Contemporary architectural practice – a challenge for educational process

2010

Nr 2(28)

Educational issues

Builders used drawings from the earliest times. The

statue of the Sumerian ruler of Gudea (circa 2500 BC)

– kept in the collections of the Louvre Museum – who is

sitting on the throne and keeping a drawing of the temple

plan on his lap can be considered to be the oldest drawing

representation of the structure. Ancient civilizations con-

tributed to the development of mathematics and geometry

as well as the studies on proportions and in this way they

set the trends of architectural thought development for the

next centuries. The Roman creators of architecture com-

monly used drawings of projections and facades. In order

to make the communication with clients easier, some of

them tried to present a project by means of perspective

drawings. Such a method of presenting the space devel-

oped and was popularized only in the period of the Ren-

aissance.

Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak*, Bartosz M. Walczak*

Contemporary architectural practice – a challenge for educational process

Technical University of Łódź, Institute of Architecture and Urban

Planning.

Fig. 1. The process of the project

creation on the basis of traditional

architect’s practice – freehand

or computer drawing (by authors)

concept

mind

result 1

result 2...

...result n

effect

concept

mind

result 1

result 2...

...result n

effect

anticipation

caad drawing

acceptance

evaluation

anticipation

manual drawing

acceptance

evaluation

272 Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak, Bartosz M. Walczak

The architect was responsible not only for the project

but also for its realization. He lived and created in the direct

contact with constructions, materials and the process of ac-

tual building. Architects, who not only designed buildings

but also used their profound knowledge and numerous skills

in painting, sculpture and widely-understood engineering,

performed a particular role in the period of the Renaissance.

Dissonance between aesthetics and technology appeared

only in the 19

century. S. Giedion conrms that a particular

feature of the architecture of that period was isolation from

technological development, in which he observes the mani-

festation of a division into architects and constructors

[1,

3]. From that time, architects were concerned with design-

ing and construction engineers dealt with the realization of

projects. Thus, no wonder architects were associated rst of

all with a drawing board, T-square and pencil until recently.

Giedion S., Space, time and architecture, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge 1959, pp. 209–216 (chapter „The schism between architecture

and technology”).

The process of creating a design can be regarded as

invariable through centuries. It consisted in presenting

the concept, which was rst commenced in the architect’s

thoughts, in form of at drawings. The eye and hand were

responsible for the most precise imitating of the expected ef-

fect. Basically, this method has not been changed even after

the introduction of programs which aid designing (Fig. 1).

It should be explained that initially CAD abbreviation stood

for Computer Aided Drafting or drawing. In other words,

architects started using electronic drawing boards. The mo-

ment the systems were developed to the level of spatial

modelling, the letter D was extended to designing.

Apparent simplicity of operating the programs, which

dealt with composing simple objects with ready-made

elements and with the possibility of seeing them in 3D

(without the necessity to have the knowledge of descrip-

tive geometry as it used to be) gave the impression that at

the beginning of the 21

century it was possible for every-

one – at least in theory – to become a creator and designer

(‘design your garden!’). Fascination with spatial model-

Fig. 2. The process

of the project creation

on the basis of parametric

and generative methods

(by authors)

concept

mind

expectations

curiosity

result 1

result 2...

...result n

effect

scripting

acceptance

evaluation

Fig. 3. Designs of IAiU students created during the rst workshops (by authors on the basis of students’ designs)

Contemporary architectural practice – a challenge for educational process 273

ling, visualisation and creation of technical documenta-

tion programs even made some people draw conclusions

that ‘thanks to new technologies architecture shall not be

the faculty of university of technology any longer but it

will come back to the academy of ne arts’

[4, 7].

During the recent years, numerous studies have been

written about new possibilities which are provided for

architects who use computer aided architectural design

[14]. Advanced tools and CAAD software, which in fact

Knap J., Wirtualny architekt, Wprost No. 28/2001 (972).

