Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-ktprf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-06T18:56:10.164Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Looks count: Computing and constructing visually expressive mass customized housing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2010

Terry Knight  and
Lawrence Sass
Terry Knight
Affiliation:
Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Lawrence Sass
Affiliation:
Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper introduces new research that seeks to develop low-cost, high quality, mass customizable building assembly systems that provide visually rich design variations for housing or other small structures. The building systems are intended to be tailored for particular cultures and communities by incorporating vernacular decorative design into the assembly design. Two complementary research areas are brought together in this work: shape grammars and digital fabrication. The visual, aesthetic aspects of the research are explored through shape grammars. The physical design and manufacturing aspects are explored through advanced digital design and fabrication technologies, and in particular, build on recent work on monomaterial assemblies with interlocking components that can be fabricated with computer numerical control machines and assembled easily by hand. The long-term objective of this research is the development of formal, visual–physical grammars with rules that generate complete computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing data for fabrication of full-scale components for assembly design variations. This paper reports on the first phase of this research: pilot studies for prototype assembly systems that incorporate vernacular languages from different parts of the world. The results of these studies are very promising, and demonstrate a spectrum of strategies for embedding visual properties in structural systems. Important next steps in this research are outlined. If successful, this work will lead to new solutions for low-cost, easily manufactured housing, which is especially critical in developing countries and for postdisaster environments. These new housing solutions will not only provide shelter but also support important cultural values through the integration of familiar visual design features. Beyond the specific context of housing and building assemblies, the research has the potential to impact the design and manufacture of designed artifacts on many scales and in many domains, especially in domains where visual aesthetics need to be considered jointly with physical, structural, or material requirements, and where design customization and variation is important.

Keywords

Building AssembliesDigital FabricationHousingMass CustomizationShape Grammar

Information

Type
Regular Articles
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 24 , Issue 3: Design Pedagogy: Representations and Processes , August 2010 , pp. 425 - 445
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Abruzzo, E., & Solomon, J.D., Eds. (2006). Decoration. New York: 306090 Books.Google Scholar
Agarwal, M., & Cagan, J. (1998). A blend of different tastes: the language of coffee makers. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 25(2), 205–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agarwal, M., Cagan, J., & Stiny, G. (1999). A micro language: generating MEMS resonators by using a coupled form–function shape grammar. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 27(4), 615–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ascher, M. (2002). Figures on the threshold. In Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas Across Cultures (Ascher, M., Ed.), pp. 161–189. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asokan, A., & Cagan, J. (2005). Defining cultural identities using grammars: an exploration of “cultural languages” to create meaningful experiences. DUX'05: Proc. 2005 Conf. Designing for User Experience, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Boothroyd, G., Dewhurst, P., & Knight, W.A. (2001). Product Design for Manufacturing and Assembly. New York: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Cagdas, G. (1996). A shape grammar: the language of traditional Turkish houses. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 23(4), 443–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiou, S.-C., & Krishnamurti, R. (1995). The grammar of Taiwanese traditional vernacular dwellings. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 22(6), 689–720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cira, G.B. (2007). Ornamented structure/structural ornament: litema domes. Project in Computational Design I Course 4.523. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Architecture Department.Google Scholar
Colakoglu, B. (2005). Design by grammar: an interpretation and generation of vernacular hayat houses in contemporary context. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 32(1), 141–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demaine, E.D., Demaine, M.L., Taslakian, P., & Toussaint, G.T. (2007). Sand drawings and Gaussian graphs. Journal of Mathematics and the Arts 1(2), 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldenberg, T. (2007). Ornamented structure/structural ornament: meander walls. Project in Computational Design I Course 4.523. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Architecture Department.Google Scholar
Griffith, K., & Kamath, A.V. (2009). Layered manufacturing for moldable composites using CAD/CAM technologies. CAD ‘09 Int. CAD Conf. Exhibition, Reno, NV, June.Google Scholar
Grünbaum, B., & Shephard, G.C. (1987). Tilings and Patterns. New York: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Jablan, S.V. (2002). Symmetry, Ornament, and Modularity. Series on Knots and Everything, Vol. 30. Hong Kong: World Scientific.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kieran, S., & Timberlake, J. (2003). Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction. New York: McGraw–Hill.Google Scholar
Knight, T. (1999). Shape grammars in education and practice: history and prospects. International Journal of Design Computing 2. Accessed athttp://wwwfaculty.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/ijdc/vol02/papers/knightFrameset.htmGoogle Scholar
Knight, T.W. (1981). The forty-one steps. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 8(1), 97–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, T.W. (1986). Transformations of the Meander Motif on Greek Geometric Pottery. Design Computing 1(1), 29–67.Google Scholar
Knight, T.W. (1992). Designing with grammars. In Computer-Aided Architectural Design (Schmitt, G., Ed.), pp. 33–48. Wiesbaden: Verlag Viewag.Google Scholar
Khoshnevis, B. (2004). Automated construction by contour crafting-related robotics and information technologies. Automation in Construction 13(1), 5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, A. (2002). Algorithmic architecture in twelfth-century China: the Yingzao fashi. Traditional architecture in Modern Asia. Proc. 2002 Seoul Int. Conf. East Asian Architectural History, pp. 109–117. Seoul: Korean Association of Architectural History.Google Scholar
Messler, R.W. (2003). Joining comes of age: from pragmatic process to enabling technology. Assembly Automation 23(2), 130–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moussavi, F., & Kubo, M. (2006). The Function of Ornament. Barcelona: ACTAR.Google Scholar
Murphy, R. (2006). Kolam tiles. Project in Computational Design I Course 4.521. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Architecture Department.Google Scholar
Narayanaswamy, G.(n.d.). Kolam or Rangoli. Accessed May 30, 2008, athttp://us.geocities.com/gokulmuthu/kolam.htmlGoogle Scholar
Oliver, P. (2006). Built to Meet Needs: Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.Google Scholar
Pugliese, M.J., & Cagan, J. (2001). Capturing a rebel: modeling the Harley–Davidson brand through a motorcycle shape grammar. Research in Engineering Design 13(3), 139–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rapoport, A. (1960). House Form and Culture. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice–Hall.Google Scholar
Sass, L. (2008). A physical design grammar: a production system for layered manufacturing machines. Automation in Construction 17(6), 691–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sass, L., & Botha, M. (2006). Instant house: a model of design production with digital fabrication. International Journal of Architectural Computing 4(4), 109–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sass, L., & Oxman, R. (2005). Materializing design: the implications of rapid prototyping in digital design. Design Studies 27(3), 325–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schliecher, S. (2006). Kolam tiles. Project in Computational Design I Course 4.521. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Architecture Department.Google Scholar
Siromoney, G., Siromoney, R., & Krithivasan, K. (1974). Array Grammars and Kolam. Computer Graphics and Image Processing 3(1), 63–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G., & Gips, J. (1972). Shape grammars and the generative specification of painting and sculpture. In Information Processing 71 (Freiman, C.V., Ed.), pp. 1460–1465. Amsterdam: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Stiny, G. (1977). Ice-ray: a note on the generation of Chinese lattice designs. Environment and Planning B 4(1), 89–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G. (2006). Shape: Talking About Seeing and Doing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiny, G. & Mitchell, W.J. (1978). The Palladian grammar. Environment and Planning B 5(1), 5–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar