2023

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Resonance-In-Sight: Fabrication of …

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Resonance-In-Sight: Fabrication of a Mixed-Reality Art Installation

by Crolla K. and Goepel G.

ABSTRACT | The integration of mixed reality technology is facilitating significant changes in how we perceive and engage with our surroundings. “Resonance-In-Sight” is a public art installation by Kristof Crolla, Garvin Goepel, and the Laboratory for Explorative Architecture & Design Ltd. (LEAD) made for the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA). It responds to the challenges to social interaction imposed during the recent global health pandemic by playfully engaging the public in augmented reality-driven (AR) interactions with the museum’s rich art collection during times of its extended closure.

KEYWORDS | Digital Fabrication; Low-tech fabrication; Mixed Reality; Human-Computer Interaction; Tolerances And Error

DOWNLOAD |

RiS Fabrication of a MR Art Installation.pdf

CITATION | Crolla, Kristof and Garvin Goepel, “Resonance-In-Sight: Fabrication of a Mixed-Reality Art Installation” in A. Crawford, N. Diniz, R. Beckett, J. Vanucchi, and M. Swackhamer (eds.), ACADIA 2023: HABITS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE: Scarcity and Abundance in a Post-Material Economy, Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, Volume I: Projects, University of Colorado Denver, 21-28 October 2023, pp. 188-195.

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Catenary Wooden Roof Structures…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Catenary Wooden Roof Structures : Precedent Knowledge for Future Algorithmic Design and Construction Optimisation

N.Wong and K.Crolla

ABSTRACT |The timber industry is expanding, including construction wood product applications such as glue-laminated wood products (R. Sikkema et al., 2023). To boost further utilisation of engineered wood products in architecture, further development and optimisation of related tectonic systems is required. Integration of digital design technologies in this endeavour presents opportunities for a more performative and spatially diverse architecture production, even in construction contexts typified by limited means and/or resources. This paper reports on historic precedent case study research that informs an ongoing larger study focusing on novel algorithmic methods for the design and production of lightweight, large-span, catenary glulam roof structures. Given their structural operation in full tension, catenary-based roof structures substantially reduce material needs when compared with those relying on straight beams (Wong and Crolla, 2019). Yet, the manufacture of their non-standard geometries typically requires costly bespoke hardware setups, having resulted in recent projects trending away from the more spatially engaging geometric experiments of the second half of the 20th century. The study hypothesis that the evolutionary design optimisation of this tectonic system has the potential to re-open and expand its practically available design solution space. This
paper covers the review of a range of built projects employing catenary glulam roof system, starting from seminal historic precedents like the Festival Hall for the Swiss National Exhibition EXPO 1964 (A. Lozeron, Swiss, 1964) and the Wilkhahn Pavilions (Frei Otto, Germany, 1987), to contemporary examples, including the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre (HCMA Architecture + Design, Canada, 2016). It analysis their structural concept, geometric and spatial complexity, fabrication and assembly protocols, applied construction detailing solutions, and more, with as aim to identify methods, tools, techniques, and construction details that can be taken forward in future research aimed at minimising construction complexity. Findings from this precedent study form the basis for
the evolutionary-algorithmic design and construction method development that is part of the larger study. By expanding the tectonic system’s practically applicable architecture design solution space and facilitating architects’ access to a low-tech producible, spatially versatile, lightweight, eco-friendly, wooden roof structure typology, this study contributes to environmentally sustainable building.

KEYWORDS |Precedent Studies, Light-weight architecture, Timber shell, Catenary,
Algorithmic Optimisation, Glue-laminated timber

DOWNLOAD | https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2023.1.611

CITATION |Crolla, K. and Wong, N. (2023) ‘Catenary wooden roof structures: Precedent knowledge for future algorithmic design and construction optimisation’, in Dokonal, W, Hirschberg, U and Wurzer, G (eds.), Digital Design Reconsidered – Proceedings of the 41st Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe 2023) – Volume 1, Graz, 20-22 September 2023, pp. 611–620

 
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Architectural Education with Virtual Reality…

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Conference Paper: Peer Reviewed

Architectural Education with Virtual Reality: 
An Exploration of Unreal Engine 5 and Nvidia Omniverse

by Abdullah Tahir Sheikh and Kristof Crolla

ABSTRACT | This paper discusses educational and technical knowledge extracted from the development and implementation of teaching material for an elective course offered to both undergraduate and graduate students at The University of Hong Kong, which aimed to increase technical proficiency with Virtual Reality (VR) tools in Architecture design and education. VR is relatively underused and under-implemented in architectural education and practice due to the broad and diverse number of technical solutions available. Lack of open software workflows in this field limits ways in which designers can visualise models in a VR experience and evaluate their work at a 1:1 scale. The elective course aimed to address this, creating designer-specific workflows along with a larger overview of technical solutions available. Knowledge disseminated through guided exercises led to the introduction of options for independent student-driven research into VR-driven digital design projects. Technical knowledge was therefore transferred through integrated digital interaction embodied into the design process. Unreal Engine (5.03) was used as the main development environment for VR, with the addition of new features such as Lumen lighting and Nanite geometry. The Nvidia Omniverse allowed for seamless integration between Unreal Engine and Rhinoceros 3D, as well as many other apps using connectors. Connector usage allows importing and exporting models and data between the two platforms, allowing them a more intuitive ability to switch between tools and subsequently live link between software’s and even include external sensor data. This paper documents and evaluates the knowledge gained of software workflows. Evaluation of produced student work is considered through factors of ease of interface, open nature of tools, and potential for altering the typical design workflow. Analysis provides an insight into the effectiveness of proposed workflows. Subsequent reflection and documentation aim to serve as a possible case study to encourage further incorporation of VR tools into architectural education.

KEYWORDS |Virtual Reality, Simulation, Architectural Education, Design interaction, Live data transfer

DOWNLOAD | https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.ecaade.2023.1.159

CITATION | Sheikh, A. and Crolla, K. (2023) ‘Architectural Education with virtual reality’, in Dokonal, W, Hirschberg, U and Wurzer, G (eds.), Digital Design Reconsidered – Proceedings of the 41st Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe 2023) – Volume 1, Graz, 20-22 September 2023, pp. 159–168