DNA DISCRETE NETWORK ASSEMBLY
SHAJAY BHOOSHAN STUDIO PHILIPP SIEDLER FEDERICO BORELLO BEGUM AYDINOGLU
DRL 2015/2017 ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION
ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATION Introduction
More then half of the world’s population now lives in cities. The global housing crisis, new advances in digital sharing, the proliferation of slums and the increasing need for social housing are reshaping our idea of home and the architecture of our cities. Uncertainties dominate the future of our cities and our lifes, through the gloabel economic crisis and growing will of independency and intolerance. International hubs like London, New York, Tokyo and Paris are facing a revolution in terms of their urban landscape morphology due to an increasing lack of architectural unity and coherence. What was considered science fiction is becoming reality: in the best case cities are envisioned as amusement parks (Image 40), filled with roller coasters and new playful landmarks, in the worse they become victims of genericness, repetition and homogeneity (Image 41). Good design never mattered more then today, to reverse a global condition of uncontrolled and unregulated growth which leads to urban sprawl and chaos. The contemporary age offers at the same time multiple opportunitie thanks to the steep development of technology and robotic intelligence which we believe will be main driver of a new era of prosperity if coupled with an innovative charge in architectural terms. Networks of communication (Image 42), multi-layered differentiation and organization, and multi disciplinarity are core aspects to consider and bring on board for a novel sophisticated approach to architecture and the built environment. The suggested approach promotes an adaptive and rapid process to deploy architectural solutions through collaboration with robotic technology. Flexibility and adaptivity are achieved through the use of discrete elements as building components within a geometric and structural efficient framework. The architecture proposed looks for flexibility, structural efficiency, material and cost reduction and expressive freedom as reaction to the increasing complexity of the contemporary way of living. Patrik Schumacher, Gearing up to Impact the Global Built Environment , Published in: AD Parametricism 2.0 – Rethinking Architecture’s Agenda for the 21st Century Editor: H. Castle, Guest-edited by Patrik Schumacher, AD Profile #240, March/April 2016.
 Image 40. Futuristic amusement park in London.
 Image 41. Kangbashi New Area in Inner Mongolia, the Meixi Lake area near Changsha, and Tianjin’s Yujiapu Financial District.
 Image 42. Communication system in a neural networks.
tokyo
Population of Tokyo - Tokyo Metropolitan Government [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/ABOUT/HISTORY/history03. Statistics Japan : Prefecture Comparisons [WWW Document], n.d. . Statistics Japan : Prefecture Comparisons. URL http://stats-japan.com/.
Population of Tokyo - Tokyo Metropolitan Government [WWW Document], n.d. URL http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/ABOUT/HISTORY/history03. Statistics Japan : Prefecture Comparisons [WWW Document], n.d. . Statistics Japan : Prefecture Comparisons. URL http://stats-japan.com/.
new yorkcity
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/map-of-average-rent-by-nyc-neighborhood-is-as-depressing-as-youd-expect-082115. http://www.zillow.com/new-york-ny/home-values/ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/commuters-nearly-double-manhattans-daytime-population-census-says/ https://www.6sqft.com/what-nycs-population-looks-like-day-vs-night/ http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/population-geography/pop-demography.htm
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/map-of-average-rent-by-nyc-neighborhood-is-as-depressing-as-youd-expect-082115. http://www.zillow.com/new-york-ny/home-values/ http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/commuters-nearly-double-manhattans-daytime-population-census-says/ https://www.6sqft.com/what-nycs-population-looks-like-day-vs-night/ http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/population-geography/pop-demography.htm
LONDON
 http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/02/londons-renters-now-outnumber-homeowners/470946/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10863343/Huge-rise-in-the-singleton-lifestyle.html http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/indicators/topics/ https://www.quora.com/Which-city-in-the-world-has-the-biggest-difference-between-the-day-and-night-population
 http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/02/londons-renters-now-outnumber-homeowners/470946/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10863343/Huge-rise-in-the-singleton-lifestyle.html http://www.londonspovertyprofile.org.uk/indicators/topics/ https://www.quora.com/Which-city-in-the-world-has-the-biggest-difference-between-the-day-and-night-population
ANALYSIS A deep analysis of three urban hubs has been conducted to understand the major trends of their populations and how these live the urban environment. Tokyo, New York and London were considered as three perfect examples of high performance cities, characterized not only by high population and density but also by an high speed metabolism which transformed the way people live in the last few decades. The number of people living in the cities is steeply increasing because of their attractive power in terms of job opportunities and multidisciplinary possibilities thanks to their powerful network of communication and worldwide investors. This transformation phenomenon into global hubs, multi ethnic and differentiated, fueled the adaptation of the morphology of these cities into more responsive and dynamic entities to counter the high demand of their population and the increased performances. Due to boomed financial activities and real estate speculations prices for renting and mortgages have been increased. This has changed the way that people live, their everyday activities and private life in addition to its direct impact on the housing market. The former data clearly identify a global tendency to live outside of the city centers in small spaces for one person only, and utilise the efficient public transportation network to reach the work place. The rooted idea of “home” gradually changed; for most of the people home doesn’t represent anymore a private space to spend their free time and disconnect from the rest of world, but a place to be even more connected then during the daily routine, an adaptable space able to serve more functions, privates and socials. Shared houses and accommodations are becoming the norm for young generations of students and workers which cannot afford bigger spaces in the city centers. The shared concept of living redefined the way public and private spaces are distributed within the buildings and the idea of privacy itself. The entire housing system is changing and has to be rethought and redesigned to tailor the needs of the contemporary way of living. Adaptability, fast deployability, connectivity, flexibility and cost reduction are key concepts to evaluate and consider to design the house of the present and future.
Location: Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan. Architect: Kisho Kurokawa Building Description: The Nakagin Capsule Tower is part of is a mixed-use residential and office tower completed in 1972. As part of Japans post war architecture, one of the last remaining examples of Japanese Metabolism and the worlds first arranged capsule building. Used was the building for permanent residents and practical purposes. Nowadays only 30 of 140 capsules are actually inhabited, the remaining capsules are used as storage, offices or are completely abondend and left to self-destruct. The tower has 13 floors and a total area count of 3,091.23 square meters. Each micro apartment has an area count of 8,74 square meters, and the measurements for each capsule are 2.3 m x 3.8 m x 2.1 m. One capsule can accomodate 1-2 people. To achieve bigger spaces multiple capsules can be connected. The capsules where designed and ulilized before they were shipped to the site and mounted onto the concrete circulation shaft. They are ment to be replaceable, despite till today none of the capsules has been replaced.
 Cutting station to deploy segments with custom length. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakagin_Capsule_Tower
Location: Anywhere Architect: Tomas Zacek, Sona Pohlova, Matej Pospisil Building Description: The Ecocapsule is a apparently self-sustaining capsule, which can be placed anywhere there is solid ground. The architects and designers describe the Ecocapsule as a “mobile home”, which is able to source energy through wind and solar power and collect rain water. Geographic and local condition dependencies impact the duration the capsule can be used without connecting it to the grid. A standard value of one year can be expected. The mobile home is able to accomodate 1-2 people and has am usable area count of 6,3 square meters. Basic specifications of the capsuled measure 4,45 m x 2,25 m x 2,55 m. Lightweight materials are used to construct the ecocapsule: Insulated fibreglass as the outer shell, an aluminum framework with a honeycomb and furnier wood interiour. Kitchen, washing cabinet and lighting is standard utilisation in the capsule. The capsules electric system is controlled with a tablet app which is fed by the smart home system and sensors.
 Ecocapsules with folded out wind wheel. https://www.ecocapsule.sk/#product-info
Location: United States of America, New York, New York City Architect: nArchitects Building Description: As a sensible reaction to rapid growth of New York Cities small household population nArchitects developed a “new standard for micro-living”. High felxibility and adaptability thanks to modular construction atracted a lot of attention, for especially in NYC where the highest density of people world wide is measured. nArchitects micro-unit project is the first in New York City. The micro apartment unit which is called Carmel Place provides space for “55 loft-like”1 individual living areas. Four different types of apartments are available, with area counts ranging from 7 to 9,7 square meters. Small footprint but a desire for high living standard, a certain spaciousness and comfort requiers extra efficiency and intelligent design decisions for interiour and program. Each of the apartment modules were locally prefabricated, foundation and ground floor were built on site. In total 65 self-supporting steel framed modules where stacked on site, 55 as ibhabitable spaces, 10 as core and circulation.
 Ecocapsules with folded out wind wheel.  https://www.ecocapsule.sk/#product-info
Nowadays, the way that people seek for a living space has changed. People are expecting less private space and more communal space in order to communicate and integrate with other key factors of urban life. This opens up a new concept, “Co-Living”. In every other industry there is an ownership model and service model. Property market has co-living to serve those two economic models. The Y generation is choosing to avoid ownership as use of Uber, mobile phone contracts, rental bike services demonstrates. This type of living is supporting multi generational creative community and reviving the old accustomedness of bonded neighbouring as the previous generation had. In space planning, this leads to designing the private spaces served by communal spaces which are enhancing inter disciplinary exchange of knowledge and make permanent social connections. The “living room”, concept is eliminated from the existing traditional housing diagrams and integrated matrix of the building.