ for the district, subsequently the design would successfully produce a discourse and a dialogue with the community.

The strikingly slim, semi-transparent T-shaped plane, housing education facilities, a public restaurant and museum offices , will rise atop an impressive horizontal slab offering a diversity of well-considered gallery spaces. With various types of galleries, including an ink art gallery, and industrial saces, the building works for the public and for the integra-

tion of different materials within the art discipline. Such internal spatial arrangement facilitate the dialogue between public and art, as well as ‘art’ and ‘art’.

Externally, the facade is potentially made of displaying panels which are driven by solar energy. It actively puts the moving visual art into the landscape, in contrasts with the cold, glazed facade of the commercial buildings beside. This further conveys the significance of art, as well as sustainability, to people’s life, which also tries to dimish the dominance economic power in contemporary world. It creates a dialogue with people who are outside of the building, such as tour-ists, and potentially influence the values of people and the image of the land.

Compared to other art museums, M+ is a specific project for promoting visual culture in Hong Kong. The architects envi-sion the space to be a versatile culture hub, answering the museum’s social demand for versatility.

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8.1 West Kowloon M+, Herzog & de Meuron, Hong Kong, to be completed in 2017.

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Designed by New York architecture firm Decker Yeadon for a site adjacent to a wildlife reserve outside of Dubai, Light Sanctuary is reminiscent of an elusive desert mirage materializing as 40 kilometres (25 miles) of vertical photovoltaic panels, standing 33 feet tall. It’s 80,000 square meters (861,000 square feet) in surface area, forming a visual ribbon and “waveform pattern” that undulates in the sand. The installation appears to be almost floating, thanks to the network “of strong but slender masts, structurally recalling the historical inheritance of fabric and nomadic architecture,” which will also allow plant, animal habitats and waterways to remain undisturbed.

The piece of installation generates almost 5,000 megawatts of solar energy a year. According to the designers, the ser-pentine surfaces of Light Sanctuary capitalize on the flexibility and efficiency of third-generation thin-film photovoltaics, which won’t lose performance even under extreme temperatures and can capture sunlight from a wider range of angles, in contrast to conventional solar panels. This responsiveness to the dynamic surrounding context enables a more fluid dialogue between the design and the public.

This dye-sensitized solar cell technology exploits the light-absorbing properties of the organic dyes that provide its rich color. Within the thin laminations of the flexible membrane, an organic dye derived from botanicals like pokeberries and other plants enables solar energy to incite a titanium dioxide electron exchange, thus producing direct current that is har-vested by transparent polymer electrodes. This is great precedent which utilizes contemporary technology to increase he design’s intricacy by addressing the sur-rounding variables and incorporating into the process of manufacture as well as operation.

Through the dialogue between architectural design and the public, I am confident in drawing people’s awareness of sustainability in the island of Copenhagen. As suggested by Fry, it can be achieved by first showing the rate of defuturing, then redirecting humans to a more sustainable future [5]. The next section of the journal will investigate how contemporary technology optimizes such the power of dialogue in designs.

5| Tong (2008). Design. pp14 .

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Difficultes in altering designs increase with its develop-ment. Computerization is a mode of design in which deisgners use the computer as a virtual drafting board which allows efficient edit, copy and refine easily and efficiently at any stage of the design process. has been adopted in the construction and design industry for years.

Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum captures the seit-geist of the digital information revolution. Initiated from a conceptual sketch, the design concept is being trans-lated into a more understandable, three-dimensional model with the aid of digital technologies in drafting and manufacturing. While the resulted interesting form of the building is said to ‘highly creative’, the approach taken by Gehry is still the tradtional problem-solving design method. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) refers to the use of computer systems to assist creation, but not create creation. It allows efficient modification, analysis and optimization of designs, in which every decision still stemmed from designers’ mind and requires designer’s consideration in relation with other components.

DESIGN COMPUTATION |the catalyst of dialogue

On the other hand, a mode of design called ‘Computation’ enables further extension of designers’ abilities to deal with complicated situations. It is the use of the computer to process information through an understood programe which can be expressed as an algorithm [6].

Computation enhances the architectural dialogue through its technological innovations in responsive characteristic, fabrication and materialization.

The Signal Box in Basel is an excellent precedent demon-strating the use of computational architecture in a realised project. The implementation of computational design is evidently noticeable through the geometry of the building.

