Ramsey Yassa from BD reviews DS13 end of year show.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) is an unprecedented important strategic road corridor which links up three regions in the Pearl River Delta, China. In mid 2009, Highways Department initiated to organize an International Design Ideas Competition for its development.

Under the Same Roof – a project by Paul Mui Kui Chen, Benny Lee Chiu Ming and Agnes Hung Oi Kee –  received first prize in the competition. An indoor winter garden also acts to replenish the air with fresh oxygen improving the air quality of the very busy transportation hub. Algae tubes located mounted on the roof utilize sunlight to create even more oxygen. Meanwhile natural ventilation is facilitated through the stack effect and operable panels to release air and exhaust.
Read more: First Prize Design For Stategic Hong Kong Transportation Hub | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World

Via UFO-au:

Topostruct is a program for structural topology optimization written by Sawako Kaijima and Michalatos Panagiotis.  It’s development was influenced by the ideas and methods discussed in the book “Topology Optimization, Theory, Methods and Applications” written by M.P. Bendsoe and O. Sigmund.

The software is intended primarily towards designers and non engineers that want to familiarize with topology optimization as well as develop their intuition regarding the structural behaviour of materials.
Topostruct supports both two and three dimensional models.   The user will input the dimensions and resolution of an orthogonal region in space which will be assigned certain material density.  The user must then place different support conditions and applied loads within this region and finally run the optimizer which will yield a distribution of material that best meets these conditions.

Topostruct is available from kaijima & panagiotis’s website http://sawapan.eu/ which has a number of other generative design applets for download.

Smartgeometry is a week long, two part event which consists of a workshop and a conference, bringing together practitioners, specialists and students to explore the ever-expanding possibilities of digital fabrication and parametricism. Teams or ‘clusters’ were formed from the 100 participants, each with a different agenda. I was enrolled with the cluster which was exploring Parametric Acoustic Surfaces. See Photos for more details of the other Clusters.

During the four day workshop the ‘Acoustic’ cluster , lead by Brady Peters and Martin Tamke of CITA, designed and produced a 1:1 installation which explored the performance of acoustic panelling.  The participants were able to design their own panels using Generative Components or other digital means. These were constructed using the CNC machine and laser cutter available at IaaC, and collated on a single form. Orange acoustic foam was used to absorb sound and Di-bond and plywood were used to reflect and scatter sound.

The overall form of the ‘Sound Installation’ had been designed to incorporate a façade which focused sound due to its parabolic curvature, a façade which scattered sound, and an enclosed space which isolated the user from the outside environment, performing acoustically as an absorbent or dull space.

The following attachments detail the design process SoundBox01 SoundBox02

Brady Peters also put together a book of this project which can be previewed here

Check out a couple of interesting entries on vray settings and lasercutting techniques.

algorithmicdesign.net have published a series of rhino based tutorials on computational morphogenesis.

Evolo have published the second edition of their magazine called Skyscrapers of the Future. It’s available here.

AA have started posting videos of their lectures. Check out Tom Wiscombe’s Extreme Integration lecture.

Four noteworthy publications on digital architecture are now out:

• Digital Cities AD: Architectural Design Edited by Neil Leich, articles by Michael Batty, Benjamin Bratton, Alain Chiaradia, Manuel DeLanda, Vicente Guallart and Peter Trummer.
• Research & Design: The Architecture of Variation by Lars Spuybroek
• The Patterns of Architecture: Architectural Design Edited by Mark Garcia, articles by Hanif Kara, Patrik Schumacher and Alejandro Zaera–Polo.
• Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques (Architecture Briefs) by Lisa Iwamoto

You can get them from Amazon by clicking on the links above or from our bookshop.