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Dr Dermott McMeel The University of Auckland, School of Architecture and Planning Level 6 26 Symonds St Auckland New Zealand Tel: +64 9 373 7599 ext 81926
Email: d.mcmeel@auckland.ac.nz
Digital Foundations: Viewing design and construction through the materiality of digital representation. Abstract
A recent proliferation of accessible fabrication technologies have brought some questions surrounding digitally sponsored design and making into sharp relief. Laser cutters, 3D printer kits and DIY KUKA robot templates can put established processes within design and construction into a state of uncertainty; the body of work on the subject is already substantial and continues to grow. There are many different strains, stakeholders and conceptions of digital design and it is valuable to distinguish between the various politics of the role of technology within these processes, which is what this paper attempts to do. It has the following objectives, firstly, through three examples I explore three different but related ways to conceptualise the use of technology, with the purpose of creating a typology for streams of research. Secondly, it aims to shed light on some of our existing prejudices regarding technology and how design and construction practices are being affected by these different conceptualisations of technology.
1 A Tale
I will begin with a story, some time ago I designed a table, to explore the capability of a new computer numerical controlled (CNC) router my department had acquired; inspired by Salvador Dal it would be a 'soft' table (Fig 1). Fig 1: The soft table model and finished product by Dermott McMeel. The table went through several iterations as the fabrication specialist, a cabinet maker from our traditional workshop and I figured out what could be achieved by both manual and CNC router techniques. We also needed to ilicit how the table might be divide into manageable blocks for the router. The result we all agreed upon was two individual blocks, one for the top table surface and one for the leg. The routed blocks would then be assembled by traditional glue and biscuit techniques. The plywood was purchased, prepared in the workshop and transferred to the digital workshop. Routing is preceded by a time consuming and laborious positioning and calibration ritual some of which can be seen here C https://vimeo.com/35361578. The top surface of the table was routed, then the block of wood was flipped it over to route a rebate in the underside. This flipping process is a set feature of the CNC software, which is invoked when more that one surface of an object needs to be treated with the router. When it was repositioned and recalibrated the fabrication specialist gave an audible gasp of despair and looked at me as the colour drained from her face. The leg, it is not in the middle! She was of course correct, it was slightly offset, a fact of which I have no doubt Dal would approve. Nevertheless, the specialist was not aware of this fact, it only became obvious when the block was turned over and the first cuts we made were now obviously moved approximately 100mm. Yet, when we ran the cutting simulation within the software, the CNC router was going to cut in the correct, 100mm offset, location. What I find interesting, within the context of what we are discussing in this paper, is that because of the techniques we employed for design and fabrication of this table it was not necessary for the specialist to know the accurate position of the leg. Those measurements were encoded into the design description (Fig 1 left image) and fabricated correctly (Fig 1 right image) without the need for the knowledge to be transferred between us through the design description.
2 Introduction
In this paper I will build on recent work by computer scientist Paul Dourish [1]` on the materiality of data. Dourish posits the means by which we describe data affects our understanding of, and the
practices that surround it. By way of an example he uses the historic evolution from non-literate to literate civilisations. The notion of verisimilitude and accuracy only comes into focus when cultures became literate and knowledge was materialised and stored as script. When knowledge was stored in memory and communicated in stories, the concept of experience was more central to its materiality. I will periodically draw on Dourish in this document to help scrutinise three examples of technological intervention in a design or making process. These examples have emerged from various courses within the School of Architecture and Planning at The University of Auckland during 2012. The examples reveal three separate but related issues regarding the impact of technology on designing and making, although there are many more we do not attempt to cover them all here. I aim to provide some historical context for the relationship we have with technology, then by evaluating the examples I establish some categorisations for thematic research around the impact of technology within design and making. The first categorisation I have called material representation of digital descriptions, it has been informed by observation of processes involved in the design and making of a rocking chair. It considers the material difference of describing a chair within a parametric environmentin this case Grasshopperrather than a static one such as Revit or SketchUp. It provides insight into historical prejudices regarding prefabrication and demonstrates where and how they are currently breaking down. The second category I have arrived at is culture of design virtuosity, which was brought to light by a student's attempts to build and control a do-it-yourself KUKA robot. It reveals key drivers that lie behind a designers appropriation of, and intention while using, robotics. The third and final categorisation that will be discussed here is digital savagery in construction. In which the utilisation of a laser cutter and 3D printer for the design and build of a do-it-yourself Delta robot uncovers nuances within, and challenges, the Engineer and Bricoleur binary opposition that Strauss establishes within The Savage Mind [2]`. These categorisations are by no means definitive, they are a few within a large field of research, however we will restrict our scope of work to these, so we might gain some insight through their exploration.