Inter alia: Świt-Jankowska B., Współczesne narzędzia pracy

architekta, a jakość nowo projektowanej przestrzeni mieszkalnej, AR-

CHITECTURAE et ARTIBUS, No. 2/2010, pp. 79–85; Krzaczek M.,

Inteligentny Modeler Graczny w komputerowych systemach wspoma-

gania projektowania budowlanego, typescript, Politechnika Gdańska,

2004; Górska A., Integrating CAD and Manual Design Methods for Visual

Science, „Materiały Seminarium Geometrii i Graki Inżynierskiej”, Script

8, Gliwice 2000, pp. 14–19.

is within each contemporary designer’s reach, allow creat-

ing and describing complicated forms and constructions

[8]. Thanks to new technologies, which made 3D design-

ing possible, architects who solve complex spatial prob-

lems do not have to use complicated models as Antoni

Gaudi used to do who constructed vault inverse systems

by means of cords and plummets

[11]. Modern architects

have at their disposal a wide range of programs which sup-

port designing, management, realisation and exploitation

of the structure. BIM programs (Building Information

Modelling) support not only the creation and transforma-

Kocaturk T., Veltkamp M., Interdisciplinary Knowledge Model-

ling of Free-Form Design – An Educational Experiment, [in:] Martens

B. Brown A. (eds.) Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2005,

Springer, Dordrecht 2005, pp. 465–474.

Moravanszky, A., Antoni Gaudi, Arkady, Warszawa 1983, pp.

26–29.

Fig. 4. Designs of IAiU students created during the second workshops (by authors on the basis of students’ designs)

274 Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak, Bartosz M. Walczak

tion of geometry in the computer environment but they

also control the construction of the structure, quantitative,

materials, areas and cubage statements. Architects can also

operate new methods of communication and information

transmission, which are different from the old ones.

This breakthrough that we have been witnessing

nowadays consists in another transformation of the archi-

tect’s work. It is connected with a uent transition from

the design phase to its realisation, which is carried out

totally on the basis of the digital platform. It is possible

thanks to scripts (i.e. a kind of the computer program-

ming language), which has been a domain of computer

technologists and programmers. In this way, architects

are faced with new challenges. ‘In generative methods the

architect does not directly model the form (…). In spite

of this, the form is generated by the computer, while the

architect controls it by means of a code or script. The de-

signer’s work starts resembling the work of the computer

programmer very much (…). It consists in writing a com-

puter program’

[12]. Moreover, designing of this type

requires a high level of mathematical knowledge which

in most cases the graduates from architecture schools do

not have

[13].

For the rst time in the history of architectural design-

ing the process of creation is changing so diametrically.

A different cognitive model appeared – digital continuum

– smooth transition between architectural designing, en-

gineering and realization. This introduces new conditions

and dependencies between interdisciplinary domains

which are connected with the designing process. With the

Piasecki, M., Architektura generatywna, http://www.sztuka-archi-

tektury.pl/ (access: 13.10.2010).

Pottman H., Asperl, A., Hofer M., Kilian A., Architectural Geom-

etry, Bentley Institute Press, Exton 2007, pp.i–iv.

usage of generative methods, designing does not consist

in imitating a vision which was intended by the archi-

tect. It rather constitutes a quest for computer generated

forms and their transformations until a satisfying effect

is achieved. At the same time, the forms, which were not

possible to be achieved, became feasible thanks to the us-

age of generative methods of designing (Fig. 2).

Faculties of Architecture of Warsaw and Wrocław Uni-

versities of Technology are proud to have introduced the

newest solutions to the didactic process. Also in the Insti-

tute of Architecture and Urban Planning of Łódź Techni-

cal University some actions were taken up in this matter.

Already in 2007 computer work-rooms were equipped

with Autodesk Maya Complete 8.5 software. In the same

year, similarly to the next years, several-day workshops of

generative programming were organized in which invited

foreign lecturers as well as designers from well-known

architectural studios such as SOM – Skidmore Owings

and Merrill oraz Zaha Hadid Architects took part.

At that time these precursory actions were carried out

additionally to the obligatory schedule of classes. They

aroused a lot of interest and a wide response from stu-

dents. Unfortunately, so far this aspect has not been taken

into account as regards the program of education.

During the rst workshops, students were familiarised

with the possibilities of Maya program and MEL script

language (Maya Embedded Language). They experi-

mented with simple software and checking effects in the

virtual space. Later, they tried to write a script in order to

achieve a spatial form in a control way – assumed a priori

(Fig. 3). During the second edition, the participants had an

opportunity to experience a real designing process a bit –

from the idea, through its development, to the realization

of the designed structure. It should be emphasized that

thanks to such workshops, students are able to understand

Fig. 5. Matrix illustrating

the problem of designer’s

imagination limits. The arrows

indicate transformations of gures.

