Clip Analysis Diagram: Attempt 1

We have here a velocity graph, an onscreen time representation, a camera position representation, a track position diagram, and a nos indicator icon...see if you can figure out which is which...enjoy.

Video Clip for Project 2: From the Motion Picture, "Fast and the Furious"

Remember, these clips were attained for and will only be

used for educational purposes :)

Surface Consciousness: Between Surface and Substance

You know, this is a fairly big issue and one that seems to keep coming up in architecture school. This particular subject, I believe, branches out from the typical ‘computers-in-school-are-bad” debate, and really forces those of us who are interested in digital media to step back and ask ourselves some questions. Do these ‘things’ that we are making really have any value? Are we approaching a design process critically and not just making sexy looking architecture? Is the space we are creating actually worth inhabiting? We can now make just about anything we can model on the computer because of advances in technology. Digital fabrication processes have given us the ability to be super precise, while extremely creative. Yet some could argue that it’s just not worth it.

This article brings up some good issues regarding the topic of craft. Craft in general I would say is how well you can make something. So in the case of the typical physical model example, this requires measuring precisely, cutting (usually slowly), and attaching things together without smudging the rest of your model. Now, we don’t have to worry about smudging in the computer realm…photoshop aside…but putting your digital pieces of architecture together carefully, and in the right spot, is very important. However, you can achieve this type of craft, by pushing and pulling pieces around until they are in the right spot. This will not disturb the rest of your model and you can iteratively repeat this process until you have something that people really want to look at! The digital craft I feel relies in multiple attempts at something, otherwise, you are just using it to make pretty pictures of something that is already designed. What’s the fun in that…cadd monkey on steroids?

The idea of using parametric processes in group design is also intriguing. It is nice to have a bunch of smart people who can set this sort of stuff up and then have the creative designers go nuts and manipulate force vectors, isoparms, and the like to then, produce something worth looking at (ideally, later to inhabit spatially). These types of design studios in school are obviously valuable in the conceptual design processes in an educational setting. But can they still work in the real world? Firms like Grimshaw and Associates in NYC have done what has been previously described…but it so happens that the smart people who can set these things up parametrically, can also find that great image and design out of these mathematical constructs. The reading room described was a very small, but I’m sure intriguing, studio project, but things like Waterloo Terminal in London has a structure that was based on this type of parametric design and implementation.

Don’t even get me started on this Aegis Hyposurface construct. I think this is great and could only come from a result of great minds collaborating digitally all across the world (go figure J). Any type of seemingly smooth surface that comes alive in a few seconds is great. The math and man hours required to make such a project come to life is probably astonishing. However, this reminded me of another type of material I have seen a presentation on that is equally fascinating, super cilia, I know what you’re thinking, just watch…(http://web.media.mit.edu/~hayes/mas834/scs1.html) This material is programmed to record the patterns of touch one makes as you would run your hand across it, then it repeats the motion back at you in real time that simulates the motion as if your hand was touching it at that time. Very interesting stuff.

So, what do I get out of this article? The art of surface is one that should be approached with a level of craft so as to create meaningful, even if only gestural, designs with a process that has integrity and a solid foundation. And, yes, iteration is key, as with any design process.

Final Video For Project 1

Project 1 Final Image

Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge

Translation vs. Transcription

This was an interesting section starting to describe the, again, raging debate arising within the architectural profession concerning means of representation. We, as architects, have tended to produce orthographic drawings, detail drawings, and any other type of drawing to specifically describe how a building should be built (even though it is impossible for contractors to build these buildings exactly as described), so we can assume no liability if problems arise. The architectural ‘idea’ within these drawings is somehow supposed to translate perfectly clear because of the accurateness of these drawings. Why do we take it upon ourselves to separate from the world of diagrammatic design, and delve into a type of representation that can take away the original gestalt and intent of our design? Our current means of architectural translation needs to be a completely clear, black and white representation of the buildings we are aiming to construct. Why can’t we just make sure our diagrams and ideas are so clear, that someone who specializes in building can just figure it out? This might just provide the final excuse for changing the norm of architectural representation. I like the last line of this section and I feel that it sums up the meaning of this passage…‘our ultimate aim is to explore the possibilities of building architecture as a poetic translation, not a prosaic transcription of its representation.

