Think Smarter, Not Faster

In the current Age of Information, technology has become more important and advanced than ever before by transforming the way we live and the ways that we can be connected. iPhones, computers, and tablets are ruling our lives, but what can they do that we as humans can’t? We can type notes on them, but we could also write notes using a pen and paper. We can Google our questions, but we could also research those same questions using books, journals, and encyclopedias. We can send five words in the form of a text message, but we could also walk across the room and speak to that same person. In today’s world, these devices seem so necessary because speed and simplicity are becoming more important, but are they really all that necessary? David Lee, assistant professor of Architecture, and his Creative Inquiry, Computational Design Group, are applying these same kinds of questions to architecture.

What can computers offer to architecture? Lee explained, “… much of what we have seen in the digital computers’ short history has been an expected emulation of what we can already do with a pencil and paper and have done for centuries.” So why bother learning how to do the same things with a computer? You may get faster, but you won’t get smarter. The focus of this Creative Inquiry is computational thinking, which doesn’t require the use of a computer or other digital device. Computational thinking is about understanding how computers work, about systems and logic, and using that as a methodology to develop architectural designs.

Over the course of a year, Lee and his students develop anywhere between one and six projects. Lee begins with an interesting and relevant theme, and then his students design their own projects in hopes of answering design questions about the specific theme. However, the students’ answers are focused on applying computational thinking and design. For example, one of his themes was “material intelligence,” where his students were asked to focus on embedding intelligence into project designs. With this theme, the students first researched and studied the behaviors of solids, like steel and plastic, and, then, they explored the kinetic abilities and structural capacities of the solid materials.

As the students sought out ways to apply this new knowledge to architectural design, they developed a structure with hinges made of a nickel titanium alloy. Most hinges are made of metal, which cannot change shapes. However, as the students applied the systems and logic used to previously study kinetic abilities and structural capacities of these materials, they were able to come up with a computational design. The students decided to develop the nickel titanium hinges because this particular alloy changes shape when it is coiled. They were interested in a hinge that changed shapes because they were exploring opportunities where people might need to have a deploying structure that changes shape after it has been deployed. These types of structures are particularly important when it comes to disaster relief.

Most people who are not familiar with architecture view architecture as designing and making buildings. Designing and making a building is a part of architecture, but a building is not just architecture because it’s a building. It’s possible to construct a building and it not be architecture. Architects think about how to place buildings in the environment so that the buildings can be a part of the environment while best serving the needs of the community.

Thinking about the design process and architecture today, that is computational design. Developing models using hinges that change shape for the purpose of making disaster relief easier and more efficient, that is computational design.