Although we belonged to different expert groups, through our involvement with the theory of advanced architecture, we developed a high interest in non-conventional architectural boundaries and the kind of changes they could induce in architecture in matters of privacy, social interaction or even interaction of the building with the user. First, in Relational Logics The Shape of Energy of Sean Lally was our first motive towards an architectural space that is defined by forms of energy of the environment that are allowed to penetrate the building in order to be used by the architect as materials for the design of the space. Then, in Digital Logics case studies such as the Blur Building or the Rolex Learning Center introduced a whole new way of perceiving the notion of architectural boundary. In the first case, a constantly dynamic boundary and in the second the total absence of visual or acoustic boundaries that separate the indoor space of the building, challenged us to contemplate in exploring the relation between different dynamic boundaries and the architectural form generated.

One of our thoughts was flexible and ephemeral boundaries as a contradiction to the static conventional architectural ones. One application of them is the inflated structures. They use only a thin flexible membrane were only tensile loads occur and all the rest of the loading is held by a medium like air or water, a totally natural, sustainable and recyclable material. The Tea House designed by Kengo Kuma for the Frankfurt’s Museum of Applied Arts is a very interesting case study in this aspect. Also, the Media TIC of Enric Ruiz Geli could be an example of using a very simple material such as air to improve the sustainability of a structure in a larger scale.

Then we considered interactive and ephemeral boundaries which have the ability to exchange energy in various forms with their environment as well as adapt to its variations. These kind of boundaries are usually still found in installations such as the Blur Building or the Sky Ear of Usman Haque. But still they can define a very powerful boundary and an experience of the user modifying it in various ways.

This interaction between the boundary and its environment or the user intrigued as the most, so that we investigated the writings of Kas Oosterhuis. In ‘Wild Bodies’ he asserts that all true architecture inevitably will be programmed to perform in real time. Furthermore, buildings are seen as input-output devices, so that they find themselves in a state of continuous processing and adapting, a concept that was also stated in the philosophy of Deleuze for the form-finding of matter.

In order to investigate the above concepts in reality, we tried to apply some of them in an installation we made. For that reason, we used balloons, as a very light element that is filled with air, but if used in certain ways it can even produce a different kind of space and determine the movement of its users. The high flexibility of the material does not make it less important as a visual boundary while it can be still deformed easily at any time. If the ceiling of a room is covered by balloons at different heights, this kind of flexible roof can define the uses that take place under it.

Also, we tried to take advantage of a type of energy that penetrates our buildings every day and gets wasted and transform it into a useful one. For that reason we used a luminescent tape that captures the light and is being charged during the day and then releases that energy as light in the dark. This way a form of energy that is entering the space is getting exploited and affects the whole system in a dynamic way. At the same time this light is completely ephemeral.

Case study:    Watercube_Beijing National Aquatics Center_ PTW Architects, CSCEC, CCDI,  Arup

Reading:   On Growth and form_ D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson

Nature and the notion of organic have always been of much interest from architects designers and urban planners. Extensive theoretical studies, as well as architectural applications, have attempted to simulate nature, by extracting forms, geometries and principles found in living organisms.

The Beijing National Aquatics Center designed by  PTW Architects, CSCEC, CCDI, and Arup is one of the most recent examples of applying natural systems in architectural design processes. In this building, vastly known as the Watercube, the strict geometry found in water bubbles was used as an inspiration for the exterior of the building, forming an iridescent cellular façade that diffuses natural light. The continuous skin, made by the ETFE material, was created as a steel structure housed in a cavity, filled by platonic solid units, that seem to be completely random, but in reality are different units that are repeated to the whole exterior of the building. The algorithmic relations that form the façade and roof of the Watercube, as well as the multiplicity of their units have been subject to great debate about the application of parametricism  in architectural and urban design context.

The former principles of natural forms were long before theoretically analyzed from  D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson in his book On Growth and form, almost a century ago. In his book, and particularly in the chapter On the Theory of Transformation, Or the Comparison of Related Forms, D’Arcy sets the basis of parametric design, at a conceptual level, through analyzing and comparing natural forms using mathematical justifications. The author explored the interrelations of growth, form and physical forces found in different relative species and the topological similarity of family variations, through grid and co-axial transformations and stretching of the natural geometries and structures of living organisms (leaves, fishes, animals, etc.). Though this study was carried out in a two dimensional level, it is implied that it can be extended into a three dimensional one, extrapolating important relations and principles between relative species, through breaking down the geometries at fractal basis. The notion of topology as a concept, that is evident in D’Arcy;s study, establishes a contemporary parametric design approach in a conceptual level.

As a future research, I would be highly interested in researching and comparing the new digital logics that are found in the recent parametric architectural examples, as well as exploring the relations that form them in a three dimensional level.

Image source: http://www.l-a-v-a.net/projects/beijing-watercube/

Case Study : STUDIOHOUSE-F451

Text: The Conditioned Outdoor Room-BERNARD RUDOFSKY

The contemporary world, perpetually urbanizing and transforming as it is, calls for a holistic approach to the pertinent issue of the relationship between the natural and the built environment by architects and urban planners. No one can deny that the recent trends and developments in technology have resulted in complex relational logics that connect nature with the urban context.

Studio house by F451arquitectura aims to explore the connections between architecture and landscape, particularly by merging the site’s landscape with architectural design, forming positional, metaphorical and environmental relations between them. The landscape is integrated with the house, as it’s different volumes unfold from the sloped topography in different ways; alignment with the terrain in the middle, emerging from it in the volume of the studio and detaching from it in the side of the house. Nevertheless, this integration appears to be investigated in the design only in a spatial/visual manner rather than a functional one (e.g. absence of patio). With reference to the metaphorical relational logic, Studio house develops a hybrid design that is based on the combination of the modern house typology and the industrial house typology, which is accomplished by spatially distributing the different functions that it accommodates (house, studio, guest house, garage e.tc.) in autonomous, but interrelated volumes. In addition to this, the design implements energy efficiency solutions, through  a green roofed corridor, which provides the structure with  thermal insulation to the structure, as well as with double orientation, lighting and ventilation to  all featured spaces­.

The relational logics formed between the natural and artificial environment are also evident in The Conditioned Outdoor Room by Bernard Rudofsky. In this text the author underlines the dangerous trend of disconnecting the living environment from nature. People have always attempted to conquer natural phenomena, by creating a climate controlled inner environment that is almost unattached to the natural environment. Using various examples of the architectural elements of the garden  and in analogy to the Pompeii ruins, the author indicates the urgent need to shift the architectural and climatic focus on the outdoor environment. Thus, the courtyard archetype calls for a revision in the contemporary urban environment.

As a future research, I would be highly interested in researching the new relational logics that are established through advanced architecture, as well as exploring these in a broader scale, focusing on the notion of glocal, a new term that refers to the integration of the global and local environmental aspects in architecture.