Earlier in this section, it was explained that digital technologies, far from simply representing architectural designs have also developed as tools to generate formal ideas. The generation of digital forms is a result of a computational method highly contrasting with traditional modes of design because it uses a series of logical steps or calculations as opposed to the internal creative impetus of the human designer. Morphogenesis is the evolutionary development of form in an organism, or part thereof. Understanding that living organisms may be viewed as systems, and that these evolve their often complex forms and behavioral patterns as a result of interactions between their components over time, means that such dynamic, biological growths and transformations may also be simulated. Key to the theme of morphogenesis is the concept of “emergence,” which has gained increasing popularity in a variety of disciplines as it is related, among other areas, to evolutionary biology, cybernetics, and complexity theory. Emergence is perhaps most easily understood as those characteristics of a system that cannot be identified from its individual componens.16 However, in the context of architectural design Michael Weinstock provides a more expansive and useful application of the term: “Emergence is of momentous importance to architecture, demanding substantial revisions to the way in which we produce designs … Criteria for selection of the ‘fittest’ can be developed that correspond to architectural requirements of performance, including structural integrity and ‘buildability.’”17 Again, while the use of computational processes to run morphogenetic design algorithms is comparatively recent, architects have been engaged with the notion of form finding for much longer than this. While it is widely held that the work of Antoni Gaudí is the first documented experimentation in this regard, many view the pioneering projects of Frei Otto as fundamental to the development of architectural design in relation to natural systems and iterative mathematics. The foundations of morphogenesis lie in the groundbreaking work of mathematician and zoologist D’Arcy Thompson, who identified variances within species while recognizing underlying relationships.
As part of his PhD thesis on novel computation for designing complex architectural morphologies, Daniel Richards developed an initial study into how performative formal behaviors undefined by typological expressions may be produced by integrated design methodologies. This series demonstrates a number of morphogenetic iterations, generated computationally, of a canopy and the permutations of its various apertures in response to daylight optimization balanced with limiting overheating.
AMO is the design and research counterpart to OMA’s architectural practice. The project shown here attempted to develop a new substance, nicknamed “foam,” for the Prada Epicenter store in Los Angeles. This exploration into the redefinition of surface and material was evolved as a morphogenetic process between solid and void. Initial inquiry quickly expanded through numerous texts and prototypes to explore hole sizes, levels of transparency, depths, and colors. Parallel to such physical models, 3-D digital modeling translated these properties and technical parameters, which led to further prototypes fabricated via CNC milling and stereolithography methods. The final product was a polyurethane cast: an optimized condition between solid and void. Shown here in detailed view and inside the store, the resultant lighting effects and spatial qualities greatly accentuate the experience of the design.
Emergent behavior, therefore, is best understood as a type of self-organization in which the components of a design evolve their arrangement, and thus the overall form may also be transformed in the process. There is mutuality between these two, since form and behavior are interdependent and coexist in order to develop dynamic, nonlinear systems. These aspects are of great interest to architects, since morphogenesis can assist the emergence of speculative designs that may explore possible scenarios in relation to the variety of parts, often known as the level of “differentiation,” and the number of connections between them, also referred to as the degree of “integration.” Although this may sound perplexing, it is reassuring to know that the majority of this emergent behavior is actually structured and typically the result of simple, repetitive rules that interact with one another. This may be more easily understood if we observe the behavior of an ant colony or flock of birds. In both cases, there is no hierarchical intelligence instructing the overall system—simply a series of local, neighboring relationships that respond to each other and transmit these interactions back into the system.
Transposed to the field of architecture, morphogenesis enables designers to evolve a series of possibilities from which a selection may be made for further development. Branko Kolarevic summarizes the potential of this approach in architecture: “The emphasis shifts from the ‘making of form’ to the ‘finding of form,’ which various digitally-based generative techniques seem to bring about intentionally. In the realm of the form, the stable is replaced by the variable, singularity by multiplicity.”18 Biological systems are attractive to architects since they may be applied in a multiscalar manner, and as such extend the descriptive tools of architectural design since a system may refer to the holistic building, an integrated façade, or the nano-materiality of a specific component.
Diagrid roof canopy developed using morphogenetic design principles. For explanation of this process see opposite page.
STEP BY STEP MORPHOGENETIC DESIGN EVOLUTION OF A SURFACE
This project, designed by Romulus Sim, calls for a substantial rethink in the consumption, production, and inhabitation cultures of our urban environment. Using innovative generative design methodologies transposed to the context of the postindustrial port of Birkenhead in England, the project seeks to address the abandoned waterways by a combination of preserving existing dockland activities and reprogramming to facilitate aquaculture waterscapes. The arrangement of the project’s infrastructural elements both in the water and on land is a result of a sophisticated process of mapping programmatic data and optimizing interrelationships within the overall system. The progressive development of microeconomies in relation to tourism, culture, education, aquafarming, and business offers a highly creative and multilayered strategic approach that is both fully implementable and innovative in design terms. The design features a highly articulated roof canopy— developed using morphogenesis—that provides a level of shelter for the hybrid program underneath, while also enabling daylight penetration and minimizing wind loading.
