20061030
WEEK NINE
Endemic House // Testing Ground
Two sheets of paper are scored to reveal a site specific mesh. A set of rules determines which score lines are cut and which edges are attached to generate continuity between the two surfaces. The emerging model addresses the fundamental question of site-structure (ground to building) relation in a speculative way. The Endemic House and its site are two expressions of the same System: none is a given; each is the continuation of the other.
A Voronoi diagram is derived from the triangulated mesh. [Each point of the mesh generates a convex polygon and every point in that polygon is closer to the generating point than to any other. = definition Voronoi] Together, the triangulated mesh and the Voronoi diagram form a dual Testing Ground for the System. Both renditions of the Testing Ground consist of cells, either triangles or polygons.
The Testing Ground lays out geometric requirements for the System, which is continuously adjusted and improved. In the process the system might be simplified, in some cases radically changed. In all cases the System grows to be more responsive and fit to perform on the Testing Ground. After a preliminary round of tuning, one of the Testing Grounds - triangulated mesh or Voronoi - is selected as it informs the system most immediately.
Simple Ground Rules define how the System components (units) adjust to the cells of the Testing Ground. Each cell either changes in scale and angle (Mesh triangles), or it changes in number of points, scale and angle (Voronoi polygons). These parameters define the System's spectrum of change, from the local unit upward (neighboring conditions, global behavior).
The Ground Rules control - among others - how a cell (flat) changes a unit (spatial) in all three axes. The cell might reside in the unit - as its plan for example - or it guides the change of the unit, in which case a simple algorithm is in place to define the relation.
The ground rules are developed in simple line drawings and simple mathematical functions, and they are immediately tested 'on the ground' (paper on paper). The emerging System is a fully integrated building system of the Endemic House. It is site and load bearing structure, skin and space-defining building envelope. At times the system shows only a simple expression; at others it reveals its full intelligence.
Start with a few simplified paper units as they negotiate the cellular change. Define three different Ground Rules and apply each to a copy of to the same Testing Ground.
due on Wednesday:
- Selected mesh and corresponding Voronoi diagram
- 3 variations Ground Rules, text and line dwg
- 3 paper models, aggregates of 5-10 units each
Voronoi applet
.: Jonas 2:00 PM
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