Greg Lynn FORM has defined how architects use computers as a design medium.Projects, publications, research and exhibitions have shaped both the use of advanced technology in design and accelerated its integration to construction. Working with computers the firm is constantly trying to define and create terms of designing by introducing new or refining older methods of computer aided design. Most architects make paper drawings, then use design software to visualize those as walk-through images. But Lynn’s “paperless” practice brings computers in more radically and from the start. Using programs developed for auto designers and film animators, Lynn can find his way into twisting forms. “You define space in the computer with curves,” he says. “Usually an architect would draw points, and connect lines and planes with them. With these programs, we’ve shifted to thinking of space as the sheltered enclosures of a flexible handkerchief.” One thing that makes Lynn new is that he knows why they call that stuff software.

Spatial design is a never – ending process. 

(The digital means available to us today have provided unlimited options and ways on how we manipulate spatial design. CAD software, 3D modeling applications and Photoshop are the main ingredients for the creation of real space as we know it today.

Architects and designers have entered an era of computer aided design where applications intersect with each other, collide and ran parallel for the best possible result.)

I am exploring the creation of architectural space through digital means, and how the manipulation of a space can cause a reaction to the objects found inside it.

Many times we take the design of a piece of furniture for granted. Its shape, size, color all comes fixed from the supplier. With digital technology today we are able to place that object virtually in the space and test it within.

Therefore:

An object enters the space. Digitally that is.

A sofa, for example is placed in a living room. Instantly the sofa reacts with the surrounding space. It provides direction, usage and function. I would say the sofa now controls the space. Through its design, color and size its sets specific usage boundaries and limitations.

I intend to break these boundaries. I still want the space to have a sitting area but I want to start creating a connection – reaction between the space and the object.

As a first step I want to raise this question: What will happen if the sofa becomes a totally passive object, ready to be abused by the space that is surrounding it? A victim of the space, ready to take any hit by it. The sofa will enter the space digitally as one thing and exit in the real one as a totally different object with the same intentioned function. Still usable? Maybe.

(Imagine that the process would be something similar to an object entering a dysfunctional tele-transporter in one end and exit completely transformed in the other.)

The object has changed. It has become something else. But it is still within the boundaries of the space. Therefore my next question would be:

What will happen to this space that is surrounding the corrupted object?

The space has corrupted the object so much that has again given the object its power  

back. The object now controls the space. The space has corrupted the object but now the object will start corrupting the space.

Boomerang!

When does this stop? When does the designer stop? Is use and function more important than aesthetics? How important is the experience you get from a space?

I intend to push this a lot. I want to intensify the object-space, space-object relationship, for the creation of monsters. Monster spaces. Monster objects.

Objects and spaces that look totally uncontrolled, but have resulted form an extremely precise and controlled design process through the software. Justified, not random.

I want to work in 2D and 3D,recording every step of the process for the creation of these monsters. I want to creative communicative drawings outlining the process but also final pieces that show the result.

Relativity is a famous lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, first printed in December 1953.It shows a paradoxical world where the normal laws of gravity do not apply.Instead there are three centres of gravity,each been at right angles to the other two.

After an extremely helpful tutorial with Andy, I have decided to take a slightly different direction for my project. Still continuing the exploration in the creation of real architectural space through digital means, I will focus on how the manipulation of space causes changes on the objects found inside it.

Maybe this project could  lead to a constant manipulation of an object through a specific space or even different kinds of spaces. For example a chair. When a chair is imported to the space it instantly reacts with it. Aesthetically for a start. It provides direction. Usage. Function. It has a fixed shape and design. Whether generic, whether weird it still looks like a chair.

The question I raise would be: what will happen to the chair if it becomes a totally passive object? A victim of external influences that come from the space is surrounded by and also a victim of digital manipulation. The chair enters the virtual space as one thing ,and exits in the real one as a totally different object with the same intentioned function. Maybe still usable, maybe not.

“Like putting an object through the star  trek transporter – for it to come out the other end completely transformed” to quote Andy’s words.

Objects / Space = A never ending relationship.

