THE DIGITAL AGE: NEW FORMS IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

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1 THE DIGITAL AGE: NEW FORMS IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE Author: Thomas Futcher Academic Year: Word Count: 5563 Architecture Department The Faculty of Humanities University of Kent, United Kingdom

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS KEYWORDS AND ABSTRACT... i QUOTATION... ii INTRODUCTION... 1 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN... 1 APPLICATION OF CATIA SOFTWARE IN ARCHITECTURE... 4 BLOBITECTURE... 5 SELFRIDGES DEPARTMENT STORE... 7 BLOB PRECEDENTS... 8 PERFORMANCE ARCHITECTURE MASTER BUILDERS FOSTER AND PARTNERS REDISCOVERY OF ORNAMENT PARAMETRIC ARCHITECTURE CONCLUSION FIGURE REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY... 24

3 ABSTRACT The key question arising in this paper is how technological advances in computer-aided design have affected throughout the years the forms created in architectural design of the avant-garde. Most significant of these changes is the development of NURB-surfaces. Through the analysis of the iconic Blobitecture movement the new forms are described and attributed to technological advances as well as precedents of previous architects such as Antonio Gaudi. The computers structural and qualitative analysis has been key to the development of performance architecture, which brings a new meaning and function to these free forms. Comparing works of Foster and Partners show these changes clearly and chronologically. The final section of the investigation addresses parametrism, where Zaha Hadid is leading the way in a unifying twenty-first century design movement. KEYWORDS i

4 The architecture of modern times is characterised by its capacity to take advantage of the specific achievements of that same modernity; the innovations offered it by present day science and technology Solà-Morales, I. (1997) Differences: Topographies of Contemporary Architecture. ii

5 THE DIGITAL AGE: NEW FORMS IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE THOMAS FUTCHER T he digital age appears to be creating a very different architectural discourse amongst the twenty-first century avant-garde; creating iconic public forms and redefining the architect s role in building production. This dissertation addresses how new developments in computer-aided design technologies are changing the way buildings are conceived, designed and produced to give new forms in contemporary architecture. DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers to assist the design of real or virtual objects 1. The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture describes the advantages of such a tool: From the 1970s computers have been used in design as representations of complicated threedimensional forms and can be easily stored or manipulated. Images can be printed, architectural projections can be produced and interiors can be explored in virtual reality. Details can be stored for reuse, avoiding the drudgery of repetitive hand-made drawings. To a certain extent the design process has been changed, but CAD may not be appropriate for all eventualities. 2 Orthographic CAD tools made a commercial breakthrough within architectural design practices in the early 1980s 3 with the release of AutoCAD Version 1.0 in December of 1982; 4 a vector based program that enabled traditional orthographic drafting techniques to be completed using a desktop computer. It quickly became an accepted tool for all design professions, particularly automotive and nautical engineering, as it allowed for greater efficiency in drawing as explained by The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture extract. These early stages in development of CAD software show little effect on building forms as it simply provided a more efficient replacement of skills already possible through hand drafting. With sustained innovation in computer hardware and software, CAD systems developed increased 1 Oxford Reference Online, Philips World Encyclopaedia 2 Oxford Reference Online, Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 3 Schmitt, G. Information Architecture. Page 7 4 Hamad, M. AutoCAD 2010 Essentials. Preface: Introduction 1

6 functionality and graphic capability. As these computer systems became more powerful and economical, software could also become more sophisticated. The advent of B-spline curves and NURBS-surfaces (parametric curves and surfaces) gave greater freedom in the use of computers as a design tool, releasing designers from the restrictions of a linear system and opening a world of complex free, curved forms and surfaces modelled on screen in threedimensions. It allows for mathematically precise representations and analysis of free form surfaces, transformed using a number of variable control points. Prior representations of these surface types were only possible using physical models, which can be challenging to comprehend and difficult to convert into precise information for manufacturers. Antonio Gaudi s ( ) works in Barcelona are well-known examples of managing non-rectangular architectural forms with intricate models opposed to new CAD software. At the Sagrada Familia (Figure 1) Gaudi replaced buttresses with slanted columns that would take the lateral loads created by his parabolic vaults to the ground. He tested this system with hanging models of weighted wires (Figure 2). The result was a structural design, that when inverted would act in pure compression. Due to its scale and complexity, the project is still in construction and not expected to be completed until at least Figure 1: Sagrada Familia, Antonio Gaudi, Olsen, B. Sacred Places Europe. Page Figure 2: Gaudi hanging model.

