Week 6: Reading Response to Rahim.

This week we were asked to read and respond to two papers by A. Rahim.

(Image A: Rahim, p18, 2006. Residential Housing Tower, Dubai)

RAHIM, A. 2006. 01 Techniques and technology. In Catalytic Formations Architecture and Digital Design, ed. A. Rahim. London: Taylor & Francis.

In this paper, Rahim talks about "unraveling the differences and relationships between often-confused terms such as technology, technique, and technical." (page 2) and how they must be integrated into a 'feedback loop.'

Technology: an application of scientific advance to a cultural context. Is judged qualitatively. Looks at the impact on the user. Can only gain meaning through application.

Technical: is directed towards the efficiency of a mechanical, electrical, or digital operation. Measured numerically.

Technique: Determines the overall outcome of the technology. Method.

Feedback Loop: a two-way transfer of information-between a technical innovation and its context.

I found the section on Danish architect and designer Verner Panton was very interesting as Panton used science and experimentation to achieve a new technique in design with his stackable, cantilevered plywood chair for the WK European Furniture Design Competition and from there continued to experiment with finding newer, lighter materials to work with.

By embracing technology, being curious and exploring various techniques Panto was able to come up with unique designs and techniques. Panton was also inspired by his immediate cultural context which at that time was Pop Art and mass production.
As a designer I can look at my surrounds and current technology to discover new materials and also cultivate a technological design practice.

(Verner Panton's Prototype Wooden S-Chair.

Designed by Verner Panton for Thonet, Germany. 1960. Beech plywood.)

RAHIM, A. 2006. 05 Migrating coastlines. In Catalytic Formations Architecture and Digital Design, ed. A. Rahim. London: Taylor & Francis.
 
Rahim reviews the Residential Housing Tower in Dubai. (UAE, 2004)

"The 45-story, 450,000-square-foot residential tower overlooks the city of Dubai and the Arabian Gulf on one side and the desert on the other." (page 1)

(Image B: Rahim, p6, 2006)

(Image C: Rahim, p24, 2006)

I love the organic structure of this residential housing building in Dubai as it is such a fluid structure with a sense of movement. The systematic approach towards the design and experimentation process was also a very useful way of incorporating technology and current context together:

• Various pressure modulated in a feedback loop
• Generating a flow to activate the centre
• Twisting particles create the structural form
• Organisational patterns