Architectural Meaning and the Tools of the Architect

Since the beginning of time there were not as many architectural drawings presented for the design of buildings as we know them today. Gothic cathedrals were amassed by laying out a footprint, but then it was up to the craftsman, in collaboration with the architect to get the elevations to rise out of the ground. The idea was always in place, but it took even more correspondence between trades to get a building complete. Nowadays no one wants to take responsibility incase something might go wrong. Architects have to draw every detail so precise so it will be the builders fault if they don’t build it as drawn. The builders want to build it just like the architect told them to so if something does go wrong, it is not there fault. This type of world is becoming a big bummer. The skilled labor that existed millennia ago has been lost, and the world seeks to build things as cheaply and as quickly as possible. It is hard to have a great architectural idea and see it to completion if everything keeps getting value engineered out of the project!

Theories of Vision and the Reciprocity between Seeing and Being Seen

The early studies on the properties of light brought about some interesting conclusions. Who really knows if these wavelengths of visible light in the electromagnetic spectrum are actually what we know now them to be? Either way, the mystical and magical transparent properties of light can affect us in ways that nothing else can still today. Whether pouring through upper clerestory windows of a gothic cathedral, or simply refracting through a prism and cascading a surface with a rainbow of color, light can and will continue to be a catalyst to many things, but especially an interesting design parameter that will continually be considered.

From Natural Perspective to Artificial Construction

Isn’t it interesting that Renaissance constructed perspectives in art were the subject of criticism because art was supposed to show the ‘truth’ of the world, not simply a manifested representation of what ‘should’ be. Another fascinating phenomenon that occurred in architecture around the early first century BC was the introduction of optical correction. Facades were slightly canted outwards, columns were tilted, entasis was employed in the steps of the Parthenon later still. This was established so we could perceive architecture in, the way it is meant to be perceived, its purest and proportionally accurate embodiment. This still fascinates me that people could come up with these so building lines and edges would appear to be parallel even when approached on an oblique, etc. The early use of mirrors in art to then draw on top of, as a way of understanding this perspective construction in a two dimensional environment was a very creative method for learning about this aspect of optics. The further advent of using perspective drawings to further explain architectural intentions was a great step in the field. However, the different methods for producing perspectives still were being developed and tested. These lead to differing practices for producing ideas about architectural space and the intentions of the designer were clearly individualized by using these different techniques for representation.

Conclusions

This reading brings up interesting points for consideration with regards to representation in architectural design process. We should go back to our ancestors and use things like a conceptual mirror to diagram and understand existing space, to then recreate and further design new space. This mirror could become a very interesting conceptual idea to further translate into the newer means of conceptual architectural representation such as 3d modeling and digital animation. Quite possibly for the next project, we could use these views that we are given through unique uses of camera angles to then reverse project from the focal or vanishing point of the view, to recreate the space and further explore from there. We shall see how the rest of the semester unfolds, or is discovered. Either way, it would be interesting if in the field of architecture, we could rely on collaboration with a series of new, elite, craftsman to simply build and carry out our ideas, which we could further define and design if we didn’t have to spend so much time on construction documents.

Forms of Expression: The Proto-Functional Potential of Diagrams in Arctitectural Design _Greg Lynn

Most important points and reflections…

Diagrams as not just a drawing or vision of an initial idea or driving concept, but as a conceptual technique that should come before any particular technology.

Digital potential of virtual diagrams has brought to life new methods for getting ideas across in a potentially more powerful and complete fashion.

Newly emerging design process that is a more open correspondence between concepts and form.

Fact that sometimes this dimensionless environment is hard to understand from many viewers. The ‘vague essences’ created by work of this type will fall into the category of the anexact and for most architects and designers, hard to interpret from a lack of Cartesian orthogonality, however this process can still maintain the rigor used in the stereotypical design process.

However, this guy Van Berkel uses diagrams and systematic constraints to derive his forms and designs, and can therefore be unlinked with a simple sense of expressionism. His work involving the systematization of abstraction is very intriguing. This philosophy gives a means to his work which is many times lacking form less educated designers trying to embody these principles.

Systematic diagramming helps Van Berkel’s work incorporate urban influences from a surrounding context in his designs. The way he diagrams can take cues from outside forces (much like a meta-ball) and influence his designs. However, this method is highly regularized, yet unique. He finds urban infrastructure and incorporates these through various levels of information to develop conceptual diagramming for his designs. This is an interesting approach and I feel gives his ideas an atypical foundation for beginning. This approach will assuredly lead to interesting designs.

Diagram as an ‘abstract machine’ is a very fitting term for this process of design.