One affects the other constantly.

Therefore the next question would be : What happens to the space surrounding the corrupted object?

This relationship kind of works like a boomerang. The space has corrupted the object. Then the corrupted object will corrupt the space. And then maybe the corrupted space will corrupt the object more!

When does this constant manipulation stop? Is use more important than aesthetics? Is the creation of an exciting drawing/painting more important than the real thing?

And still within the frame of my initial idea for the project: Has the creation of space/object become totally dependent on the digital means available to us today?

25 years ago Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh. The computer that would revolutionize the way people perceive the computer ,from the outside and the inside.It was the first affordable personal computer that sported a graphical user interface,playing certainly a major factor in the evolution of the computer and the digital design media.

Happy Bday,Mac!

As part of my research I have begun  looking into how architects and designers today use the digital media in order to create and develop their proposals. This film ,by OMA/Rem Koolhaas is about the CCTV building in Beijing.

The clip attempts to present the building proposal to the public,with a mixture of media and layers. Following last week’s text from Manovich,i believe that his definition of media hybridism exists here. Different layers of 3-dimensional images,2-dimensional graphics,animations,transition effects and music all work together to remix the information in ways more clear to the viewers.

This is a 100% digitally created film,but it is trying to show a the reality of a building to be. The wide angles and sexy camera movements are attempting to take the viewer inside and outside,they are trying to create the first experience of the building. Virtual that is,but still is an epxerience.

What I am trying to achieve with my proposal?

Well to reach to that conclusion I need to start breaking it down to its major components at first.

The following sketches outline the relationships created in the process I want to observe and alanyse.

what do you think?

A retail merchandising unit at the Mall of Cyprus.

Water Water

Water is vast, endless, a lot. The same as theses qualities of water, the brief was open. Open to explore all different qualities of this very important element of our life. Water is unlimited in properties. It can create comfort but also chaos. Water runs free therefore it needs to be controlled in order to be used. It needs to be trapped and contained. And it always takes the shape of the container.

My approach to the brief was to trap water and as the main material to create a space. Trapping it through a medium that absorbs and retains water ,gave me the opportunity and the freedom to design a big scale structure where its basic ability is to absorb great amounts of water in order to reach its final shape. The super absorbent polymers absorb great amounts of water. Water makes them swell, changes their properties and transforms them from hard crystals to soft rubbery gels. It changes their qualities but it is remains trapped inside them. This was my main goal. To trap water .But on the same time uses it in order to change the shape, scale and materiality of the medium.

I am Christos.I just joined the course last week.
I come from Cyprus and I currently live here after spending 8 years abroad studying and working.
I spent the 6 years in London and 2 years in Los  Angeles while I was studying Interior Architecture and Design.
I have to be honest the move back to Cyprus is a hard one!A totally different place than London where things don’t happen fast ,as everyone seems to be moving in  a very slow relaxed pace.Dont get me wrong I love the hot weather and the beaches but I more of a hyperactive,crazy metropolis creature….
I am currently working with a succesful interior design studio here in Cyprus ,designing a range of spaces….from residential to commercial,small scale to large.It is a challenging work environment as here concepts and ideas are hard to sell!But things are changing….:)
I joined this course because I really think it will help me develop my skills as a designer and an artist ,in my work and also on a personal level.
I draw inspiration from a variety of things and sometimes I catch my self getting lost in thoughts and  ideas that scare me!
I do ofcourse have a great passion in life and that is music.I love music as it is a way for me to travel,think and make.Music can transform everything,a space,a face,feelings.It is  a way for me to remember,link moments and places….
I guess digital technology plays a big part in the development of music as well as in what we all are doing right now…I had the chance to work for Apple at some point in London where I really learned to appreciate technology especially when it becomes so broadly accessible and offered in a simple straight forward way…

I am really excited about this course and the fact that suddenly for the next 2 years we are all linked through technology,making something good.Using the computer and the internet in ways to create something different and hopefully unique!

I am glad to be part of this and hopefully we are all going to be part of each others lives in a productive and creative way…