With appropriate software,

we are able to obtain the shape

which ought to be in the square

with the question mark.

But are we able to imagine it

before we see the result

on the screen? (by authors)

Contemporary architectural practice – a challenge for educational process 275

the concept of generative designing but it requires a lot of

time and exercises to acquire skills allowing them to op-

erate the software uently. The results of the workshops

depended on the skills in using a new tool which aided

designing and to a lesser extent on spatial imagination as

well as a designer’s concept (Fig. 4). It is not the case

with CAAD ‘traditional’ software in which limited pos-

sibilities of the program along with the lack of skills in

operating it did not allow visualization of the idea and

imagination

[6, 15].

In consideration of the above, an appropriate introduc-

tion of programs which support designing in the educa-

tion of future architects acquires particular signicance.

Unfortunately, it often happens that the so called ‘CAD

education’ is identied with learning about a chosen com-

puter program and this makes the students passive and

unaware users of tools which they are not able to use in

a complete way. In order to realise how challenging gen-

erative methods of designing are, it is enough to point out

that a popular CAD application has about several thou-

sand commands which an average user uses in 10 per cent

only

[5, 9].

A digital revolution in architectural designing as well

as CAD implementation in the construction industry are

considered to be the most radical technological leaps in the

history of architectural designing. This revolution requires

from a designer algorithmic and procedural thinking as

well as the skill of programming. The software is more and

more complex and more difcult in operating. It also re-

Kępczyńska-Walczak A., Contemporary Renaissance Architect

– Yet Architect?, [in:] Muylle M. (ed.), eCAADe 2008: Architecture ‘in

computero’ Integrating methods and techniques, eCAADe/Artesis Uni-

versity College, Antwerp 2008, pp. 445–450.

Kacprzyk Z., Wirtualne modelowanie w projektowaniu, II Krajowa

Konferencja Naukowo-Dydaktyczna „Kształcenie na kierunku Budownic-

two – problemy studiów wielostopniowych”, Politechnika Świętokrzyska,

Kielce 2005.

quires a specialist and computer science knowledge from

the user. In the nearest future, education of the architect

will be based on computer studies to a much larger extent,

similarly to a situation in other engineering domains

[5].

In other words, the requirements and skills, which mod-

ern designers need, result in the fact that architecture must

again be connected with engineering more strictly, but this

time with the domains of computer studies and automatics.

Therefore, can we say that – as it used to be in the past,

when no difference between an architect and engineer-

constructor was to be found – it is possible that the dif-

ference between an architect and a computer scientist will

gradually be blurred now? Where are the boundaries of

architecture and designing? Are we able to predict the nal

shape that is expressed by means of mathematical param-

eters before we see its visualization on the screen (Fig. 5)?

Who is the real author – a human being or a machine?

In the past, buildings used to be materialized draw-

ings. At present, they are rather materialized digital in-

formation – designed and documented by means of

techniques of computer aided designing. Buildings are

also constructed thanks to the machines which are com-

puter controlled (MAD – Machine Aided Design)

[10].

Thus, we should appreciate great masters like Gaudi

who were able to imagine complicated spatial forms

and carry out their projects without having at their dis-

posal computer techniques, in this way creating works

of art which permanently entered the history of architec-

ture

[2].

Kacprzyk Z., op. cit.

Mitchell W.J., Constructing Complexity, [in:] Martens B., Brown

A. (eds.), Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2005, Springer,

Dordrecht 2005, pp. 41–50.

Cf.: Burry, M., Digitally Sponsored Convergence of Design Educa-

tion, Research and Practice, [in:] Martens B., Brown A. (eds.), Computer

Aided Architectural Design Futures 2005, Springer, Dordrecht 2005, pp.

3–40.

References

[1] Architectural Theory from the Renaissance to the Present, Taschen,

Koln 2006.

[2] Burry M., Digitally Sponsored Convergence of Design Education,

Research and Practice, [in:] Martens B., Brown A. (eds.), Computer

Aided Architectural Design Futures 2005, Springer, Dordrecht 2005,

pp. 3–40.

[3] Giedion S., Space, time and architecture, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge 1959.

