Morphogenetic Typologies

I am currently taking a class here at Georgia Tech called Morphogenetic Typologies. In it we have been investigating various precedents of spatial tectonic systems. Some people have been researching sponges, others natural erosion formations. Lucky me got Math Surfaces. No, actually, I have a profound respect for mathematics, its connection to the sciences and architecture is undeniable. Not only that, the formations of parametric functions can be absolutely beautiful, as in this Enneper surface of degree 4.

But how do you make architecture from that? I see it as a scale less form, it could be on playground as easily as a base for a coffee table in my living room.

For me the issue in looking at these math surfaces is that I find it hard to imagine creating successfully habitable spaces. As beautiful as they may be, I would probably fall out of one if I tried to inhabit it..

FUNctional work environments^^^

However, one architecture student in London, Daniel Piker, has been doing a lot of nice research in rheotomic surfaces, and is working on, to me at least, a successful union between the purity of mathematical formations and architecture.

(The word etymology from greek, Rheo; flow and tomos- cut or section)

These structures are complete, embedded and most importantly, walkable.

Here is an excerpt From Daniel’s Blog regarding the difficulty of practical application of math surfaces:

“…Images of these surfaces have naturally caught the attention of architects, and attempts to use them in the design of buildings go at least as far back as the 1970s (see Pearce and Gabriel). Minimal surfaces which form repetitive 3-dimensional structures –  Triply Periodic Minimal Surfaces(TPMS) such as the Gyroid and its associate P and D surfaces have recieved particular attention. However, attempts at an architecture based on these concepts have so far been been held back by a number of factors:

One is the daunting nature of the mathematics involved. The growing popularity of parametric modeling has meant that architects are now often quite comfortable with surfaces that can be generated from a simple function giving x y z in terms of u and v, but rarely when faced with something more advanced like the Weierstrass elliptic functions used in minimal surface mathematics.

Another problem is their symmetry. Most known minimal surfaces are either single inviolable entities or they are made up of endlessly repeating identical units. To be useful for architecture a geometric system needs a degree of flexibility, the ability to adapt to varied inputs.

One possible approach is to simply reject mathematical purity and take some of the techniques for working with curved surfaces and apply them in a free-form manner. But if the architect does not have real control of the tools he uses, the work is merely a collage or imitation, and without the integrity of the maths behind it, design quickly gets into difficult waters regarding structural performance and buildability.”
Daniel’s work is definitely inspiring to me, more of his work and research can be found on his blog.

Cool Popular Mechanics Article

The World’s 18 Strangest Homes /

copyright Popular Mechanics

i’m a little teapot, by zaha hadid ♫

Silver tea & coffee tower set by Zaha Hadid for Alessi

there’s more cool biz where that came from.

NOTCOT

notcot.org is great website for all things design. like an insatiable curator, notcot takes bits and pieces of interesting, funny, or the recent to tease your design palette. fashion, industrial design, architecture, art, interiors, you name it notcot covers it.