applications of automation and technology dehumanise the individual. Prefabrication experienced something of a resurgence at the turn of the twenty-first century, for example in 2003 DWELL magazine challenged thirteen architects to design a prefabricated house for US$200,000, the result was well designed, quality and affordable quality homes [5]`. The competition, although modest in scale, pointed to a shift in the conceptions surrounding prefabrication of buildings; spaces and not components were being prefabricated. Sections of spaces were assembled carefully under factory conditions, they were also being assembled to conform to the dimensions of shipping containers as there already existed machinery and vehicles for handling this modular system. The results challenged the dominant association between prefabrication and cheap or poor construction and instead revealed the possibility that prefabrication could deliver affordable and good quality products.
work and play in [12]`. I have built on these scholarly foundations to suggest elsewhere the tools used in design also has an impact on developing particular cognitive skills [13]`. The relationship between technology and human agency is perhaps best summed up by Marshall McLuhan, who claims first we make the tools, then they make us [14]`; so what can we learn from this project? Let us return to the etymological origins of parametric to begin to unpick its implications as a material description of a digital description. Para - 'contrary to' and metric C 'that means by which anything is measured.' It is then ideologically opposed to the dogma of cartesian measurement that underpins design and making practices. This dogma is, however, based on the presumption that measurement and metrics are how artifacts are documented for construction or reproduction; yet our opening tale attests this is not always necessary or even desirable. In the fabrication of the rocking chair, it is relatively unimportant if one segment is 1000mm or 998mm, as the CNC router will fabricate the relational segments at the appropriate size. As we draw this section to a close we suggest this parametric materiality and digitally sponsored fabrication process is altering the perception of cartesian measurement, drawing and documentation within designing and making processes. Material representations of digital descriptions is thus concerned with the effects of changing modalities of representation. This example suggests we should not confine this to matters of visual representation. Our observations point to parametric materiality having consequences for understanding and knowledge practices surrounding measurement, drawings and documentation, which are foundational practices within design and making.
technological manufacturing process. We might argue this current anxiety is grounded in the industrys troubled history of prefabrication, which I have discussed earlier in this paper. Yet we do not question the virtuosity of with the orchestra, its musicians or the conductor because there is sheet music guiding them. Contemporary composer and sound artist Martin Parker [18]` explores the relationships between technology, programming, automation and performance. He is considered no less of a composer because of it. It is within this context we look at the problematic of virtuosity within technologically sophisticated design and construction.
4.2 iRobot
We observed a student project that appropriates a 6 axis robot as a design tool, the project explores McLuhans suppostion that first we make the tools and then they make us [14]`, attempting to challenge the predominant conception that virtuosity is surrendered as technological presence and sophistication increases. The popular KUKA brand automotive armature robot was the obvious point of departure for this project. In the absence of having access to one, the student decided to build a DIY 6 axis armature robot from perspex (Fig 3 left image). A DIY template of a model based on kuka physiology was available online, although redesign was necessary to suit available motors and the particular end actuator the designer desired. Fig 3: DIY KUKA robot and Touch OSC iPod control interface by Adrian Kumar. Key framing software, which provides a means to control the robot was also available online. This software would allow set positions of the robot to be saved to a list of key frames on computer. By selecting any individual key frame the robot would immediately move to that particular position. This is very similar to how they are used on assembly lines in the automotive industry. As an assembly line moves an object into position, the robot then moves to a predetermined configuration to position a component before moving back to its original position allowing the assembly line to move, only to repeat the action when the line has moved another object into position. While this has intriguing potential it does not necessarily resonate with notions of virtuosity and artistry. Instead the student appropriated an iPod application Touch OSC used for Djing (Fig 3 right image) and combined it with the Rhinoceros 3D software. The deliberate attempt here to combine unexpected and unusually components was largely informed by Deleuze. Who claims fantastic consequences can occur when communication between heterogeneous systems is established [19]`. The Grasshopper parametric plugin was used again, this time to establish a set of relationships between inputs from the Touch OSC iPod application and outputs to the Robot. An arduino micro-controller was used to mediate the connection between the iPod and robot through a WiFi network. We could conceive of this as an instrument that allows direct manipulation of the robotand the opportunity for virtuosity.
