Architecture Now
Excerpt from the introduction of the book 'Architecture Now, Volume II', by Philip Jodidio
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"We have moved," continues Novak, "from specialization of disciplines to multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and now transdisciplinarity." "In a more tangible sense," says the architect, "transarchitectures have to do with the full spectrum of what might be called new tectonics: algorithmic conception, rapid prototyping, robotic fabrication, interactive habitation, telepresence and telecommunications, nano- and giga- presence, and the link to and through virtuality, creating a new continuum of space: (local)physical-virtual-(non-local)physical." Marcos Novak's thinking opens horizons in architecture that more mundane designers may disdain, yet he is clearly representative of a new wave of design that will influence the profession for many years to come. "My work moves in two directions," he says: "from real space into virtual space, via immersion, and from virtual space to real space, via what I have termed 'eversion.' At the interface of the two, sensors create 'invisible architectures' that mediate the two into one another. I am currently working on a series of projects called 'allotopes,' building in Xenakis's 'polytopes,' and extending them through the use of virtual space, in performances that seek to reanimate powerful but neglected spaces. At the same time, I am using various kinds of numerical milling and rapid prototyping to explore physical forms that are derived from virtuality." An interesting aspect of Novak's work is its obvious relationship to contemporary art, a relationship that Frank O. Gehry may have inspired indirectly.
Half a world away, operating in a very different mode, the Japanese architect Makoto Sei Watanabe has just carried out "the world's first implementation of what we call PGA, Program Generated Architecture." His design for the Iidabashi Subway Station (Tokyo, Japan, 1999-2000) seeks to lay bare what he perceives as the hidden world of underground transport, in a tubular mesh that almost literally invades the subway station, designed with a system he calls "The Web Frame." The approach used here is related to that of the "genetic algorithms" cited above. "The Web Frame 'inherits' the DNA of the engineering framework," says Watanabe, "selecting, transforming and enhancing ist features: an interweaving, entangling, expanding, pulsating Web, growing towards the light of day, a second species of subterranean tubule. The growth of the Web Frame," he concludes, "was facilitated by computer program for automated generation of code."
The quest for sophisticated computer generated forms that may closely mimic the adaptability of nature is sweeping through certain architectural circles, and yet, at its origin, a much simpler concept drives and transforms a far larger part of actual construction. Flexibility is the key word in what can only be perceived as a true sea-change in architecture.
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Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
"We have moved," continues Novak, "from specialization of disciplines to multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and now transdisciplinarity." "In a more tangible sense," says the architect, "transarchitectures have to do with the full spectrum of what might be called new tectonics: algorithmic conception, rapid prototyping, robotic fabrication, interactive habitation, telepresence and telecommunications, nano- and giga- presence, and the link to and through virtuality, creating a new continuum of space: (local)physical-virtual-(non-local)physical." Marcos Novak's thinking opens horizons in architecture that more mundane designers may disdain, yet he is clearly representative of a new wave of design that will influence the profession for many years to come. "My work moves in two directions," he says: "from real space into virtual space, via immersion, and from virtual space to real space, via what I have termed 'eversion.' At the interface of the two, sensors create 'invisible architectures' that mediate the two into one another. I am currently working on a series of projects called 'allotopes,' building in Xenakis's 'polytopes,' and extending them through the use of virtual space, in performances that seek to reanimate powerful but neglected spaces. At the same time, I am using various kinds of numerical milling and rapid prototyping to explore physical forms that are derived from virtuality." An interesting aspect of Novak's work is its obvious relationship to contemporary art, a relationship that Frank O. Gehry may have inspired indirectly.
Half a world away, operating in a very different mode, the Japanese architect Makoto Sei Watanabe has just carried out "the world's first implementation of what we call PGA, Program Generated Architecture." His design for the Iidabashi Subway Station (Tokyo, Japan, 1999-2000) seeks to lay bare what he perceives as the hidden world of underground transport, in a tubular mesh that almost literally invades the subway station, designed with a system he calls "The Web Frame." The approach used here is related to that of the "genetic algorithms" cited above. "The Web Frame 'inherits' the DNA of the engineering framework," says Watanabe, "selecting, transforming and enhancing ist features: an interweaving, entangling, expanding, pulsating Web, growing towards the light of day, a second species of subterranean tubule. The growth of the Web Frame," he concludes, "was facilitated by computer program for automated generation of code."
The quest for sophisticated computer generated forms that may closely mimic the adaptability of nature is sweeping through certain architectural circles, and yet, at its origin, a much simpler concept drives and transforms a far larger part of actual construction. Flexibility is the key word in what can only be perceived as a true sea-change in architecture.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Architecture Now! 2
Flexicover, 19.6 x 24.9 cm (7.7 x 9.8 in.), 576 pages
$ 39.99
$ 39.99
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