7 Following from the sustained development and refinement of CAD systems, digital technologies are now in the foreground of architectural design. The effect of advances in technology on architectural forms and systems has been seen throughout architectural history, attributed by Spanish architect and philosopher Ignasi de Solà-Morales ( ) to the desire for innovation: The architecture of modern times is characterised by its capacity to take advantage of the specific achievements of that same modernity; the innovations offered it by present day science and technology... 6 The scale of technological advances made in the new Information Age has been experienced before. During the nineteenth century a ubiquitous Metropolis skyline of glistening skyscrapers manifested from the new tools for mass production of glass and steel; established by the Industrial Revolution. Joseph Paxton s ( ) Crystal Palace and Gustave Eiffel s ( ) Tower in Paris embody the zeitgeist of this industrial architecture. The images in Figures 3 and 4 show their bold use of steel frames, made possible through the mechanisation in manufacture of building components. In a similar way the digital age is challenging the way buildings are designed, manufactured and constructed. Figure 3: Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace, Solà-Morales, I. Differences: Topographies of Contemporary Architecture. Page Figure 4: Gustave Eiffel's Tower in Paris, 1889.

8 APPLICATION OF CATIA SOFTWARE IN ARCHITECTURE Greg Lynn (b.1964) distinguished himself by pioneering the use of CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application) software, which utilised the advent of NURBSsurfaces, adapting it from nautical engineering to the field of architecture. His publication titled Animate Form introduces architectural concepts that break away from inert volumes with new dynamic expressions of movement, as in his Port Authority Gateway competition entry. Simulations of the movement and flow of cars, buses and pedestrians were used as the force behind the shape of surfaces and planes. Greg Lynn tells that If it comes down to it... I would give the software 51% of the credit for the design of my buildings. 7 In some respects this may be seen to diminish the role of the architect, in favour of intelligent computer systems. His prototype Embryological House (Figure 5) explores the use of animation software to create infinite mutated designs that could be used to revolutionise mass-produced suburban housing. These virtual realities show not only the aesthetics but also the feel and sound within a design. Figure 5: Embryological Houses, Greg Lynn, 1999 Architect Frank Gehry (b.1929) is also famously attributed to the innovative use of CATIA software. Much of his work falls into the style of Deconstructivism, going beyond structural definition. The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (Figure 6 and 7) opened to the public in 1997 and optimises the curvilinear forms possible with CATIA software. Made up of interconnected titanium curved shapes, it was deemed the greatest building of our age... by architect Philip Johnson ( ). 8 7 Waters, J. Blobitecture. Page 53 8 Guasch, A., Zulaika, J. Learning from the Bilbao Guggenheim. Page 195 4

9 Figure 6: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Frank Gehry. The boat-like form of Gehry's Guggenheim Museum suggests a relationship to the program s initial roots; a link has been created with the structural techniques of the ship building industry. However, the concept itself did not solely derive from CATIA software. Gehry openly describes how he first creates a physical model, which is digitally scanned to make a three-dimensional graphical representation. Computer-aided design has not completely replaced past techniques. Despite its critical acclimation, Gehry s work has its detractors; the building can be interpreted as a waste of structural resources, creating functionless forms with a lack of sympathy to climate or surroundings. We are experiencing a demise in the modernist theory that form should follow function. Even with this criticism it has been an unprecedented success, showing how buildings ascribed to the new digital movement can boost the economy of an area. In 2008, it brought the city of Bilbao 320 million through the custom generated by tourists visiting the museum. 9 BLOBITECTURE Blobitecture has become the most iconic result of the developments in three-dimensional digital technology within the public domain. The term, first coined by Greg Lynn in 1995, describes organic, amoeba-shaped, fluid form buildings designed using digital modelling software such as CATIA or Autodesk 3D Studio Max. 10 Architects can derive the forms by manipulating the algorithms of the computer modelling software. The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture defines the Blobitecture design movement as: 9 Williams, H. Frank Gehry: Don t call me a starchitect. The Independent 17 Dec Waters, J. Blobitecture. Page 8 5 Figure 7: Guggenheim Museum aerial photograph.

10 A late twentieth century early twenty-first century fashion of anti-urban, anti-contextual buildings resembling large blobs with reptile-like carapaces: they may have scales, but sometimes lack scale. 11 The first blob building of this movement was the Water Pavilion ( ), built by Lars Spuybroek (b.1959) in the Netherlands as a postmodernist rebellion against the observed monotony of modernism. 12 The fully computer based sculptural geometry is in perpetual disparity and flux (Figure 8), constructed using computer-aided tools. The interior has sensors that respond to light and sound to produce visual projections. As in Lynn s introduction of animation, the Blobitecture movement is producing dynamic and interactive architecture. Figure 9 shows the bus station at Spaarne Hospital, also in the Netherlands, designed by NIO Architecten in There are no horizontal or vertical surfaces within the homogeneous, fluid, curvaceous form creating a sheltered negative space for pedestrians to wait beneath. This type of free arched form and shape was uncommon in the surrounding orthogonal western architecture of boxes and rectilinear planes. Computer modelling is not used just as a new tool for visual representation, but a tool to generate and transform forms through digital morphogenesis. It provides unlimited ability to stretch, fold and distort three-dimensional forms in a virtual space. A dynamic process with the computer playing a collaborative role with the architect. The figures also show how the boundary between interior and exterior space has been blurred. CAD has enabled this by using 3D modelling to show the building in its surrounding context, making relationships between interior and exterior clearer than older methods used during the design stages. These early hypersurface forms, coined by Stephen Perrella ( ), are often dismissed as a fad or novelty due to the lack of reason or integrity 13, resulting literally from the instruments of the new software. Figure 8: Water Pavilion, Lars Spuybroek, Oxford Reference Online. Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture 12 Borden, D. Essential Architecture: The History of Western Architecture. Page Kolarevic, B. Architecture in the Digital Age. Page 6 6 Figure 9: Spaarne Hospital bus station, NIO Architecten, 2003.

