Arquiteturarevista ISSN: 1808-5741 [email protected] Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos Brasil

Oxman, Rivka The conceptual content of digital architecture. A content analysis in design Arquiteturarevista, vol. 1, núm. 1, enero-junio, 2005 Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos São Leopoldo, Brasil

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The conceptual content of digital architecture. A content analysis in design

Rivka Oxman 1

O conteúdo conceitual da arquitetura digital. Uma análise de conteúdo no projeto

Conceitos relacionados com a arquitetura digital começaram recentemente a ocupar uma posição central no discurso arquitetônico corrente. Conceitos de projeto que têm sido o conteúdo conceitual desse discurso integram-se progressivamente ao discurso arquitetônico geral. A presente pesquisa descreve tal processo de aparecimento, migração e cristalização de uma nova estrutura conceitual ao longo da década passada, sob a influência do projeto digital e sua estrutura conceitual emergente. A pesquisa apresentada neste artigo examina a emergência de novas idéias no pensamento arquitetônico relacionadas à arquitetura digital desde os anos 1990. Para demonstrar essa mudança, selecionamos um tipo representativo de edificação forte e diretamente influenciada pelo conteúdo deste discurso cultural em arquitetura: o museu foi escolhido para representar aspectos das mudanças e da evolução subjacentes ao projeto digital. A metodologia de pesquisa se baseia na “análise de conteúdo”, definida para incluir materiais textuais em livros, capítulos de livros, artigos e documentos históricos. Uma nova abordagem para Análise de Conteúdo de Projeto foi desenvolvida utilizando a estrutura analítica ICF, onde os textos foram codificados e divididos em categorias sobre uma variedade de temas de projeto. Nossos resultados demonstram que certas expressões relacionadas à tecnologia digital têm sido elevadas de uma função descritiva de menor nível para uma posição conceitual significativa na formulação dos conteúdos do projeto arquitetônico. Nosso artigo descreve os objetivos da pesquisa, a metodologia, os resultados e a contribuição para a definição do conteúdo conceitual do discurso corrente sobre arquitetura digital.

Palavras-chave: Modelos computacionais , Teoria e ensino do projeto , Mapeamentos conceituais

Concepts related to digital architecture have begun to occupy a central role in current architectural discourse. Design concepts that have been the conceptual content of this discourse are now becoming integrated into the general architectural discourse. The research reports on this process of the emergence, migration, and crystallization of a new conceptual structure over the past decade under the influence of digital design and its emerging conceptual structure. The research presented in this paper examines the emergence of new ideas in architectural thinking that are related to digital architecture since 1990 until today. In order to demonstrate this shift, we have selected a representative architectural building type that is strongly and directly influenced by the conceptual content of the cultural discourse in architecture. A museum type was selected to represent features of the expression that reflects the changes and evolution of conceptual structures that underlie digital design. The research methodology is based on a method known as “content analysis”. Content analysis in our research was defined as including textual material in books, book chapters, essays, articles, and historical documents. A new approach for Design Content Analysis was accomplished employing the ICF analytical framework. In order to conduct a content analysis the text was coded and was broken down into categories on a variety of theoretical design themes. Our findings demonstrate that certain expressions related to digital technology have moved up from a low level descriptive function to a significant conceptual role in formulating the design content of architectural design. In our paper we describe the research goals, the methodology, the findings and the contribution to the definition of the conceptual content of contemporary architectural discourse on digital architecture.

Key words: Computational models , Theory and education of the project , Conceptual mapping

Introduction

Beyond the exploitation of digital media as tools, the relations between digital design and architectural thinking have begun to emerge as a significant ideational resource for design. Digital design discourse in the past decade has become part of the dominant theoretical discourse of architecture today. Concepts whose theoretical source is digital design have begun to occupy a central role in current architectural discourse. The research reports on this process of the emergence, migration, and crystallization of a new conceptual structure over the past decade under the influence of digital design.

As a result of this intellectual phenomenon, architecture as a design discipline has become rich in ideas that drive the design process as well as changing the test of ideas that serve as the ideational content of the architectural artifact itself. As a result, we are able to define new paradigmatic approaches in architectural design that are based on the cultural impact of digital technology.

