Prior to engaging with physical materials, any aspiring designer must understand the various ways in which digital information is composed to be used at a later stage to make things. Therefore, this first section will describe the various geometries behind digital technologies and contextualize the new tools that allow the architectural practitioner to generate and communicate innovative design ideas. The implications of these design and visualizing methods as part of the making process will be discussed with reference to innovative examples. This will underscore the following sections of the book, covering how to approach the fabrication of models, prototypes, and other objects from a digital perspective. The roles of contemporary and emergent computational processes in handling data, and their characteristic features in terms of design intentions and material expression, will be analyzed and discussed. With the increased proliferation of computers, designers are faced with a myriad of possible tools; this section will clarify the different purposes of various processes, to enable selection of appropriate technologies. Of primary interest is the shift occurring through the use of digital technologies in construction processes, which in turn influences the way architects are learning and practicing. This development is transformative as we evolve out of the information age, in which digital technology drove the possibilities for creativity, to a situation wherein our ideas are pushing the boundaries of such technologies, facilitating further innovation and exploration. Before delving deeper into the approaches and cutting-edge techniques becoming more popular in architecture schools and practices, we need to consider how we make our ideas digitally—and this leads us to the first area of discussion, CAD geometry.
CAD software’s ability to produce stunning visualizations of proposed projects—such as this Coop Himmelb(l)au design for the Busan Cinema Center—is perhaps its most widely understood application, but the capability and integration of computers within the architectural design process is ever-expanding.
In addition to overall views and location drawings, CAD is particularly valuable for 3-D modeling of specific details— providing a clear understanding of how components connect, as shown in this structuralnode detail for the Leadenhall Building, London, by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. The node geometry and connections are exported directly from the Building Information Management (BIM) model, allowing designers to see the implications of any changes to the detail.
Rather than simply enabling manual tasks to be replicated, CAD software has developed to a stage where the imagination of the user may generate and express designs that would be difficult to achieve in traditional representational methods. The beauty and complexity of Joanna Szulda’s design for a Natural Childbirth and Women’s Centre embraces the potential of such software to explore sensual and emotional aspects of explorative spatial configurations through texture, color, and pattern.
EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe’s design for the MoMA/P.S.1 Urban Beach, New York, was based on two primary elements: a cellular roof and leisure landscape. The roof design was developed via the creation of a long-span structure through the use of a nonhierarchical structural patterning of distinct but interlaced units or cells, as shown in this screenshot.
The translation and flow of data between programs is a key aspect of digital design and fabrication. This screenshot of a speculative pavilion by Daniel Richards is from Python, an open-source programming language, and facilitates an effective interface between a CAD program (3Ds Max) and analysis software (Ecotect)—and then documentation of the process with Microsoft Excel and JPEG images.
