HUGH DUTTON ASSOCIATES will participate in the MONA_LISA PAVILLION WORKSHOP and will give a lecture on Monday, 21st of Mai with the title PARAMETRIC DESIGN + COMPLEX GEOMETRIES + NEW TECHNOLOGIES. Thanks to Politecnico di Torino and Antonio Spinelli for inviting us to this event where we will also meet Andrea Graziano, an italian parametric designer who is also a very active member of the parametric network on the web. You can find below a draft of our presentation and an embed of Andrea Graziano’s lecture.

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PARAMETRIC DESIGN + COMPLEX GEOMETRIES + NEW TECHNOLOGIES
a lecture by HUGH DUTTON ASSOCIATES

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IN[FORM]ATION
a lecture by Alessio Erioli, Andrea Graziano
more info at co-de-it.com

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Cinématique du phasage de chantier de la Philharmonie de Paris, modélisation des espaces fonctionnels, Architecte Jean Nouvel. Projet en cours depuis 2009.

IMAGES CI-DESSUS: readymade.fr

Readymade® a pour vocation l’intégration des nouvelles technologies dans le monde de l’architecture et du BTP.
En assistance à maitrise d’ouvrage, Readymade® conçoit et réalise des outils numériques à haute valeur ajoutée en particulier la simulation, en revue de projet, de scénarii d’exploitation et d’optimisation dans le cadre du BIM (Building Information Modeling)

Le portfolio ci-dessus montre le travail de Hugh Dutton Associés réalisé pour la Philharmonie de Paris. Pour en savoir plus sur nos études pour ce projet, vous pouvez regarder ICI, ICI et ICI [VIDEO]

PHOTOS CI-DESSUS: Philarmonie de Paris sur Flickr
SLIDESHOW CODE: created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

PHOTO: AAG PROCEEDING 2010 – SOURCE: aag12.architecturalgeometry.at

En ce moment à l’agence nous préparons un paper/workshop pour le congres ADVANCES IN ARCHITECTURAL GEOMETRY qui se tiendra au Centre Pompidou (@centrepompidou sur twitter) le 27 et le 28 septembre 2012.
Si vous voulez participer, la date limite de réception des articles ou ateliers est le 15 mai (plus d’informations ici)

AAG is a symposium presenting theoretical works and practices linked to new geometrical developments applicable to architecture.

This symposium aims to gather the diverse components of contemporary architectural trends which push the building envelope towards free form and respond to the multiple current design challenges with a renewed mathematical rigor.

It involves architects, engineers, software designers and contractors.

AAG has become a reference in the professional field and is supported by the direct participation of the most renowned architectural design and engineering offices along with academic laboratories.

L’édition 2012 de AAG est organisé par RFR, dans le cadre du programme de recherche européen IAPP, auquel participent TU WIEN, EVOLUTE et RFR.

En collaboration avec Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Malaquais et avec le support de Centre Pompidou où aura lieu le congrès.

Today we feature Open Energy Visualization by Fran Castillo.
The project is related to our recent researches about SMART HOUSING, REAL-TIME CITIES, and PARTICIPATORY SENSING

Open Energy aims to develop a platform to explore new systems of visualization and optimization for energy consumption, both in domestic and industrial environments.

The project has two dimensions: the first one, Energy Monitoring Device, investigates open hardware devices for monitoring power consumption and the second one, Open Energy Visualization (Data Visualization / Augmented Reality App – photo above), which explores new ways of real-time visualization power consumption in domestic environments.

“The citizens need to have their needs and desires addressed to create their own quality environment. IT IS A QUESTION OF INFORMATION”
Hugh Dutton at SMART TURIN WORKSHOP

Open Energy will allow us to amplify our knowledge about the dynamic behavior of our relation with energy.

Open Energy is an Open Source prototype. In view of the upcoming Internet of Things, Open Energy offers the design of a visualization system which is inserted into a new energy distribution model, where new technologies allow a decentralized production of electricity at a global scale, defining new frameworks for sustainability.

Open Energy Visualization (OEV) is a real-time visualization software for power consumption (kWh) and CO2 levels (g) in housing. OEV seeks to implement the design of a Smart Grid system (intelligent electric distribution network) by using visualization technologies, sensors systems and autonomous electricity production, in order to optimize the global energy distribution.

