Thesis TOWARDS BIOGENESIS IN ARCHITECTU
Thesis TOWARDS BIOGENESIS IN ARCHITECTU
Thesis TOWARDS BIOGENESIS IN ARCHITECTU
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture
By
Engy Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed Habib
B.Sc. Architecture Ain Shams University, 2009
Cairo, Egypt
2014
Ain Shams University
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture
The work included in this thesis was accomplished by the author at the
department of Architecture, Ain Shams University during the period from
January 2012 to October 2013, as accepted by the examiners.
Signature:
Date: / /
BIO-GENESIS
by
Engy Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed Habib
Submitted to the Department of Architecture on March 19, 2014,
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science in Architecture
Abstract:
Historically, architects used to draw what they could build, and built
what they could draw. The straight lines and circular arcs drawn on
paper using straight edge and compass have been translated into the
materials made by the extrusion and rolling machinery. This reciprocity
between the means of representation and production has not
disappeared entirely in the digital age. With the introduction of the first
programming languages in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, design
methodologies have undergone several evolutionary changes, which
provided opportunities for building more multifaceted and complex
forms. Moreover, this has radically shifted our conception of the design
process, as well as our understanding of geometrical forms as a function
of performance instead of finite positions in space.
However, the materials perspective in these digital technologies has not
yet been explored on the basis of the new possibilities disclosed by these
very same tools; material considerations have almost exclusively focused
on construction -techniques or as a post-rationalization design input. So
far, the materialization of formal expressions instigated by such
processes is primarily based on techniques of assembly, which do not
negotiate the inherent morphological and performative capacities of the
employed material systems that the tools put forward, resulting in a
style driven or decorative computational form making processes.
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The approach introduced in this dissertation contrasts previous ones that
focused either on questions of representation and meaning in
architecture, or, alternatively that have treated performance as
synonymous to function placed in the context of post-design functional
optimization. It attempts to investigate new strategies for sustainable
and ecological design, in which forms are derived from the evolutionary
development or 'Biogenesis' of natural forms, from their material
properties and from their adaptive response to changes in their
environment. “tee i g a ay f o su h o ds as g ee , e ologi al o
sustai a le , a d thi k a out the o d e ology f o af esh, as the
elatio ship et ee a o ga is a d its e i o e t . Th ough this
approach, space can be perceived not as distributed geometries, but
rather as a composite graft responding locally to flows of programmatic
and environmental parameters. This is achieved through an attempt to
engage architecture in an integrated approach – the synthesis of
structure and natural processes results in an information-based design –
therein promoted here is an act of prototyping akin to Natu e s sea h
for endless forms, from all this perhaps architecture can achieve a
condition of robustness and sustainability.
The framework of this thesis should be regarded as an open-ended
process of discovery. Future research and innovation can be continued
with respect to similar focus. The goal of this thesis is to engage design
problems with recent innovations in material-based computational
design.
Keywords
Form; Hylomorphism; New Materialism; Gilles Deleuze; Biomimicry;
Sustainability; Complexity theory, Emergence; self-organization; Digital
Morphogenesis; Material-based computational design
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Prologue
“To express is to drive. And when you want to give something presence,
you have to consult nature. And there is where Design comes in. And if
you think of Brick, for instance, and you say to Brick, ‘What do you want
Brick?’ And Brick says to you ‘I like an Arch.’ And if you say to Brick
‘Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you.
What do you think of that?’. Brick says: …I like an Arch”
The prologue for this work have been adopted from the philosophical
explorations of the architect Louis Kahn (1901- 1974), who proposed that
buildings were not just i e t o figu atio s of fo ut li i g o ga i
e tities . He illustrated that form is the result of a profound and timeless
understanding of the task it had to support.
The easo hy Kah s uotatio s e e i luded i this thesis goes
beyond this strand of philosophical logic. The main analogy speculates
on how does a material perform? Moreover, is there a way in which we
could predict material behavior and organization within a given context?
How do we find material form instead of make conceptual form?
