Emergent Materiality though an Embedded Multi-Agent System

2016

This paper presents the research completed in AA Greece Visiting School 2016 in Thessaloniki. The work integrates computational design and digital fabrication, focusing on aspects of complexity in the making of an architectural interactive prototype. During this research, the use of computation accommodates the design and fabrication of indeterminacy and complexity in different scales and levels . The prototype, Eos, projects on itself the urban characteristics of the city of Thessaloniki. The aim has been to enable a 1-to-1 scale structure to act as a hub of information, capable of communicating with human users through interaction. As the city of Thessaloniki is characterised by specific environmental and urban conditions, the prototype has been set to express such properties.

International Journal of Architectural Computing, 2009

The article is based on the premise that in the history of architecture there has always been an intimate relationship between architectural ideas and the various perceptions of the alive. On this premise the article focuses on and investigates the relationship of the contemporary architectural paradigm labeled as digital, parametric or morphogenetic with the alive. Its objective is to reveal its new profound reasonings which lead and nourish its creative expression; to articulate its new ethos with the extended use of advanced information technologies for the creation of architectural forms, but also for the generation of a broad spectrum of new building materials with properties predefined by the architect. The immaterial, the hybrid, the composite, the mutable, the transformable, the interactive, the dynamic, do not only appear as properties of certain architectural creations or building materials, but also as values expressing this ethos and declaring a new relationship or a rec...

Architecture, by definition, is the art or science of designing and building. However, in both training and practice, architects are focused on the means and methods of design. The means and methods of design are distinct from those of physical construction or fabrication, which have traditionally been in the hands of those who are physically manufacturing, assembling, and constructing. Thus, the perceived complexity of constructability is predicated on the efficiency of communication between the designer and the maker. For the last two centuries, traditional architectural drawing packages of projected two dimensional plans, elevations, sections and details representing three dimensional constructions, assemblies and spaces have been a suitable means of communicating design intent to fabricators, builders, and contractors. However, as the aspirations, performative requirements, and complexity of architectural projects have increased exponentially, the need for more relevant means and methods of design, as well as mediums and protocols for communication between designer and maker have become critical. Recent advances in design computation (associative or parametric modelling, scripting, algorithmic design, building information modelling, performative analysis, etc.) and digital fabrication (rapid prototyping, CNC milling, robotic assembly, etc.) have enabled a newfound connection between the act of designing and the act of making by favouring a direct and recursive bidirectional file-to-factory communication protocol that utilizes digital media as not only a tool (for creating design drawings) but as a technique (for embedding design logic). By doing so, an opportunity has emerged for digital media to be utilized as more than an enabler of automated production protocols (representation), but rather as a medium for embedding and communicating design process (realization).

2015 Proceedings of the 6th annual Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design (SimAUD)

This paper presents research on the development of multi- agent systems (MAS) for integrated and performance driven architectural design. It presents the development of a simulation framework that bridges architecture and engineering, through a series of multi-agent based experiments. The research is motivated to combine multiple design agencies into a system for managing and optimizing architectural form, across multiple objectives and contexts. The research anticipates the incorporation of feedback from real world human behavior and user preferences with physics based structural form finding and environmental analysis data. The framework is a multi-agent system that provides design teams with informed design solutions, which simultaneously optimize and satisfy competing design objectives. The initial results for building structures are measured in terms of the level of lighting improvements and qualitatively in geometric terms. Critical to the research is the elaboration of the system and the feedback loops that are possible when using the multi-agent systems approach.

Architectural Science Review, 2019

Buildings consist of subsystems and components which have various functional and performance requirements. This inherent multiplicity demands the design and production of multi-material systems with varying and complementary properties and behaviours. This paper discusses a set of methods of digital design modelling and robotic production of hybridity in various architectural scales. In the case studies, the performance criteria serve as the underlying logic of the design and computation. The projects showcase how programmability and customizability of robotic manufacturing allow for establishing feedback loops from the production to design. Three projects are discussed in detail: a hybrid of flexible cork and rigid polystyrene, a hybrid of structural concrete with an intertwined permanent mould, and a hybrid of soft additively deposited silicone and subtractively produced hard foam. Each project has specific design performance criteria, with which a certain level of geometric complexity and variation is accomplished. Therefore, the research objective is to define and materialize the practical and robotically producible ranges of geometric complexities for each of the proposed methods. Additionally, the customization and development of robotic production setups are discussed. The research concludes that multi-materiality achieved through multimode robotic production methods introduces a higher, on-demand, and performance-driven resolution in building systems.

This paper presents research on the development of multi- agent systems (MAS) for integrated and performance driven architectural design. It presents the development of a simulation framework that bridges architecture and engineering, through a series of multi-agent based experiments. The research is motivated to combine multiple design agencies into a system for managing and optimizing architectural form, across multiple objectives and contexts. The research anticipates the incorporation of feedback from real world human behavior and user preferences with physics based structural form finding and environmental analysis data. The framework is a multi-agent system that provides design teams with informed design solutions, which simultaneously optimize and satisfy competing design objectives. The initial results for building structures are measured in terms of the level of lighting improvements and qualitatively in geometric terms. Critical to the research is the elaboration of the sy...

Smart Home Systems, 2010

Establishing a sustainable environment is an important mission for research on the next generation of intelligent houses. The current living environment is full of fixed architectural elements, or reactive elements that merely possess a "perception reaction" function. These elements are hard to respond to a changing and complex environment by judging and assessing changing circumstances in order to satisfy users' varied, complex needs. Take an opening in a classroom wall, for instance: When loud construction noise from outside can come in through the opening, but the classroom is extremely hot because of crowded students, would it be better to open or close the window in order to achieve a comfortable classroom environment? Of course this situation cannot be analyzed solely on the basis of use of a fixed glass soundproof door or window, or a ventilation opening, and can be resolved by a reactive device possessing solely a perception actuation function only to a limited extend. As a consequence, this study seeks to promote the creation of an intelligent architecture environment possessing perception computing actuation communication (PCAC) functions, where the computing mechanism can consider diverse situations, drive architectural elements, and engage in communication and coordination in order to adapt to changes.

eCAADe proceedings

This paper describes and reflects upon the results of an investigative project which explores the setting up of a material system-a parametric and generative assembly consisting of and taking into consideration material properties, manufacturing constraints and geometric behavior. The project approaches the subject through the construction of a logic-driven system aiming to explore the possibilities of a material system that fulfills spatial, structural and performative requirements concurrently and how these are negotiated in situations where they might be conflicting.

2012

A seamless design and fabrication process is considered as the materialization of a design project through a paperless fabrication method, where the design data is directly linked to CNC machines, the required components are manufactured and the whole structure is assembled on site, preferably with robotic methods that are currently developed. Yet, this is only one aspect of its definition. Another one is that the 'seamless' and, additionally, the 'scaleless' factors derive from the potential to use digital processes that have the distinct ability to follow a programmed itinerary of actions that runs uninhibited from operational gaps and junctions. In this sense, the aforementioned factors find a deeper meaning as the manifestation of their characteristics spans from the macro to the nano scale. Setting up a context based on Schodek’s view of the constitutive model, Wolfram’s theory on cellular automata and emergence, Vogel’s book on Comparative Biomechanics and the classic On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Thompson, this paper addresses two key issues. Firstly, the notion that smart or bio-materials can form a bridge between design and materiality through focused digital processes, and secondly, the description of the research path required to connect the design tools with smart or biological materials’ development and application. In order to explore these issues systematically the paper categorizes the areas of application according to scale, digital potential, and aspects of phenomenology.

Journal of Architectural Education, 2014