Freeform Architecture Research Articles

Morphological Categorization and its Role in Design Method

The first attempt in architectural design theory to consider the perceptual and metaphysical dimension separately with a fully modern scientific manner, which exist in contrast to the Renaissance idea, was Claude Perrault, who emphasized the cognitive factors as an important scientific human issue in building design in 1683 in his book "Ordonnance". Even today many elaborated works to reveal the mysterious design processes based on a set of rational approaches have been introduced since the Design Method movement in 1960's. Their pioneering and challenging efforts to rationalize design process have been mostly rely on the cultural issues whether it takes a qualitative or quantitative stance. On the other hand, however, today's computer generated free form architecture seems not to be aware of those lessons learned from the past and, therefore, this study conducted an extensive research through exploring on morphological building forms with cultural issues to fill up the missing and/or lacking characteristics of today trend in building design.

Functional webs for freeform architecture

AbstractRationalization and construction‐aware design dominate the issue of realizability of freeform architecture. The former means the decomposition of an intended shape into parts which are sufficiently simple and efficient to manufacture; the latter refers to a design procedure which already incorporates rationalization. Recent contributions to this topic have been concerned mostly with small‐scale parts, for instance with planar faces of meshes. The present paper deals with another important aspect, namely long‐range parts and supporting structures. It turns out that from the pure geometry viewpoint this means studying families of curves which cover surfaces in certain well‐defined ways. Depending on the application one has in mind, different combinatorial arrangements of curves are required. We here restrict ourselves to so‐called hexagonal webs which correspond to a triangular or tri‐hex decomposition of a surface. The individual curve may have certain special properties, like being planar, being a geodesic, or being part of a circle. Each of these properties is motivated by manufacturability considerations and imposes constraints on the shape of the surface. We investigate the available degrees of freedom, show numerical methods of optimization, and demonstrate the effectivity of our approach and the variability of construction solutions derived from webs by means of actual architectural designs.?

Circular arc structures

The most important guiding principle in computational methods for freeform architecture is the balance between cost efficiency on the one hand, and adherence to the design intent on the other. Key issues are the simplicity of supporting and connecting elements as well as repetition of costly parts. This paper proposes so-called circular arc structures as a means to faithfully realize freeform designs without giving up smooth appearance. In contrast to non-smooth meshes with straight edges where geometric complexity is concentrated in the nodes, we stay with smooth surfaces and rather distribute complexity in a uniform way by allowing edges in the shape of circular arcs. We are able to achieve the simplest possible shape of nodes without interfering with known panel optimization algorithms. We study remarkable special cases of circular arc structures which possess simple supporting elements or repetitive edges, we present the first global approximation method for principal patches, and we show an extension to volumetric structures for truly three-dimensional designs.

A Study on the Implementation of Integrated Digital Design Process for Representation and Construction of the Exterior Surface in Free-Form Architecture

A Study on the Implementation of Integrated Digital Design Process for Representation and Construction of the Exterior Surface in Free-Form Architecture

Geometric Computing for Freeform Architecture

Geometric computing has recently found a new field of applications, namely the various geometric problems which lie at the heart of rationalization and construction-aware design processes of freeform architecture. We report on our work in this area, dealing with meshes with planar faces and meshes which allow multilayer constructions (which is related to discrete surfaces and their curvatures), triangles meshes with circle-packing properties (which is related to conformal uniformization), and with the paneling problem. We emphasize the combination of numerical optimization and geometric knowledge.

A Framework of CAD/CAM Design and Construction Process for Freeform Architecture: A Case Study

This research aims to analyze the design and construction process of the built freeform architectural projects and understand deeply the applications of the CAD/CAM media tools, and come up with a preliminary framework of an executable general CAD/CAM design and construction process in freeform architectural design.

BIM 데이터를 적용한 증강현실 기반의 건설관리시스템 개발에 관한 연구

최근 3D파라메트릭 모델링 기법의 발달에 힘입어 비정형 건축 프로젝트가 증가하고 있다. 기존의 BIM 시뮬레이션 의사결정 지원시스템은 가상현실에서 구현되기 때문에 효율적이지 못했다. 이에 본 연구에서 효율적 의사결정지원을 위한 증강현실 기반 시뮬레이션 시스템인 "AR naviX"를 개발하였다. 이 시뮬레이션 시스템은 현장사진과 동영상자료 혹은 레이져 스캐닝 데이터를 활용하여 사용자가 보다 높은 현실감과 몰입감을 느낄 수 있도록 함으로써, 의사결정에 소비되는 시간을 단축시킨다. The number of Free-Form construction projects are increased by development of 3D parametric modeling technology. The reason of Free-Form Architecture's appearance is advance of digital technology. BIM simulation decision making support is inefficient because it is used in virtual reality. In this study, we developed "AR naviX" which is the digital contents of construction management based on AR for effective decision making support to Free-Form construction project. It reflects construction site by using site picture and video, or Laser scanning data. User feel high reality and is absorbed in augmented reality. So they can reduce the time of decision.

