DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE ON THE BLAZE

Roland Snooks.

by 2033

* Architects print out your new house on a 3D printer and robots build it.
What are they? Houses designed with algorithms, printed out in carbon-fibre form from a three-dimensional printer and built by robots. Advances in computer programming, 3D printing and robotics have opened the door to exciting new architectural forms made from lightweight composite materials such as carbon fibre, fibreglass and Kevlar. The spin-offs include less waste (there are few, if any, off-cuts from a 3D printer), improved energy savings and efficient lightweight structures (using algorithms from natural systems) that can be built where it wasn't previously feasible (sheer cliffs, floating structures on the ocean).

Who is doing it? Roland Snooks, Architect and lecturer at RMIT's school of architecture and design. Snooks, a Fulbright scholar who spent seven years in the US, is back in Melbourne writing his own computer programs, which he uses to orchestrate futuristic Architectural designs. "I think we are on the verge of a revolution in architectural design and construction," he says. "The relationship between new ways of designing in conjunction with advances in materials and robotic fabrication techniques have the potential to make a radically new architecture."

Will it work? Yes. A printer that spits out 25-centimetre-cubed objects now costs less than $2000 and the race is on to build the first 3D printed house, which could happen in the next year, says Snooks. With more Architects interested in writing computer programs, algorithmic design's future is bright, even if it's unlikely to dominate Architecture in 20 years. Meanwhile, RMIT has bought two industrial robots (the kind you see on car manufacturing lines) and experiments are underway to adapt them for building construction. What the neighbors may think of the radical designs is another matter.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/ideas-that-could-change-your-life-20130312-2fxo6.html#ixzz2OlXoJzQv

THE MATHEMATICS OF ARCHITECTURE

Figures, facts, and Design.

By Kosi  Emmanuel  (Arc).

  

Does mathematics have a place in Architecture, Can the logic of mathematics be applied in solving Architectural problems. Can we turn to its age-long proven methods to justify our simplest design decisions, and could this mathematical judgment be applied to one and every piece of architecture or is it remote to varying designers.

These are questions which this book opens your mind to, in a fascinating dialogue between the designer, the builder and the observer. For critical thinkers, and all who are in the business of planning and providing spaces for human use.

·         The planning stage

Calculating space requirements, arranging forms, facilities distribution, abstracting information from historic trends,

·         The construction phase

Dividing processes into phases, quantity surveying, construction economics and management, construction methods that apply mathematics,

·         The observation stage

The validation process: cross-checking mathematical projections against real life results to affirm how correct our plans are.; the perception of architecture from the eyes of balance using mathematics as a vehicle to this end,