AD Smart – serie

Smartgeometry (SG) is a key influence on the architectural community who explore creative computational methods for the design of buildings. An informal international network of practitioners and researchers, the group meets annually to experiment with new technologies and collaborate to develop digital design techniques.When SG was founded in 2001 by London-based architects and friends Hugh Whitehead (Foster + Partners), J Parrish (AECOM) and Lars Hesselgren (PLP), there was little in the way of parametric tools for architecture. SG was founded to encourage the development, discussion and experimentation of digital design techniques driven by design intent rather than on construction specifications. SG calls for a re-consideration of the design process, where the creation of computational mechanisms become an integral part of designing – not a task done prior to or separate from the process. In the early years of the workshops this need for new ways of design thinking led to the development of Bentley´s GenerativeComponents software. In recent years, the ecology of these design environments has diversified to include multiple software platforms, as well as innovative fabrication techniques and interactive environments. SG has grown accordingly from a handful of experts to an international network of designers who are defining the future of design. Founded by digital pioneers, it creates the algorithmic designers of the future.Inside Smartgeometry can be seen as a retroactive manifesto for SG, examining and contextualising the work of the SG community: the digital spaces, prototypes and buildings designed using bespoke tools created in response to architectural ideas. From interactive crowd-sourcing tools to responsive agent-based systems to complex digitally fabricated structures, it explores more than a decade of advances that have been influential for architecture.  Through 23 original texts including reflections by the founders, and key contributors such as Robert Aish, Martin Bechthold, Mark Burry, Chris Williams and Robert Woodbury, the book offers a critical state of the art of computational design for architecture. Many international design and engineering firms have participated in SG and the book includes chapters by practitioners from offices such as CASE, Design2Production, Foster + Partners, Grimshaw, Populous and SOM.

Computing the Environment presents practical workflows and guidance for designers to get feedback on their design using digital design tools on environmental performance. Starting with an extensive state-of-the-art survey of what top international offices are currently using in their design projects, this book presents detailed descriptions of the tools, algorithms, and workflows used and discusses the theories that underlie these methods. Project examples from Transsolar Klimaengineering, Buro Happold´s SMART Group, Behnish Behnisch Architects, Thomas Herzog, Autodesk Research are contextualized with quotes and references to key thinkers in this field such as Eric Winsberg, Andrew Marsh, Michelle Addington and Ali Malkawi.

The contents of the book will highlight the differences between the design and engineering disciplines – strengths and flaws. It will also illustrate examples of interdisciplinary interactions. Any false dichotomies will be revealed and the many non-linear processes borne out of challenging conventions between traditional and new modes of practice will be revealed. Projects based on a body of experience spanning many years will be selected to support experimentation that goes beyond an undisciplined search for originality, innovation and creativity. In addition to writings from Hanif Kara and Daniel Bosia contributions will be sought from specialists in the field who have played a role in the operations of P.art® at AKT II – past and present – qualifying them to disseminate and distribute a particular form of ‘knowledge’. Features work of architectural practices: Adjaye Associates, Foster + Partners, Heatherwick Studio, HOK, Serie Architects, Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Zaha Hadid Architects.In addition to AKT II, it will encompass the work of engineers and engineering consultants such as: Arup, Cecil Balmond, Buckminster Fuller, Buro Happold, Pier Luigi Nervi and Peter Rice.