Geodesic patterns

Geodesic curves in surfaces are not only minimizers of distance, but they are also the curves of zero geodesic (sideways) curvature. It turns out that this property makes patterns of geodesics the basic geometric entity when dealing with the cladding of a freeform surface with wooden panels which do not bend sideways. Likewise a geodesic is the favored shape of timber support elements in freeform architecture, for reasons of manufacturing and statics. Both problem areas are fundamental in freeform architecture, but so far only experimental solutions have been available. This paper provides a systematic treatment and shows how to design geodesic patterns in different ways: The evolution of geodesic curves is good for local studies and simple patterns; the level set formulation can deal with the global layout of multiple patterns of geodesics; finally geodesic vector fields allow us to interactively model geodesic patterns and perform surface segmentation into panelizable parts.

Designing Quad‐dominant Meshes with Planar Faces

AbstractWe study the combined problem of approximating a surface by a quad mesh (or quad‐dominant mesh) which on the one hand has planar faces, and which on the other hand is aesthetically pleasing and has evenly spaced vertices. This work is motivated by applications in freeform architecture and leads to a discussion of fields of conjugate directions in surfaces, their singularities and indices, their optimization and their interactive modeling. The actual meshing is performed by means of a level set method which is capable of handling combinatorial singularities, and which can deal with planarity, smoothness, and spacing issues.

The text of free-form architecture: qualitative study of the discourse of four architects

One of the major developments in architecture in the past twenty years is the liberation of formal expression and organisation in architecture to reflect the heterogeneous nature of our current cultures and contexts. Antithetical to the hegemony of modernist formalism, this ‘free-form architecture’ is characterised by a free-flowing expression that seeks to simultaneously reflect and reconcile the inevitability of a diversity of forces influencing any architectural design. Despite its proliferation, there seems to be a lack of rigorous research on the types of factors that these architects consider during their process of design, which would provide a better understanding on the diverse range of design considerations behind the provocative architectural forms. This study adopts the well established qualitative research methodology of grounded theory to examine the architects' own discourse to establish a hierarchical structure of factors of free-form architecture from this primary source of data.

Optimal shapes of mechanically motivated surfaces

Subject of this contribution is form finding of “optimal” structural shapes with regard to the load carrying behaviour of surface structures under certain load cases. In general, those optimal shapes prefer a membrane state of stress to transfer loading. Bending is omitted as much as possible. It will be focused on two different disciplines and related numerical approaches which deal with solutions of the mentioned task: form finding of prestressed membranes and general shape optimization. As design is an inverse problem both approaches share similar problematic properties as e.g. indeterminate in-plane location of surface discretization or necessary regularization and filtering of sensitivity and other data. As it will turn out, those remedies found for the very special methods of membrane design can be abstracted and transferred to general optimization procedures. That merges into elegant, numerical shape optimal design techniques which combine advantages of both approaches and allow for effective and efficient shape optimization of free formed surfaces, directly on the finite element mesh and for a large number of variables. Typical applications are, for example, membrane design, free form architecture and structural engineering, and metal sheet design.

An Investigation of the Emerging Knowledge in Digital Design from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

Over the past few decades, the CAD/CAM/CAE paradigm, which initially emerged outside the realm of the building industry, has introduced new concepts and techniques for the generation and realization of complex building forms and components. This paper reviews and assesses the emerging knowledge elements in design with a special focus on digital free-form architecture. While doing so, we exclude a mere syntactical analysis which describes only the formal properties of this new complexity. Rather, we propose to evaluate how complexity and variety is generated, represented and fabricated. Therefore, the paper seeks to identify the emerging design knowledge in relation to its link with technology, and the changing norms of design with regard to the inclusion of technology in both mental and material creation processes. A contextual framework is developed to structure and organize the knowledge elicitation and analysis. Within this framework, the paper identifies and evaluates the emerging elements of knowledge with reference to different organizational contexts. Additionally, the emerging knowledge is identified not only within the isolated working domain of the architect but according to the extent to which each stakeholder (e.g. structural engineer, manufacturer, etc.) contributes to the evolution of the design and the collective creation of knowledge.