Advanced computational research

Xu: When you use the word "advanced" in relation to digital technology, what do you mean?

Neil: In my opinion, there are two aspects. One is the emphasis on advanced programming techniques used throughout the design process, and the other is advanced computational technologies used in the manufacturing process. In terms of programming techniques, we can distinguish between the use of explicit modeling tools such as Rhino and Maya, which are used everywhere, algorithmic tools such as Grasshopper and Processing, which are gaining ground, and parametric tools such as Catia and Digital Project. What is advanced and remains advanced is the use of code - the use of scripts or algorithms, in other words - and in particular the use of techniques such as genetic algorithms and so on. Obviously, these are getting more advanced by the day. There are also a lot of Grasshopper plugins that are becoming more and more specialized. Another aspect is digital production. We can see how many schools - e.g. AA, Bartlett, Tsinghao, Tongji, IaaC, SCI-Arc, ETH Zürich, USC, Michigan and others - have already invested in robots. In fact, many schools are taking robotic manufacturing seriously. So 3D printing as such means very little at the moment because everyone is using it. It is no longer advanced. But the use of robots is (...) (...)

X.: Are you saying that digital education has progressed and reached a new level?

N.: Absolutely. (...) In fact, I predict that by the end of this decade - by 2020 - we won't even use the word "computational" anymore, because it will be everywhere; everywhere and nowhere. So there will be no point in using that term. It will be like on a construction site, where we are not talking about electrical machinery, because everything is electrical.

X: What impact will this shift in architectural education have on the architectural practices of the future?

N: The relationship between architectural practice and architectural education is an interesting one, because I think that in many ways architectural practice is ahead of education; (...) we often find in architectural schools that teachers are reluctant to adopt new computational tools. On the other hand, if you look at the most important architectural offices, such as those of architects like Frank Gehry, Foster or Zaha Hadid, you will find research groups in each of these offices, where the computational tools needed to complete the construction of today's complex buildings on time and within budget are being developed. For example, in Gehry's office there is Gehry Technologies; in Norman Foster's office there is Specialist Modeling Group; in Zaha's office there is CODE and so on. (...)

X.: (...) In many schools of architecture, especially in the West, such as ETH, Harvard GSD, AA, but also in some universities in China, such as SCUT and Tsinghua, there is a significant amount of research related to interactive architecture. This kind of research, purely exploratory in nature, uses high-tech architectural components to build interactive installations. These installations do not function as real architecture, but form the basis for a possible interactive architecture of the future. Equally, this is another activity that cannot be carried out in architectural offices or firms.

N.: I agree with you. In my opinion, the second revolution taking place at the moment, apart from the computational revolution, is the revolution in education. It is not universal, but it is beginning to happen. And the architectural office, in my opinion, is a kind of laboratory, an experimental laboratory. It probably started with people like Bernard Tschumi in Colombia in the '90s. He always referred to the office as a laboratory. But I think that concept has been taken even further by programs like the AA Design Research Laboraroty [DRL] - the AA Design Research Laboratory. And since then it has evolved even further thanks to people like Achim Menges, who does extremely rigorous research at the Institute for Computational Design in Stuttgart. (...) The traditional architecture office, focused exclusively on design and the traditional student-teacher relationship, is undergoing some transformations, moving towards a new type of design, essentially research-based, both in terms of material fabrication and computational research. This, in my view, is a major change. It is a change in the way the master's program is designed, evolving from a mere continuation of undergraduate education to a more research-focused education, laying the foundations for doctoral research. And I think that doctoral research is another issue that is starting to become particularly important because in many countries around the world, universities are only accepting professors who have PhDs. So an important development has been to try to build a PhD culture in architecture schools. (...)

X.: The architectural office acting as a laboratory generates new knowledge. What are the benefits of this knowledge generated by professional practice and how might it influence architectural design in the future?

N.: We notice that there are research labs both within architectural offices - which create programs and in some cases even materials, basic behaviors - as well as in architectural schools. (...) I believe that the tendency of practice taking precedence over teaching, which I have noticed lately, can be countered and things can be put back to normal. I think these things have happened before; for example, computer modeling of buildings has developed strongly in academic institutions such as MIT, driven by professional practice. So we're back to a relationship that is much more natural, where the idea is first explored in schools and then matures in the context of putting it into practice.