[4] Górska A., Integrating CAD and Manual Design Methods for Visual

Sience, „Materiały Seminarium Geometrii i Graki Inżynierskiej”,

Zeszyt 8, Gliwice 2000, pp. 4–19.

[5] Kacprzyk Z., Wirtualne modelowanie w projektowaniu, II Krajowa

Konferencja Naukowo-Dydaktyczna „Kształcenie na kierunku Bu-

downictwo – problemy studiów wielostopniowych”, Politechnika

Świętokrzyska, Kielce 2005.

[6] Kępczyńska-Walczak A., Contemporary Renaissance Architect – Yet

Architect?, [in:] Muylle M. (ed.), eCAADe 2008: Architecture ‘in

computero’ Integrating methods and techniques, eCAADe/Artesis

University College, Antwerp 2008, pp. 445–450.

[7] Knap J., Wirtualny architekt, Wprost, 2001, No. 28.

[8] Kocaturk T., Veltkamp M., Interdisciplinary Knowledge Modelling

of Free-Form Design – An Educational Experiment, [in:] Martens

B., Brown A. (eds.), Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures

2005, Springer, Dordrecht 2005, pp. 465–474.

[9] Krzaczek M., Inteligentny Modeler Graczny w komputerowych

systemach wspomagania projektowania budowlanego, typescript,

Politechnika Gdańska, 2004.

[10] Mitchell W.J., Constructing Complexity, [in:] Martens B., Brown A.

(eds.), Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2005, Springer,

Dordrecht 2005, pp. 41–50.

[11] Moravanszky A., Antoni Gaudi, Arkady, Warszawa1983.

[12] Piasecki M., Architektura generatywna, http://www.sztuka-architek-

tury.pl/ (access: 13.10.2010).

[13] Pottman H., Asperl A., Hofer M., Kilian A., Architectural Geometry,

Bentley Institute Press, Exton 2007.

[14] Świt-Jankowska B., Współczesne narzędzia pracy architekta,

a jakość nowo projektowanej przestrzeni mieszkalnej, ARCHITEC-

TURAE et ARTIBUS No. 2/2010, pp. 79–85.

[15] Yüce Gün O., Anti UV: Progressive Component Design in Cross

Platforms, [in:] Muylle M. (ed.), eCAADe 2008: Architecture ‘in

computero’ Integrating methods and techniques, eCAADe/Artesis

University College, Antwerp 2008, pp. 69–75.

276 Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak, Bartosz M. Walczak

Współczesny warsztat architekta – wyzwanie dla procesu dydaktycznego

Czy rzeczywiście istnieje architektura bez granic? Zależy jak

zdeniujemy to pojęcie. Czy granicę stanowi wyobraźnia?, zdolności

rysunkowe?, wykonalność projektu?, umiejętność obsługi programów

komputerowych wspomagających projektowanie?, ograniczenia opro-

gramowania CAAD?, a może jeszcze coś innego?

Współczesne pokolenia architektów dla rozwoju zawodowego

i osiągnięcia sukcesów potrzebują wiedzy i umiejętności wykraczających

poza zakres tradycyjnego warsztatu projektowego. W czasach renesansu

architekci nie tylko projektowali budynki. Swoją głęboką wiedzę i licz-

ne umiejętności wykorzystywali w malarstwie, rzeźbiarstwie, szeroko

pojętej inżynierii.

Obecnie projektanci, podobnie jak wówczas, penetrują niezbadane

rejony architektury i sztuki, stając przed wyzwaniami, jakie stawiają przed

nimi nowe rozwiązania technologiczne.

Dzieła największych współczesnych architektów nie mogłyby

powstać bez zaawansowanych technologii komputerowych. Należałoby

postawić pytanie: Czy technologie CAAD nie wyprzedzają wyobraźni

kreatora, podsuwając/dając gotowe rozwiązania? Jakie w związku z tym

są potrzeby i oczekiwania w stosunku do procesu dydaktycznego?

Dla pełniejszego zobrazowania problematyki przedstawiono wyniki

warsztatów zorganizowanych w Instytucie Architektury i Urbanistyki

Politechniki Łódzkiej.

Key words: architecture, education Słowa kluczowe: architektura, edukacja

Contemporary architectural practice – a challenge for educational process

Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak, Bartosz M. Walczak

Abstract