These visualization structures will allow new ways of relationship between energy and humans. Real-time visualization of power consumption and simulation of future behaviors will constitute a new information system for CO2 levels and real-time value of the electricity.

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MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROJECT AND ITS APPLICATIONS AT openenergy.francastillo.net

Le mois dernier, invités par l’association Assaut Vert et avec la participation de la doctorante Aurélie de Boissieu de DNArchi et le professeur Claire Pétetin, nous avons tenu à l’École de Versailles une conference sur l’Architecture paramétrique et libre de droit, en abordant le sujet de l’architecture paramétrique avec des cas d’application concrète. Retrouvez ci-dessous le support de présentation de la conference en PDF et, bien sur, librement téléchargeable et réutilisable [Licence Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0]

Pour une lecture plus confortable, vous pouvez visualiser le document en plein écran ou bien le télécharger en haute résolution suivant le lien ci-dessous. La conference contient des projets de l’agence Hugh Dutton Associés comme les PYLONS OF THE FUTURE, la passerelle pour LA ROCHE SUR YON et le projet TURIN SMART CITY. Egalement, la conference cite comme exemples d’expériences réalisées les projet AIR TREE COMMONS et DREAMHAMAR de l’agence ECOSISTEMA URBANO.

TÉLÉCHARGEMENT /// ARCHITECTURE PARAMÉTRIQUE ET ARCHITECTURE PARTICIPATIVE [PDF]

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Retrouvez également notre conference VERS UNE ARCHITECTURE PARAMÉTRIQUE.

A few months ago we shared with you a free download of our CAD Standards and we were surprised to see that the post became one of the most read of our blog with 2933 pageviews and almost 2000 downloads in total. This was also a good occasion to connect with other people who were working on the same problem.

As Phil from Hugh Dutton Associates explained in his post, “much of this standard is designed to be applied to both AutoCAD and Rhino (and possibly other design software programs which may be used), with the aim of increasing compatibility between the two. Since then, Gary and other guys have been asking for our Rhinoceros template files and today we finally share with you our work-in-progress. Please don’t hesitate to download and try them and share with us your comments!

DOWNLOAD RHINOCEROS TEMPLATE - work in progress (133)

PHOTO CI-DESSUS extraite du Portfolio de Romain Kersulec

EXPOSITION “DIAGRAMME(S)”
Dans le cadre du Salon du Dessin Contemporain

Galerie Spéciale, École Spéciale d’Architecture
DU 30 MARS AU 27 AVRIL
254, boulevard Raspail, 75014 Paris
Entrée libre
Ouverture du lundi au vendredi de 10h à 18h

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As a generative device in a process of design the diagram is also a form of representation. But unlike traditional forms of representation, the diagram as a generator is a mediation between a palpable object, a real building, and what can be called architecture’s interiority. (Eisenman 1999, Diagram Diaries)

En savoir plus > esa-paris.fr
Livret de l’exposition > PDF

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PHOTO CI-DESSUS extraite du Portfolio de Romain Kersulec

Hugh Dutton Associés est une des agence d’architecture invitée à participer à l’exposition, qui inclut des diagrammes et des visualisations de l’agence dont vous pouvez voir des exemples dans la photo ci-dessus et ici.

In Guangzhou Swire Properties have recently completed a mixed used commercial development taking up a full city block on comprising hotels, offices and shopping including a cultural centre for the city. TaiKoo Hui is a large-scale multi-faceted complex in the thriving heart of the Tianhe Central Business District of Guangzhou, developed and managed by Swire Properties. Offering a gross floor area of approximately 358,000 sqm (exclusive of the cultural center), it incorporates a prime shopping mall, two Grade A office towers, a cultural center, the first Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Guangzhou, and serviced apartments. More info at taikoohui.com

Daylight is a key ingredient to the Taikoo Hui shopping centre, and notably with the intent to flood the mall with light deep into the lower and basement levels. The glass components designed by Hugh Dutton Associates celebrate daylight. They provide sculptural expression that responds to light through filtering it, diffusing it, playing with it’s shadows, reflecting it.