11 SELFRIDGES DEPARTMENT STORE Once firms became more familiar and proficient with the new computer software, designs were able to move away from this purely blobby aesthetic to much more complex and iconic examples, such as Selfridges Department Store in Birmingham (Figure 10 and 11) designed by Future Systems architects in 1999 and completed in Figure 10: Selfridges Department Store, Birmingham, Blobitecture forms have such an iconic status due to the formal juxtapositions created between the 'blobs' and the traditional urban setting. As with Gehry s Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, this contrast to surrounding architectural styles can bring considerable economic benefits to an area due to the attraction of tourism. In this respect these digital forms created are justified. This desire for iconic status, higher cost of construction and questionable loss of function has kept the Blobitecture movement predominantly in the public building sector. Charles Jencks (b.1939) describes how in the past public buildings expressed shared meaning and conveyed it through well-known conventions whereas today there is a need for instant fame, it has to be an amazing piece of surreal sculpture. 15 Karim Rashid's (industrial designer b.1960) article I Want to Change the World discusses how biomorphic forms manifest: Are our objects a result of new computer aided tools of morphing?... I see we are shaping a world inspired by the highly complex dimensional tools. NURBS, splines, metaballs, and other bioshaping commands are fostering a more released organic condition. I can take any sacred Jencks, C. Iconic Building. Page Preface 7 Figure 11: Selfridges Store external envelope.

12 geometry... a cube, a sphere, a cylinder, and collage them together or metaball them into a liquid plastic biomorphic form that I can regulate - softer, globular or tighter and more defined. 16 Computers have given the three dimensional freedom needed to inspire aesthetic forms and has also provided the tools to draw and calculate accurately how these will work structurally. While the form of the building is manipulated the software automatically calculates mathematical equations that give structural integrity to the design. Computer-aided Manufacture (CAM) can be used in combination with CAD to make such a building possible in reality. In the past even if such forms could be conceived on the drawing board there was no way for them to be constructed using taditional methods because of the complexity of such a structure. In the examples of Selfridges Department Store Birmingham and Lars Spuybroek s Water Pavilion the use of sheet metalwork gives a protective armour or industrial aeathetic. The strong juxtaposition within western urban context makes these forms seem to be something truly new and original. Contemporary digital architecture appears to have abandoned the discourse of style, rejecting the urban typology, surrounding vernacular, context, and historic styles. However, this new movement of biomorphic forms is not without precedent. Since the Baroque, architects have been breaking out from the established aesthetics of Euclidean geometry: there were those who managed to inform their works with a similar organic aesthetic without the help of high tech tools BLOB PRECEDENTS As seen in all of the previous architectural examples from the Blobitecture movement there is an obvious influence from natural forms and biology. The freedoms of CAD modelling still requires there to be a source of inspiration driving the design. The forms of Gehry s Guggenheim Museum can be traced to 1920s German Expressionism, with similar curved planes seen in Hermann Finsterlin s ( ) sketches of a concept glasshouse (Figure 12). The organic biomorphic forms are found in both Surrealism and Art Nouveau, for example the sinuous lines of Hector Guimard s ( ) Porte Dauphine station in Paris (Figure 13). Spanish architect Rafael Moneo (b.1937) spoke of forgotten geometries lost to us because of the difficulties of their representation. 18 It was Le 16 Waters, J. Blobitecture. Page Waters, J. Blobitecture. Page Moneo, R. The Thing Called Architecture. In Davidson, C. Anything. Page

13 Corbusier s ( ) concept of free plan and free façade enabled the emergence of curves in modernist architecture projects. 19 These precedents show that the contemporary forms may not actually be truly unthinkable as initially perceived, nevertheless without the CAD and CAM systems discussed such buildings could not have been realised economically. Figure 12: Hermann Finsterlin s Glass House concept. The uses of CAD tools themselves are far from immune to architectural debate. The essay titled The Impact of The Computer on Architectural Practice contained in Daniel Willis book The Emerald City, although not a completely degrading article on the application of digital technology, argues that firms have elected to computerize, not out of the desire to explore areas of architecture that only computers can facilitate, but merely to execute their duties more rapidly. 20 This faster pace of drafting removes the reflective and analytical process of drawing a line resulting in cases of a lost connection between the digital image and the materials or methods that will be used to realise the project. Architects can now copy conventional construction details with ease, restricting the experimentation or innovation in this field. This investigation, although brief, shows that as with any tool CAD should be used where most appropriate and without forgetting other skills required of an architect. Félix Candela ( ) was a Spanish architect and structural engineer who worked from the late 1930s to the 1960s, pre-cad. His major contribution was the development of thin shells made out of reinforced concrete. The Valencia Oceanografic (Figure 14) is constructed predominantly through this use of reinforced concrete. Figure 15 is an exploration by Candela 19 Kolarevic, B. Architecture in the Digital Age. Page 5 20 Willis, D. The Emerald City. Page Figure 3: Porte Dauphine station in Paris, Hector Guimard, 1900.

