REBECCABRADLEY

0.0 C0NTENT

1.0 EMTECH Emergent Technologies1.1 The Monster

1.2 Horsetail

1.3 Folding

1.4 Emergence

2.0 M.ARCH Masters In Architecture 2.1 M.Arch Thesis

2.2 Hypercube

2.3 Steel Web

2.4 Sin Center

3.0 EXP Professional Experience3.1 Webdesign

3.2 3D Visualizer

3.3 Advertisements

3.4 Digital Lab

CONTENT

Architecture Association, London. UKMasters of Science

The Emergent Technologies and Design programme is focused on the concepts and convergent interdisciplinary effects of emergence on design and production technologies, and on developing these as creative inputs to new architectural and urban design processes.

The programme continues to evolve through the development of our research in studio, seminar coursework and dissertations. The course is focused on the interdisciplinary effects of emergence, biomimetics and evolutionary computation of design and production technologies.

Part 1 is the exploration of material systems and their development into differentiated surfaces and assemblies. These assemblies demonstrate the potential for integrated structural and environmental performance, producing local microclimatic variations that define spatial arrangement.

Part 2 investigates a larger and more complex piece of the city, examining urban systems and generating new material, social and ecological organisations.

EMTECH

THE MONSTER

1 Week Team Project: This was an exploration to develop a material system through a series of physical and digital tests to achieve a hierarchal form composed of local and regional components.

Through collective actions produced by the local and regional components a global form was defined. The definition of the final form was explored both digitally (Fig 2) and physically as to learn how parts of the system interacted with one another.

The design acts as a material system that responds according to the applied post-tension wires. The regional component was used as a flexibility form that could be manipulated when tension was applied.

The local is developed upon a basic geometry; the triangle. Several local components join to create the regional component.

The triangle gives the possibility to generate many geometric forms and this begins to act as the building block for our system. Using a triangular grid system, there began an exploration to find the shape of the module. 2 adjacent equilateral triangles were used to form a ‘rhombus’, creating 1 folding edge and 4 free edges. With various experimentations, the equilateral triangle was best exploited when its dimensions was divided into thirds. The 2-d triangle was transformed into a structural 3-d component by folding two triangles together so they overlap. (Fig 1) This increased the moments of connections and sturdiness of the overall form.

Fig 2

Fig 1

THE MONSTER

One configuration that allowed for a more organic growth keeping the local components intact while maintaining regional rigidity and still allowing for material flexibility was achieved by joining the local components from the side triangles. This contributed for further overlapping of material, thus achieving more stiffness for load-bearing and lateral compressions. Joining the modules in the same orientation allowed for a natural ring form, or ‘crown’ shape.

The tests gave a better understanding of the geometry in terms of the strengths and failing in the structure. Joining 5 basic geometry modules formed a ring. Due to the closed geometry formed, the ring in itself became stable in one direction yet maintained a flexibility in the other.

The interaction of regional modules resulted into flexible structure with a bouncing effect. Using prestressing cables on one of the sides, induced a curvature and at the same time stabilised the geometry.

In taking this idead of a multiple layed system, the idea of a double layer system, one hard and one soft with one influencing another was extracted.

Initial experiments (left) explored how the elator’s mechanism could be simulated at an architectural scale. This included a multiple of combinations, including wood and balloons and

plywood and bicycle tires. The analysis of the fundamental elator mechanism concluded that differential movement occurred within the material system as a result of pressure being added which created a differential elongation and as a result created a curling movement.

HORSETAIL

2 Week Team Project: This was a biomimic design research project. The plant horsetail (genus Equisetum) was the subject of focus, to the research of the project. It was discovered that its spore-based reproductive system utilizes a mechanical method actuated by local moisture conditions. It was this system was was used as a starting point in the project.

It was discovered that if the spores of the Equisetum plant experienced a decrease in moisture in its environment, they jumped and moved in a walking motion until they find the necessary environment needed to grow. There are three parts involved in this responsive movement: the Spores, the Elaters, and the Actuators.

Inflation tests with a bicycle tire and plywood to investigate the relationship between pressure in the tire and the amount the plywood can bend and curl when applied diagonally.