1 The canopy structure is intended as a shading device that sits over a series of objects. An appropriate datum level is set in relation to the height of the design’s program, in this case 50ft (15m).
2 A data cloud is generated as a series of points, which are plotted from width-to-height ratios of each individual space, i.e. larger spans correlate to deeper roof structure, arc length, and height.
3 Using the data points, a surface is “lofted” through them in order to generate a form that represents the canopy over the buildings below.
4 A diagrid structure is developed via a surface population-generation script, which controls the span of each diagrid to a maximum span of 10ft (3m) in any direction.
Case study Morphogenesis and “materialecology”
Neri Oxman—Beast, 2008–10.
Architect and designer Neri Oxman is Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she directs the Mediated Matter research group. The group explores how digital design and fabrication technologies mediate between matter and environment to radically transform the design and construction of objects, buildings, and systems. Oxman’s goal is to enhance the relationship between the built and the natural environments by employing design principles inspired by nature and implementing them in the invention of digital design technologies. In the project Beast, she has developed a prototype for a chaise longue from a continuous surface incorporating digital form-generation protocols responsive to physical parameters. The hybrid surface, providing both structure and skin, is articulated locally to adopt thickness, pattern density, stiffness, curvature, and loading capability as interdependent constraints. Numerous algorithms were generated to negotiate between the engineering and experiential aspects of the project.
A AND B A pressure-map study allocated the relative softness and hardness of the cells to cushion and support the user. The relative volume of each cell is determined by pressure data, with the overall patterning designed to increase the ratio of surface area to volume in those areas having contact with the body. Through the analysis of anatomical structures, Beast develops a balance of structural and sense data to achieve both flexibility and structural support.
C, D, AND E The cellular grain of the surface is informed by curvature values, both global and local to the object, so that smaller, denser cells are arranged in areas of steep curvature while larger cells are placed in areas with shallow curvature. The fabrication technique uses variable polymer composites that afford a range of physical properties. Flexible materials are positioned in surface areas under tension, with more rigid materials placed in those under compression. These surface patches are 3-D-printed using an innovative multijet matrix technology that is capable of depositing variable materials with different properties in relation to structural and skin-pressure map data.
Case study Morphogenetic patterns as façade
Faulders Studio + Studio M—Airspace, Tokyo, 2007.
Thom Faulders was commissioned to devise a screen façade that would give the building a recognizable identity within its immediate context. In addition, it is designed to provide privacy from the street for occupants of the open-plan private residences, and buffer the weather from exterior walkways and terraces. Formally, the screen façade unifies the separated “Living Unit” blocks on the building’s top floors with the commercial spaces and landscaped areas below. The porous layers of dense vegetation surrounding the original residence influenced the conceptual direction of the screen. An anomaly amid the concrete-and-asphalt neighborhood, this house and vegetation were subsequently razed to make way for the new development on the site. Referencing the transitory biomorphic and atmospheric qualities of this original 13ft (4m)-deep green space, a new artificial buffer zone was created—now compressed directly on to the building and only 8 inches (20cm) deep. To achieve this new protective atmosphere, rich in density and complexity, a layered skin system separated by an air gap was configured to wrap the building as a nonuniform porous mesh. A collaboration was established with design technologist Sean Ahlquist of Proces2 in San Francisco to develop a system for generating the patterned geometry of differentiated voids that puncture and articulate the two skins.
A Series of card prototypes exploring different patterns and surface porosity.
B The overlapping surfaces of this geometric pattern of ellipses are developed at a larger scale to examine its characteristics.
C This prototype is further augmented with edges around the apertures, and external lighting conditions are evaluated.
D A radical rethink of the surface geometry ensues during the evolutionary design process, leading to experimentation with patterns that feature variable apertures.
The result is a cellular environment that creates a dynamic, changing zone between public and private—where framed views shift as one moves through the spaces, rainwater is channeled away from walkways via capillary action, and light is refracted along its glossy, white, metallic surfaces. The final Airspace screen system is a composite of two skins, each comprising two unique patterns that are then digitally merged. Separated from the building by an 8-inch (20cm) air gap, it is constructed using a rigid composite aluminum-and-plastic panel material, called Alpolic®, commonly used for exterior billboard backing and infrastructural protective coverings (such as beneath raised Tokyo freeways, for sound isolation). To make the cellular screen seemingly float upon the building as a tautly layered “wrap,” a matrix of extremely thin stainless-steel rods is threaded from top to bottom, to which the panels are affixed via custom-fabricated adjustable connectors.
E Once consolidated as a geometrical pattern, CAD software is used to wrap the surface around the building and optimize its effects in relation to scale.
F AND G The result is an enigmatic, layered façade that offers sophisticated interplay between light and shadow.