The aim of this research is to investigate changes in architectural discourse in relation to the increased significance of digital technology. Our assumption is that certain terminology related to digital technology employed as descriptive content of architectural production is now used to represent the paradigmatic content of “digital architecture” itself. The research presented in this paper examines the emergence of new ideas over the years since 1990 and until today. Discourse in digital architecture

As the critique of Post Modern design mounted in the 1980’s (Jencks, 1997) other theoretical perspectives began to emerge. The evolution of digital design as a unique field motivated by its own body of theoretical sources and supported by new technologies has been emerging rapidly in the past decade. To some extent these new directions can be understood as the evolution of certain tendencies already present today in design practice. By the year 2003 and with the Non-Standard Architectures Exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris (Migayrou, 2002) the concept of digital design had become a major theoretical focus of this new phenomenon. The rise of a theoretical discourse reflecting the increasing importance of this field became a seminal issue in the 1990’s (Spybroek, 1999; Spybroek and Lootsma, 1997; Van Berkel and Bos, 1999; Lynn, 1999; Eisenman, 1992; Goulthorpe, 2003; Goulthrope, 2004).

During this period, the theoretical discourse around developments in digital design culture (Liu, 2002; 2003; 2004) and conferences workshops (Oxman and Liu, 2004) became one of the substantive mechanisms to explore the relations between digital design and the content of digital architecture. An attempt to define a set of design issues and attributes that are potentially the unique content of digital designs is now emerging.

The works of the 1990’s, the literary production, the public events of conferences, competitions and exhibitions, and the resulting design production served as catalysts during this period to formulate the theoretical discourse of digital design. These characteristics emerged in various designs that were realized before and after the millennium. In architecture, the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao by Frank Gehry (1992- 1997) was the most prominent catalyst of theorizing new formal directions and postulating new design methods.

In order to study this phenomenon we selected architectural precedents that have been strongly and directly influenced by the conceptual content of the cultural discourse in digital architecture. The museum as a building type is emerging as one of the symbolic features of the cultural expression of the age (Oxman and Rotenstreich, 2005). In fact, the expression of cultural content, expressed as design concepts, has become the most characteristic content of the museum type. Museum design acts as a cultural seismograph that signifies the dominant streams of architectural culture today (Lampugnani and Sachs, 1999) and reflects the changes and evolution of conceptual structures that underlie design. As such, the museum has become one of the most culturally significant building types of our time.

The paper addresses how the content analysis was employed to explore the conceptual thinking in architecture. In the following paper we describe the research, its methodology, its findings and its contribution to defining the conceptual content of the contemporary discourse on digital architecture. Design Content Analysis

The research presented in this paper is based on textual and visual analysis and exploits the research methods known as “content analysis” (De Sola, 1959; Weber, 1990; Krippendorff, 1980). We have extended this methodology employed in conducting content analysis in design by integrating the ICF methodology (Oxman, 1994; 2003).

In order to define conceptual structures in digital architecture we first conducted a content analysis of textual material related to projects of digital design precedents that were built during the last twenty years. The textual material related to these projects was selected and analyzed reflecting its conceptual content, design methodologies, and physical features. The aim of our analysis was to trace how these texts related to “digital content” and how this relationship of general conceptual content to digital conceptual content has changed its structure and meaning during this period. Textual material was coded and broken down into manageable categories on a variety of themes (Oxman and Rotenstreich, 2005). This analysis was accomplished employing the ICF analytical framework. This methodology is presented below.

Conceptual content

By classifying textual material, we are attempting to identify conceptual structures in digital architecture. In general, the way conceptual knowledge is organized is as important as the amount of knowledge one has. This view emphasizes the notion of structure. One’s conceptual structures, or the structure by which one organizes his knowledge of the world, is not something of which we are naturally aware. Language is a case of the natural structural organization characteristic of human thinking. It is an important source of evidence in the investigation of conceptual structure. For example, we can explicate conceptual structuring in how people externalize their thought processes in communication with other people through textual material. One of the main resources for the acquisition of knowledge is through written language and textual description, forms in which knowledge is conceptualized and organized.

Content analysis

Principles of our textual analysis exploit the research method known as “content analysis” (Weber, 1990; Krippendorff, 1980). Content analysis classifies textual material, reducing it to relevant, manageable data. As a research tool it is employed to determine the presence of certain words or concepts within sets of texts. Using this method, we quantify and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of words and concepts, make inferences regarding the messages within the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which these are a part.