Materializing Horsetail’s spores behavior

Our team began our experiments by first exploring how the

elator's mechanism could be simulated at an architectural

scale. Our analysis of the fundamental elator mechanism

concluded that differential movement occurred within the

material system as a result of pressure being added which

created a differential elongation and as a result, created a

curling movement. Generally, any biological movement

requires energy to be introduced into the system in order to

power material differentiation. Several forms of energy includ-

ing hydraulic pressure, chemical expansion, and pneumatic

pressure were considered for energy sources to power the

movement for our experiments. However, pneumatics were

ultimately selected due to their ability to cleanly generate the

high pressures necessary at an architectural scale.

Experiment 1 HINGE AND BALLOON

Once the form of energy was established, exploration quickly

moved toward how to simulate differential material configura-

tion similar to the elator mechanism. Early methods were

literal analogies of the cellular movement of the elators. Later

experiments became more abstracted. The first working

model was comprised of two wooden rectangular surfaces

joined along one edge with a hinge. Between the two surfac-

es was a pneumatic pressure vessel which simulated the

lumina. When pressurized, the angle between the two surfac-

es increased. Although this model was a literal depiction of

the elator's operation at the cellular level, it lacked a certain

amount of architectural finesse and needed development.

Other issues included having difficulty containing the pressure

vessel within the two surfaces and a two dimensional propa-

gation of the module.

EMTECH 2013-2014 Biomimetics Documentation HorsetailsE

Steel Hinge

as connector

10 mm thick Birch

plywood as base

Balloon as pneumatic

pressure vesselRubber band Hose clump

Hinge and Balloon Experiment Components

0 Pressure in the balloon Pressure applied in the balloon

Bicycle inner tube

valve

Physical model

22 I 7

HORSETAIL

In an effort to identify the most suitable material for the biomimic system, several tests were performed with different materials. One of the primary purposes of these experiments was to understand which materials would best perform within the limits of the system: the pressure range within the pneumatic tubes, to provide ample spring back and would have minimal deformation after bending. These tests illustrated that the amount of curling is directly relational to the stiffness of the member being used and the pneumatic pressure. The thin plywood had the flexibility and powerful spring back with very little permanent deformation after experiencing excessive stresses. When testing polypropylene, the flexibility was inherit, however, has some permanent deformations.

In conclusion, by abstracting the dynamic systems of the spores elators in the horsetail plant, a system utilizing a pneumatic compression element connected to a flexible material creates a dynamically responsive system. The systems has the ability of adjustable curved structural beam members as well as an adjustable structural surface. This gives the possibility to achieve synclastic and anticlastic double curvature. By employing a anisotropic tension member in the system arranged non-parallel to the pneumatic compression member, the system was able produce both a bending and twisting deformations simultaneously. The results of the research yielded the potential to advance the concept further in several meaningful directions in the future.

Slots Rectangles Hinges

CUT PATTERN to simulate stretchable material

X X+15% X+30%

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EMTECH 2013-2014 Biomimetics Documentation HorsetailsE

X+30%

Slots Rectangles Hinges

CUT PATTERN to simulate stretchable material

X X+15% X+30%

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200

EMTECH 2013-2014 Biomimetics Documentation HorsetailsE

X+30%

Slots Rectangles Hinges

CUT PATTERN to simulate stretchable material

X X+15% X+30%

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EMTECH 2013-2014 Biomimetics Documentation HorsetailsE

X+30%

Bicycle tire was attached to different materials to test different perfomances. One test was with polypropolyne that was laser cut to allow for flexibility so when the tire would inflate the material would respond and expand so the result would be a layered pneumatic system.

The final material that was used attached to the pneumatic tubes was a laser cut rubber material due to the fact it could expand then return to its original shape. Three bike tubes were used to create a double curved surface.

FOLDING

1 Week Material Workshop: This workshop was led by a visiting professor to provoke the re-examination of the theories and practices of design from the point of view of their embedded material implications seen in such works as Richard Sweeny and Ron Resch. The workshop included daily seminars that provided design inspiration and knowledge of implemented fabrication techniques and the mathematics behind the practice of curve folding. The workshop revealed the ways in which ‘design’ and the ‘technical’ exist within the general culture of architectural production by an extended review of contemporary fabrication techniques within architecture and its related fields. Through extensive physical and digital modeling, the relation of curve folding fabrication techniques to material effects and issues of representation and performance were presented.