His method of bringing life into functionalism and formalism by using abstraction in a generative rather than reductive manner, as Lynn states, is truly remarkable. If we all could diagram with this much intensity and rigor, who knows what exciting architecture we might create. Although this is still only one way to approach a process, it is a new enlightening method which could be further enhanced by the plethora of digital media and simply the amount of information that is available.

Who knew that a seemingly simple process of diagramming could be held in a new light and expounded upon to such great detail as one such as Van Berkel has demonstrated?

Blob Tectonics, or why Tectonics is square and topology is groovy… Greg Lynn

Most important points and reflections:

Blobs have had a hard way merging with the tectonic nature of architectural expression, because of there innate nature of being ‘simultaneously alien and detached, however capable of melding with their contexts.’

The organization and conception of blobs has always fascinated me, and Lynn expresses in detail the different ways to begin to think about blob formation.

Ideal of blobs being so contextually intensive and dependant on external conditions for their internal organization.

Hollywood movie advent of blobs and their properties…they stick to things that are then slowly incorporated through their surface, they depend on contextual restraints or containment for their form, ability to absorb objects as if they were liquefied.

A blob is neither a single thing or a multiple of things, but is networked and can become multiplied and distributed…

Then this idea of Meta-balls or blob models and isomorphic polysurfaces arises. Their basic ideas include:
-objects defined in relation to other objects…
-field forces define and alter surfaces which are the controlling factors of these meta-balls

Preconceived notion since the beginning of time that buildings should stand ‘upright’ like the humans that inhabit them, and this has been a hard vision and idea to overcome in architectural design. This is a very interesting idea that I can imagine inadvertently directs our thinking and design methodology, which is fairly obvious by the ‘normal’ architecture being produced around the world. ‘Normal’ as in perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

Opposing analogy of the body more akin to a single cell blob than a symmetrically articulated upright man. This of course leads to a sort of methodology with which to begin to think about blobs.

Currently in architecture blobs have tended to be built strictly as alterations on roof surfaces. Lynn asks us to look to other way to incorporate these ideas elsewhere.

We can start looking at architecture requiring long spans that can lead to instinctively tectonic expressions of roof structure. This usually leads to expression or at least a way of thinking that tends to correlate structure with design. This can be applied to designs for blobs as well, but Lynn suggests has not been approached with much success as of yet.

Another way to look at blobs has been to install slight variation in systematic structural systems that eventually lead to undulating forms. This step towards blobular architecture has been undertaken many times and has been explored very successfully, especially with the use of ‘frames’ in architectural design. We can easily manipulate these frames, whether parametrically or just methodically, to organize obscure sites or create unique and flowing designs that imply movement or otherwise dramatic architecture. I still think of Grimshaw’s Waterloo terminal in London.

Same as below without global illumination...

Here is the new, slightly scarier...darker...version

Architecture Representation and the Perspective Hinge

Translation vs. Transcription

Architectural profession still hesitant to apply transparency and different means for representation even though artists etc have been using collage, etc. for years…

Drawings as reflection of precision for need for unambiguous representation of ideas…

Attempt to probe the possibilities of building architecture as a poetic translation, not a prosaic transcription, of its representations.

Architectural Meaning and the Tools of the Architect

Fascinating fact that many things like gothic cathedrals were built without many architectural drawings…

Act of construction to now simply representing through drawing (architecture)

Theories of Vision and the Reciprocity between Seeing and Being Seen

This first statement reminded me of the sidewalk chalk guy…

http://gprime.net/images/sidewalkchalkguy/

Impact of light in humans perceiving things and its geometrical properties…
And its transparent nature

From Architectural Perspective to Artificial Construction

God centered perspective leads to things like centralized churches, where views are all roughly the same…technically centered perspectives lead to nicely constructed architectural views of buildings that are not centered.

Renaissance formation of this type of drawing revolutionary

Again mathematics based

I really like the visual image and idea of light being emitted from the eyes and thereby creating the views we see

Optical correction amazing idea for building construction for buildings to appear vertical when in fact they are off to shift our perceived notion of them. Things like the entasis in the steps of the Parthenon, etc…this shows how a constructed view of things are extremely important in architectural representation.

Interesting notion that original perspectives were created with help of things like receding lines in floor patterns and regular, architectural linearity, this probably led to a preconceived notion to how ‘correct’ perspective drawings should look and has probably shaped the pedagogy architecture because of it…

All of this section keeps bringing to my mind the importance of framing views and constructing well crafted images to get your ideas across or to capture a special vantage point for any type of experience. Hence the project for this week of crafting and framing views in our first animation. This section was very interesting.

