Saturday 5 December 2015

Week 12: The Lure of Continuous Skin (progress)




In what sense are architects still considered designers as their traditional level of control in the designing process appears to be usurped by software in parametric architecture?






Introduction


Designers and architects have gradually adapted to the new digital design tools. Most of the adaptation process is about reshaping traditional approach to take advantage from the digital technology. But digital technology provides an opportunity to rethink the design process under certain circumstances where our idea of visual imagination is interrogated. The intention of this paper is to investigate the necessity for a development of the traditional design approach to take advantage from the digital design computing. It focuses on design techniques in correspondence to creativity.



Current State of Digital Practice


Creative Design Computing

A fundamental feature of creative design computing relates to the capability of the productivity of the machine to produce complex models from a simple input. The speed and accuracy transfigure design process that had previously only been practical in laborious painstaking drawing and model making into a condition of spontaneous design. This type of design would require a significant planning and the output would be greatly influenced by material conditions. Control and non-control is a central theme in this paper. The issue is not restricted to the amount of control in certain phases of the process but it requires in giving up control in one aspect in order to gain greater control elsewhere. This loss of control comes in handy with the use of digital computing that produces a large amount of unexpected output. An additional important feature of the use of computer is its ability to handle complex data. The design data can be connected into complex systems that act reciprocally when we alter a single element in the system. Therefore, the reformation of the output is automated.



Creative Traditional Design

Based on the circumstances mentioned above, the creative design has consequently led to a temporal decline of the importance of traditional design skills; thus, to the appearance of the new generation of designers with no traditional education. These designers base their work using a conscious reasoning of trial-and-error operation. Also the operation by the sub-culture seems to be habitual with assembling and recycling of graphical material. As a result, there are many distinct arguments for ways of operation. This issue spans from a viewpoint based on Artificial Intelligence to replace human creativity; leading to parametric approaches where the result is derived from the computing input of parameters. From a tradition design methodology viewpoint, human designers have to adapt to digital production techniques to produce an unexpected output that would compost the design process. This process would still be observed and controlled by the human designer.



New Design Techniques

However, the introduction of digital gadgets into the design process has not completely eliminated the traditional ways of designing. Irregular issue such as technical drafting; is now almost entirely done on the computer. But marker and pen sketches, cardboard and foam or clay models have not disappeared. Meanwhile, the usage of computer has expanded into many techniques. This is a inclusive shift in the expansion of the design process. The use of multiple approaches is already an actual everyday life discipline. This design process has extended to a prosperous and greater layered process, called the ‘hybrid process’.



The Hybrid Process and its Elements

An example was taken from the M-velope project by the OCEAN team because the design illustrates the hybrid process. The physical space of the project demonstrates several of the digital techniques amalgamating them with physical modelling techniques expressing a professional boundaries. The project challenge the idea of the two dimensional building façade through the process which consists of several interrelated activities of multiple and diverse enveloping shape with regard to its appearance, quality and functionality. The designer then generates a thickened entrance with the outcome contributing mixed spatial amenities. They wanted to transform the identical experience of interior and exterior into an overlapping of multiple mixed spatial settings. This approach turns up a need for rethinking the question of structures and daylight in plans. Furthermore, a differentiated visual and acoustic from the streetscape is being articulated. This suggests a redefinition of what forms a building envelope. The structure forms a building façade that express the visual framing that connects the interior and exterior setting. At the same time, the outer surrounding areas enable a seating area for visitors and passer-by to stop and take in the experience.


During the illustrative concepts became apparent, pre and post-rationalisation strategies are developed and described through traditional design process. Particular care is taken in the development of the spatial concepts for the development of the dynamic structures. The physical and digital modelling then took place in the following process. It was the main gadgets to create and to manifest the concepts of the project. Finally, the digital model of the installation was then translated into spatialisation data to be fed into the software.


Different categories were applied in the design process in various ways combining with traditional drawing, CAD and physical model building. The hybrid process implies through the switching between media and methods. The change between ways of working and media has the ability to increase progression and to look into various aspects of the design to resolve issues. The hybridization strategy proposed to take full advantage of each techniques and methodology. Therefore, the information generated is channelled among the techniques involved, designers and computer technology.





Conclusion

In conclusion, the materializing creative techniques inspired by computer technology have led to a more complex, inclusive and diverse design process. The computer technology has not replaced all existing design techniques; but it somewhat expand the scope and the availability of ways of working with design projects. On the contrary, it inspires designers to develop prosperous and diverse approaches where the traditional design techniques can still be used in certain stages. This again leads to more complex and manifold creative processes. The combination of approaches and technologies has a possibility to enrich the creative design process, mainly if the use of the hybrid process has started. As a result, a new approach of creativity is really transpiring from the digital design.

No comments:

Post a Comment