The project is a component based system composed of curve-folding elements. Each component is a perfect square that has been folded along each of the square’s corner with explorations including the amount of fold and angle. This gave the opportunity for the final form to have the possibility of a differentiated system with a simple component and fast assemblage.

The workshop was led by Suryansh Chandra (Zaha Hadid Architects) with Mehran Gharleghi.

EMERGENCE

2 Week Team Project: The following experiment explores the potential for applying the biological patterns of genetic behaviour to the computational development of an urban block. Throughout the study, the evolution of a primitive shape was observed through four sequences, each consisting of several generations to produce variation, and every generation composed of a population of individuals. The individuals possess a genetic makeup of four genes, each gene a physical instruction that communicates a change in the individual’s form. This was then translated into an urban block case study: in this project it was Shibam.

Each population of individuals undergone fitness rankings based on specific criteria, elimination of individuals based on a killing strategy, and the employment of a breeding strategy in order to genetically produce the next generation. The power and performance of the gene pool was observed and measured through the introduction of a genetic mutation.

Ultimately, an evolutionary goal was pursued through the application of these genetic techniques to a tower block, to explore the urban, architectural, and spatial potentials of a system that generates random variation from a set of rules.

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EMERGENCE SEMINAR 2013/14

RESULTS

Tulane University, New Orleans, USAMasters of Architecture

Five year design education through the study of architectural history and theory, structures, freehand drawing, technological systems, digital media, and urban studies. I was fully immersed in digital design techniques while learning to incorporate knowledge from historic, environmental, social, programmatic and technological studies into the design studio.

First-year courses include required study in design, visual and digital media, architectural history and theory, technological systems, writing, and other electives in cultural knowledge and scientific inquiry.

Second and third-year courses cover the majority of the program requirements. Intensive studio work in architectural design is complemented by study in architectural history and theory, structures, technological systems, digital media and urban studies.

The fourth-year curriculum involves advanced architectural design in elective studio courses as well as graduate level seminars in architectural theory, technology, professional concerns, urban studies, and digital media.

n the fifth year of study, students will develop an advanced thesis through research, analysis and design in one of four curricular streams. In addition to academic year studies, students are also required to spend two summers working in architecture firms in order to gain an understanding of architecture as a profession.

M.ARCH

M.ARCH THESIS

5 Month Individual Project: By taking inspiration from biological structuralism, there is a new light that through the growth of organic design, architecture can begin to emerge in a way that has the ability to grow and develop through a single form of dynamic interacting parts. Nature does not only inspire form, but also holds key to the process of form. Nature is influential due to its ability to evolve, adapt, and change quickly with minimal materials and extreme organization, resulting in maximum potential.

The form of biological structuralism is due to the process of morphogenesis: the growth of form. It is the idea that organisms act as a whole and that change in one part must take into account the interconnected nature of the entire organism resulting in a process of self-organization and unique emergent forms such as the fibers of fingerprints or

a zebra’s stripes. Nature is dynamic, complex, and in some ways chaotic, however, this is what creates form.

Today, through a strong advancement in computer aided design and environmental awareness, there has been a movement of biological-inspired design. There is potential that exists in applying the ideas of morphogenesis in nature to architecture to create a maximally efficient and new formative design in which all the parts of the system work together to create a single biological structure.

“... the totality is not, as it were, a mere heap, but the whole is something besides the parts ...”- Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book H 1045a 8-10

Computation evolution of form through partical simulation of vortex- simulating the formation of sea shells. Three surfaces represents the three main program areas.

M.ARCH THESIS

Nature and her methods can be regarded as highly complex, yet are some of the most sustainable and efficient systems on the planet. “Living organisms can be regarded as systems, and these systems acquire their complex forms and patterns of behavior through the interactions, in space and over time, of their components.” It is this quality of self-organization to produce the most efficient structural form that results in an inspirational design approach.

The digital revolution of the 21st century has allowed a second chance to focus on form and innovative materialization again. In science and engineering, bio-mimicry has influenced design because of the interlaced systematic potential it can carry. “Thanks to bio-mimetic engineering, the strategic consideration of the interrelated make-up and functionality of biological materials, is slowly beginning to make its way into architectural design.”

