The Parametric Façade Optimization in Architecture Through a Synthesis of Design, Analysis and Fabrication
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Parametric Façade Optimization in Architecture through a Synthesis of Design, Analysis and Fabrication by Peter C. Graham A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Architecture Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2012 © Peter C. Graham 2012 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract Modular building systems that use only prefabricated parts, sometimes known as building “kits”, first emerged in the 1830s and 1840s in the form of glass and iron roof systems for urban transportation and distribution centers and multi-storey façade systems. Kit systems are still used widely today in the form of curtain wall assemblies for office and condominium towers, yet in all this time the formal flexibility of these systems (their ability to form complex shapes) has not increased greatly. This is in large part due to the fact that the systems still rely on mass-produced components. This lack of flexibility limits the degree to which these systems can be customized for particular contexts and optimized for such things as daylighting or energy efficiency. Digital design and fabrication tools now allow us to create highly flexible building façade systems that can be customized for different con- texts as well as optimized for particular performance objectives. This thesis develops a prototype for a flexible façade system using parametric modeling tools. The first part of the thesis looks at how parametric modeling can be used to facilitate building customization and optimization by integrating the acts of design, analysis, fabrication and construction. The second part of the thesis presents the façade system prototype and documents key aspects of its development. The façade system is modeled in Grasshopper 3D, a para- metric modeling plug-in for Rhinoceros 3D. The model has built-in analysis tools to help the user optimize the façade for daylighting, energy efficiency, or views within any given context, as well as tools that alert the designer when fabrication or construction constraints are being violated. iii Acknowledgements I’d like to thank my thesis supervisor Marie-Paule MacDonald for her guid- ance and patience, and for helping me focus my efforts. I’d also like to thank my committee members Terri Meyer Boake and Mark Cichy for their helpful feedback and advice. Additional thanks go to Tim Verhey and the people at Walters Inc. for giving me a very interesting and valuable tour of their fabri- cation facilities. Finally, I’d like to thank my father and my brother for their unwavering support over the years. iv Table of Contents Author’s Declaration.................................................................................. ii 4. Using the Parametric Model...........................................................55 Abstract..................................................................................................... iii 4.1 Façade System Configurations..................................................55 Acknowledgments..................................................................................... iv 4.2 Façade System Limitations and Constraints..............................56 List of Illustrations.....................................................................................vi 4.3 Creating a Façade from scratch.................................................61 4.4 Statistics Reporting.................................................................. 71 1. Introduction...........................................................................................1 4.5 View Optimization.....................................................................72 4.6 Daylighting Optimization..........................................................76 2. Towards Optimization in Architecture............................................... 5 4.7 Optimizing Solar Panels and the Building Envelope................79 2.1 From Mass-Production to Digital Design and Fabrication.............5 2.2 Flexibility, Integration, and Feedback Loops.................................13 5. The Modeling Process.................................................................... 81 2.3 Optimization through Parametric Design......................................19 6. Conclusions..................................................................................... 