HK-SmarTowers 2014

"Rethinking Figure Ground @ Smart Geometry 2014"


HK_smarTOWERS was one out of ten workshop clusters at Smart Geometry 2014 hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Drawing on the ubiquity of the high rise in Hong Kong, the cluster explored the opportunities of harnessing large amounts of data from this building typology and managing it by means of 3D geometry as a storage medium. The Cluster was divided into two groups working on two approaches:

Group1: Tower_Data Mining - focused on the gathering, analysis and visualization of complex data from existing towers. A UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), combined with light weight sensors, was utilized as a novel and affordable mean to harvest data from the urban setting.

Group2: Tower_Data Construction – looked at how graphical data such as figure ground conditions can inform tower massing strategies and structural organization to arrive at novel solutions that incorporate open space. The cluster was addressing issues of standardization, mass production and customization by utilizing intelligent digital design systems. The skins of the final tower outcomes were influenced and organized by the environmental data harnessed by Group 1. The final prototypes were built using 3d print and laser cut components.

Both groups used the Elefront plugin for Grasshopper, which through the embedding of information into the Rhino model allows for the collaborative creation of large, data rich models to be used for analysis and construction of architectural systems.

Credits:

Cluster Champions:

Christian J. Lange (Rocker Lange Architects),Assistant Professor at HKU
Jason Carlow, Assistant Professor at HKU
Ramon van der Heijden, Front Inc Hong Kong
Alan Tai, Front Inc Hong Kong
Gustav Fagerström, Buro Happold New York

Cluster Collaborators:

Marco Juliani, Megan Ng, Oliver Thomas, Piotr Baszynski, Luca Maccarinelli, Binsun Hu, Amos Chan, Vincent Ip, Albert Lo, Riyad Joucka, Mariane de Souza, Alison Li, Xinliu Huang

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 Smart Geometry 2014   Hong Kong Smart Towers 
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 Smart Geometry 2014   Hong Kong Smart Towers 
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 Smart Geometry 2014   Hong Kong Smart Towers 
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 Smart Geometry 2014   Hong Kong Smart Towers 

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Rocker-Lange Architects

Principals

Ingeborg M. Rocker
Christian J. Lange

Cambridge, MA, London, England, Hong Kong

Projects

2015 100 Van Ness, Urban Adapter, sculpture bench
2015 Shanghai Lilong Tower Urbanism, Towards an Urbanism of Parametric Preservation
2014 The Ideal City of Refigured Civic Space, Hong Kong & Shenzhen Biennale, Hong Kong
2013 Blend-es-Scape, Beijing, China, A pavilion for the Fifth International Architectural Biennale – Beijing 2013
2013 Taichung Cultural Centre, Taichung, Taiwan
2012 Wallhouse, Cambridge, USA,GSD Pavilion 2012 2012 Density & Openess Reviseted: Recoding Building Bulk in Hong Kong, Hong Kong & Shenzhen Biennale, Hong Kong
2011 Busan Opera House, Busan, South Korea
2010 Serial Architecture – Systems of Multiplicities, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2010 Tokyo Fashion Museum, Omotesando, Tokyo, Japan
2009 Urban Adapter, Hong Kong & Shenzhen Biennale, Hong Kong
2009 Catalytic Connector - Museum of Natural History, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009 Living Bridge – London Bridge, London, UK
2008 Villa Inside|Out Outside|In, The Ordos 100, Mongolia, China
2007 Domicile Heldt, Eckernfoerde, Germany
2006 Villa Risse, Krefeld, Germany

Product Design

2010 Zhuhai Lounge
2009 SP-Table_01
2009 SP-Table_02
2009 Urban Adapter

Research

2010 Parametric Structures, Spring Seminar, The University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture
2009 On the Brink, Spring Seminar, Harvard University, GSD
Versioning: Architecture as Series
Cross scalar and functional scaling: adaptive facades
Algorithmically controlled surfaces

Publications

2008 Versioning: Architecture as Series?
2008 Berechneter Zufall: Max Benses Informationsaesthetik
2008 Architectures of the Digital Realm: Experimentation by Peter Eisenman / Frank O. Gehry
2006 Digital Revolution: Feedback between Architecture, Technology, and Culture
2006 Calculus-Based Form: An Interview with Greg Lynn
2006 When Code Matters, in Programming Cultures: Design, Science, and Software
2005 Re-Coded: Studio Rocker
2004 Das Denkmal fuer die Ermordeten Juden Europas in Berlin: Erinnern, Bewahren, Hinterfragen
2004 Virtuale: Il Senza Forma in Architettura: Di Ingeborg Rocker
2003 Fugitive Realities: Konrad Fiedler
2002 Versioning Informing Architectures, in: Versioning: Evolutionary Techniques in Architecture
1998 Memorizing, Maintaining, Questioning: Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Peter Eisenman
1998 The Virtual: The Unform in Architecture