Contained between a bridge and the street, the building’s ground floor plan has a trapezoidal configuration defined by the railroad tracks. The overall form is completed in gradation where the trapezoid terminates into a rectangle at the top as to improve visibility for its higher floors. The strips of copper cladding which make up the exterior are spcifically twisted and distorted in certain areas as to admit daylight as well as give the building its aesthetic appeal.

It is a piece of performance oriented architecture which utilises computational design in coming up with a design solution by processing the constraints and parameters set by the architect in producing a form and sun shading system most appropriate in its given environment.

Without the aid of CAD, the accuracy and precise manipulation of distortion in the louvre system as well as the manufacture/fabrication of these components would not have been possible. Unlike many conventional buildings, the Signal Box is unique in that it critically responds to its context by presenting a relationship with the adjacent railway tracks.

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6| Kolarevic, Branko. Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (New York; London: Spon Press, 2003), pp 10 .

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13.1 The Signal Box, Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, 1994.

13.2 The louvres produced by a specific script developed by the architects which responded to a performance driven criterias including light, view and insulation.

12.1 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, 1997. Frank Gehry. The twisting facade made of glass, titanium and limestone is a step towards the use of digital tools in archtiectural design. 12.2 A sketch by Frank Gehry showing the concept of the mu-seum in an early stage of design process

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Digital technology allows a new manner of materializa-tion and fabrication as tectonic systems which produce paradigm for material design In architecture and for the performative design of material systems[8].

The Museo Soumaya is an interesting piece of ar-chitecture in terms of its aplplications of parametric design and digital fabricative technology and the way in which it deals with cultural and social factors.

With the designed intent of being an iconic structure, the museum explicitly draws interest into the way archi-tecture as a built environment impacts the social and cultural context of a city/region of a large populace.

‘Blobitecture’ is adopted as the archtiectural style which refers to an emerging formal and geometric field of paramertric design that describes buildings which have an organic, amoeba shaped forms and hypocontinu-ous surface topologies. It is first raised by Greg Lynn in 1996.

Composed of a double curvlinear surface/shell, the museum demonstrates how parametricism is able

to translate subjective and experiential criteria into a physical mode of expression.

This precedent illustartes how computation facilitates dialogue between archtiecture and users by the innova-tion of conceivable and achievable geometries, as well as the extension of the possibilities in fabrication and construction.

Instead of modeling an external form, designers articulate an internal generative logic which automati-cally produces a range of possibilities from which the designer can choose an appropriate one for further development. Like the construction of cars, ships and aeroplanes, architecture is now able to be constructed in a highly complex but accurate geometry. Computation in archti-ectural practice encoded all qualitative and quantita-tive dimensional information necessary for the design process [7]. The resulted single source of data provides opportunity to utilize their ability to create in a freer manner.

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7| Kolarevic, Branko. Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing (New York; London: Spon Press, 2003), pp 30.

14.1 Construction in progree of14.2 A closeer look of the clad-ding of14.3 The Museio Soumaya, Mexico, by Free illustrates the digital fabricative technolgoy makes any almost al limaginable form possible to be made

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The project Cirriform is a site specific architectural installation which explores the applications of kinetic architecture in real life.

As performance and interactive architecture is still in its infancy, much of the experimentation, proposals and concepts are generating public discussion about the applications of digital technology and computation in architecture and design.

This presents almost inifinite possibilities and applica-tions in which architecture can be used in the future.

The flexibilty and adaptability of architecture such as Cirriform seems fitting and appropriate in the volatile and dynamic social and environmental, as well as eco-nomical and politcal surrounding circumstances.

Light sources disributed in a shape of footprint glow in accordance with the position where users are standing. As they are lightened up by kinetic energy ‘generated’ from the person, there is a intimate dialogue between the physical artefacts and the social course.

The installation suggests a new level of interaction be-tween the users and architecture where the experience becomes the primary mode of communication.

The performativity and interactivity qualities are critical to the ery of values and beliefs through architectural design or other physical artefacts. In the creation of land art promoting sustainability in Copenhagen, the adoption and incorporation of computation would defi-nitely extend the possibility and ability of design.

