Twenty one students, two professors and I went to chicago.

The scale of the city immediately makes me realize how Boston is truly a European city. It shows what a blank slate, waterfront, and endless space can materialize into. A little bit of planning and a strong architectural fetish yield a spectacular city.

I appreciate the space that is the new park, walking through and finding all of the interventions was refreshing. Even Gehry's bombastic pavilion finds its place within the park. The Cloud Gate must be experienced in person. The immateriality of the piece is stunning, it acts as a form for your view of the city, park, and waterfront to blend and change.

We were allowed in SOM at the last minute. Amazingly clean for such a busy firm; I think they put on a nice face. I would love to see the dirty room where everyone yells at each other and skyscrapers are created to be built in far away lands.









Next post will be a recap of our inter-school competition for a funerary chapel and memorial garden.

I thought it'd be fun to give everybody a tour of TCAUP's studio environment, so I did it at the most appropriate time: 4:30am. Now, our school isn't normally a ghost town as these image might depict, but it was during the last weekend of spring break... so I'm kind of a nerd for being there.

this is one of two lounges for sleeping




laser cutting








some work of the first year undergraduate students (juniors):





(it's always christmas at michigan!)





and here is some work from my classmates (seniors):






We also share a floor with the grad students, but I'll leave some phototaking for another night.

The Cornstarch Monsters
fall down like cymbal crashes
two blo-wn speakers

Our task for theory this week was to create a visual polemic based on an assigned critical text. Earlier in the semester we worked in groups to analyze and present the text, but now we're on our own to develop a list of terms and a visual means of defining them.

My text, Nic Clear's AD issue Architectures of the Near Future, relies heavily on examples from science fiction to comment on conceptions of potential futures for the discipline. I chose rather common terms purposefully to able to draw from a wide variety of other texts.

It's a collage that unfolds to reveal more terms, definitions, and external references.






And a few others...

Katie Cressall's work on Flesh


Sarah Petri's work on Greg Lynn's Form

I had one person who was interested in my automatic trussing script from the previous post, so I'll post it below.

It's for Rhino, so the language is pretty much VisualBasic. Please not that, in my experience, copying and pasting code from blogs often results in syntax errors, particularly with punctuation characters (e.g. quotation marks get all messed up). This script definitely works, so if it doesn't work, it'll be simple character fixes rather than real code flaws.

Option Explicit
'Base triangulation script written by www.supermanoeuvre.com
'Edited for 2 surfaces, cross-trussing and changeable U & V values by Peter Jenkins

Call srfPanelsTriangles()

Sub srfPanelsTriangles()

'------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' USER INPUT
Dim strSrf1 : strSrf1 = Rhino.GetObject("First surface object please", 8)
If IsNull(strSrf1) Then Exit Sub

Dim strSrf2 : strSrf2 = Rhino.GetObject("Second one please", 8)
If IsNull(strSrf2) Then Exit Sub

Dim numUSpans : numUSpans = Rhino.GetInteger("How many surface spans in U direction", 15, 6, 50)
If IsNull(numUSpans) Then Exit Sub

Dim numVSpans : numVSpans = Rhino.GetInteger("And in V direction", 15, 6, 50)
If IsNull(numVSpans) Then Exit Sub

'------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' SCRIPT BODY
Rhino.print "Yeeeeeeeah Boi!!!"
Rhino.enableRedraw False

'-------------------------------------------------------
' Get U vals
Dim arrSrfDomU1 : arrSrfDomU1 = Rhino.SurfaceDomain(strSrf1,0)
Dim uMin1 : uMin1 = arrSrfDomU1(0)
Dim uMax1 : uMax1 = arrSrfDomU1(1)
Dim uStep1 : uStep1 = (uMax1-uMin1) / numUSpans

Dim arrSrfDomU2 : arrSrfDomU2 = Rhino.SurfaceDomain(strSrf2,0)
Dim uMin2 : uMin2 = arrSrfDomU2(0)
Dim uMax2 : uMax2 = arrSrfDomU2(1)
Dim uStep2 : uStep2 = (uMax2-uMin2) / numUSpans

