Pear Biomimetics

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Pear Biomimetics

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Residential › Multi Unit Housing

A research project for the introduction of biomimetics as an architectural design strategy based on Louis Sullivan’s methods for developing botanical forms, digital visualization and Rapid Prototyping techniques.During the process, I learned NURBS modeling, I improved skills for working on isosurfaces with metaballs, and I came out with an idea of a system of urban development in a high-sloped site.The project was directed by Dennis Dollens, professor of Architectural Projects 1.1 at the Master in Genetic Architecture, ESARQ – UIC, 2003.LexiconDennis Dollens did an introduction to biomimetics through his personal vision of the work of Louis Sullivan and his study of botanical forms, originally focused on the architectural ornament. In this case, is seen as a develop of a lexicon capable of being used to compose architectural form, through an analog-digital-analog process (hand sketches, digital drawings and 3D printed models).We began, in terms of reference, from the Sullivan’s plates from his book A System of Architectural Ornament, 1924, and in particular an excerpt from his text:... a typical seed with two cotyledons. The cotyledons are specialized rudimentary leaves containing a supply of nourishment sufficient for the initial stage in the development of the germ. The germ is the real thing; the seat of identity. Within its delicate mechanism lies the will to power: the function of which is to seek and eventually to find its full expression in form.The seat of power and the will to live constitute the simple working idea upon which all that follows is based...From there, I chose an object from nature to begin a process of biomimetic design.The choice was the fruit of Pyrus, for its easy access as an object of observation and study, for its easy identification of formal and structural elements, and by a personal interest in its appearance.After an iterative process of formal imitation and self-evaluation, it was possible to extract information in terms of morphological structure, surface and interior space, which led to the development of a graphic lexicon system which encompass a set of developing rules (generation, growth and multiplication) of an architectural entity, forming an urban system.This is achieved by developing a comparative system of structural elements of the pear’s core with an isosurface system structured by an array of ribs/vaults, generated in the computational environment with metaball functions. The geometric element that describes this resulting surface is a grid-like mesh whose nodes are subsequently modified and rebuilt as NURBS, to form the structure embedded in the surface, or monocoque.System DevelopmentI wrote a set of rules:Rule 1: By the intersection of two or more planes, an axis is obtained.Rule 2: At some point in the axis, a seed-space grows, contained within an isosurface.Rule 3: Applying some of the elements of the lexicon, on this unit grows a group of spaces capable of defining a secondary development system.Rule 4: On this last system, Rule 1 can be applied again, generating new axis with the ability to grow new seed-spaces.Corollary 1: The entire system is contained within a single isosurface.Corollary 2: Several systems can coexist if they share at least one development plane.Case StudyIn order to apply the system rules to a more complex environment without losing their simplicity, this rules are interpreted from a topological point: the intersection can be given in any kind of surface, not only planes, including the surface of a given terrain. Thus, the axis can be any curve, not just straight lines (curves with endless ratio). Moreover, elements of the lexicon can be determined by the functional program of the building.In this case, the system is applied to a terrain with a slope greater than the normally acceptable to build. This surface is taken as a base for the development of two parallel systems (regarding Corollary 2). Each of them is intersected by a horizontal plane surface on which grows seed-spaces, forming buildings, interrelated by the generated axis, which makes at the top, a public pathway; and at the bottom, main pipeline facilities. All this is made with the smallest intervention on the site.For tectonic reasons, it has been included a secondary axis going down from each unit, that does not grow new spaces but supports the building.This project has been exhibited in the show ‘Emergence: Visualization, Parametrics, Manufacturing’ at the H2O Gallery, Barcelona, March 2003; and published in the book: ‘Genetic Architectures / Arquitecturas genéticas’, SITES Books/ESARQ - UIC, Barcelona, 2003.

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Ernesto Bueno

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Pear Biomimetics

Pear Biomimetics

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