16.1 Cirriform by Future Cities Lab is a project aimes at investigating the practicality of computational designs16.2 The different glow pattern when people standing at different positions6.3 A mechanical explantion on how the installation works

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Paramatric modeling is based on a logic of associative and dependency relationships between objects and tjeor parts-and-whole relationships.

It provides ‘multiple singularities’ in a ‘continuum of perpetual evolution’[9], which potentially leads to inspi-rations from unexpected results. This design logic has been redefining the practice of architecture in terms of creating new opportunities in design processes, fabri-cation and construction.

The responsive technology in parametric design ex-tends communication into its operation. It frees design-ers from the rational analysis of the external, complex data and constraints, allows a greater focus on the internally-drawn idea generation process.

In order to internalize the expertise in utilizing soft-wares, today designers are actively creating their own design software. This scripting culture - the building of individual, spe-cific of algorithm - further anhance the precision and efficicency in sharing of codes, tools and ideas. It is potentially a trend of architects to ‘design how to design’ rather than to design an object.

“Kinetic Rain” is an installation consists 1216 droplets made from copper coated aluminium spanning across a field of over 75 square meters. It is a practice of computational design through the emergence of scripting and programming. In this case, the waves, patterns and gestures the colelction of raindrops produces is controlled and determined by a scripted program that most probably consists of some sort of parametric definition in the way they units respond and interact with one another in an orderly manner.

Although it serves merely as a visual spectacle in the airport terminal, the computational systems employed can be adopted and made applicable to building envi-ronmental management systems such as sun shading devices.

It is a fine example of the applications of computational architecture in producing a piece of sculpture /archi-tecture that is not only functionally and aesthetically appealing but also one that is performance oriented in its design in the sense that it is able to respond intel-ligently to its context and environmental conditions.

9| Oxman, Rivka and Robert Oxman, eds (2014). Theories of the Digital in Architecture (London; NewYork: Roytledge), pp 7.

Shifting from composition to generation, designers have to adopt ‘algorithmic thinking’ - a way of thinking that take on an interpretive role.

As an analogy suggested by Kalay, designers adapt computation as a ‘puzzle-making’ process; it does not seek to ‘achieve constraints and goals by an optimized solution’, but to create rules, fit pieces to the puzzle, reduce the solace space and form an ultimate coherent whole [8].

That is to suit the well-known setting with numous solu-tions, rather to look for the best solution.

Continuous evaluation - dialogue between ‘analysis’ and ‘solution synthesis is consistently made during the design process like a ‘feedback loop’.

This process allows an earlier discovery of gener-atlzaions and needs of problems, leading to a more efficient process, as well as ensuring the interdepen-dence of goals and solutions – they would never be separately determined.

COMPOSITION to GENERATION |dialogue to impression

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8| Kalay, Yehuda E. (2004). Architecture’s New Media: Principles, Theories, and Methods of Computer-Aided Design (Cambridge, MIT Press). pp 21.

18.1 The three major stages of a design process. Generative design approach allows a frequent communication between analysis and synthesis.

19.1 Kinetic Rain, by Art+Com. The installation is also possibly be considered as an example of kinetic archtiecture. Despite the synthesis of form comes from the deeper relationships, the resulted surprising aesthetics suggests that functions and beauty can exist simutaneously.

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In parametric modeling, designers usually are interested in a specific process or nature of the given context which is usu-ally a micro-scale activity – which ultimately have macro-scale influences.

Gehry Lynn’s work is based on a creative investigation of the ways in Computer Aided Design can be adapted as a tool for ‘rethinking’ architecture.

The ‘RV prototype house’ is a 1/5 model of a residence that increases the living space by rotating in two axes on a robotic base. It rotates in respond to its surrounding landscape so that it is optimized to the weather, daylight and temperature. The lightweight core made of carbon fibre making the whole shell weighs less than 50 kg which allow it to revolve freely. The dynamic simulation considers forces not originated within the system itself but acting on it externally. The configura-tion of the design is a result of the contribution from the virtual forces but not static coordinates.

The highly responsiveness of system allows a really intimate dialogue between architecture and the context. Neverthe-less, will such sensibility instead result in an excessively changeable object that can be hardly conceived, controlled or adapted? Does every constain in the context can be coded by a function? Or, is every set constrain meaningful to the ultimate design outcome and performance?