We have employed content analysis to explore conceptual thinking in architecture that reflects the general impact of digital culture in architecture today. In our methodology we have focused on concepts and on semantic relationships rather than simply words (De Sola Pool 1959).

Texts in our research were defined as books, book chapters, essays, articles, and historical documents. In order to conduct a content analysis the text was coded and was broken down into manageable categories on a variety of themes. The analysis was accomplished employing the ICF analytical tool.

In design content analysis text selection is particularly significant, since it should be accomplished within an appropriate sector of the discourse . This is significant in all forms of content analysis. However, in design content analysis we can distinguish various sub-domains of discourse, such as design presentation and critique, use and user descriptions, methodological analyses, etc., in each of which the sphere of discourse may differ considerably, and with it, the conceptual and semantic content.

Design Content Analysis: integrating the ICF methodology

The design precedent has a significant place in design research and education (Oxman, 1994, Lai, 2004). Conceptual abstractions derived from the precedent are those which bridge between the conceptual and the physical and thus provide the basis for exploiting the conceptual knowledge of precedents. In our approach, the acquisition and construction of the body of concepts from precedents is considered as a means to demonstrate and facilitate meaningful learning.

In order to conduct a content analysis on text in books and publications in our research, the text was coded and broken down into design categories related to a variety of different themes. It was then examined by employing a method which is similar in its goals to classical conceptual and relational analysis methods. Relational analysis examines the relationships among concepts in a text. With relational analysis it is possible to identify what words or phrases appear in what relationships and then to determine what different meanings emerge as a result of these groupings.

The ICF methodological framework was employed as a method in our conceptual analysis (Oxman, 1994). It proposes that by constructing a conceptual structure that reflects one’s thinking in a specific domain, we can make explicit the knowledge of this domain. The representations of concepts and their relationships to other concepts are structured and filled with the content of the specific design domain or design task. These concepts and structures (related to work on precedent-based design) are analyzed according to the three categories of: design issues, design concepts and design forms (I- C-F). The ICF methodology has been applied to various analytical tasks; among these it has recently been exploited for organizing and representing conceptual maps of a specific domain in an educational environment (Oxman, 2003).

For example, figure 1, figure 2, figure 3, and figure 4 demonstrate the knowledge that was extracted from the texts. This analysis/construction task makes it possible to capture the conceptual knowledge of a design and to decompose it into independent chunks of knowledge. This is accomplished through content analysis of design issues, concepts, forms.

The representational formalism called ICF originally developed for the representation of conceptual knowledge of designs. ICF is an organizational schema of knowledge. It was first developed as a computational model rooted in the theory and method of Case- Based Reasoning. It has been used to support the selection, representation and coding of relevant ideas from prior designs. It employs a “story” formalism that represents chunks or independent segments of conceptual knowledge that is intrinsic to design descriptions. The framework of the ICF acts as a structuring ontology for the construction of conceptual networks of design concepts.

The ICF model is based upon a decomposition of holistic precedent knowledge into separate chunks. A design chunk, termed a “story”, is an original annotation of an entity of conceptual content that characterizes a specific design. A typical ICF (Issue-Concept- Form) chunk provides explicit linkages between issues of the design problem, a particular solution concept, and a related form description of the design, or a part of it.

A design issue is domain-specific semantic information related to the goals and issues of the problem class. Issues can be formulated by the programmatic statement, intrinsic problems of the domain, or by the designer himself. A design concept is a domain- specific formulation of a solution principle, rather than the explicit physical description. A design form is the specific design artifact that materializes the solution principle. For example – orientation is an architectural issue, centrality is an architectural concept to achieve orientation and a central hall may represent the actual physical realisation of this set of issues and concepts. A single issue may be addressed by different concepts, just as a single concept may address different issues.

Among the objectives of the ICF model is to identify and represent individual components of design knowledge in a design in order that larger bodies of knowledge can be created from individual cases through a process of network construction. By providing a network structure of issues and concepts, it can function as a lexical basis for storage, search and navigation of knowledge. A further attribute of the semantic network structure is the ability to identify linkages between design ideas that were not originally apparent, but can be established by navigating the connections between related design ideas. For example:

Figure 1 illustrates an ICF conceptual structure of linked issues, concepts and forms that represent ideas of the Mediatheque designed by Norman Foster. Each linked ICF presents a unique design idea. For example, the following linked ICF (illustrated by a double line) can be read as follows: In order to create an urban attraction (an issue) a luminosity space (a concept) was achieved by introducing a vertical space of a six story vertical space (a form) as a central atrium (a form).