'-------------------------------------------------------
' Get V vals
Dim arrSrfDomV1 : arrSrfDomV1 = Rhino.SurfaceDomain(strSrf1,1)
Dim vMin1 : vMin1 = arrSrfDomV1(0)
Dim vMax1 : vMax1 = arrSrfDomV1(1)
Dim vStep1 : vStep1 = (vMax1-vMin1) / numVSpans

Dim arrSrfDomV2 : arrSrfDomV2 = Rhino.SurfaceDomain(strSrf2,1)
Dim vMin2 : vMin2 = arrSrfDomV2(0)
Dim vMax2 : vMax2 = arrSrfDomV2(1)
Dim vStep2 : vStep2 = (vMax2-vMin2) / numVSpans

'-------------------------------------------------------
' Create nodes
Dim i,j,l
Dim k : k = uMin2
Dim arr1EvalPt01, arr1EvalPt02, arr1EvalPt03, arr1EvalPt04, arr1EvalPt05, arr1EvalPt06, arrCnrPts
Dim arr2EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt02, arr2EvalPt03, arr2EvalPt04, arr2EvalPt05, arr2EvalPt06

For i = uMin1 To uMax1 Step uStep1

l = vMin2

For j = vMin1 To vMax1 Step vStep1

' Triangulating first points on surfaces
arr1EvalPt01 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf1, Array(i,j) )
arr1EvalPt02 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf1, Array(i,j+vStep1) )
arr1EvalPt03 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf1, Array(i+uStep1,j) )

arr2EvalPt01 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf2, Array(k,l) )
arr2EvalPt02 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf2, Array(k,l+vStep2) )
arr2EvalPt03 = Rhino.EvaluateSurface( strSrf2, Array(k+uStep2,l) )

' create surface triangles
' first surface
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt01, arr1EvalPt02)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt01, arr1EvalPt03)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt03, arr1EvalPt02)

' second surface
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr2EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt02)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr2EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt03)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr2EvalPt03, arr2EvalPt02)

' create trusses between surfaces
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt01)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt02)
Call Rhino.AddLine(arr1EvalPt01, arr2EvalPt03)


l = l + vStep2

Next ' end j loop

k = k + uStep2

Next ' end i loop

Rhino.enableRedraw True
Rhino.print "!!! SCRIPT COMPLETED !!!"

End Sub

THE FORMAL ECONOMY OF LAGOS IS 80% INFORMAL

Lagos, one of the fastest growing cities in the world with population of 10.9 million in 2007, and is expected to rise to 17 million by 2015 which is an increase of 36% in just 8yrs. It's fascinating the unplanned nature of this growth, and the ability of the city to cope with the influx of people without visible mechanisms to deal with the outcome of the growth.

According to Lagos state's ministry of finance the FORMAL ECONOMY OF LAGOS IS 80% INFORMAL (indirectly it is the formal economy).

Most employment / trading areas are informal and not structured, and its 85% of total employment force.

This informal economy usually takes place on Lagos's traffic ridden 'chaotic' highways. These highways are no more like usual western highways, but rather its highway, come market, come shelter / residential, come prayer places.

This project is about exploring and expressing this 'chaos' as a Productive Chaos which brings opportunities, employments, shelter and economic income to the state.

"Like in the 'Bridge Trilogy' where Oakland Bay Bridge which was abandoned in an earthquake and has become a massive shantytown and a site of improvised shelter. The bridge community was not planned or authorized, developed quickly and brought radical chnage."



Lagos Island is the centre of commerce, and is circled by a ring of highway.











Below are Proposed inhabited highways at various level startind from 6m to 25m high with 6 highlighted hotspots.

More developments in attempting to embed some sort of anatomy into the bodies. They are still simple, but each chain/creature, start to act as a collective, which was mainly enabled through using a physics engine, pbox2d, and exploiting its springs and collisions.

Another biweekly review explains my desktop background, and I have no idea why I do not have another prnt scrn on the last day. I guess I'm getting lazy.

Also, we keep on talking about starting a website so we can start to share the code(s), but I guess it'll happen over Easter break, or maybe summer break at the latest.

