Ongoing developments in digital technologies have radically altered the relationship between design idea and fabrication. Through the use of digital design, closely allied with digital making and assembly methodologies, a number of architectural projects have been wholly realized in a digital manner. This process is typically referred to as ‘file-to-factory’, meaning that the data from the design directly informs the technologies of making. However, this relatively closed loop of integrative design represents only one avenue of creative activity for architects, and, in both professional and educational contexts, it is worthwhile considering the use of hybrid techniques that enable designers to explore and dovetail both analogue and digital modes of inquiry as parallel and codependent activities. Crucially, this type of hybridized approach increases the instrumentality through which we may conceive, investigate and ultimately make our designs. By expanding the design toolkit with which we experiment and develop ideas, we encourage novel solutions, unexpected turns in the design process and often greater communication and comprehension of our creative impulses. In a digital age, in which the question is no longer whether a design is buildable or not, the growth areas of interest concern the best way to engage with and respond to the potential of digital fabrication. Possibly the most important development in this regard is the making of ‘non-standard’ components through a process of ‘mass customization’.
By using an ‘upcycling’ approach to design and materials, a number of research and design projects by Greg Lynn FORM have ‘re-purposed’ children’s toys for a range of uses. The most recent, Fountain, made in 2010, is a functioning fountain made of large, plastic, found children’s toys that have been cut and reassembled in multiple layers, with water spouting from its top and pooling at its base. Constructed from over 57 prefabricated whale and shark teeter-totters welded together, and unified with white automotive paint, the installation offers a gathering place for the warm summer months.
Conceived as a series of ripples transforming space through movement, the dynamic effects of AL_A’s design for Corian® Super Surfaces provide visual complexity. Advanced digital technology was used in generating the design, as well as for fabrication. AL_A also designed the making of the piece, working closely with Hasenkopf to develop a single adjustable jig that created multiple twisted surfaces from a standard flat sheet.
Case study Extreme integration
EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe – Batwing, 2008.
Batwing is part of a larger body of work creating coherent relationships between building systems through geometric and atmospheric means. The aim is to move toward a higher-order emergent ‘wholeness’ in architecture while still maintaining a performative discreteness of systems. The project can be understood as an articulated manifold which incorporates structural, mechanical, envelope and lighting-system behaviours. This is not to say that one of these systems is ‘optimized’ in terms of any functional category – the formal and ambient spatial effects of fluidity, translucency, glow and silhouette are all equally important for the overall effect. The intent is to establish a link between the sensate realm and infrastructural flows in architecture.
A The design sensibility of Batwing is driven by two types of surface transformation: the ‘pleat’ and the ‘becoming-armature’. Pleats provide structural rigidity and direct airflow across a surface while creating a seductive ornamental patterning. The armature transforms the envelope system into a duct system, which provides supply air as well as structural continuity between envelope components.
B Deep pleats become ‘air diffusers’, featuring an embedded meshwork of micro-capillaries used for cooling or heating passing air. Based on the principle of water-to-air heat exchange, this system heats or cools through local radiative transfer rather than relying on ‘central air’.
C AND D The ‘language’ of the piece consciously looks to automotive and aerospace design in terms of fluidity, integration of systems, and processes of construction. These disciplines have flourished through the feedback of design sensibility and extreme shaping environments, a process which has further informed the practice’s research.
The hybridization of analogue and digital techniques has afforded designers the opportunity to radically transform the nature of their practice and output. EMERGENT/Tom Wiscombe’s recent research into the spatial and ornamental potentials of airflow, fluid flow and glow illustrates the ‘extreme integration’ he has proposed for internal infrastructural systems in architecture. The three prototypes below each explore different aspects of this approach.
E AND F Tracery Glass reconsiders stained glass in contemporary architecture. Rather than dematerializing, this is not only not glass (it’s polycarbonate), it is characterized by embedded technology which does both ornamental and physical work. It allows views, but does so through layers of light, relief, coils, PV panels and gradient colour patterns.