between artist and artifact. The DIY KUKA robot suffered from some material weakness, where the perspex was inclined to flex and wobble causing inaccurate positioning. It did, however, establish a complete ecosystem for direct control of the robot. The addition of a hot wire at the end of the armature enabled the user, with some practice, to cut shapes from foam by manipulating dials and sliders on the iPod application. Culture of design virtuosity is thus concerned with how technology supports or undermines the relationship and intention that exsits between a creator and the created. In this respect the KUKA build has more in common with a prosthesis than a prototyping tool. From the etymology of prosthesis it was an extension enabling direct connection, manipulation and thus the potential for virtuosity. It enables the esoteric relationship between designer and object that is not always best served through translation into rationalised geometry, instructions and cartesian coordinates.
resultant component highlighted in Fig 4 was strong enough to be fit for purpose, light and had a relatively low friction coefficient resulting in smooth movement. Eventually a large percentage of the delta robot armatures were being designed and printed because it was cost effective, the materiality was adequate to function structurally on a project of this scale, it made modifications quite easy as now all parts were under a state of contingency and could be changed if required.
6 Summary
Much of the rhetoric around technology in design and construction focuses on representation and form. What I have tried to do here is delve deeper into the consequences of digital representations on design and construction practices though developing a series of categoprisations. Material representations of digital descriptions impacts skills and knowledge frameworks, in both our opening tale and the rocking chair example cartesian measurement at times was irrelevant within the design description and fabrication; it was not required that it be known. Traditional paper documentation in the AEC (architectural, engineering and construction) industries is important as a tender and legal component. However our observations cause us to ask where are they needed? As the examples embraced new methods and technologies to achieve particular goalswithout the pressure to produce traditional documents or return to traditional techniquescontrary to Marx's position, they appeared quite liberating and effective, and still employed people. Of central concern to notions of virtuosity is the relationship between the artist/designer and artifact, a subject not unique to design and construction. Where technology is concerned it is
perhaps useful to conceive of this through the metaphor of prothesis; as we currently seeing these devices gravitate away from approximating the physical. The lower legs of Oscar Pistorous are an example par excellance of this rejection of cartesian representation. Thus within culture of design virtuosity we observe the effects of this movement away from cartesian representation. In the DIY KUKA build there is a concerted effort to retain the possibility of the esoteric and the personality of the artist/designer; the culture of design virtuosity investigates how digital processing affects these characteristics reaching the artifact. The digital savagery in construction we are given cause to rethink our conception of traditional roles and skills. We can see why the digital bricoleur is dominating the contemporary business landscape. It is a way of thinking no longer associated solely with the gifted amateur or the garage tinkerer. It is precisely the affordance of the bricoleurs iterative way of thinking and hacking that establishes advantage in this fluid environment. An environment in which the engineer will struggle to gain mastery of materials that quickly change. Nevertheless the engineering of the gaps and interfaces of the bricolage was critical with the construction of the delta robot. Digital savagery in construction is a theme that asks us to rethink our conception of practices and roles. The observational evidence presented here suggests it could be useful to reframe professions in terms of bricolage and engineering. Wherein any job or problemis there opportunity for bricolage and where are the gaps that require an engineered wedge?
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the students who created the works in this paper, Lynda Ea and Adrian Kumar. I would also like to thank Franca Bertani and Dave Macallum who are largely responsible for the success of my 'soft table' adventure. I would also like to thank Mary Galvin who pointed me towards key works by Paul Dourish that served as important inspiration for this paper.
References
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