Philip Beesley
滑鐵 盧大學 教授 Associate Professor, School of Architecture, University of Waterloo
Co-Director, Integrated Centre for Visualization, Design and Manufacruting, University of Waterloo
Beesley makes experimental structures that are lightweight, flexible systems manufactured by digital fabrication that have been widely published and exhibited. A major installation is currently at the Montreal Beaux-Arts Museum http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e-art/e/philip-beesley.html. His projects in the past several years have focused on immersive digitally fabricated lightweight 'textile' structures, and the most recent generations of his work feature interactive kinetic systems that use dense arrays of microprocessor, sensors and actuator systems. He is a professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, co-director of the University's Integrated Centre for Visualization, Design and Manufacturying (ICVDM) and is the Fabrication Theme Leader for the Canadian Design Research Network. He has co-authored books including 'Future Wood' (2006) , 'Responsive Architectures' (2006) 'Expanding Bodies in Art, Cities and Environment' (2007) , 'Mobile Nation' (2007) and 'Fabrication: Examining the Digital Craft of Architecture' (2004). His work has been featured in WIRED magazine and numerous journals.
< http://www.wired.com/culture/art/magazine/15-11/pl_arts_beast >
< www.philipbeesleyarchitect.com < http://www.philipbeesleyarchitect.com >
【演講大綱】
Title : Responsive Architectures: New design and fabrication technologies in architecture.
Abstract ：
How will we design and build in the future? A new aesthetic of responsiveness is having a major impact on design. The discussion here will focus on digital design and fabrication systems of new kinetic systems that offer interactive functions. The study of nature reveals an interconnected set of mechanisms guided by structural and chemical ‘intelligence'. These systems are a potent model for how we can impart sensuality and kinesthetics in environments, machines, and buildings.
New design strategies show how parametric digital tools can support exploring of complex systems. Software tools now offer flexible design of deeply nested relationships. Parametric modeling is a new approach that allows designers to control variables of the design through models that can coordinate and update themselves. These systems can automatically update an entire model or drawing set based on changes as small as a joint or as large as an entire area of a city. They accomplish this by organizing ‘dependency' networks akin to the complex process diagrams used to express relationships in natural systems. Multiple variations can be created by manipulating digital code to create detailed individual sets of instructions for manufacturing. In much the same way that a mutating virus can generate biodiversity, individual variation can be achieved economically. The cost of making one thousand identical parts and one thousand individual parts with slight variations can be almost the same. The design industry is in the early stages of adoption of these tools.
New projects discussed here explore structural systems based on tensile and ‘tensegrity' systems in which stretching and pulling forces can play throughout a structure. These hybrid structures are accompanied by design methods where complex relationships can be analyzed and refined, and by a fresh palette of elements made possible by computer-controlled prototyping and manufacturing. This kind of fabrication involves new methods of construction using continuous chains of components and distributed structures. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process where three-dimensional forms, engineering systems and component specifications are integrated within massive arrays of information. Similar to the fundamental implications of the Human Genome project, BIMs now have formidable influence on physical environments. Systematically coded and organized components can be custom-made off-site as a building assembly kit, assembled, and then managed through the life of the building.
My own compositions of the past several years have tended to concentrate on vital, seething qualities built up from intensive repetition of miniature parts. The large-scale field structures offer bodily immersion and create a wide-flung dispersal of perception. The textiles in my installations have recently taken the form of porous interlinking matrices of mechanical components and arrays of sensors and actuators that respond to occupants moving within the environment. Lightweight lattice and geodesic organizations form a structural core in my work, employing digitally fabricated lightweight scaffolds that contain distributed networks of sensors and actuators. The structures are designed at multiple scales including custom components, intermediate tessellations composed of component arrays, and general structural systems. The current work focuses on integrating control systems with decentralized responsive intelligence. The work is based on gradual development moving from individual figures composed of artificial organisms toward immersive environments that mediate natural landscapes.
What makes these mediated experiences like these attractive? Perhaps it is a sense of empowerment and involvement that drives ‘responsive architectures' forward. Buildings can now be operated as if they are instruments. Composite structures now incorporate sensors, displays, and a range of mechanical functions. Many of our actions trigger automatic responses in our environment. Our surroundings contain a myriad of sensors that detect temperature, humidity, light, fire and many other parameters relevant to the operation of the facility and the safety and comfort of their occupants. An increasingly fine-tuned approach to component design and the flexibility and movement achievable in new design systems changes the fundamental behaviour of our environement.
Is it because as a society we are becoming more cerebral that we crave increased movement around us? The importance of these qualities seems to increase as our physical bodies fade. We rely less and less on our bodies, and tend to sit motionless, watching. When someone enters an interactive installation, the immediate response to their presence can yield a powerful sense of personal connection, mixed with anxious qualities of vertigo and disorientation. In today's society, ‘touch' has complex implications. The receding function of an original human body forms a poignant equation of loss and gain. Lost: bodily sensation and connection between individuals. Gained: an expanded ‘body' whose redefined border embraces the surrounding environment.
Philip Beesley is a professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, co-director of the University's Integrated Centre for Visualization, Design and Manufacturying(ICVDM) and is the Fabrication Theme Leader for the Canadian Design ResearchNetwork. He makes experimental structures that are lightweight, flexible systems manufactured by digital fabrication that have been widely published and exhibited. A major installation is currently at the Montreal Beaux-Arts Museum http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e-art/e/philip-beesley.html . His projects in the past several years have focused on immersive digitally fabricated lightweight 'textile' structures, and the most recent generations of his work feature interactive kinetic systems that use dense arrays of microprocessor, sensors and actuator systems. He has co-authored books including 'Future Wood' (2006) , 'Responsive Architectures' (2006) 'Expanding Bodies in Art, Cities and Environment' (2007) , 'Mobile Nation' (2007) and 'Fabrication: Examining the Digital Craft of Architecture' (2004). His work has been featured in WIRED magazine < http://www.wired.com/culture/art/magazine/15-11/pl_arts_beast > and numerous journals. www.philipbeesleyarchitect.com Distinctions for his work include the Prix de Rome for Architecture ( Canada ).