Hugh Dutton Associates were engaged by Swire as specialist design consultants to architects Arquitectonica for all the feature glazing components of the development; notably the main entrance atria boxes, and waving linear skylight down the central spine of the shopping mall.

Other fragments, such as the cultural centre lobby, glass footbridges, office building and hotel lobbies and canopies, glass flooring and glass canopies, are carried out in a similar design approach based on simple geometric compositions that play with light. Waffle grids in the case of the entrance box atria and a curvilinear series of glass facets for the main skylight. For both, the simple surfaces are reinforced with tensile bracing systems that complement the design composition with points of interest or spatial geometric compositions. Careful attention is paid to the design of the assembly details and structural components.

The glass box atria are waffle grids in welded steel plate ant then clad in aluminium casings to conceal the connection details and glazing joints. The long spans are assisted with the cable and inverted pyramid struts that culminate in a custom feature steel casting. A notable feature of the glass boxes are the glass to glass corners the play a key role in the feeling of transparency and lightness. The boxes are more waffle surfaces that play with light than they are devices for spatial containment.

The skylight roof comprises a series of facets of planar glass that describe an undulating surface from one end of the mall to the other. The undulations peak over the escalator exits to provide access onto the level 3 landscaped deck. The cable system assists the cross beams to span across the void of the mall but also protection against uplift forces in typhoon conditions.

In all cases the glass is fritted and treated to limit excessive glare. Black dots are printed on the glass surface to attenuate the glare, whilst still letting light flood into the space below.

Inside the mall, glass footbridges reinforce the use of glass as an expression of the light penetration into the mall. Conceived as the thinnest translucent wafers possible, 450mm deep for 16m approx. spans, they are supported by a tight array of heavy steel beams clad in translucent opal interlayer glass. To achieve the thin design, damping devices are provided for to limit the discomfort of the pedestrian traffic.

In Guangzhou Swire Properties have recently completed a mixed used commercial development taking up a full city block on comprising hotels, offices and shopping including a cultural centre for the city. TaiKoo Hui is a large-scale multi-faceted complex in the thriving heart of the Tianhe Central Business District of Guangzhou, developed and managed by Swire Properties. Offering a gross floor area of approximately 358,000 sqm (exclusive of the cultural center), it incorporates a prime shopping mall, two Grade A office towers, a cultural center, the first Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Guangzhou, and serviced apartments. More info at taikoohui.com

A few months ago we presented in this blog ROBOFOLD and its robots to create foldable complex surfaces. Today we share an overview about the “Facade Fabrication” workshop RoboFold held in London, September 2011. Run by Greg Epps and Daniel Piker, the workshop explored digital and physical design processes for producing facade panels in curved sheet metal.

Jeg Dudley, the author of the following presentation, was an assistant tutor at this event. The processes we developed utilize the Kangaroo and Lobster IK plugins for Rhino, both developed by Daniel Piker.

The design process is a very intuitive one, combining both hands-on experimentation and digital simulation/ fabrication. We have run several workshops for students, as well as collaborating on curved folding projects with architects, engineers, facade designers and artists.

We begin by encouraging them to build lots of rough card models by hand, just to get a feel for how the card behaves and in order to generate lots of varied possible forms. These can be made by sketching on card sheets and folding along the ridge lines created, or just by running a blunt scalpel ‘freehand’ across the card, and seeing how the resulting form folds (or doesn’t!). These experiments quickly reveal the few underlying ‘rules’ to curved folds in sheets material – such as if you have two concave folds next to one another, one must be a ‘mountain’ fold and one must be a ‘valley’ fold, and so on. All of these rules are in reality just a result of the material remaining developable throughout the fold process – so while the entire sheet might appear to have a very complex form, all the individual sections that comprise it are either cylindrical, conic, tangential developable or (in some unusual cases) planar.

We then isolate a few of the most promising panel designs based on criteria such as the desired aesthetic, ease of folding, numbers of contact points required (never more than the number of robots we own!), panel size and nesting during transportation, desired overlap (if it is external cladding), and so on. These selected designs are then flattened and scanned into a computer, and redrawn as a vector-based template. At this point we have to make some educated guesses about where the rulings sit on each piece of the surface, and draw these on the surface. Finding the rulings is straightforward for some folds, but in others the surfaces might blend from one developable type to another (e.g. the rulings in one section might run to a point, suggesting that the surface is a conic, before becoming parallel as the surface becomes cylindrical). At the moment RoboFold are working on several processes to make this analysis easier.