However, in relation to architecture, there still exists a gap in our interpretation of natural systems and design. Neri Oxman explained that “in nature one finds complete integration between shape, structure, and material achieved through generations, adaption and growth analogs.” “Nature offers not forms, but processes to think about form: recipes that mix material and environment together and it is that mixture that form emerges.” Maurice Maeterlink’s did a study of the termite mound and their morphology in relation to architecture. The shape of the mounds are constantly reorganizing themselves in order to isolate the temperature and perform the intake and output of fresh air. In this way, a single material form is able to achieve multiple functions based upon a tight relationship between adaptive and organizational needs; rather than using its energy to perform a single function, nature must negotiate multiple forces by means of a single form.

M.ARCH THESIS

Morphogenesis creates a tight relationship between form, function, and the environment. The form of an organism has a large affect on its behavior and the same behavior will perform differently in different environments. “Organisms are bundles of relationships that maintain themselves by adjusting their own behavior in anticipation of changes to the patterns of activity all around them.” As a result, biological growth involves redundancy, self-organization, and the creation of a form that has a close adaptive relationship to the environment and systems. Nature achieves this wholeness of form in a series of structure-preserving transformations that interlink with each other to reinforce the perception of whole. This repetition, or redundancy, is a result of a series of alterations to promote efficiency.

“During the self-assembly process of morphogenesis of an individual, the mutual interdependence of hierarchical levels of cellular organization ensures that there is redundancy within each individual. The robust design of natural living systems is not produced by optimization and standardization, but by redundancy and differentiation.”

By taking inspiration from biological structuralism and the growth of organic design, architecture can begin to emerge in a way that has the ability to grow and develop through a single form of dynamic interacting parts. There is much potential in a multifunctional and single form. A leaf is an example of a tight heterogeneous relationship of parts and materials. The result is a single form that has the structural ability to defy gravity while still having the mobility to interact with sunlight to engage in the process of photosynthesis. Organisms act as a whole and change in one part must take into account the interconnected nature of the entire organism.

The goal of a successful design is in the relationship of the cultural, physical, functional, and organizational systems to create the guidelines for autonomous form making. Through collaboration between technology and structure, imitation can be lost and realization can exist. The architect’s job is to control the complexities that arise in design. Form is the complexities and self organization created from external influence and behaviors that create natural chaos and beauty.

HYPERCUBE

3 Week Team Project: This was a question of redefining a 2 ft x 2ft cube. The concept is the hyper cube - a cube that continues infinitely in a consistent twist.

As the cube twists, the intersecting pieces begin to create the final form for the model. Even though the cube has an indefinite number of twists, series can be established that start and end with a scaled cube. The pieces result from the overlap from the twisting cubes. (Fig 1) This included a larger study model of the fabrication in preparation for the final two foot model.

The Hyper Cube was generated through Grasshopper with simple coding of a continuous cube through scaling iterations. This created a unique 3-dimensional space that was used in the final model.

Fig 1

STEEL WEB

4 Month Individual Project: Steel is traditionally seen as something stiff, strong, and orthogonal; The experiment was to redefine steel as a organic structural tool to create an organically form element within an architectural setting. The program contains a Culinary School and a large Restaurant of which students have full access to throughout their study.

The idea was to create a tumor-like form that grows from within an orthogonally traditional building and invades that program throughout. This tumour goes as far as to puncture the exterior facade, the roof, and the foundation of the building and connects all elements together into one.

Within the tumor the public restaurant is held with a direct access to the front of the building. Classrooms and lecture rooms surround, connect, and overlook it as to allow for easy access and a learning tool and example for the students within the culinary school. The school itself is layed out around the tumour and responds to where the tumour exists. The building relies on the steel tumour in a symbiotic relationship, as the steel tumour supports the entire building suspends each floor.

A tension and surface study to further understand the amount of steel support needed and where. The Steel connects to the facade to create edgless surface that continues as the facade of the building. The steel tumor becomes the structure for the building to a single solid form.

the building and outside. The organization of the bulbs is based upon a study of different organic bulbs, specifically an onion. This study began to influence the nature of the levitating bulbs.