G AND H Thermo-strut intertwines welded-up plate-steel beams with fibre-composite shells embedded in solarthermal tracery. The solar thermal system is a continuous loop that weaves around through the steel sections, forcing structural adaptations at intersections. The result is a prototype that organizes structural forces, fluid flows, and material properties into a tectonically coherent, yet ornamental assembly. This prototype is intended to take ‘surface-to-strand’ geometries to the next level, where disciplinary forces temper abstract formal sensibilities.
I AND J Lizard Panel, based partially on the skin of the Australian Agamid Lizard, is a puzzle-piece system with socketed structural and mechanical members for continuity. It is characterized by a lacy, meandering pattern of algae pipes for energy generation, as well as deep channels which collect greywater from rainfall. Algae and greywater systems interweave in a way that produces emergent structural behaviour.
Case study Integrating digital and analogue fabrication techniques
Future Cities Lab – Glaciarium, New York, 2009.
Conceived as a portable interactive instrument to engage visitors’ senses through the sight and sound of a melting ice core, the Glaciarium is a digitally designed and fabricated installation using techniques with a wider applicability for architecture. The project comprises two unique, asymmetrical layers, each with specific functions and formal intentions. The inner layer consists of spirals of triangulated laser-cut skins, and was assembled from hundreds of bespoke pieces folded and fused along their edges to create a seamless, translucent surface. Because this layer would be seen from the interior of the eyepiece, it had to be as light and ephemeral as possible. This inner layer was then suspended from an outer layer, constructed of soldered stainless steel. This lattice was initially formed in three pieces over the top of a complex CNC-milled particleboard jig that guided the geometry and aided the soldering process. The jig provided a precise and durable way to create complex and irregular lattices. The three lattices were then placed around the inner layer and were fused together in situ. The remainder of the components – including speakers, electronics, LEDs and sensors – were supported using laser-cut acrylic components.
A Schematic ‘exploded’ drawing, showing components of the installation piece.
B CNC milling to produce the jig elements.
C Jig elements are combined together to provide formwork, upon which the frame may be assembled.
D Stainless-steel rods are run along the grooves of the formwork and soldered together, producing the frame.
E Laser-cut translucent plastic-sheet components are made following the digital cutting pattern.
F These are then connected to produce a seamless skin, or lantern, to sit within the stainless-steel frame. listening to the effects of the melting ice core.
G The ice core is installed within the lantern.
H Close-up view of the exterior of frame and lantern.
I Internal view, illustrating the spiralling patterns of the laser-cut pieces forming the lantern skin.
J Final installation, with viewers observing and listening to the effects of the melting ice core.
Case study Translating between sound and architecture
Misha Smith – Prototype for a Spatialized Instrument, 2010.
For his diploma design thesis, Misha Smith developed a project on ‘performing buildings’. The theme of his chosen studio programme at the Bartlett was ‘(extra) ordinary’, and led to inquiries on the seamless hybrid of digital and real space. He proposes a flexible, sonic architecture that may be installed in different locations and configurations to provide an experiential transformation of space. The final design is a hybrid of analogue and digital methods, using digital fabrication techniques to produce analogue mechanical notes – further evolved through interactive digital technology. The digital processes applied enable the design and manufacture of complex forms that would be manually time-consuming. Given the performative nature of the installation, the project also taught the designer about the constraints, potential and difficulties of processes, materials and techniques.
A Exploded axonometric CAD drawing showing the various components for the composite design.
B Detailed dimensions and cutting-pattern data for frame ring and soundboard.
C The soundboards are CNC-cut from birch plywood to produce flat components.
D The flat soundboards achieve curvature through the connection of the panels using an integrated pattern of holes.
E Mild-steel frame rings are laser-cut ready to form the frames.
F The frames are welded together using laser-cut frame edges, rings and stiffeners to produce the structure for the instrument.
G, H AND I Tuning takes place as the analogue sound-producing mechanism and digitally fabricated shell and frame are connected together.
J Once tuned, the instruments may be installed in a variety of configurations and spaces, and further adjusted to optimize their impact on the experience of them.