Drawing Building Text (Andrea Kahn, Editor: Princeton Architectural Press. Originally by Catherine Ingraham) A response…Lines and Linearity

_architecture depends on the orthogonality of lines, but even the orthogonality of intention, creativity, and intuition…

This is a very interesting statement which I would like to here some other opinions on. I feel that we are not bound by linearity in our creative thought process but more it is how we are trained to think from a young age, and how we are further trained in architecture schooling. It everything lines up, it will look better! Again, thinking out of this linearly composed ‘box’ is not normal and requires lots of training and rigorous study in alternative methods of thinking.

_pure geometrical ideality is “released from all sensible or imaginative intuitiveness.” Imagination is responsible for the “pure morphological type” and it “can transform sensible shapes only into other sensible shapes.”

I feel that this way of thinking is very much instilled in the minds of architects, and for that matter, everyone in our human society because of things like maps, gps, and our ability to schedule out every minute of every day. We attach to this idea of geometrical ideality and when combined with Cartesian intellectualism, we gravitate to know where, and when we are at any given time.

_pure geometry as an intellectual act…Once pure geometry becomes possible it is accessible only to the understanding of Cartesian intellectualism…

Refer to above statement…


_how can our understanding of the line and the idea of a line shift, if we are constantly bound by its nature of linearity…we cannot understand it because as soon as we try to veer off the path of the line, we return back to its natural linearity.

This was one of those confusing sections that took a while to grasp and still poses one of those great rhetorical statements that brings about endless thoughts and conversation and will eventually lead no where. Still though, it is very compelling.

_“...cicatrize (la) has multiple associations with the imposing of human pattern upon the disorder of nature: chunks of wood, the human face, and the forest are all ‘opened’ like the human eye, allowing the inner quality of the substance to shine forth.”

This was a great quote and provided a great visual to associate with this section of the reading. How would our society be different if we expressed our linearity by carving into our faces to express our methods of linearity.

_child using architectural prop to be suspended in space to see themselves in a mirror…

This is an interesting idea and one that could be used to tectonically explain structural expressiveness in architecture…we always feel the need to see the supporting elements, or at least have some idea of how something is held up…this may be why we feel uneasy with some modern examples when things like brick are hovering over glass, etc.

Architecture + Animation (Architectural Design)...A response

_questioning of a new fetishisation of surface imagery over substance in architectural design.

Valid

_architectural space is not focused upon because of the burden of the software in creating animation images, etc… time could be more spent creating and furthering the design of the space

Valid


_not sure I agree with hiring of photographer statement, vs. helicopter ride, etc…When one hires a person to photograph a building, the person does not necessarily hire a helicopter and fly around it…people are used to the one or two point perspective of perceiving buildings and other architectural imagery

I think both are now important, as 3d interpretation is becoming a requirement for new designs in the industry. We need the basic 2d/photograph type information to get the general idea, but the new 3d analysis and presentation can drastically help to inform a viewer about the ‘whole’ design. This may require more front end work, but will save time later in explaining corner conditions, etc…

_one point perspective allows for the viewer to imagine and discover implied space, etc…chaos comes from the actual helicopter view

Sometimes Valid

_“…one is irritated…by coagulating blobs, wispy cyberplasm and trains of text...traveling past…”

I am sometimes

_use of techno music questioned

This is interesting because one can see the point of a technological based soundtrack for technologically based medium, but I wonder why more classical music has not been implemented in architectural animation…

_belief or misconception that before a design goes into the computer it has to already be exact and precise, unlike hand drawings, which can convey to viewers an implied space that may not totally be worked out

Invalid…With courses that we have taken like 470 and 670, we know that this is not the case and the computer can…gasp…be used as an effective design tool

_animation to dilute the difference between one architect and another, personal touch is a critical marketing tool

Invalid…as we have seen, animation styles also vary by animator and the best ones create there own method of animation and experimentation for the use of their respective digital media…

Folds in Space

For your viewing pleasure. Sit back, relax, and enjoy...

First Try at Form Z animation

Nothing spectacular, but gotta start somewhere...

Horizontal Analysis Continued...

Last ones for tonight, I promise...

Horizontal Analysis Continued...

Let's just say, I like where this is going...

Horizontal Anaylsis Continued...

Here are those lines lofted together and superimposed. This diagram, I feel, represents well the rotation as well as linear progression of this type of motion.

Horizontal Analysis

Now I'm tring to anaylize this jumping motion in another method. Here is my horizontal line-frame analysis with the blue line representing my left side and the red, my right.

