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Kostas Terzidis Associate Professor Department of Architecture |
Courses
Digital Media I & II The course helps to develop basic skills in visual literacy and communication through the use of digital media. Considering that one of the primary roles of architects in the late twentieth century was that of a designer and organizer of information, the course develops basic digital modeling and drawing skills in conjunction with the examination of contemporary presentation techniques developed by established architects and their projects. While digital media were originally developed to assist, enhance, or replace manual methods (i.e. CAD), an attempt is made in this course to emphasize the uniqueness of digital media as a form of design thinking. Instead of simply transferring to a computer ideas preconceived in the designer's mind and using the computer screen simply as a means of depiction, it is perhaps more appropriate for the future architect to employ the techniques, methods, and processes of digital media in order to form, read, and communicate design intention. The first part of this course (module 3) covers issues related to two-and three-dimensional representation, i.e., painting, drafting, multi-media, hyper-media, modeling, and basic VRML. The second part of this course (module 4) covers issues related to rendering, animation, and scripting. The assignments are introduced in phases which coincide with the introduction of softwares, theories, and techniques during the course. Advanced Studies
in Architectural Computing The course is an in-depth study into the theories, processes, and structures of computing in architecture. It seeks to develop design projects that illustrate the applicability, value, and potential of computing in addressing, solving, or (re)defining architectural problems. The purpose is to invent computational schemes that encapsulate the processes that lead to the generation of buildings and structures. Furthermore, the course seeks to define, explore, and critically evaluate the aesthetics of computing not only as a form of artistic expression but also as a means for architectural poetics. The course is a seminar but it is structured as a hybrid lecture/studio. Students are expected not only to develop architectural computing skills but also to be able to articulate, discuss, and criticize theoretical concepts. Kinetic Architecture In architecture, the notion of motion is often represented as an abstract formal configuration that implies relationships of cause and effect. Deformation, juxtaposition, superimposition, absence, disturbance, and repetition, are just few of the techniques used by architects to express virtual motion and change. These approaches are based on the idea that perpetual succession is not only conceived directly through physical motion but also indirectly through formal expression. Physical motion, other than in doors, windows, elevators, or escalators, is not commonly present in buildings. In fact, the form and structure of the average building suggests stability, steadiness, sturdiness, and immobility. Yet, while motion may suggest agility, unpredictability, or uncertainty it may also suggest change, anticipation, and liveliness. Challenging past practices, architecture today finds itself in a position to revisit its traditional kinetic aesthetics with new technological innovations. Through the use of sensors, actuators, and micro-controllers, actual controlled motion can be designed, integrated, and implemented in, on, or across buildings. The traditional problematics of motion, stasis, and order are challenged, redefined, and transformed by new spatio-temporal possibilities and strategies opened up through technological innovation, particularly robotic technologies and new approaches to mobility, portability, and nomadic culture. This course examines the notion of motion in architecture through virtual and physical methods. It seeks to investigate, explore, and propose how motion can be suggested, depicted, or physically incorporated in buildings or structures. The goal is to link past practices related to kinetic form with motion-based emerging technologies in a meaningful way and project into the inherent architectural possibilities. The area of kinetic architecture, i.e. the integration of motion into the built environment, and the impact such results has upon the aesthetics, design, and performance of buildings may be of great importance to the field of architecture. While the aesthetic value of virtual motion may always be a source of inspiration, its physical implementation in buildings and structures may challenge the very nature of what architecture really is. Pedagogical Objectives: The course demands a willingness to explore a range of disciplines including architecture as well as mechanics, electronics, and software that are part of the engineering of kinetic environments. The course involves also a laboratory for designing and building working models of kinetic structures. No previous experience with computer hardware or software is required, though the work demands a variety of skills beyond those traditionally found in architecture design studios. Algorithmic Architecture As architecture enters the new era of digital representation, geometrical theories and processes are being implemented, tested, and pushed to their limits. Recent theories of form in architecture have focused on computational methods of formal exploration and expression. From topological geometry and hypersurfaces to blobs and folds, there is a clear tendency to seek and explore formal properties as sources of ordering systems. For the last two decades, designers have been concerned with the use of computational mechanisms for the exploration of formal systems. These practices have attempted to readdress formal issues using new techniques and methods. Computational tools are central protagonists in this exploration. The dominant mode of utilizing computers in architecture today is that of computerization; entities or processes that are already conceptualized in the designer's mind are entered, manipulated, or stored on a computer system. In contrast, computation or computing, as a computer-based design tool, is generally limited. While research and development of software involves extensive computational techniques, mouse-based manipulations of 3D computer models are not necessarily acts of computation. Presently, an alternative choice is being formulated: algorithmic architecture. It involves the designation of software programs to generate space and form from the rule-based logic inherent in architectural programs, typologies, building code, and language itself. Instead of direct programming, the codification of design intention using scripting languages available in 3D packages (i.e. Maya Embedded Language MEL, 3DMaxScript, and FormZ 4.0) can build consistency, structure, coherency, traceability, and intelligence into computerized 3D form. By using scripting languages designers can go beyond the mouse, transcending the factory-set limitations of current 3D software. This course is aimed at investigating and exploring the structures, processes, and theories of computational design. The purpose is to develop algorithms and computational methods that would encapsulate the processes that lead to the generation of meaningful architectural form. Yet, the course does not intend to eliminate traditional “manual” methods but rather to incorporate a synergy between both computational complexity and creative use of computers. Pedagogical Objectives The course engages both in theory and practice. The theoretical part discusses and explores conceptual models of computational design. The practical part involves scripting as it relates to architectural form: what are algorithms and how can they help us create and explore the complexity of architectural form; what is the role of the designer versus the software designer; what is “design consistency” and how can we build logic into form. Design Research Methods Research at the doctoral level differs markedly from that represented
in master's level and undergraduate theses in that the resulting
doctoral thesis should produce an original contribution to
the field of the study. Unlike lower level research, in which
the singularities of individual authorship may provide new or
unprecedented responses to problems, thereby co-opting the rubric
of originality, doctoral research is only original insofar as
its contribution advances, changes or challenges the normative
body of scholastic work that defines a given field of study. Doctoral
research is thus typically pursued under the aegis of a well-defined
model, using specific methods accepted by the academy. Within
the applied professions, however, and particularly in the design
disciplines such as architecture, there often is not a clearly
bracketed definition of the field, precluding both the insertion
of research into the 'normative body' and the ready adoption of
an appropriate method. In addition, the design disciplines are
informed as much by the actions of practitioners as by the repository
of scholarly work, bringing yet another dimension to both the
definition of the field and the constituency of its academy. Research
conducted in the Doctor of Design program must deal with this
duality between practical application and scholastic inquiry and
also must negotiate through the multiple methods available to
a researcher in an interdisciplinary field. |