grossju - Project 005

Framework Form

For this project, I wanted to provide variations in overall form as opposed to variations in structural patterns on the same form.

Variations in plan

Constraints

The spline that controls the form of the extrusion always stays the same.  A dynamic plan profile extruded along a static spine with unchanging bends tests the strength of variations of the tower's form against unchanging bends in its shaft.  While a primary axis rotates consistently, a secondary axis is simultaneously changing its relationship to the primary axis.  At times, two of the spikes of this star-shaped plan are close to one another, and at other times they are far.  I came in with the preconception that the tower would be strongest when two spikes would come close to one another underneath the shaft's greatest bend.

Variation 1.) Rotation parameter = 0 degrees

Variation 2.) Rotation parameter = 70 degrees

Variation 3.) Rotation parameter = 140 degrees

Variation 4.) Rotation parameter = 210 degrees

Variation 5.) Rotation parameter = 280 degrees

grossju - Project 005 Reading Response

How do Simulations Know?

Yanni A. Loukissas

This reading provided so many different and unbiased opinions on the good and bad in computer simulations that it is difficult to take a side.  The text seemed to posit the computer as a unifying collaborative space for all of the professionals involved in a project, and a good one at that.  Though there is still some resistance toward the efficacy of simulation and the computer, it's hard to deny that the collaborative nature and accessibility of its software has been a wonderful contribution to the building trades.  Prior to the computer, I assume that closest tools available for collaboration were simply drawings on paper.  Even then, drawings constructed by different tradesmen would likely be drawn on their own respective pages.  Now, all trades can effectively work simultaneously on a single, seamless page.

Another interesting discussion was that of simulations' validity and truthfulness.  Some are hesitant to rely on simulation because it has no capacity for intuition and cannot ever really be trusted.  I agree that there is only room for simulation where experienced practitioners are present.  Simulations are best used as a complement to personal experience.  Perhaps if the risk is lower, we could test the the computer's ability to interrogate human activity.  However, in the case of building fires and structural collapse, I don't believe there is room for such efforts.

grossju - Project 004 Reading Response

Upon finishing this reading, I feel as though I have heard a similar message many times in many different ways throughout my architectural education.  Our practitioners need to be welcoming to the latest technology and take on more of the construction processes themselves.  While I have also heard the architecture industry compared to the aircraft and automotive industries many times, I had not yet heard about the specific differences in their methods of fabrication.  At first, I did find it a bit odd that a field as sophisticated as architecture is not up-to-speed with the automotive, aircraft, or naval industries, but at the same time, architecture has far more small offices than the others.  Sophisticated software and fabrication technology is an enormous investment, one that primarily only large, profitable firms can make.  If cutting-edge software and fabrication equipment is essential to the aircraft industry, its employees only have a handful of offices to consider for employment.  The health of our industry, in this regard, is something to be considered.

While I am a bit skeptical, I do believe that a familiarity with fabrication methods and a relentless pursuit of good design work is essential to architects that desire to build provocative, complex projects.  SHoP Architects undoubtedly faced many challenges in taking the unconventional approach to the design and fabrication of their Porter House Condominium project, but I don't believe that their software or design methods are outside the abilities of many others.

grossju - Project 004: Folding Forms

Folding Forms

My folding forms project was conceived of through an image I found online:

As the paper flattens, and angles grow more obtuse, the paper also grows longer.  I attempted to model this in Digital Project through a number of different methods before I settled on one.  I found that the best technique was to sketch section cuts of the paper, controlling the angle between connected line-segments with a modifiable parameter.  Decreasing the angle effectively curls the paper.

Ribs were connected with simple isosceles triangles.  Two faces that meet at a point form a mountain, while their adjacent two faces that share an edge form a valley.

micro-scale product product assembly

formwork for a macro-scale product assembly

grossju - Project 003

Emergent Form

Part 1.)  1-to-1

Each part is modeled with a circular elbow at the center, filleted into tapering legs that butt up against the next part.  The 1-to-1 part is bent at the elbow at only 10 degrees.  It has the shortest legs at 12".

 

Part 2.)  Extremeties 

The extremities of the assembly are capped with this part.  The elbow is bent at 35 degrees.  One leg is 18" long, while the other is 24".  The taper is reversed on the 24" leg to create a larger base or, in some cases, a large termination.

Part 3.)  1-to-2

In this part, one leg is bent 15 degrees off of the datum line of the x-axis, while the other is bent 75 degrees off of the datum line of the y-axis.  All legs are 18" long.

Assembly Details

grossju - Project 003 Reading Response

I found the discussion of mankind's role in nature to be provocative, controversial, and a bit overly optimistic.  The author equated humans to any other species, and in a sense excused our modifications to nature as something natural to any species.  While many tend to think of nature as in a constant state of equilibrium, nature is actually always in flux.  As species alter landscapes, landscapes simultaneously alter species.  Form is created through forces between both.

The material that I found most applicable to architecture from this reading was the examination of 'weak' emergence vs. 'strong' emergence.  Weak emergence basically states that all of nature's phenomena are derived from material processes that can be reduced to the laws of physics.  Strong emergence, on the contrary, claims that forms and behaviors are too complex to be reduced to the cumulative effects of the laws of physics.  I side with the existence of strong emergence, and agree that many forms and behaviors cannot simply be explained by their parts.  An example that comes to mind is that a hammer is composed of a formed metal head which is attached to a wooden handle.  One would not really consider the qualities of a hammer until it is broken.  You would be left with a piece of metal and a splintered chunk of wood, which of course could no longer accomplish the task that it would be able to as a cohesive object.  In the same way, buildings are just physical organizations of metal, wood, stone, and glass, but the culture that takes place inside it make it an irreducible entity.

grossju - Project 002

Baroque Church of San Lorenzo

For project 002, I decided to draw a new plan.

A spline forming the inner-most oval connects the edges of 4 circumscribing circles.  Those circles move up and down and scale according to an animated wheel.

animation

Plan manipulations:

The oculus is centered on the average of the 4 endpoints on the circles.

Construction lines are drawn from the midpoint to midpoint of the lines arraying outward from the oculus.  A point is placed at the midpoint of that line, which will serve as the center of a circle that will split the surface above.

The area of the trimming circle is based on the area of the surface directly above it.  It is divided by a length (found in the parameters diagram below) to adjust it to the appropriate unit and scale.

The height of each arched bay is related to the distance between each rib, which is first divided by a certain parameter (shown in the parameters diagram below).

Parameters

Rotate: 60 degrees, Length Divider = 2

Rotate: 90 degrees, Length Divider = 1

Rotate: 120 degrees, Length Divider = -1

Rotate: 150 degrees, Length Divider = -2

Rotate: 180 degrees, Length Divider = 100