14 revealing that these complicated concrete curves can be constructed through a network of straight lines to form self-supporting surfaces. Figure 14: Valencia Oceanografic, Felix Candela. The majority of Candela s work focused on understanding the structure of hyperbolic paraboloids, believing that strength should come from form not mass. It is no surprise his work shows similarities to products of CAD, as he revolutionised the use of mathematics in architecture, just as software is able to do so easily today. It seems that these free forms have been made more common due to the computer s ability to instantly apply structural mathematics to a design and the desire to push material and technical possibilities. This ideology has come to the focus in recent years, with a shift from the bio-morphology of Blobitecture towards structural and performance-based architecture. PERFORMANCE ARCHITECTURE Blobitecture is not a monolithic movement amongst the digital avant-garde. Another kind of architecture is also emerging, with building performance becoming the principle design factor from the first stages. Performance is taken as the driving force for creating forms, utilising digital technologies ability for quantitative and qualitative performance based simulation. 21 This covers numerous factors including finance, technology, structure, light, sound and heat. Advances in graphic visualisation mean that this quantitative data can be represented and assessed qualitatively to allow easy comparison and presentation of design alternatives to find the optimum performance solution. With global warming and environmental impacts prominent in the media, the social demand for greater energy efficiency in buildings have made this a popular application of CAD. 21 Kolarevic, B. Architecture in the Digital Age. Page Figure 15: Candela s structural diagram.

15 Future Systems is a London based high-tech architectural and design practice pioneering this performance architecture since their Selfridges store blob. Founded by Jan Kaplicky ( ) the company won the Stirling Prize in 1999 for Lords Cricket Ground Media Centre. Project ZED, London (1995) investigates the possibility of zero emission developments, forming part of a wider initiative funded by the European Commission. It is a mixed-use building using wind and sunlight as free energy sources. Figure 16 shows the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) diagram for their Project ZED concept. The analysis was vital in determining the building s form as the façade needed to be curved in a way that minimised the impact of wind on the building s perimeter and to channel it towards the turbine at the centre. After conducting this testing, the floor plan was changed from an egg-shape on each side of the turbine to the boomerang shape seen in Figure 17, as it was found to reduce turbulence. 22 By using computer technology changes could be made to optimise performance and give a greater understanding of how the building will behave within its environmental context. Architects can test their designs before construction to ensure an efficient outcome, with the added ability of rapid prototyping using Computer-numerically Controlled (CNC) machines. Figure 16: CFD analysis of wind flows. The Foster and Partners' Greater London Authority Headquarters (City Hall, ) has a similar revolutionary pebble-like aesthetic, a product of computer analysis and development 22 Hagan, S. Digitalia. Page Figure 17: Project ZED, Future Systems, 1995.

16 into a sustainable building form. Foster and Partners is an international architecture firm based in the United Kingdom, founded in 1967 by Norman Foster. They have created a high profile with their glass and steel buildings. City Hall resulted from the need to optimise energy performance and was achieved by minimising the surface area exposed to direct sunlight by 25% compared to that of a cube of identical volume. 23 In turn, this reduces the solar heat gains and losses. Figure 18 illustrates this concept. The hot spot shown in Figure 19 at the top of the building revealed to designers the perfect location for solar panels. Figure 18: City Hall, Foster + Partners sun angle diagram. The main axis is oriented towards the midday sun to present a minimal surface area for solar gain and the side elevations are curved to present a minimal area to the east and west where the façades face a low sun angle. The external cladding of perforated aluminium also came from the analysis of sunlight patterns throughout the year, creating solar shades that are integrated into the form instead of being a separate component. 23 Kolarevic, B. Architecture in the Digital Age. Page 25 Figure 20: City Hall acoustic analysis three-dimensional model. 12 Figure 19: City Hall heat gain analysis model.