Once the final flat pattern is refined, we send it to a lasercutter or cnc router and produce the template for the object in sheet metal. Each of the mountain and valley fold lines is either subtly scored along, or we use a dashed ‘perforated’ cut along the fold lines. The depth of the cut, or the use of perforations, depends on the particular fold we want to achieve.

At the same time we import the pattern file into Rhino and GrassHopper, and use the Kangaroo Plugin to digitally simulate the material characteristics of the sheet metal we will use for the final object. We treat each edge and ruling in the pattern as a rigid spring and give them an identical start and rest length, meaning during the Kangaroo physics simulation they will act like a network of rigid wires. In this way the simulation can approximate a non-stretchy material (i.e. like sheet metal or paper, rather than say rubber). However each face must also stay planar – this is not a problem with the triangular faces in the pattern, but for the quad faces we must also extract diagonals and add these to the network of springs. After this we select certain ‘hinge’ points in the pattern, and define what angle we want them to fold to. Because the patterns have only a single degree of freedom, as one crease is folded all others should fold simultaneously.

Finally, we run the fold simulation and record the positional (X,Y,Z) and normal data for certain points on the surface where we want the robot arms to ‘grasp’ during the fold. Through an inverse kinematics process this positional information is then used to locate the robotic manufacturing arms during production. Other details, such as when to turn on and off the vacuum effectors at the end of each arm, are added after the simulation has been run and ‘recorded’.

The entire process is quite an iterative one, so that sometimes a pattern is simulated in Kangaroo and as a result we go back to the original pattern and adjust it. Similarly we often fold one of the full-scale metal templates by hand before sending it to the robots. This gives the designer a feel for how the material is behaving during the process, and it might tell us that the robot arms need to be repositioned on the surface, or that the score lines need to be deeper.

Personally, I really enjoy the process and value it for being fundamentally driven by the material constraints of the metals we use. This seems to be something rather rare in design at the moment, when everyone is producing ‘plastic’ 3D printed models.

MORE INFO > www.RoboFold.com + www.CurvedFolding.com

This post was written by Jeg Dudley
Photos : www.robofold.com

Image mixée d’un projet de Hugh Dutton Associés + definition grasshopper par nachetz [flickr]

Depuis quelques semaines Hugh Dutton Associés est coordinateur, avec Nadir Tazdait, d’un cours d’Architecture Paramétrique à l’Ecole d’architecture Villes et Territoires de Marne la Vallée. Le cours est conçu selon la méthodologie networked-learning que nous avons exposé dans notre article sur le network thinking et l’architecture en réseau écrit pour DNArchi.
Le cours inclut un site web interactif et ouvert aux publications des étudiants et à la participation de tout ceux qui sont interessés à ces thématiques:

complexitys.com/parametrix

Ecole d’architecture Villes et Territoires de Marne la Vallée
Optionnel Master : Architecture Paramétrique
Enseignants : Nadir Tazdait, Francesco Cingolani
Intervenant : Zoubeir Azouz
Conférences : Hugh Dutton Associés

Séance 1 à 6 initiation Grasshopper
Cours initiation interface Rhino, Cours Grasshopper, tutoriaux, exercices, visites.
Validation des projets de groupes en séance 6.

Séance 7 à 12, projet de groupe restreint
Suivi des projets et architecture en Grasshopper.
Pré-Jury faisabilité technique du projet de groupe séance 9.
Jury architectural du projet de groupe et choix Biennale.

Le cours inclut une conference de l’agence Hugh Dutton Associés prévue pour le mois d’avril.
Ci-dessus la presentation exposée lors de la première séance du cours, le vendredi 2 mars 2012, basée sur la conference Vers une Architecture Participative. 

Architecture Paramétrique – séance 1/12

Nous allons traiter certaines de ces thématiques mardi prochain 27 Mars lors de notre conference Architecture Participative à laquelle nous vous invitons à assister. Pour tout renseignement, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter.