Conceptualisation

Frank Lloyd Wright is the father of modern architecture. His philosophical concepts defined the future and direction that architecture has taken over the last seventy years. Introduc-ing the philosophy of ‘organic’ architecture, Wright believed in creatsing a relationship between a structure and the natural en-vironment. He strongly believed that nature had a plethora of untapped knowledge that could dictate how structures are formed.

Wright argues that like nature there should be as many styles of houses as there are kinds of people. Though organic architecture was the overarch-ing philosophy there was the freedom within it to create or utilised your own artistic ex-pression. However, with this freedom there is also an im-portance of not allowing in-dividual elements to shine at the expense of the structure as a whole. These concepts were a large step away from the structure and ruling of previous architectural eras such as Neo-classicm and Gothic Revival.

Nature has an innate ability to continually perfect its form. Through this natural process Wright transferred this concept into his architecture ensuring that like nature every element of his design was deliberate and contained a purpose.

Fallingwater is one of Wright’s most renowned architectural pieces. Today, it is currently a National Historic Landmark that is still functional as a holiday house as well as an architectur-al museum. Through the form, planning, materiality and even down to the colour scheme, Wright was able to create a piece of artwork that most illus-trated his philosophy of organic architecture.

Being situated adjacent to a waterfall, the design mimics a rock face with which a waterfall cascades from. This integration of the structure into the natural environment allows the beauty of the site to not be overshad-owed by human intervention.

Even the materials and colour schemes utilised related to the structures natural site therefore creating this organic flow be-tween inside and outside. It was important as part of Wright’s philosophy to ensure that all the elements surrounding and within the structure related to one another and more impor-tantly, had a purpose.

Pennsylvania Frank Lloyd Wright 1935Fallingwater

The Industrial Revolution brought into the world many new technologies that has helped shaped and developed the way we construct today. The introduction of cast iron as a structural material, a whole new world of possibili-ties opened up. Along with cast iron, plate glass was slowly being perfected and the in-troduction of mass production of these two main materials helped bring to fruition Joseph Paxton’s grand design.

The 1851 Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, London. The manufacturing exhibition was set to celebrate the new tech-nologies from around the world.

Through the use of large plate glass panels and cast iron framing, the structure with which the exhibition would take place was dubbed the Crystal Palace. The structure was the first of its kind and displayed the revolutionary technologies that had been developed.

The planning of the structure resembled the major architec-tural concept of form follow-ing function. The planning and form of the structure was based upon the set sizing of the plate glass.

Ultimately being a large glass box there were major heat is-sues. Paxton’s ingenious usage of shades and louvers helped determine heat transfer and temperature control, espe-cially during the exhibition when thousands of people would populate the structure.

Being a temporary structure, the construction process also involved creating flexible con-nections for the Exhibition structure however; alterations were made in its rebuilding at Sydenham Hill.

Inspired by the greenhouse, Paxton developed this design highlighting the materiality and its impressiveness. The framing contained a variety of patterning and repetition that has inspired other great monu-ments such as the Eifel Tower and the Bibliothek Nationale in Paris. This geometric pattern-ing primarily contains rectilinear surfaces however, this could be translated into various other repetitive shapes.

Hyde Park, London Joseph Paxton 1851The Crystal Palace

Over the past fifty years there has been an expansive rela-tionship between technology and architecture. Previously focused upon the production process computing however, has also greatly impacted the architectural design process. It has provided a vast array of avenues for customisation and development of new and more advanced structures. This growing sophistication has not only provided new and innova-tive ways for designing but also provided performance reviews of potential designs.

Computation provides meth-ods of analysing and solving architectural dilemmas once inconceivable. As computerised design software relies heav-ily on the logical associations between elements within its system it, has highlighted the importance of every element providing purpose to the overall design of a structure. Under-standing the relationship each element of a design concept helps reduce the uncertainty of its performance. Through the reduction of uncertainty, more innovative structures are being built without the hindrance of them once simply being just an unimaginable idea.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, new construction materials have evolved and developed. Tech-nologies have provided out-lets where new materials are discovered and how present materials could potentially manipulated. With computing today, there is a greater under-standing of materiality through performance designs.

Ultimately, computational techniques in the architectural industry have provided problem solvers with quick, efficient and more innovative solutions to the world of architecture. Through these innovative practices, architects have been provided with a plethora of opportunity in displaying the endless pos-sibilities that architecture could travel towards.

A2. Design Computation