17 Other significant developments in the design of Foster and Partners city hall were from the use of acoustic wave simulation. ARUP's engineers (Consulting Engineers) conducted an acoustic analysis of the debating chamber geometry and found that the design s dramatic shape would be ineffective acoustically because all the sound reflected straight back towards the speaker. The solution was to wrap a spiral ramp around the flask to make the glazing lean outward, reflecting the sound in a totally different direction (Figure 20). Final acoustic analysis showed this alteration of form and circulation to be successful. Through the use of structural analysis architects can also push further the boundaries of existing materials and construction methods with confidence; resulting primarily in taller structurally demanding architecture. These developments are also driven by the demand for space in urban contexts. The analytical capacity of CAD gives a significant shift in how 'blobby' forms are perceived; giving them meaning rather than just a result of new freedoms in 3D modelling suggested by the examples of work from the early Blobitecture movement. One of the most profound aspects of modern architecture is not the rediscovery of forms, but the new ability for mathematical analysis of construction systems. The sinuous curvilinear forms could become not only an expression of new aesthetics, or a particular cultural and socio-economic moment born out of the digital revolution, but also an optimal formal expression for the new ecological consciousness that calls for sustainable building This extract from the text of Branko Kolarevic, shows how environmental performance criteria and sustainability has become vital in today's society, computers have enabled architects to meet these new demands by providing testing of new and innovative concepts, and allowing integration in the earliest stages of design. There has been a significant shift of emphasis from form to complex structure. MASTER BUILDERS The complexity of this new Computer-aided Architectural Design (CAAD) is forcing architects to take a more involved role in the construction of their building. A single 3D model can be produced containing dimensions, analysis, fabrication, construction and time based information that can be passed to all contractors. A seamless collaborative process is established by a digital continuum. The architect has regained the principles from medieval 24 Kolarevic, B. Architecture in the Digital Age. Page 26 13

18 times of master builders overseeing the entire project from conception to completion. Information and communication technology has enabled management of more complex building projects more comprehensively and on a global scale. The development of the shape and supporting structure was an iterative, collaborative process that relied upon the rapid exchange of electronic 3D models between Arup and the architect. Components and details were standardised by the Arup design team wherever possible. For example, the 'cotton reel' column node is standardised throughout the building giving efficiency in the fabrication of the structure This quotation about the design process of City Hall confirms how computer technology and the internet helped bring together collaborations in the design process from across the globe. Flat panel drawings can be created from 3D models to allow fabricators to immediately price, manufacture and build on site regardless of the forms complexity. The glazing of the north lens elevation on City Hall consists of unique panels of glass (similar to their British Museum roof, ) so designers heavily relied on CAD systems and their link to CNC machines to test the geometry, making a physical model to check that the technique and design was scalable. This exchange of information and testing is vital for a high quality product. CAD is not only producing more complex intelligent building forms, but also arguably ones perceived to be of a higher quality due to the continued computer testing and refinement of new concepts before construction. FOSTER AND PARTNERS An extract taken from the Foster and Partners website tells of how CAD is now so important in their work: The advent of digital technologies has allowed us to design and build structures with complex geometric forms that would not have been feasible as little as twenty years ago. The practice's specialist modelling group has an advanced 3D computer modelling capability that allows architects to explore design solutions rapidly and to communicate data to consultants and contractors. While new technologies have transformed the way we work, traditional model making still plays a crucial role and our sophisticated model shop can produce everything from sketch models to full size mock-ups Having analysed the use of digital technology on Foster and Partners City Hall design a comparison can be made with their previous work to truly show how architectural form has 25 Powel, K. London Pride Structure. Architects Journal

19 changed in their practice since the introduction of CAD. Norman Foster s education and establishment of an architectural practice came before computers CAD making it a prime example for showing the transition from hand drafting to computer modelling. The IBM Pilot Head Office ( ) and Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts ( ) were two of Foster and Partners first major projects. 27 The photographs of Figures 21 and 22 show how both these projects follow orthogonal conventions of the Cartesian grid, with the clean straight lines in both the interior layout and the external envelope as found throughout the modernist design movement. Figure 21: IBM Pilot Head Office, The first use of CAD was on Stansted Airport (Figure 23) completed in 1991; however, the design began in the early 1980s before computers were introduced to the practice's offices so the project still follows the principle features of the other earlier figures. 28 In 1988, the opportunity to extend the original Sainsbury Centre provided one of the first chances to use 27 Pawley, M. Norman Foster: a Global Architecture. Page Howard, R. CAD, Curved Surfaces and Building Quality. Thesis Page Figure 22: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Figure 23: Stansted Airport, Figure 24: Sainsbury Centre Extension, 1998.

20 CAD throughout the design process. Without the limitations of a drawing board, Foster and Partners were able to accurately introduce curved profiles into their designs, shown by the crescent wing of the Sainsbury Centre underground extension (Figure 24). This is a direct contrast to the rectilinear structure they had designed before the beginning of the digital age. The Swiss Re building in London (Figure 25) was designed with the aid of parametric computer models. These models included wind, structure, shadows, solar gain, heat loss, ventilation and exterior qualities. The form was a direct result of balancing all these parameters to get the most efficient structure, making it one of the most striking and elegant high-rise offices in London. It reduces wind loads to give lighter structure and comfortable environment at the ground whilst the form of the spiralling atria inside the building creates different air pressures to provide passive airflow internally. The form of the building is undeniably essential for its environmental performance There is a direct correlation between the development in computer technology and the increasing complexity of Foster and Partners waveform architectural aesthetic seen in the image chorology. The Sage Gateshead ( ) shown in Figure 26 epitomises these new characteristics. Figure 25: The Swiss Re building, Kolarevic, B. Performative Architecture: Beyond Instrumentality. Page Figure 26: The Sage, Gateshead,

21 REDISCOVERY OF ORNAMENT Ornament is the application of decoration and pattern to a building with no structural role. A wide variety of characteristic decorative styles and motifs developed to meet artistic styles and movements. Architects such as Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ) worked on the principle that form follows function a phrase ascribed to Louis Sullivan ( ) in 1896, which was key to this emerging Modernist movement. 30 In 1908 Adolf Loos ( ) wrote the manifesto titled Ornament and Crime, arguing that ornament is economically inefficient and morally degenerate, and that the lack of ornament is a sign of an advanced society. 31 The architect was no longer compelled to create forms based on precedents found throughout history. Today we are experiencing a revival of ornament, through digital experimentation. It seems to be an acceptable addition to the building s form if it has been designed using computer software and manufactured using CNC machines. Caruso St John Architects recent work shows this move. The industrial process of machined lace inspired the façade for Nottingham s Centre of Contemporary Arts. A small section of lace was digitally scanned and scaled. Then it was machine milled into a thirteen-metre long resin board, from which a latex mould was produced to cast the final pattern onto the buildings elevation (Figure 27). While an industrialised mind-set contributed to the death of ornamentation last century, today s designers have rediscovered that advanced processes can not only make the production of ornament easier, but also inspire its very form. 32 Computer design has opened a new realm of ornamentation never used before. Mass production through CAM allows infinite repetition in ornamentation, like that of the metal disks seen on Selfridges Birmingham. 30 Manieri-Elia, M. & Sullivan, L. H. Louis Henry Sullivan. Page Crime and Ornament, The Arts and Popular Culture in the Shadow of Adolf Loos, Page Architectural Review, Nov 2007, Rob Gregory 17 Figure 27: Nottingham Centre for Contemporary Arts,

22 Further opportunities for patterning were discovered by applying texture mapping onto warped surfaces. Methods include video projection and embedded digital displays. NURBS-surface tessellation became possible by parametrically adapting each element to fit its individual location. The example of Zaha Hadid s Civil Courts (Figure 28) shows that orientation and aperture of tessellations can also be articulated to fit with parametric environmental data to form an adaptive façade, following the idea that appearances matter, but they matter as part of performance. 33 A function has been found for the ornamentation and patterning of a building envelope, promoting a new style of parametricism. PARAMETRIC ARCHITECTURE Parametricism has its origins in the digital animation techniques of Greg Lynn, but has only fully materialised recently through advanced parametric systems. 34 Unlike performance architecture, parametricism emerges from the creative use of parametric design systems rather than quantitative analysis. It unifies the separate principles and tools developed through the digital revolution, forming a global convergence by twenty-first century avantgarde architects to a new style of architectural language. Today Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is an influential pioneer in the oeuvre of parametric architecture. Founder Zaha Hadid (b.1950) is renowned for her strong arched shapes, experimenting with new spacial concepts and stretching the limits of construction and materials. Patrik Schumacher (b.1961), partner at ZHA says that aesthetically it is the elegance of ordered complexity and the sense of seamless fluidity, akin to natural systems, that is the hallmark of parametricism. 35 Early works like Vitra Fire Station (Figure 29), 1993 in Germany, use sharp angles and asymmetry to construct planes on different tiers, combined with flowing lines. Before 33 Schumacher, P. Parametric Patterns. Published in Garcia, M. The Patterns of Architecture. 34 Schumacher, P. Parametricism. Published in Leach, N. Digital Cities. Abstract 35 Schumacher, P. Parametricism. Published in Leach, N. Digital Cities. Page Figure 28: Zaha Hadid, Civil Courts, Adaptive Facade, Madrid, 2007.

23 computers Hadid s designs were already complex; using multiple perspective points to engage and unite observers with the neighbouring environment, but the computers logarithmic power furthered this liberation. Computer technology has had an increasingly important and influential impact on their work over the past decade, making curves easier to draw than with the rudimentary French-curves, allowing Hadid to move from predominantly conceptual designs to material realisation. 36 The first three-dimensional modelling software introduced in the company, ModelShop, did impose some early restrictions, as it was unable to easily process changing radii. This effectively stiffened the geometry, but once the use of splines was made available with VectorWorks the sketch designs could return unhindered. 37 Hadid has managed to distance herself from the smooth aesthetics of early computer investigations by creasing, ripping and folding tensed surfaces to create defined corners, edges and angles whilst keeping a sense of liquefaction. CAD has not been allowed to take over the design logic or identity of the company Like all the tools she has used, the computer helps Hadid become more Hadid. 38 Figure 29: Zaha Hadid Vitra Fire Station Weil-am-Rhein, Germany, Phaeno Science Centre and Nuragic Contemporary Art Museum (Figure 30 and 31) clearly show the influence of computer modelling. 3D Studio Mac was used in the initial design stages to deform and distort a topographical grid, elevating the bulk of the building on stilts to generate a public space for visitors. An intricate network of pedestrian paths was then moulded throughout the structure. Previous methods of sketch investigations and photocopier distortion has been transferred to a more sophisticated and systematic process of computer design. 36 Schumacher, P. Digital Hadid. Page 6 37 Hadid, Z. Zaha Hadid. Page Hadid, Z. Zaha Hadid. Page Figure 30: Zaha Hadid Phaeno Science Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany, 2005.

24 Figure 31: Zaha Hadid Museum of Nuragic and Contemporary Art, Cagliari, Italy. CONCLUSION Computer-aided design has developed considerably within architecture since orthographic drafting software of the 1980s, changing how buildings are conceived, designed and produced. The major benefit is the increased productivity of easy manipulation. NURBSsurfaces drove forward the computer s ability to model complex curved forms and surfaces. Greg Lynn pioneered this move with CATIA software, breaking away from inert volumes to a new dynamic expressionism. As Ignasi de Solà-Morales said architecture of modern times is characterised by its capacity to take advantage of the specific achievements of that same modernity. In some respects CAD is seen to diminish the role of architects, Lynn commenting that I would give software 51% of the credit for the design. The faster pace of drafting removes the analytical process of drawing a line, resulting in some loss of connection between digital images and the materials or methods that will be used to for realisation. Many firms allowed CAD to take over design logic and company identity. The most iconic forms created through computer modelling are found in the Blobitecture movement, buildings such as Lars Spuybroek s Water Pavilion, with homogeneous, fluid curvaceous forms that defines the language of this digital age. These forms show similarities to Gaudi, Candella and Expressionism, but on a new scale that has not been seen before. The iconic status is achieved through juxtaposition with the surrounding urban fabric s Cartesian grids and Euclidian geometry, arguably losing all sense of context. Forms are derived by manipulating the algorithms of the computer modelling software, a postmodernist rebellion against the observed monotony of contemporary architecture. It is not just a tool for visual representation, but a tool for digital morphogenesis, blurring interior and exterior boundaries. 20

25 However, these purely blobby buildings are seen by critiques as a pursuit of novelty, lacking integrity or function required for them to be sustained. They have moved away from Louis Sullivan s concept of form follows function to a sculptural iconography. One justification is the economic benefits such as Frank Gehry s Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, which brought the city 320 million from tourism in 2008 alone. Computers have given the three-dimensional freedom needed to inspire new aesthetic forms that abandon the discourse of style, but it is more the application of automatic mathematical analysis that gives structural integrity needed for construction. The combination of CAD and CAM systems gives an integrated building process that brings a return to master builders. A single 3D model shows all technical information required for realisation. A shift from the bio-morphology of Blobitecture towards structural and performance-based architecture utilises digital technologies ability for quantitative and qualitative performance based simulation. Performance analysis addresses societies concerns on climate change, led partially by Future Systems and Foster and Partners. The investigation of these examples showed how use of various analytical computer models (CFD analysis, Acoustic propagation, solar access) drove forward designs to give more intelligent and efficient buildings. The use of CAD s analytical capacity gives a significant change in how blob forms are perceived; giving them meaning and function rather than just a result of the new freedoms in modelling. Avant-garde architects strive to push the boundaries of materials and construction, and with constant digital testing and rapid CNC prototyping the final products are seen to be of higher quality. This shows emphasis on structure rather purely form. Through the chronology of Foster and Partners work all of these changes have been seen in relationship to CAD advances. The modernist movement has been dominated by beliefs of Le Corbusier and Loos that there should be no applied ornamentation. Now it seems to be an acceptable addition if designed and manufactured using CAD and CAM, for example Nottingham Art Centre of Contemporary Arts lace pattern. The introduction of parametric patterns had brought function to new ornamentation and parametricism has begun to unite digital innovations. Zaha Hadid epitomises the current state of digital technology, showing how the digital age has created dynamic complicated liquid forms that have been given structural integrity and performance features only possible using computer analysis. This investigation has shown undoubtedly that the introduction of CAD has driven forward new developments in architectural forms. 21

26 FIGURE REFERENCES FIGURE 1 : FIGURE 2 : FIGURE 3 : FIGURE 4 : Tower_black _and _white.jpg FIGURE 5 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Greg Lynn Form. Scan page 52. FIGURE 6 : FIGURE 7 : FIGURE 8 : FIGURE 9 : Museum-Bilbao-Spain.jpg nioa_whale_jaw /1.jpg FIGURE 10 : radius =0.29&sll= , &sspn= , &split= Guggenheim- 1&rq=1&ev=p&hq=selfridges+birmingham&hnear=&ll= , &spn=0, &t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll= , &panoid=L2OBxs_9IuMXcGbrDdrAlw&cbp=12,335.91,,0, FIGURE 11 : c1a2426fcc72f0ac.jpg FIGURE 12 : Finsterlin,_1924.jpg FIGURE 13 : Edicule_ porte_dauphine.jpg FIGURE 14 : 22

