Post Pandemic Innovation
The past year has seen a whirlwind that has turned on its head almost every aspect of the way we experience our environment and communicate. After the dust settles, many of these changes may reverse as we go back to our previous habits, but some will undoubtedly remain. The pandemic has accelerated changes in the way we use technology, as well as our relationship to the Natural world however, many of these shifts were already in movement.
As we are rediscovering the need to connect to the natural world both on a psychological level and environmental level, the role that architecture and technology are playing in relation to nature is also being rethought.
Technological innovation and Architectural development have always been inherently linked as the great changes in the way we build have usually followed leaps in technological advancement. From the invention of perspective and scaled representation by Alberti in the 15th century that separated the roles of Contractor and Architect, to innovation in materials and structural mechanics that gave birth to modern architecture of the 20th century.
The Architect in 2000 - In 1899, French commercial artist Jean-Marc Côté produced a series of postcards (En l'an 2000) showcasing his vision of Parisian life in the year 2000
The emergence of the digital information age has been no different; it has had a potentially even larger effect on the way a building is designed, built, and communicated. Every aspect of the design of the built environment and its representation has been transformed. We are now in the midst of another great shift, one that is based on the digital sharing of information.
How is the work in astudio adapting as the world of design is undergoing this radical change?
Digitization
Parametric design, or data-driven design as it is also known, is perhaps one of the most recent developments, with an increasing number of Architects embracing this new way of working.
Making use of innovative modelling software, parametric design tools allow designers to input their required rules or parameters and inform a design. By defining parameters and allowing the computer to automatically generate various design iterations, the technology can be used to help determine and identify the most optimum design solution.
Although the tools we use to design and communicate have radically redefined design, the labour models physically creating the built environment have not drastically changed since the industrial revolution.
This Digital shift that has changed almost every aspect of our lives has not extended to the construction industry which has so far been very slow to react to existing trends. This is partly due to its risk averse nature that puts innovative thinking in the bottom of its priorities, but also as a sector, its inability to be agile has also played a role: The construction industry is second to last as far as digitization is concerned.
The 90’s saw an influx in the use of advanced software platforms which have produced the iconic semi organic forms which saw their heyday in the 2000s leading to a cooling down following the recession of 2009. Some are still being realised today in parts of the world although usually in places where money and economy of means are not an issue. Digitization initiated great steps in producing very elusive forms but without the same innovation in the construction industry to match, a discontinuity is created between the way an environment is designed to the way it is realised. This often results in unrealistic expectations, unbuildable forms, and spiralling costs.
We have entered an age where information can be quickly exchanged across the globe and manipulated. An agile architectural process may be implemented where networks of interrelated data is in continuous flux and is communicated to all strands of the process including fabrication. We need the construction industry to follow suit and develop new modes of fabrication that can incorporate this.
This is particularly suited for offsite precision manufacturing that can convert a digital model to the various parts needed to fabricate a building.
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) is often associated with remote construction, is shepherding in new levels of quality control, improving building energy efficiency, and providing much more consistency between the design and the end-product. The most appealing factor of this process is the ability to digitally have more control over the quality and assembly logic with certitude over exactly what is going to be fabricated. Factory built Modules can be delivered to the site with electrical outlets and plumbing in place implementing a ‘plug and play’ approach.
The remote collaboration capabilities of BIM are well known and have proliferated dramatically in the past year as team members area able to collaborate in geographically diverse locations. At astudio we are interested in going further and see a fertile overlap between the latest developments in offsite manufacturing and the innovative digital design tools that we are developing in-house.
The ‘kit of parts’ approach associated with MMC is ideal for maximising the potential of this process as various part can be modified and effect the whole. Machines can build in a way that reflects the precise mathematical nature of a computer. It is not just about the tools but the placing of a piece of a building in the exact location it is needed to achieve the computer-assisted design. DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) has seen rapid development in recent years as the construction industry is beginning to see the potential of off-site factories that piece together components of a building, which are then assembled by workers on-site.
In theory this has the appealing possibility of creating a direct link from the controlled and informed environment of a digital model to the fabricated pieces needed to deliver a building. Unfortunately, in practice most of the ‘factories’ used are no more than sheds with methods not dissimilar from those used a hundred years ago. The automotive industry in comparison has been quick to adapt to the new changes and has completely digitized its fabrication process adding precision, quality, and speed to its end products production.
An offsite volumetric building factory
A robotic assembly line used in the automotive industry
Adaptive floor plan (Astudio R+D)
The emergence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a design tool is also redefining the role computation plays in Architecture and is creating a more streamlined workflow from informed design to fabrication.
In essence, AI is a form of machine learning, whereby existing information and data is used to develop an intelligent system that provides optimum design solutions defined by specific parameters. To explore the opportunities AI might offer, we must explore the algorithmic possibilities of an artificial mind. The ability to rapidly calculate complex mathematical equations simultaneously means that a single Architect can design multiple building variations, with changes updated across the entire structure. When design is algorithmic, what would usually entail reconfiguring a plan over a few days, can become a simple algorithmic adjustment, recomputing the structure of the elements to fit the new model.
At astudio we use algorithms not to replace design but to empower us to make more informed decisions in real-time. It minimises the repetitive aspects of a process and allows us to focus on the design itself.We can find a balance between often conflicting criteria such maximizing natural daylight while avoiding overheating.
Although today, a computer is still widely used more as a drafting tool, it can be used as a generative one to extend our imaginations, to help us realise design solutions we would not be able to think of on our own. We have the ability mass fabricate what is hidden (Structure. MEP) automate the repetitive and customize what is seen (façade/ interior) in a standardized way.