Figure 1. An ICF structure of the Mediatheque designed by Norman Foster.

The following figures demonstrate the ICF methodology in the preliminary content analysis task. Figures 2, 3 and 4 illustrate content analysis of design issues, concepts and forms using the ICF methodology.

Such preliminary organization of the textual data and its resulting structured representation of knowledge were later accessed and reanalyzed for additional processes of our content analysis.

Figure 2. Content analysis of design issues using the ICF methodology.

Figure 3. Content analysis of design concepts using the ICF methodology.

Figure 4. Content analysis of design forms using the ICF methodology.

Implementing conceptual maps

This approach also demonstrates a novel application of conceptual mapping. Textual and image sources of textual descriptions are treated as a source for knowledge acquisition and conceptual mapping based on the analysis of the content of concepts, issues and forms elicited from the texts in the form of a network map.

The goal of this task is to develop a conceptual map from the knowledge that was extracted from the texts. Each conceptual map represents domain specific issues, concepts, and specific forms. This analysis/construction task makes it possible to capture the conceptual knowledge of a design and to decompose it into independent chunks of knowledge. Figure 5, represents the construction of an ICF conceptual structure extracted from related textual material presented above (see figure 2, 3 and 4).

Figure 5. Constructing an ICF conceptual structure extracted from the textual material.

Analyzing the conceptual content of digital architecture

The following stages demonstrate our research on Design Content Analysis methodology. The analysis presented below contains the following steps. The goal of the first step was to define relevant expressions in theoretical and descriptive texts. In order to do that, relevant written material describing significant projects was selected and an initial analysis of the textual material was carried out. Following the initial step a higher level analysis was conducted, defining higher level categorization. Expressions were found to share the same category if the interpretation of their meaning was similar. These categories were significant in describing the thematic content of “digital architecture” today. These steps are described below.

Selection of relevant projects

We have selected a group of projects which were among those recognized as having a strong impact upon, and contribution to, architectural discourse during the period of the mid-1990’s to 2005. This was a period of certain important museums, galleries, and other similar types of such building projects and, coincidentally, the period in which interest and application of digital design increased dramatically. The museum as a representative architectural building type that is strongly and directly influenced by the conceptual content of the cultural discourse in architecture was selected to represent features of the cultural expression that reflects the changes and evolution of conceptual structures that underlie digital design.

Among those projects that were selected are the following: Wexner Center for Visual Art by Peter Eisenman (1989); Carré d’Art by Norman Foster (1993); Milwaukee Art Museum by Calatrava (1994); Groninger Museum by Coop Himmelblau (1994), Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao by Frank O. Gehry (1997); Salt-Water Pavillion by Kas Oosterhuis (1997); Hel Volkhof Museum by UN Studio (2000); Ambient Amplifiers Oslo by Ocean North (2000); Contemporary Art Museum – CAC by Zaha Hadid (2003); and the Art Museum in Graz by Cook and Fournier (2004). Relevant textual material was collected and gathered for further analysis.

Textual analysis

Employing the ICF methodology, we undertook a first step in our Design Content Analysis. This first step was based on the identification of the relevant textual units in analyzed selected published material. Textual expressions that were found meaningful in this domain related to “Issues”, “Concepts” and “Forms” were stored in a common data-base as described above.

Thematic analysis and new categorization

On the basis of the ICF analysis of textual expressions in projects related to “digital architecture” new categories have emerged. For example, significant terms related to “issues” such as: “dynamic”, “interactive”, “responsive”, “adaptive”, “hybrid”. “animated”, etc., were classified as new ideation and conceptual categories at a high level. Following the analysis of projects related to “digital architecture”, additional stages of analysis and conceptual categorization were made. In relation to previous ICF studies of precedents prior to “Digital Architecture” a new thematic content emerged. The focus here was on looking at the relative classification of selected terms within the text: are the same terms defined as forms? As concepts? Or issues? In other words, the focus of this type of analysis was to look for the thematic quality of the term. In this way we could identify expressions that were found as expressing different meanings in different projects.