Xu: When you use the word 'advanced', what do you mean in relation to digital technology?

Neil: To my mind, there are two aspects. One is the focus on the use of advanced software techniques in the design process, and the other side is advanced computational technologies in fabrication. In terms of software techniques, we can distinguish between the use of explicit modeling tools like Rhino and Maya that are used everywhere, algorithmic tools such as Grasshopper and Processing that are becoming extremely prevalent, and also parametric tools like Catia and Digital Project. What is advanced and remains advanced is the use of code - the use of scripting or algorithms, in other words - and especially the use of techniques such as genetic algorithms and so on. And of course these are getting more advanced every day. There are also a lot of plugins for Grasshopper that are getting more and more specialized. The other aspect is digital fabrication. And we can see that many schools - such as the AA, Bartlett, Tsinghao, Tongji, IaaC, SCI-Arc, ETH Zürich, USC, Michigan and so on - have now invested in robots. In fact many schools are looking at robotic fabrication. And so simple 3D printing means very little these days, because everyone is using it. It's not advanced. But using a robot is. (...)

X.: Do you mean that digital education has progressed to a new level?

N.: Absolutely. (...) Actually, my prediction is that by the end of this decade - by 2020 - we won't even use the word 'computation', because it will be everywhere - everywhere and nowhere. Just as on the construction site, we don't talk about electrical tools because everything is electrical.

X.: How will this shift in architectural education impact on architectural practice in the future?

N.: Well, in fact, the relationship between architecture practice and education is an interesting one, because in many ways I believe that architectural practice is often more advanced than education; (...) we often find in schools of architecture that the professors are reluctant to open up to the use of new computational tools. Meanwhile, when we look at the leading architecture practices, such as the offices of architects like Frank Gehry, Foster, Zaha Hadid, we will find research groups in each of these offices, where they are developing computational tools that are necessary in order to get the complex buildings of today built on time and on budget. So in Gehry's office you find Gehry Technologies; within Norman Foster's office's the Specialist Modeling Group; within Zaha's office CODE, and so on. (...)

X.: (...) Within many architecture schools especially in the West such as ETH, Harvard GSD, AA, or in some schools in China, such as SCUT and Tsinghua, there is a lot of research being done towards interactive architecture. This purely exploratory research uses high-tech driven architectural components to form interactive installations. These installations don't have the function of real architecture. But they are the foundation of a potential interactive architecture of the future. Similarly, this is also another undertaking that cannot be done in the architecture practice or firms.

N.: I agree with your comments. I think that the second revolution happening beyond the computational revolution is the revolution in education that is beginning to appear. This is by no means universal, but it is beginning to appear. And I see the design studio as a kind of laboratory, an experimental Laboratory. That started maybe with people like Bernard Tschumi in Columbia in the 1990's. He always referred to the studio as a laboratory. But I think this has been taken to another level by programs such as the AA Design Research Laboraroty [DRL]. And since then this in turn has been taken to another level by people like Achim Menges in his Institute of Computational Design [ICD] in Stuttgart where he is very rigorous in the way that he approaches the question of research. (...) There is a shift from the old fashion design studio, which is only about design and the traditional master-student relationship, towards a new kind of project which is fundamentally grounded in research, often in terms of both material fabrication and computational research. That I think is an important shift. In my mind, it's a shift in re-envisioning the master's program especially from simply being a continuation of the undergraduate education towards one with a greater research orientation that lays the foundations for PhD research. And I think that PhD research is another issue that is becoming really important, because many countries in the world will now only accept professors who have PhDs. One of the important developments has therefore been trying to build up a PhD culture in schools of architecture. (...)

X.: The design studio acting as a laboratory is generating new knowledge. What is the benefit of this knowledge generated in the school to professional practice, and how might it even further influence architectural design in the future?

N.: We can observe that there are research laboratories both inside architectural practices - developing software, and in some cases even working on materials, material behaviors - and also in architectural schools (...) I think there is a potential of reversing what I have seen in the trend recently, where practice has been ahead of education, and getting back to what it should be. I think this has been seen in the past, where, for example, the development of Building Information Modeling came out of work at academic institutions such as MIT, so that we are getting back to a relationship that's much more natural, where the idea is first explored in schools, and then becomes matured in its application within professional practice.