The pioneers of this approach were: Buckminster fuller, Frei Otto and
others. They followed Kah s o i tio of a predetermined search for
material form with regards to the synergetic relationship between
performance and material integrity. Of particular interest in this respect
a e Otto s e a e st u tu es a d p eu ati st u tu e experiments
that promote the formatio of i i al su fa es hi h optimize
structural loads.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ………………………………………………………………..…………….………….. i
Prologue ………………………………………………………………………..………………. iii
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………….……………... ii
List of Content ……………………………………………………………………….………. i
List of Figures and illustrations ………………………………………….…..…….. xiv
List of Acronyms ………………………………………………………….………..……….xix
List of ‘elated Soft ares ..……………………………………………….…..……….. i
- PART I -
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2.1 The Question of Origin[s] : Architecture of Reality Vs.
Architectural Theories ------------------------- Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1.1. Hylomorphism and Metaphysical traditions Error! Bookmark not
defined.
2.1.2. Deducing Reality: Uniting Science with Metaphysics -------- Error!
Bookmark not defined.
2.1.3. Skepticism : Postmodernism and Geometric Spirit ----------- Error!
Bookmark not defined.
2.1.4. Material Attention : The World -as - Organism - Error! Bookmark
not defined.
- PART II -
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5.3.1.3 Design | Analysis .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.4 Physics-Based Generative Design ..... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.5 Kangaroo Physics .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.6 Karamba ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.7 Interactive Structural Analysis .......... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.8 Timber Textiles ................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3.1.9 Summary: ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
- PART III -
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6.1. Introduction: Towards Biogenesis paradigm -- Error! Bookmark not
defined.
Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………………………224
Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………..……………235
Arabic Summary ……………………………………………………………………………….. 243
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List of Acronyms
2D Two - Dimensional
3D Three - Dimensional
4D Four - Dimensional
AI Artificial Intelligence
CA Cellular Automata
CAD
Computer Aided Design
GA Genetic Algorithm
SA Simulated Annealing
SG Shape Grammars
SLA/ SL Stereolithography
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List of Related Softwares
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Kangaroo is a live physics engine developed by
Daniel Piker for interactive simulation,
Kangaroo Physics
optimization and form-finding directly within
Grasshopper (Plug-in).
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Journal articles:
[1] Berkebile, B. & McLennan, J. The Li i g Buildi g: Bio i i i
A hite tu e, I teg ati g Te h olog ith Natu e . BioInspire magazine, Vol.
18. Published by Colorado State University, July 2004
[15] Knoppers, G., Gunnink, J & Van den Hout. The ‘ealit of Fu tio all
g aded ate ial p odu ts . TNO Science and Industry for Applied Scientific
Research. The Netherlands. 2004
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[19] Meyers , M., Chen, P & Seki, Y. Biologi al ate ials: St u tu e a d
e ha i al p ope ties . Journal of Progress in Materials Science, University
of California Vol. 53 .2008
B. Conference papers:
[1] Ahlquist, S & Fleischmann, M. Mate ial & Spa e: Synthesis Strategies
ased o E olutio a De elop e tal Biolog . In Silicon + Skin: Biological
Processes and Computation: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of
the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), 66-71.
ACADIA. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 2008.
[2] Attar,R., Aish, R., Stam, J., Brinsmead, D., Tessier, A., & Khan, A.
Physics-based Generative Desig . CAAD Futures 2009 Conference
Proceedings: CAAD Futures Foundation (2009). pp. 231-244.
[Available from: http://www.autodeskresearch.com/pdf/CF09-Physics-
based%20Generative%20Design_Final.pdf, accessed 02.09.2012]
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C. Theses and dissertations:
[1] Bruot, A. Mate ial Logi s . M.Sc. dissertation in University of
Washington. 2003
[http://dmg.be.washington.edu/pdfs/Thesis.AmandaBruot.2013.pdf,
accessed 08.08.2012]
D. Published books:
[1] Abel, C. A hite tu e, Te h olog a d P o ess . Oxford university:
Architectural Press, New York, 2004
[9] Dolnick, E. The Clockwork Universe: saac Newto, Royal Society, and the
Bi th of the Mode Wo ld . HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2011
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[12] Fromm, J. The Emergence of Co ple it . Kassel University Press,
Germany, 2004
[5] ‘e-ite ati e p otot pi g , Ph.D Research Blog by Patrick Drewello <
http://www.archibureau.com/blog/ accessed 05.10.2013>
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