Parametric design once described as an ideology, a conceptual re-configuration of how humans think and act which reject of any notion of urban structural typology, continuity and morphology, as well as historic style and perspective framework. Indeed, difficulties in adpating such ihighly dynamic, irregular and unpredictable circumstances n fact potentially exist. It might be very useful in conveying abstract, spiritual ideas, yet it practicality in our everyday life might require further investigation.

20.1 RV Prototype House, Gehry Lynn. Although the intereactiveness of parametric design is greatly values, its suit-ability and quality of performance in daily practice is still unknown.

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iSaw is an algorithmic strategy that weaves together dispa-rate programs in the redevelopment and hyper densification of Warsaw’s urban center.

Designers’ ongoing research into wetFoam geometries to create a non-linear gradient where the lattice thickens be-yond a threshold enabling the solid to become inhabitable – the emergence of a new space.

The two spaces share a common membrane and are con-sequently mutually dependant; however they exhibit vastly different spatial qualities and characteristics.

This project is not a singular design or object but rather a possible instance of an algorithmic strategy devised for the generation of a dense space-filling architecture.

Computation allows fascinating and dramatic materializa-tion and fabrication; it helps transform anything imaginable by the designers to something that can be built.

It could be viewed as a step the evolution of the form and geometry of buildings. Nevertheless, its ornamental quality could also result in strange spaces that could cause head-aches for artists and users.

Parametric designs with great fluidity or highly complex fobrous structure has been commonly seen. While such innovative design raises a discourse, or a dialogue between the designers/architecture and the public, would it be unsuitable for the long-term use due to its incompatible form in the context? Is the highly complex structure resulted in a reponsive device but also a sculpture with visual redunfancy?

For the installation in Copenhagen, since sustainability is the theme of the design, excessive visual expression might need to be avoided to avoid undesirable dialogue pro-duced.

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22.1 iSAW, Warsaw, Poland, 2007, Kokkugia with Jonathan Podborsek & Roland Snooks 23.1 Showing how the voids are occupied by people

23.2 Showing the relationship between the structure and the surround

Computation is a process of ‘making of form’ to ‘finding of form’ – the algorithm describes ‘how’ the function is computed but not ‘what’ the function is [10]. It celebrates structure of relations and interconnect-edness that exist internally and externally within an architectural circumstance.

This focus on ‘function’ rather than ‘causes’ stimulates functional inquiries, opens the view onto functional equivalences and thus potentially innovates functional substitutions [11]. We may ask – ‘which function does this social structure or institution fulfill in society?’The adoption of computation is beneficial to the pro-

motion of sustainability in terms of the appreciation of an underlying societal requirement or problem which suggests the further question – ‘in which other way and by which other means might this underlying problem or requirement be addressed?’

The parts-and-whole relationships of parametric design is also an analogy of the ecosystems on the planet.

In terms of drawing awareness of sustainability,through the emphasis on functions of architecture, one might realize the excess of the current mode of living; and through the interdependent relationships within, the im-portnace of thinking in a broader scale could be raised.

CONCLUSION | LEARNING OUTCOMES |

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Part A of the course has been focusing on the relation-ship between contemporary architectural design and digital technologies. Although computation is new to me, it has been an interesting learning process in picking up its concept, application, advantages and disadvantages, as well as some basic skills in playing with them.

Getting started with grasshopper is sometiems hatic but often it is quite fun to me. Despite the difficultes in getting familar the functions of commands, the infinite possibilities the software can produce is infact quite fascinating.

After going through these three weeks’ materials, I

have gained a certain degree of knowledge about the way computation has been incorporated into architec-ture. I hope I could think of a different way in utilizing it in the following design.

I reckon it would not be an easy job for us.I would need to guide myself more strictly in completing the coming week’s assignment so that I would have a greater space for refinement of my thinking as well as design ideas.

I may also need to look for the use of paratric design in daily life, as well as any undercovered energy source exists within the fabric wer are habitating.

I look forward to the modules ahead.

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10| Definition of ‘Algorithm’ in Wilson, Robert A. and Frank C. Keli, eds (1999). The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (London: MIT Press), pp 11.11| Schumacher, Patrik (2011). The Autopoiesis of Architecture: A New Framework for Architecture (Chichester: Wiley), pp 27.