Some thoughts on CAD in Architecture generated by reading 'Futures Exploding' [ Alexander Pincus ] [ Architecture / Research ]

Budapest Bank Tower - Futures Exploding - [ Alexander Pincus ] [ Architecture / Research ] This, it seems to me, what might begin to define a debate on the way we might use the computer not merely to replicate paper processes but to extend architecture into realms of thought or process that might define an other experience. If you link to this blog topic by Alexander Pincus who apparently works for Asymptote you will find his own work has a self-applied tag of 'Empty Formalism'. It turns out that Alexander did a presentation in March 2006 at the 'Banff Session 2006' where the Asymptote architecture was described in these terms. Check out the links - engage in the debate - decide for yourself.

My 2 cents worth? With all the hype about BIM, it seems to me that there is a lot of rhetoric about the role of the computer in architecture, but little substance or clear direction. There are the people who are exploring the various strands of blobitecture, in what I tend to see as often degenerating into "empty formalism" and 'documented' by simplistic computer graphic images that 2 weeks playing with 3DS Max could easily produce. What is exciting in amongst all this is the people who have taken the time to understand the craft of 3D digital modelling. Someone who understands what a family is in Revit and who uses it to explore how this might be expressed in built form is to me genuinely exploring the future of the role of the computer in architecture. This is what is interesting about Robert Aish's Smart Geometry work. It seems to me that in amongst the 'Empty Formalism' of the forms that often illustrate the presentations on this new software, there is the thread of a very new way of thinking about buildings. Alexander Pincus refers to a Smart Geometry model of one of his Asymptote designs produced by David Farnsworth - structural engineer of Arup London. Here he says the engineer was able to

resolve the geometry of the tower’s unique structural system and enable the structure to redistribute itself based on changes to the buildings overall geometry

Now that sounds like a re-thinking of the way we build IF the geometry - the formal design expression - is linked to and interacts with the structure.

What is also of interest with Smart Geometry is re-thinking the geometry - the architectural relationships underlying a building. My (limited) experience with SG suggests that it will take quite some time for a person to start thinking through the structuring of a model of a building so that it permits exploration of the design principles of the building. It's all very well imagining the possibilities of re-configuring a design based on some axes, proportions or other fundamental design principle. It is another thing altogether to build these dependencies in from the beginning to allow the exploration of form to happen later. If, as is apparently happening with the Pincus/Farnsworth model these dependencies are modelled in such a way that the structure and construction can also be dealt with then we truly have a new paradigm of design.

The struggle that I see holding things back, and making 'empty formalism' easier than genuine re-thinking of the architectural design paradigm, is that until people develop sufficient experience for the craft of modelling with SG to be innate and not conscious, it is far easier to construct a rich dependency SG model of an existing building or drawn idea than it is use SG as a modelling medium in its own right. Watch this space. I will have 10-15 people exploring the potential of SG over the next 12 weeks...

Footnote: Because I thought that this was an important topic I have looked a little behind the scenes. The problem with the web is that obscure web sites like Alexander's could easily be proffering a poorly based/researched personal opinion. On the 'Current events' portion of the Asymptote web site, which has one of those really really annoying Flash based non-searchable wizzy-for-no-purpose interfaces, the most recent note suggests that "Hani Rashid will be a guest lecturer for the Banff Session 2006 event entitled DESIGNfronts..." This suggests that Alexander is indeed a member of staff at Asymptote. His 'about'entry also notes he works at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He is listed by Columbia as an assistant in Asymptote principal Hani Rashid's "advanced architecture studio".