W11 Reading

A veritable epistemic revolution occurred with the advent of digital technology. The design of a project was no longer concerned with representation, but rather with calculation and computation. This upheaval within the language of architevture, which would lead to another level of project temporality, had already been anticipated by the design practices that emerged in the 1960s through radical architecture in Europe. Architecture was no longer a constructed object but an environment being perpetually reconfigured, a thing of the moment. The ArchiLab events helped to bring fame to generation of architects in France interested in research on an international scale. A number of these are featured in the FRAC Centre's collection and in this exhibition: dECOi architects and etc. Constructional architecture, the referent in these various projects, is inseparable from the genetic exploration of the process. These self-organisational systems are defined as living, phylogenetic systems, outside of all "models" and all representational conditions, opening architecture up to ideas of transformability. Thus, architecture becomes a dynamic environment. The exhibition is the result of a long-standing interest of mine in a subject which, on the contrary, because this subject is not just mathematical but also defines a culture, there has always been a underlying question involved: how can we consider computation without falling into the trap of an all-embracing analysis at a time when, from the point of view of computers in all areas of life, this same computation leads to the most global and radical transformations.

W10 Reading

A new consciousness is emerging with profound implications for architecture. The parallel world of cyberspace, created and sustained by the world's computers and communication lines is just one manifestation of deep cultural and technical changes which are reshaping our understanding of our world. The term cyberspace is used loosely to describe the invisible spatial interconnection of computers on the internet and it is also applied to almost any virtual spatial experience created in a computer. But tangible space and physical structure have already taken on a new significance as a result of the growth of cyberspace. Virtual worlds should not be as an alternative to the real world or a substitute, but as an extra dimension which allows us a new freedom of movement in the natural world. Contemporary science fiction concentrates on the coexistence of the real world and the metaworld of cyberspace. Every theatregoer or opera lover has already experienced the simultaneous existence of two worlds in a more physical sense. We are aware in the theatre of the sounds and smells around us and yet transported todistant realms in time and space by the magic of bright lights, exaggerated sets, fantastic costumes, excess makeup and larger-than-life voices. The concept of comperhensive ephemeralisation and the need to take a global view were pioneered by Buckminster Fuller earlier this century and the concepts are coming of age with the technical realisation of a cyberspace which simultaneously achieves both dematerialisation and global communication. But the greater impact will be on the reflected effect on our physical environment and its relationship to the virtual worlds.

Week9 Reading

Versioning is an operative term meant to describe a recent, significant shift in the way architects and designers are using technology to expand, the potential effects of design on our world. There are a few digital architects and theorists are emerging who have placed an emphasis on open models of practice where the application of technology promotes technique rather than image. The computer has enabled architects to rethink the design process in terms ofprocedure and outcome in ways that common practice, the construct industry and conventional design methodologies cannot conceive of with. Versioning relies on the use of recombinant geometries which allow the external influences to affect a system without losing the precision of numerical control or the ability to translate these geometries using available construction technology. All the design decisions are based on an organisational strategy capable of responding to the effects of speed, turning radius, gradients and etc, to create a fluid behaviour of variable movement. Versioning also extends to methods of practice where nontraditional use of architectural theory is appropriated by other disciplines. If versioning operates at different scales within a design, it should also operate at different scales of practice. Architects and designers are using innovating building materials and construction techniques to expand the possibilities of design and effect, and to keep all aspects of techniques to expand the possibilities of design and effect, and to keep all aspects of construction under their control.

W8 Reading

In architecture, superficiality is linked to more practical factors. With the increasing importance of electronic media, it is tempting to transform architecture into a giant information display. Stephen Perrella, who is an architect and theorist, has coined the term "hypersurface" to name the convergence between cyberspace, envisaged as hypermedia, and architecture conceived primarily as a surface of projection or a terminal. Projects like the Signage concept for Digital Media City in Seoul designed by a MIT team led by Dennis Frenchman have already begun to explore their possibilities for urban public space. Another set of practical arguments in favor of surface is linked to energy requirements implied by the quest for sustainability. Journals of architecture are now filled with projects and realizations based on skin conditions suposed to drastically improve the behavior of buildings. The strategic importance of surface also has to do with the complexity, instability and required flexibility of many contemporary architectural programs. Due to the complexity, instability and flexibility, architects are often obliged to limit their pretensions by accepting to produce a mere envelope. In this situation, the seduction exerted by the envelope derives from its potential to counterbalance programmatic heterogeneity and uncertainty. Between philosophical arguments indicative of broad cultural evolutions and down to earth programmatic constraints, digital architecture's obsession with surface corresponds also to a series of more specific motives. The greater degree of arbitrariness that volumes seem imparted with may explain the spectacular decline of blobs in recent years. After their initial success and despite their diffusion beyond the circles of digital designers proper, they no longer epitomize cutting edge research.

W7 Reading

In the 21 century, new strategies for design and new technology of making materials or large constructions have emerged, based on biological models of the processes by which natural material forms are produced. The self organization of biological material systems is a process that occurs over time, a dynamic that produces the capacity for changes to the order and structure of a system, and for those changes to modify the behavior of that system. Natural materials develop under load, and the intricate interior structure of biological materials is an evolutionary reponse. At the level of individual, there is also an adaptive response as, for example, bone tissue gets denser in response to repeated loads in athletic activities such as weightlifting. In the industrial world, polymer cellular foams are used for insulation and packaging, but the high structural efficiency of cellular materials in other, stiffer materials has only begun to be explored recently. Comparatively few engineers and architects are familiar with the engineering design of cellular materials, and this has contributed to the slow development of cellular structures in architecture.

