Week 10 - Digital Fabrication & Robotics

The advance of technology has introduced different modes of communicating design intent and the conceptualization of projects. Technological advances, in particular, Digital fabrication has prevailed and risen into todays methods of design to production. Wigley expresses this process to where the initiation of the design to fabrication begins with the mouse. The mouse is described as a medium to "connect us to the digital landscape and bring the digital in". (Wigley, M. 2010). The mouse has been the direct connection of the physical to the digital, where the human input and the relationship with rising digital technologies has allowed a more complex conceptualization of design and communication. "The mouse is a patent prosthetic. When placed in front of our desktop we do not even have to think consciously about reaching for it. Mark Wigleys Eulogy to this seemingly humble but transformative technology highlights the power that such a discrete device can have on the human ecosystem, providing a seamless interface between body and brain that is till only to be dreamt of in architecture" (Wigley, M. 2010).

Wigley further discusses the use of the mouse in an architectural setting, where ht is a connection between space and the input of the designer. "In the moment that the mouse connects the circuitry of the computer, the architecture in the room is hinged to the architecture to the screen" (Wigley, M. 2010). The computational technologies and the integration of digital fabrication (such as robotics and CNC) has lead to the integration of itself into daily practice within Architecture.  Within the design process within Architecture, softwares are used to perform a multitude of tasks to create fabrication ready files and tasks. Robotics have been implemented mainly in the mass production industry such as the production of Cars and its components. By implementing the use robots in architecture, paired with computational softwares, possibilities have been opened up to a semi-autonomous pre-fabricated Built Environment. This area of robotics is still in research with the integration into Architecture, and will slowly be implemented into future projects.

References:

Wigley, M. (2010). "The Architecture of the Mouse." Architectural Design: EcoRedux: Design Remedies for an Ailing Planet 80(6): 50-57. 

Week 9 - Materiality

Alongside the development of technology, materiality and the utilization of materials in architecture has become a major component in the design process. The movement from traditional building materials of bricks, concrete and steel, has been left behind and there has been an introduction and movement with the use of dynamic materials that utilize properties of two materials and combined into one to create stronger and more efficient materials respective to their use. The innovation of new materials are able to "...produce a collective behavior, where the materials have to be confronted or tested with non-metric properties of our built environment. These properties are defined by degrees of temperature, pressure, tension and capacities called intensive properties." (Trummer, P. 2011). Morphogenic forms are derived from this process, where Trummer describes this as inspiration from the structural properties of organic structures seen in nature.

History has showcased little consideration in the development of materiality within architecture and the formation of materialism within the design process. However there has been progress in the past century of this process. Achim Menges furthers this by stating that there has been "...progress over decades of computer aided design and manufacturing" (Menges, A. 2011). This movement has produced complex forms and the consideration of materials and the way architects and designers design. These smart materials are constantly being developed and being utilized, predominantly on exteriors of a building. "Experimental building skins with dynamic, adaptive behaviour are also beginning to materialize, challenging prevalent assumptions about tectonics and the permanence of material conditions in buildings (Kolarevic, B. 2008).

Readings:

Trummer, P. (2011). Associative Design: From Type to Population. Computational design thinking AD reader. A. Menges and S. Ahlquist. Chichester, UK, John Wiley & Sons: 179-197.

Menges, A. (2011). Intergral Formation and Materialisation: Computational Form and Material Gesault. Computational design thinking AD reader. A. Menges and S. Ahlquist. Chichester, UK, John Wiley & Sons: 198-210.

Kolarevic, B. and K. R. Klinger (2008). Manufacturing/ Material/ Effects. Manufacturing material effects : rethinking design and making in architecture. B. Kolarevic and K. R. Klinger. New York, Routledge: 5-24. 

Bernstein, P. G., A. Inc and Y. University (2008). Thinking versus Making: Remediating Design Practice in the Age of Digital Representation. Manufacturing material effects : rethinking design and making in architecture. B. Kolarevic and K. R. Klinger. New York, Routledge: 61-66.