Digital Natural Systems
Although nature has always been a source of inspiration for architects, learning from the behaviour of natural systems can inform more than the formal concept of a project. The early modernist used the abstraction of nature to create a new universal aesthetic that would be suitable for the global age. In Mondrian painting from 1908 to 1930 one can see a gradual movement from a more figurative representation of nature to pure abstraction.
Source : https://www.ideelart.com/magazine/piet-mondrian-artwork
The Dutch based ‘de Stijl’ movement that Mondrian formed, made use of this relationship between parts and whole as a base for the architectural expression they developed. Most notably epitomised in Rietveld’s Shroder house.
The work was characterised by a rigid geometry of horizontal and vertical lines using a limited palette of black, white, yellow, red, and blue. This approach of using a minimal variation of parts for creating maximum effect is common with today’s computation- to-fabrication approach.
Source : https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/29/stijn-poelstra-photographs-mondrian-rietveld-schroder-house-architecture/
Source : https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/29/stijn-poelstra-photographs-mondrian-rietveld-schroder-house-architecture/
For the power of computation, a simple base parts can be repeated and articulated in such a way that can create a richness in forms and possibilities.
The idea of natural systems in computation is not entirely novel. There is a long tradition, even within computer science, of using inspiration from nature to guide the design of digital systems.
A digital algorithm can now start giving agency the same way one element of a natural system can form a part of the collective whole. This part whole relationship is not only an analogy to a natural behaviour but can lend through digital tools to creating responsive building system and design process that can quickly adapt to external criteria. This process finds solution to problems that would normally be a long-drawn-out process.
Genetic Algorithms for example, use an evolutionary solver that mimics natural selection that can find best possible solutions based on specific criteria, replicating a process in nature that takes millions of years.
astudio algorithm to define optimum arrangements for massing (astudio R+D)
Modular Components can be disassembled, reconfigured, and reused- in a LEGO like approach. This process reduces carbon footprint for building modules where parts can potentially be reused. This leads to a more organic, holistic relationship between the formal aspects of the design process and the parts that make up the eventual building.
Our R+D is developing tools that can instantly translate between the generative and responsive environment of Rhino Grasshopper to the BIM environment of Revit that can quickly assess the parts and their viability as part of the constructed whole. This in turn can create a live connection to the fabrication of the individual elements.
Landscape
Just as we can learn from natural systems, we are also able to map and analyse geographic regions with increasing efficiency. Understanding our relationship with the natural world is crucial for us as designers. We aim to build environments where landscapes and buildings work together. As a multidisciplinary studio we try to approach problems with as a broad a technical knowledge as possible, and our use of digital tools factors into this. For us, testing and adapting digital tools for landscape architecture is part of an integrated approach to designing the built environment.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a digital mapping framework that can capture and analyse spatial data was first developed in the 1960s. Accelerated though Ian McHarg’s work and book ‘Design with Nature’, GIS provided new ways to visualise the landscape, ways that would become instrumental to environmental design.
The connection between ‘datascapes’, computation and landscape architecture developed further in the late 1990s with the emergence of landscape urbanism, an urban design theory that established ecological ground plane conditions as the basis for design, rather than the formal arrangement of buildings in space. The role of GIS mapping, digital tools and techniques developed 30 years earlier began to be explored for their logical outcomes in the real world. A cartesian conception of landscape architecture began to emerge. What could be described as sculptural language, derived from survey data, often processed using parametric algorithms, then projected back onto the landscape was arguably questionable; how useful and crucially flexible were these design outcomes? But other ideas from this discourse were more practical. These included overlaps in experimentation with genetic algorithms, but predominately in the desire for the profession to utilise digital tools and large amounts of data to approach problems as an ecologists or engineer would, using methods such as bioremediation, addressing problems associated with large scale post-industrial sites, or finding solutions to environmental challenges such as habitat destruction and sea level rise.
astudio’s living coastline with Brunel University and Aarhus School of Architecture (astudio R+D)
One of astudio’s research projects ‘Living Coastline’, on the Danish Blåvand Coast, used the forces of the wind and the tides to change the space over time. Within a reinforced grid of 1,000 wooden poles, multiple spiral dunes created from sand and planted grasses captured the rising tide. An app was developed to trigger a series of QR codes which were located at several points within the artwork. The app invited visitors to react immediately to their surroundings by documenting, tweeting, or uploading pictures and by answering specific questions. These responses fed into a behavioural study building a picture of the effects of the space and the natural environment over time. This project was an opportunity to push the limits of today’s technology, in this instance by developing a platform for people to interact with their environment in a completely new way.
For landscape architecture as a discipline, it is also fascinating to see continued experimentation with architectural tools. All techniques mentioned here can in theory be applied to landscape architecture; modular design, BIM and Parametricism, and this is our current direction of travel, understanding how these techniques can be adapted and used to design the public realm. But crucially we try to understand how the various parts of the city need to perform. For example, although the object on the ground plane as a conception of the built environment is being challenged with the idea of the ‘dissolution’ of the boundary between building and landscape, landscape does perform distinct functions. It is through this process of questioning we start to understand the overlaps, areas of separation, and relationships between our roles and our tools.
astudio
Building on these ideas further, theories of ‘responsive landscapes’ envision a future where robotics and ecology are interwoven. Bradly Cantrell’s fascinating work, testing models where simulations can run in parallel with natural systems, or data from sensors embedded in the landscape feedback into that system, may indicate the next paradigm shift in landscape architecture and environmental design, one which we hope gives us greater agency to steer natural systems for the benefit of our planet.
Ittai Frank, Digital Innovation Lead at astudio
Rory Newson, Landscape Lead at astudio
Design Innovation and Environmental Modeling Team (DIEM)