The exploration began with a series of models that investigated different circulation possibilities and concept. The process of finding the most efficient number of bulbs that allows the most flexible circulation.

SIN CENTER

3 Month Partner Project: Sin is tempting; and to see it and hold it can be seen as something more tempting. Much like the apple in the garden of Eden, sin is organic and a natural part of being human. The concept is each ‘sinful’ program is represented as an attractive object that is suspended in the air. The program consisted of:

Office BuildingHotelClubSpaCabaretRestaurant

These bulbs become an extension of sin through temptation. This temptation is led through a series of ramps that divide and intersect the bulbs too create a disconnect of inside

SIN CENTER

The bulbs act as the structure of the building that suspend off the roof of the building and the largest connect to the foundation to, in reality, act as a large column. However, still from the perspective of a visitor they glow like the other bulbs, look like the other bulbs, and there-fore become other suspended bulbs. These bulbs, with the ability to connect to the foundation, allow for structural ability and enhanced connectivity on the ground, or maintenance, floor.

The bulbs glow different colours according to the different program that occupies it to differentiate them from each other. This furthers the curiosity of each bulb and the temptation of the visitors. The bulbs not only bring in natural light through large skylights during the day bur also allow for stacked ventilation within each bulb. As people circulate throughout the building they are able to witness all parts of each bulb. The spa lobby in which visitors can see inside the pool from above.

The facade is a undulating louver that fits the exterior of the bulbs like a glove to provide translucency yet opacity: a glimpse of the world inside the building.

Plants and rendered sectional plans showing each of the six bulbs and the organization of the program within them. With an undulating ramps that wraps around and within each bulb, the program is divide within the middle of each program with skylights bringing down natural light.

DESIGN EXPERIENCE

ALBERT ARCHITECTURE | New Orleans. LA | 2013Architect Assistant | Web Design | 3d Visualizer

WWCOT | Shanghai. China | 2012Intern Architect

TULANE REGIONAL URBAN DESIGN CENTER | New Orleans. LA | 2010-2011Project Assistant | Graphic Design

GLOBAL GREEN USA | New Orleans. LA | 2011Project Manager Assistant | Graphic Design

MARRANO CORPORATION | Buffalo. NY | 2009Drafting Assistant

LEADERSHIP

TULANE HOUSING AND RESIDENCE LIFE | New Orleans. LA | 2009-2013Residential Advisor

DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

THE DIGITAL PROTOTYPING LAB | London. UK | 2013-2014Assistant Technician

THE DIGITAL OUTPUT LAB | New Orleans, LA | 2010-2013Specialist Technician

EXP-ERIENCE

ALBERT ARCHITECTURE

New Orleans. LA | 2013Architect Assistant | Web Design | 3d Visualizer

• Reviewed and documented staff’s, contractors’, and clients’ incoming and outgoing payments

• Designed and Developed the firm’s website and social network (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter)

• Worked independently and with a small group on various projects including, but not limited to, the redevelopment of parking lots to meet Louisiana code, interior remodelings, and residential additions.

• Increased firm’s profit by providing additional rendering services to clients

DANISH INSTITUTE OF STUDY ABROAD

Copenhagen, DKArchitectural Design 2011

• Included concentrated study and travel of Scandanavian Architecture and Urban Design.

• Solo backpacking across Europe at the end of course

DIGITAL LAB

London. UK | 2013-2014Assistant Technician

• Machine operation and maintenance of: two Z Corp 3D Printing, three CNC milling, and four Laser Cutting machines

• Leading the day-to-day running of the workshop, health and safety, and operational efficiency, including training of assistants and work scheduling

• Helping students solve practical problems of construction and technique

New Orleans, LA | 2010-2013Specialist Technician

• Machine operation and maintenance of: three 18”×32” Universal Systems laser cutters, a Z-corp 350 monochrome 3D printer, three HP 42” Z6100ps plotters, and one 42” Contax large format scanner

WWCOT

Shanghai. China | 2012Intern Architect

• Represented and attended client meetings across the country while surveying sites and receiving briefs

• Developed and researched sustainable design strategies to evolve a landscaping project in Nanjing

• Independently conceptually designed large components of govenmental competitions including a landmark of a new business center, a museum, a theatre, and landscaping schemes.