27 FIGURE 15 : concrete/ candela.gif FIGURE 16 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Future Systems. Scan Page 24 FIGURE 17 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Future Systems. Scan Page 24 FIGURE 18 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Foster and Partners. Scan Page 85 FIGURE 19 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Foster and Partners. Scan Page 86 FIGURE 20 : Architecture in the Digital Age, credit Foster and Partners/ARUP. Scan Page 25 FIGURE 21 : FIGURE 22 : FIGURE 23 : FIGURE 24 : FIGURE 25 : FIGURE 26 : FIGURE 27 : FIGURE 28 : 20Hadid%20Architects_Civil%20Courts%20of%20Justice_close_up.jpg FIGURE 29 : FIGURE 30 : 500wi FIGURE 31 : Imperiale-Nuragic-Contemporary-Art-Museum-Cagliari-Italy.jpg 23

28 BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Borden, D., Elzanowski, J., Lawrenz, C., Miller, D., Smith, A. & Taylor, J. (2008) Essential Architecture: The History of Western Architecture. London: Herbert. Callicott, N. (2006) Computer-aided Manufacture in Architecture: the Pursuit of Novelty. Oxford: Architectural. Garcia, M. (2009) The Patterns of Architecture: Architectural Design. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Gehry, F. (2003) Gehry Talks. London: Thames & Hudson. Guasch, A., Zulaika, J. (2005) Learning from the Bilbao Guggenheim. Reno: University of Nevada. Hadid, Z. (2006) Zaha Hadid. New York: Guggenheim Museum. Hagan, S. (2008) Digitalia: Architecture and the Digital, the Environmental and the Avantgarde. New York: Routledge. Hamad, M. (2009) AutoCAD 2010 Essentials. London: Jones & Bartlett International. Jencks, C. (2005) The Iconic Building: The Power of the Enigma. London: Frances Lincoln. Kolarevic, B. (2003) Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing. New York: Taylor & Francis. Kolarevic, B. & Malkawi, A. (2005) Performative Architecture: Beyond Instrumentality. New York: Spon. Leach, N. (2009) Digital Cities: Architectural Design. Chichester: John Wiley and Son Lynn, G. (1998) Animate Form. New York: Princeton Architectural. Manieri-Elia, M. & Sullivan, L. (1996) Louis Henry Sullivan. New York: Princeton Architectural. 24

29 McCullough, M., Mitchell, W., & Purcell, P. (1990) Electronic Design Studio Architectural Knowledge and Media in the Computer Era. Cambridge: Mass MIT. Miller, B. & Ward, M. (2002) Crime and Ornament: the Arts and Popular Culture in the Shadow of Adolf Loos. Toronto: YYZ Mitchell, W. (1979) Computer-aided Architectural Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Moneo, R. The Thing Called Architecture. In Davidson, C. (2001) Anything. New York: Anyone Corporation. Olsen, B. (2007) Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations. San Francisco: CCC. Pawley, M. (1999) Norman Foster: a global architecture. New York: Universe Architecture Series. Schmitt, G. (1999) Information Architecture: Basis and Future of CADD. Basel: Birkhäuser. Schumacher, P. (2004) Digital Hadid: Landscapes in Motion. Basel: Birkhäuser. Sola-Morales, I. (1997) Differences: Topographies of Contemporary Architecture. Cambridge: MIT. Spiller, N. (1998) Digital Dreams: Architecture and the New Alchemic Technologies. London: Ellipsis. Terzidis, K. (2006) Algorithmic Architecture. Oxford: Architectural. Waters, J. K. (2003) Blobitecture: Waveform Architecture and Digital Design. Gloucester: Rockport. Willis, D. (1999) The Emerald City and Other Essays on the Architectural Imagination. New York: Princeton Architectural. Wilson, C.J. (2007) The Other Tradition of Modern Architecture. London: Black Dog. 25

30 THESIS Howard, R. (2006) CAD, Curved Surfaces and Building Quality." Thesis. Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki, Finland. ITcon Papers. Slovenian Research Agency. Web. 18 Nov < Moum, A. (2006) "A Framework For Exploring The ICT Impact on The Architectural Design Process." Thesis. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. ITcon Papers. Slovenian Research Agency, June Web. 18 Nov < Penttila, H. (2006) "Describing the Changes in Architectural Information Technology to Understand Design Complexity and Free-form Architectural Expression." Thesis. Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Architecture, Finland, ITcon Papers. Slovenian Research Agency. Web. 18 Nov < ONLINE RESOURCES 18/11/ /11/ /11/09 OTHER Gregory, R. (2007) Tracing Lace. Architectural Review, Nov Powel, K. (2002) London Pride Structure. Architects Journal, 18 July Safire, W. (2002) On Language; Defenestration. New York: The New York Times 1 Dec. 2002, sec. 6: 42. Williams, H. (2009) Frank Gehry: Don t call me a starchitect. The Independent. 17 Dec