98 3. Prototype Façade System and Parametric Model..............................24 3.1 Design Objectives and Overview....................................................24 Appendix A: Model Inputs, Parameters, and Statistics........................104 3.2 Choice of Software.........................................................................26 Appendix B: Explorations in Generative Components 3.3 Model Schematic Structure.............................................................26 and Digital Project.................................................................................136 3.4 Model Inputs, Constraints and Behavior.......................................27 Appendix C: Bugs and Idiosyncrasies in the Model..........................141 3.5 Façade System Construction.........................................................27 Endnotes................................................................................................142 3.6 Key Model Parameters..................................................................43 Bibliography..........................................................................................144 3.7 Analysis Tools and Modes.............................................................47 3.8 Model Statistics.............................................................................52 3.9 Model Utilities...............................................................................53 v List of Illustrations Fig. Section / Description Page Fig. Section / Description Page Section 1 2.1-5 Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret: L’Esprit Nouveau 7 Pavilion 1-1 Formal flexibility of façade system 1 Source: Ibid., 142. Source: author 8 2.1-6 Ernst May and C.H Rudloff: Bruchfeldstrasse Estate 1-2 Panel types and panel interchangeability 1 Source: Frampton,138. Source: author 2.1-7 Gehry Partners: prototype wall for Disney Concert Hall 8 1-3 Façade view evaluation mode and daylight analysis mode 2 Source: Branco Kolaravic, Architecture in the Digital Age: Source: author Design and Manufacturing, 106. 1-4 Façade system panel installation 2 Enrico Dini: masonry “printing” machine Source: author Source: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/3d-printer-cathedral- moon-house,news-6124.html, accessed, December 30, 2011. 1-5 Façade system component parts 2 Source: author 2.1-8 Zaha Hadid: Finite Element Analysis of Phaeno Science 9 Center 1-6 Partial viewing of the façade 3 Source: David Littlefield,Space Craft: Developments in Source: author Architectural Computing, 37. Section 2.1 Foster Partners: Solar analysis of GLA City Hall Source: Kolarevic, 86. 2.1-1 Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace 5 Source: Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture: A Critical KPF: Wind analysis of “The Pinacle” History, 34. Source: Littlefield, 10. 2.1-2 P. Fontaine: Galerie D’Orleans 5 2.1-9 Gehry Partners: Zollhof Towers 9 Source: Ibid., 33. Source: Kolarevic, 108 2.1-3 Mies van der Rohe: Seagram’s Tower 6 2.1-10 Gehry Partners: Experience Music Project 9 Source: Ibid., 237. Source: Daniel L. Shodek, Digital Design and Manufacturing: CAD, 58 (first two images); Kolarevic,116 (third image). 2.1-4 Victor Horta: Hotel van Eetvelde 7 Source: Alan Colquhoun: Modern Architecture,13. vi Fig. Section / Description Page Fig. Section / Description Page 2.1-11 Chandler Ahrens, Eran Neuman, and Aaron Sprecher: 10 2.2-7 Managing assembly complexity with modules 16 “Ecoscape” Source: Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake, Refabricating Source: Philip Beesley et al., Fabrication : Examining the Architecture: How Manufacturing Technologies are Poised to Digital Practice of Architecture : Proceedings of the 2004 AIA, Transform Building Construction, 96. 366. 2.2-8 Peter Cook and Colin Fournier: Kunsthaus, Graz 16 2.1-12 AA Component Membrane 10 Source: André Chaszar, Blurring the Lines: Architecture in Source: Branko Kolarevic and Kevin R. Klinger, Practice, 173; 179. Manufactruing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture, p.205 2.2-9 Gehry Partners: MIT Stata Center 17 Source: ACADIA 2004 and DDM p?? 2.1-13 OSD Structural Design / Hausmarke Design: bus station 11 Source: Littlefield, 93. Section 2.3 19 2.1-14 HOK: Royal London Hospital 11 2.3-1 Topological sort Source: Littlefield, 184-185 Source: Robert Woodbury, Elements of Parametric Design, 15. Section 2.2 2.3-2 Feedback loops in the parametric design process 19 Source: author 2.2-1 Carmen McKee and Fuyuan Su: “Striations” 13 Source: Kolarevic and Klinger, 124. 2.3-3 Static Eiegenvalue Analysis 20 Source: Beesley et al., 131. 2.2-2 Steffen Reichert: “Responsive Surface Structure” 13 Source: ACADIA 2009 pp.71-73 2.3-4 Geometry Gym plugin for Rhino 20 Source: http://www.designspotter.com/profile/Torsten-Plate. 2.2-3 James Timberlake: SmartWrap Pavilion 14 html#, accessed December 30, 2011. Source: ACADIA 2004 p.48 2.3-5 Bolt inaccessibility warning mechanism 20 2.2-4 Grimshaw Architects: Fashion and Design Events Building 14 Source: author Source: