GREG LYNN

DESIGN PROCESSES
ABOUT GREG LYNN

 Greg Lynn was born in Ohio in 1964 and

received an undergraduate design degree from
Miami university Ohio in 1986
 In 1992 Lynn founded Greg Lynn form and
currently has office in Venice, CA and Hoboken
 He has affiliated numerous academic institutions
internationally both as adjunct professor, visiting
lecturer and critic.
HIS IDEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

 CONCEPTS AND NOTIONS:

 Force
 Curvature
 Multi-type performance envelope
 Topology
 Multiplicities
HIS IDEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY

 TECHNIQUES:
 Splines
 NURBS surface
 Animations
 Metaballs
 Blebs, lattices, flowers and strands
HIS THEORY

 Study of architecture via computers. The computer

mediates: topology, time and parameters
 TOPOLOGICAL ELEMENTS:
 They are results of calculation
 A topological line is a movement through control points
 A topological surface is also a movement through control
points but is formed as a plane surface
 Curvature of lines and surfaces denotes the condition
 These relations can be studies through the animations
ANIMATIONS

 Animation is a term which differs from and is

often confused with motion
 Motion implies a movement or action but
whereas animation implies animism, animalism,
evolution, growth, actuation and virtuality.
 The first image indicates the procession of a form
and the second one indicates superimposition.
BLEBS AND FLOWERS

 Blebs are the volumes that appears from a self-

intersecting surface
 Flowers are the transformation of a form from tubes
to a flattened surface
 The first image denotes a flower and the second one
denotes a bleb
SHREDS, STRANDS AND LATTICE

 Shreds are nothing but creation openings by

means of duplicate control curves
 Strands are spaces created with a bundle of
lines
 Lattice is the method of creating the grids of
the space or the structure
DESIGN PROCESS

 METHOD:
 Analyzed brief for major spaces
 Decide in computational structure
 Relate the structure to the site
 Determine the forces on the structure
 Key frame the major conditions of the structure
 Animate and study the interaction
 Freeze and develop one more instance of the animation
CASE STUDY – H2 HOUSE FOR OMV AUSTRIAN MINERAL OIL
COMPANY 1996

 It is a multifunctional visitor and demonstration center

 The building serves as a public relation education facility
for the public who visits the OMV refinery
 It is used for the exhibition of new solar and low energy
technology for Austrian mineral oil factory
 The interior of the building is separated into two zones by
a translucent fabric upon which the computer animations,
video sequence and still images are projected
THE DESIGN
 The design utilized the state of the art computer
stimulation to model the solar vault throughout the year of
alignment and shape of all shading devices and the photo
voltaic cells
 The north facade of the building was shaped by stimulating
the movement of automobile in the highway. The motion
of the cars was used to sweep a series of surface that reveal
the interior of the building as a sequence when viewed at a
speed from roadway
 The topography of both the site modals where build with
aluminum CNC sheets and stacked to form a solid base.
One shows the larger context of the site with the close
storage tanks behind the building
 The access road with a line of trees and a parallel road
provides access to the various main parts of the refineries
THE DESIGN-ANIMATIONS
 Animated stimulations where utilized to calculate the
specific angles of the south walls built with separate
walls rather than built with solid blank walls
 Three representative sun path curves for a specific area
are taken and a network of nodes held between all three
curved radii and the wall panels foot points are drawing
an average. Each of the nodes is mathematically linked
to its solar panel. The movement of the node is
translated into a rotation over time within this spherical
sun system
 Therefore each of the solar voltaic panel mounted on the
south walls will be operating optimal at a specific sum
angle
 Thank you

Done by Alex Stuwart