"Volume No. 36 in the series "The IT Revolution in Architecture", this book explores research spaces that bring together computational compositional processes with environmental awareness, in search of an architecture for a sustainable society based on digital making and knowledge sharing."
"In short, it was about optimising the management and production of design processes. It was the beginning of a revolution, (...) people began to think that motion systems could be used not only to replicate, in a more precise way, the same methodologies used until then, but could on the contrary be conceived as such powerful tools that they could modify the 'generative' design processes themselves."
The revolution was to create a system in which programming, which was thought only possible for computer scientists, would produce a result after inputting an initial piece of data, making it possible to change an initial piece of data and automatically reproduce the result. It became possible to model using mathematical formulas, opening doors to a world of infinite possibilities. Shapes that had previously been difficult to model could now be produced in fractions of a second.
This method now makes it possible to create all kinds of structures.
Architecture has always adapted to the needs of society and environmental problems have become the focus of architectural issues.
«An increasing responsibility of human society towards the environment is a great challenge for every designer (...). Their designs, whether of objects, processes or buildings, must be able to adapt to the environment in a way that is not dissimilar to living organisms. (...) An intelligent 'thing' is able to behave in a way that performs in relation to the environmental and social situations in which it finds itself. The natural, or artificial environment provides input. These inputs must be perceived, processed, understood and must give rise to outputs, which are the final behaviour. An intelligent 'thing' must be equipped with sensors capable of perceiving environmental inputs.»
It was realised that the parametric projection process allows variable factors to be added through its automated response. It is possible to adapt the architecture to environmental conditions, as variable factors that influence the result.
We talk about (intelligent) façades because that's where this novelty is most present; the façade is the layer that covers the interior, an organ of the building that is essential for the functioning of the whole, like the skin functions in a living being. Facades have appeared that interact with the various elements of nature such as the wind or the sun, protecting the building's ecosystem from them or using them in their favour, for example to create energy. This interactive architecture is often referred to by other authors as Kinetic Architecture.
I find the contrast between technology, which allows for the modelling and production of infinite results in a mechanical way, based on mathematical formulas and used to solve architectural problems, at the moment environmental problems, with nature, the purest and most unaltered ecosystem, particularly interesting. This technological production merely imitates nature and its intrinsic ability to adapt and regenerate. When Biomimicry is integrated into architecture, it allows a "thing" to react to the sun. This happens infinitely often in nature, whether it's the eyes of a living being that adapt to the light, or a flower that only blooms in the presence of the sun.
New technologies have allowed us to design parametrically without limits, which in reality can mean bringing architecture to life, turning it into a living organism.
Brisbane Airport
Al Bahar Towers
