The Question

The Question: How might new geotechnical approaches to computing aggregate + aggregations of other ‘wild’ materials impact urban design?

Dilemma – Wild vs Cultured Stone

A multitude of different operations and constraints in assembling the physical components of a city exist. Some of these practices exist for a predictable or static culture and others are less developed (in software) for the dynamic or ‘wild’ contexts of our built landscape environment.

Material Complexity

Dealing with rock as aggregate may appear relatively simple in concept. However, a rock’s geometric complexity, particularly when dealing with many of these similar but geometrically unique aggregates in mass presents great challenges in predictability for construction and design applications.

Software Formations

Applications in the Built Environment

Why Rocks + Aggregate Matter

Of all the components / materials we might control in the construction process, rocks are some of the most useful. They can be found everywhere, from deserts, cities, underwater, and even far away planets. Rock is one of the most common structural components of the universe, because it is essentially planet matter; rocks are the geotechnical foundation for the world on-which we currently and worlds we might hope to live. They have been the basic building block from ancient architecture, to science fiction fantasy, to the parks we stroll through every day. Rock is critical in its many various forms to nearly all realizations of our built environment. The problem is that the geometry of rock / aggregate is complicated … but if we can create a tool to handle these complex components, perhaps we apply the tools to other complex built environments.

Aggregate, Aggregation + Geotechnical Urbanism

A thesis exploration by Adam Mekies conducted at Harvard GSD, Spring 2021.

Advised by Stephen M. Ervin.

Objects

Rooms

Buildings

From Modular Features

What are the Construction Creatures of our future wilds; as a computational construction industry, how will we train and direct the new team make-up?

Construction Innovation

[...or a lack thereof...]

US Labor Productivity:

1964-2014

Constant $ of contracts / workhours of hourly workers. Sources US Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics

A Familiar Context for Keeping Water Out of the Static City

A Propositional Kinetic Settlement Embracing Water

A Mashup of Idea in Extreme Climate Conditions

Software Assembly

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Distributional Geometry

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Component Forms

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Uses / Purposes

Computability of Materials Systems
Pursuit of a “Wild” Aesthetic
Complex Environmental Contexts… (Sea level rise etc.)

Thesis Abstract

Within the architectural engineering and construction industry we have developed diagrammatic representations and software translations of cultural patterns, extruded 2D cities, and built architecture of processed materials palettes. We are not yet able to diagrammatically compute the translation (intent to manifestation) of wild contexts and materials systems. This thesis seeks a hybrid software approach to the bulk manipulations of aggregate, somewhere between that of a wild randomization and a highly refined aesthetic.

Abstract Continued

By developing new software tools toward the aggregation of “wild” (i.e. rock, soils and organic matter) rather than “cultured” (cast-in-place concrete, steel beams, and pre-fabricated urbanism), we may not only achieve new opportunities in the ecological landscape definition of the terms, but also provide tooling for new forms of urban aggregate across more dynamic, and less predictable cultural conditions, so called geo-technical urbanism(s). This experimentation is applied conceptually to sea-level rise and coastal urbanism surrounding the Boston harbor.

The Complexity of the Material

The traditional methods have been to first generalize an area or ‘boundary’ either in plan or section, and then apply a symbology and information to that area. The information might describe type of rock, size / gradation, compaction if small aggregate, or specific directions on how to place the rock if representing larger boulders or stone materials. This process is in essence at the basis of low-resolution BIM / LIM technologies. Create a digital simplification / proxy and then attach an informational tag providing the remaining information. However, this generalized / standardized approach works much better with materials that are culturally processed leaving many aspects of rock and stone as principal points of ambiguity and reason for inefficiency in construction of the built environment.

However, real rocks are organic and wild in nature; their shape, texture, gradation and material are directly linked. Where there is a steep ledge, or more malleable open delta there are actually distinct differences in the aggregation of the materials which make up the underlying structure. But when we generalize everything inside of a certain zone first, and then just apply a general notation to it, there is not specific physical relationship between them, which is my most documentation of these types of materials you see are underwhelming. For now, our industry has simply accepted that simplifying the design intent, leaving large amounts of ambiguity in that intent, or spending inordinate amounts of time with each individual rock in the field, is just how it’s always going to be.