Buildings I referenced at the end of the last post...

Waterloo Terminal, London, Grimshaw Architects...
http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/27749/waterloo_station.jpg


Arcam Building, Netherlands, Renee Zuuk
http://www.renevanzuuk.nl/

Blok 16, Netherlands, Renee Zuuk
http://www.renevanzuuk.nl/

Skin and Bones…hey, I’m not that skinny…

This house of folds that describes one form of Vidler’s ‘Warped Space’ is a very interesting concept. From a similarly abstract concept in that a ‘fold’ in itself is a free form capable of forming space or wall or roof or all three. However, in actuality a fold can be a very specific entity containing mathematical principles and be ‘embodied in objects and spaces, and can divide and join at the same time.’ However the physical ability of a fold to create shapes and form space is truly a unique idea embedded in the heart of the modernist movement. I marvel at the discussion of folds occupying space and time. Can this be another method of architecture that can be used to imply movement? However, when a fold can create space and occupy space in time, we have a truly remarkable architecture.

The ‘Baroque House’ allegory is an interesting example of how one can relate the body and the mind. This figural representation of how physical interactions are transferred through ones senses to the mind or soul can be described thorough his description. Yet, in his house he shows a physical manifestation of the paths the senses take to the brain as being folded, almost curtain-like, pieces of cloth that are abstractly connected through the top of the first floor of the house, or the physical interactions of the body. This relates to the Baroque movement, in which scrolls and other curvy and folding decoration reign. This architecture of endless folds creates something interesting to base the new ‘fold’ upon and will lead to more discussion throughout this narration.

When actions from past and present interact in this room of folds, or paths of sensory impulses from interactions, there creates a sense of oscillation or vibration that occurs from the innate interaction of the folds that remain in the room. These outside forces acting on new impulses or hanging folds, relates back to animate form in that we can take into account vector forces and a constantly shifting contextual environment into our architecture. Later still, the reactions of the folds in the room from the new oscillations then creates new folds and new paths for interaction and oscillation. I can see where this cycle gets at the same time, highly interesting and exciting, while becoming far more complicated. The brain is complex in this fashion and should not are architecture be as well?

This Leibnizian fold which is in constant movement enveloping former folds, and creating new ones on the surface seems fascinating to me. If only architecture could capture this sense of movement and excitement. I think there are some examples that do…But then we could go back to the argument of architecture actually moving, which this fold seems to be doing in my mind, and the values of that, versus static architecture that implies movement and the value of that…Again, there are great examples of both. I for one LOVE Calatrava’s Milwaukee Art Museum, sadly enough I could not attend Forum this New Years. But anyway this idea of this type of fold is one of those ever shifting complicated symbolic conceptual ideas that can either take one to someplace great, or nowhere fast.

As for animistic architecture, I think mixing those forms originating in nature and combining them with mathematical concepts is a great idea. It just has to be done correctly, or not at all. The Ville Surrealiste sounds very interesting and coincidentally a mixing of these two aforementioned ideals. I wish I could find an image of such a thing as google is currently failing. And what more can one say about Lynn, as his work is surely contemporary and the most complete of its kind, as even Vidler notes. However, like most works of extraordinary minds, he points out that Lynn’s work is more often than not, misinterpreted and is actually highly formalized while appearing informal, something Lynn may have intended and again brings up the point of architects who fail when attempting emulation. ...reduplicative perspectivity – an interesting phrase to say the least…

This concept of the fold being both inside and out, creating space yet occupying space, etc. is great. I really can’t get enough of this idea and find it very fascinating, in case you couldn’t tell by reading this entire response/thesis summary of this reading…how many people actually read these in their entirety anyway? If you read this, please comment just to say you did, that would make me happier than when I’m thinking about these folds.

In summary, the entire time I was reading this article I kept thinking about a few cool buildings that I want to post. I feel that these buildings can relate to the idea of folds on the one hand, and implying movement on the other. This reading was another one that I think I got the gist of, but would probably benefit from a second reading at another time.

All Black Version of Previous Montage

X Axis View

Y Axis View

Um....yeaaaah

So...I've been messing around with AutoCad rendering, I haven't used this in a while...but I said, what the heck, so here's some lofted forms straight out of the program no one ever thinks to use to render...I mean, I usually don't...

Individual Separation Breakdown By Frames

Just for fun and because it was completed...

Frame and Spline Breakdown

I am now working with these spline lines generated from these side by side frame diagrams. I took a line connecting the Head, Hips, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Elbow, Right Elbow, Left Knee, Right Knee, Left Foot, and Right Foot. We shall see what fun stuff I can make with these lines...

First Videos...

This is a front and side view of me doing a double loop, double loop combination...

Animate Form = More understanding :)

The Animate Form reading is something I can understand and enjoy. The progression of mathematics has always fascinated me and the progression of computers and technology to adopt such mathematics is even more exciting. The idea of animation as, not simply motion but, the evolution of a form and it's shaping forces, is a very interesing idea, and one that I think many find hard to comprehend. I myself had to comprehend this definition for a second. However, with a farily comprehensive knowledge of computer applications and how they function, it makes sense for these forces to be the driving factor behind changes in a line or form. The mathematical basis has come a long way in computer software and the introduction of vector forces has provided a new way to look at complex geometry. I also would like to point out an interesting thought that kept creeping into my mind as I contiued on in this reading...I think that because of architecture's root in 'normal' mathematics, such as geometry and trigonometry, the early methods of design and documentation were limited to the knowledge of those areas of the subject. However, as more calculus and more complex mathematics are undertaken by studetns, and by the software, a different approach can and is being taken for design and production using these newer means. As well, the complex forms being generated by computers nowadays has been ridiculed by 'older' patrons of the profession who have been used to a 'simpler' set of rules and regulations with regards to design. This may be the basis for the arguments that computer and digital drawings are the devil! The issues Lynn brings concerning architecture derived from stasis also is an interesting and in my opinion extremely true point about the origins of architecture. That being how everything was designed in 2d or with one perfect picture of a street perspective...now because we can design in 3d and even use things like parametric modeling all while adding forces to conceptual fields to influence our forms, architecture can extend into a different, not necessarily a better, but different direction that is certainly worth exploring.

Issues of loading with reference to past architectural practices also brings up a valid point. We have always designed with structure to hold the building up, but not to keep it from falling over. After working along side structural engineers for a number of years, I now know the importance of a shear wall, and all of the fun things you can do to circumvent the issues that arise from lateral forces. Designs can take on interesting shapes when these types of forces are taken into account. However, as Lynn suggests, time and motion should also be forces of consideration in design. This avenue of architecture is one that can only occur with computer aided design. And it is this type of architecture that will be causing generational head butts for years to come. However, it is simply fascinating that you can plug in things like differential equations into a computer and have them influence a design form. And it just clicked to me that these are things we're going to be doing in this course...and that is definitely the exciting stuff. But can we really "release control of our design process to software?" I'm sure only some people will delve into this as I still feel that I am a proponent for drawing, computing, sketching, computing, repeat...yet I do feel that parametric modelling and designing with the forces of time and motion can be quite an exciting proposition.

Splines are another fascinating topic. The fact that we can recreate complex geometry by applying pushes and pulls on a system is nifty. Then when entire surfaces, which are combinations and resultant meshes created from these boundary splines, are created we have a truly remarkable conglomeration of computer software capabilites and complex mathematics. This surface can then be animated by simply changing the forces at individual points along a single spline, or even at the surface itself...The idea of having boundary conditions which can also be animate, which then react to and interact with the surface or otherwise already animate system is extraordinary. These complex thoughts are fun to delve into and are at the forefront of interactive design and animate architecture. I'm not sure I agree with Jenny, who Lynn quotes to have said "nature reveals an abundance of sculptured forms, and all of them, it must be remembered, are the result of vibration," but nonetheless this helps to push for a more animate design process if what we are doing is trying to perfect our design decisions. In the words of Karl DuPuy, "all the good sites are already taken, and everything has already been designed"...so what are you waiting for?

Greg Lynn_Folds, Bodies, & Blobs...

Sooo, I feel that I am definitely not ready to comprehend the entirety of this reading. I feel that he is simply stating, in an unnessarily verbose fashion, that matter exhibits properties that are worthy of recognition. This section is a sort of intro to the type of architecture I know, from past knowledge, that he is going to get involved in. Lynn elaborates on the vicissitudes of gelatinous matter, along with other interactions that are all in nature and can be observed with a menial amount of scientific knowledge. To be honest, I really don't see why he can't explain these ideas with a more vernacular vocabulary, but most of this reading is comprehendible on the second pass. Still, Lynn's thesis primarily introduces natural processes and properties of matter that will further serve to inform the type of semi-architectural, organic, digital modelling that will ensue. I also know that this was not the way to respond to this first assignment, nonetheless, I will now try to tackle the Animate Form reading...

My blog intro...

This is me posting the first blogged message