As digital architecture remains in its infancy, one must be cautious not to draw conclusion about the temporary features it presents. Far from being jeopardized by the generalization of the computer and the development of virtual worlds, materiality will probably remain a fundamental feature of architectural production. One can furthermore speculate whether the use of the computer, with its web extensions, represents a substantial departure from the traditional features of architectural representation. Digital technology are getting familiar in architectural, and its going to be more and more important in the furture.

W5 Reading

In twentieth century, machine technology start getting familiar with to the people. As machine technology was able to produce a mass of goods and services that help us in normal life. Thomas Edison or other technological enthusiasts wished to and tried to organize not only technology, but also turned the nontechnological world mechanistically. During the second industrial revolution in 1880, inventors and industrial research laboratories carried on invention, research, development and innovation. Things like telephone, electric light, airplane and etc got benefit by the electricity and the internal combustion engine, and followed by the new materials which are steel, aluminum, plastics, and reinforced concrete, and all these materials helps us in different field nowadays. Nonetheless subways and underground networks along with tall buildings gave the cities three dimensions that allowed us to mass in unprecedented numbers. Technological enthusiasm prevailed in the popular press during the second industrial revolution much as it does during today’s information revolution. However, especially in Germany, some intellectuals, social scientists and historians questioned popular technological enthusiasm and cast doubts about the social and cultural impact of technology. Oswald Spengler who is a German historian, associated machine technology with the decline of Western civilization. He argues that a cultural sea change occurred when humans began using technology to exploit nature, or in other word, began to distroy nature. Yet, his arguments are both insightful and irrational. In my opinion, machine technology brought us a better life, everything we are using today were produced by machine, may be in 19 century, there were some people who disagree with this technology, but undeniable, machine technology do bring us a high technology world.

W4 Reading

In Menges’s theory, the word performativeness is the quality of material systems that perform through deformation, or which visibly deform to self-organising and resist new external forces. All materials deform under stress, and have to be carefully calculated, however, in the new generation, such deformation can be visually structured or calculated by using digital modeling. Menges applies the logic of self-organising systems to structural systems of which the deformation under stress visibly quality structure. Nonetheless, even some unusual or irregular materials can also be structured or calculated, and this impossible calculating technique was developed recently. Due to these non-conventional materials or other irregular, natural materials, digital modeling shows its advantages by calculating and structuring such materials and fabricated by digitally controlled machines. This is a really useful technology in design industry as digital modeling visually shows us the structure and results of calculations, as the result, we can do any changes base on that and it is easier for us to find mistakes or any issues.

Parametricism is a new global style based on digital animation techniques, by using advanced parametric design systems and scripting methods. As the mass society that was characterized by a universal consumption standard has evolved into a diversified society, marked by multiple lifestyles and extensive work path differentiation, architecture and urbanism are going to organize or articulate the complexity of our society. Such animation, simulation, parametric modeling and scripting have inspired a new collective movement with radically new ambitions and values.

W3 Reading

As in 21 century, technology in different areas have been developed in to a very high level, smart phone, computer, internet etc. However, as all these technology have been developed, there is another thing that developed as the time past, and that is the vocabulary. Million years ago, human find out the “magic” about communication, about language, and start using them to show feelings. And after all these years developing, nowadays, a simple word may have a completely different meaning compare to past. As what Raymond Williams said in the book, the real developments of meaning, at each stage, must have occurred in everyday speech well before they entered the written record. This is the limitation of recoding meanings into a dictionary or any historical account. People have to keep changing their mind about these vocabularies, because the meanings of these words are changing as well. Using “old mind” to face the “new meanings” will limited our thinking ways.

Computer is very common in normal life now, and smart technology help us calculating or solving problems that we faced in designing. So what is computation? Simply, computation means a technology that helps the designer to make the conceptualized in designer’s mind become true or become possible. It is good to use computer to display our ideas, because using visual to describe what in our mind is the straightest way and computer can help us calculate all the necessary calculations with no errors. It also provides a framework about the design to help us understand even further about the design work.

W1 Reading Assignment

As I was reading the COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, there is one sentence attract me, which is “Everything is possible with calculation and invention when you have tools of sufficient perfection, and these tools exist.”. This sentence reminds that, everything is possible in design if we calculate with the right way, and make the calculation really accurate. For example, the Chinese CCTV Headquarter had been built in 2012, the shape of this building is very interesting because one edge of the building is un supported, which means half of the building is suspending in the sky. This is a fantastic design with the right calculation of how the impact, the gravity and the pressure were taken off from the building and transfer them into the ground. And other examples such as the world tallest tower – Dubai Khalifa tower. Engineers using computers to calculate, and using calculations to solve every single problem to make sure the building stand straight and never fall down. No doubt, all these seems unphysical buildings were born from the combination of human brains and computer. And this sentence also tells me that never stand still, taking challenges in our life, never fault anything before trying. However, this does not means that we can take risk in designing, all the calculations have to be accurate, as this is as important as human life. For myself, design is a way to discover, finding new concepts, ways of solving problems that we might facing when we are trying to design something in the future and I have faith on it.