For example, the term “dynamic” (marked in figure 6 and 7 in bold letters) appears in two different textual descriptions of two different projects. In the work of the Contemporary Art Museum, Cincinnati designed by Zaha Hadid the term “dynamic” is describing a perceptive quality related to animation as a technical means for achieving a spatial and formal experience, while the same term “dynamic” in the work of Ocean North is related to a generative principle. In this specific project a dynamic diagram was employed as an enabling tool to get beyond a fixed scenario and design schemata. The migration of this type of conceptual content from a descriptive one to a generative one was considered as a migration from a lower level to a higher level thematic content in our research.

Figure 6. Design content analysis – Zaha Hadid: Contemporary Art Museum, Cincinnati.

Figure 7. Design content analysis – Ocean North/Ambient Amplifiers, Oslo.

Digital expressions were analyzed according to their classified location in the hierarchies of the ICF structure. The ICF hierarchical structure of projects related to “digital architecture” was classified according to the following levels:

1. Form: low thematic level terms were identified as formal descriptions such as: dynamic presentation, 3d modeling etc. Such terms are usually describing digital qualities as means for modeling and representation.

2. Concept: conceptual-generative level (e.g., describing digital methodologies as generation principles). For example, terms such as: performance, evolutionary, dynamic etc. Such terms are related to generative concepts and principles.

3. Issue: high level conceptual-thematic level (e.g., describing qualities of the digital attributes of the architecture itself). For example, terms such as: responsive, sensate, differentiated, hybrid, dynamic etc. Such terms describe the conceptual content of “digital architecture”.

The role of this analysis was to determine the different meanings that emerged as a result of this classified location in the ICF structure.

Findings

Our findings have demonstrated that certain expressions related to the implication of digital design technology on digital architecture have moved up from a low-level descriptive function, such as the technical means for modeling and representation, to a significant conceptual role in formulating the design content of the building. Another significant finding was that the change of meaning of the same expressions was due to a chronological shift in understanding the conceptual content of digital architecture.

This type of finding was implicit in the text itself. For example, the term “dynamic” appears as a concept in architectural projects designed by Zaha Hadid, Himmelblau, etc. It later appears as a new design issue related to the conceptual and theoretical understanding of designing generative design works such as those designed by Ocean North.

This new role of digital technology is also discussed by G. Lynn (Tate Gallery, 1995):

Themes of motion and dynamics in architecture are typically addressed through pictorial views of static forms […] computer-animation software reinforces this normative assumption that architectural design belongs [...] to be animated by a mobile view [...].

This shift from determinism to direct indeterminacy is central to the development of a dynamic design method and will present a new role for design direction and authorship.

Such transformations of meanings were clearly demonstrated by our design content analysis method. Summary and conclusions

A new approach to Design Content Analysis was accomplished by employing the ICF analytical framework and tool in making a content-analysis in the domain of digital architecture. Our research assisted in demonstrating the following findings.

We have identified new meaning for concepts that are associated with digital technology such as “dynamic”, “animated”, “interactive” “responsive”, “adaptive”, “hybrid” etc., and new usage of terminology and conceptual structures in the design of digital design projects. The change of meaning of the same expressions was due to a chronological shift in understanding the conceptual content of digital architecture along the years.

We have employed a thematic analysis of certain design hierarchies in our design content analysis. According to this thematic postulation in our research, design concepts have emerged as the architectural content of what is defined today as digital architecture. Due to this Design Content Analysis method we were able to demonstrate how selected terms within a text or texts, had changed their meanings during the last decade, although this information was implicit and hidden in the text.

We have demonstrated how these terms had changed their meaning from being employed as the descriptive content of architectural production to terms that represent the paradigmatic content itself. Another significant finding was that the change of meaning of the same expressions was due to a chronological shift in understanding the conceptual content of digital architecture.

This method appears to provide a powerful analytical method to study the evolutionary properties and emphases in current theoretical and critical formulations in architectural discourse. Thus it appears to be a means to represent significant conceptual formations in domain discourse as well as to study and represent that elusive form of intellectual change that we might term the dynamics of discourse.

Furthermore, the implications of conceptual content on teaching digital architecture in digital design studios are currently explored.

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper is based on work conducted at the experimental digital design studio at the Technion. The illustrations were made by graduate students doing research in “digital design”. The contribution of thesis work by Ruth Rotenstreich supervised by Prof. Rivka Oxman is also highly acknowledged. The generous financial assistance of the Technion is gratefully acknowledged.

NOTAS

1Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, 32000, Israel. REFERÊNCIAS

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