Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design

146 EAAE no 35 Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design: Advances in Technology and Changes in Pedagogy

and structural needs can be designed or ordered by a multi-disciplinary design team,

changing the design approach. A new process, of choosing a detail, designing a mate-

rial and reconfiguring the design output, is challenging the traditional approach of

creating a form, designing a detail and choosing a material, therefore opening a new

perspective, where materiality becomes a powerful design parameter.

Furthermore, the traditional concept of a fixed, static, 2-dimensional building

envelope is confronted by the emerging idea of a dynamic, interactive, responsive,

intelligent building skin [Fig. 8]. The classic notion of boundary is challenged.

Digital technology can be resourcefully explored for research purposes in mate-

rial science within a creative design scope using advanced simulation techniques to

explore material performance in a macroscopic level or investigate molecular structure

in a microscopic level.

Finally, the case of a design-built workshop testifies the use of digital technol-

ogy in an environment habitually dominated by traditional methods and design

approach.

The workshop theme (tensegrity structures [Fig. 9]) led towards an object oriented

design directly based on the 3D model. The geometric complexity, the exceptionally

3D character and the intrinsic characteristics of tensegrity structures proved the

traditional methods (paper based design) and representation tools (sketches, 2D

drawings,...) to be inadequate, therefore the 3D model being the only and interactive

basis for design studies. The 3D model in several versions [Fig. 10]: data sheets to

describe coordinates and calculate mathematical relationships between parts, digital

model to define geometric forms, physical models to understand force distribution,

and, ultimately, 1:1 scale mock-ups, when dealing with complex 3D details and con-

struction sequence issues.

The need to test the theoretical output of these studies, led to an immediate

trial-and-error approach, looking for a reliable experimentation tool. While the dig-

ital model contains no information about materials and forces and physical models

are inefficient for scale or accuracy reasons, the 1:1 scale mock-up remains of key

importance as a testing tool to understand the physical character and the material

Fig. 8
Studies on material design and dynamic building skins – A. Bezes, D. Machairidou