On another note, our studio trip - sometime during easter break - is headed towards Tokyo. Other studios are going to nyc/boston, tokyo(different studio), and a eurotrip/roadtrip across germany, italy and some other places.

prnt scrn 17 - because some days are simply disastrous.

prnt scrn 18

prnt scrn 19

prnt scrn 20

This was an interesting moment. These "creatures" have no desire for locomotion - no flocking behavior embedded in them - but rather continuously start to reorganize because their internal structure is continuously in conflict. There are more circles than can exist in each creature, so through collisions, they start to reorganize. They are still uncontrollable, but it was an interesting moment in the week nonetheless.

prnt scrn 20b

prnt scrn 21 - biweekly thursday review.

prnt scrn 22 - more self structuring creatures, sometimes amongst themselves, and sometimes between each other. This is dangerous to say out loud, but they are fun to watch.

prnt scrn 22b

prnt scrn 23 - I have no recollection.

p.s. All studio work is done with Tyson Hosmer, Michael Dosier, and Ryan Szanyi.

As a second entry I belive a preface is required before I jump into a full on school Blog.
I have an additional blog that I may refer to where I am currently documenting a project for my sophomore studio, that has an interiors concentration. if there are any confusions regarding my posts, please refer to the provided link or shoot me an e-mail.
http://archisult.blogspot.com

An overdue update on what has been happening with my thesis. The theme generally is "control" in society, in this case implemented through the control of knowledge, with the design for a brain library.

First of all, here's a few images of the "graphic novel" developed using puppet photography and photoshopping into scenes:













For the design, then, so far I've been working from the inside out. I wanted the brains to have some kind of autonomy, rather than be trapped in an array of pipes and wires. Heres version #1 of the Cerebot:



After criticism of this version being too meccano, and after learning more in Rhino, it involved into version #2:







The home for these critters is based on the structure of a wasps nest I found in my loft and it ends up looking a bit like this from the outside, the patchwork effect caused by the stitching together of various slices of reclaimed flesh:



Some physical models I made in the generation of this form. I wanted the unpredictability of analogue processes to feed in, so I used balloons and expanding foam:



Inside here would be a collection of nested papier mache catenary domes, giving order to the Cerebot housing. Papier mache was chosen as a recyclable from the confiscation of literature in the controlled society:





These flesh pods would be multiply hung from a triangulated bone roof structure, which takes on an overall morphic form based on the concentric growth patterns of the flesh pods, emanating from the structural corners of the "site" (Coventry Cathedral Ruins). This is an early version of the roof form, still in development:



As an aside, I wrote a script in Rhino to automatically create the triangulated trusses for that form. So you just start with two surfaces over each other, then run the script and it gives you all the vertices which you can then panel like glass or pipe like a structure. If people are interested in that, leave a comment and I'll post the script; don't want to use too much space on here otherwise.

Think that's all for now, currently working on the public and production program elements so this becomes more than just a parasitic infestation. Let me know what you think.

So I'm done... I'm now waiting for my boards to be printed up by the output room and working on a few models for tomorrow, but the winter studio, for all intensive purposes is finished...

Every time this happens it always amazes me how fast time flies. I'm really happy with what I came up with, though I do admit I got pretty bogged down in the computer and graphic rendering over the last week or so. It's strange to not have any hand work to show for a final project, but I guess that will soon be the norm. I think I like having a mix of the two though.

I really enjoyed this project and actually learned quite a bit about process, presentation, and produced a good amount of work. Thinking back on it, I think that a good portion of my time this term was spent on my Human Context and ECS class work, so I really don't feel like I spent as much time on this studio project as I had in the past. I still have work for those classes to finish though.

Here are a couple of shots of the culmination of my semester in a few brief pictures.

SITE

CONTEXT

DELICIOUS

CONTEXT

MIDTERM

WHAT??!

REFINEMENT

INSPIRATION

INSPIRATION

LIGHT BULB

NO LONGER ARBITRARY

INSIDE

SUPERMODEL

REVERT

MAGICAL MACHINES OF MAGICIANESS


Pictures are better than words... My concept is in an earlier post I think. Here are my boards though they are rather useless at this scale:

dc