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【建築之外Beyond Architecture|講座詳記】建築之外:幾個觀察 Beyond Architecture: Few Observations

講者 Speaker:侯君昊 Hou, June-Hao

秩序和模式

我本身不是建築背景,所以「建築之外」這件事情對我來說非常自然,要跟大家分享的也是以非典型建築背景的角度來看這些年來的建築議題。我們在看關於秩序和模式時, 人對於捕捉秩序跟模式有非常特別的能力, 會不自主地快速捕捉任何有秩序或模式的事情。對比一張墨西哥高密度住宅區空照圖和一張電路板地圖,這兩張圖是兩個完全不同的東西,但它們都面臨 類似的事情──將集合式、高密度的東西聚集在一起,其中必須解決通訊、交通與流量,以及高密度帶來的熱量問題。接著一張芝加哥大都會區的照片,如果我們從數量來對比這個最新的電腦裡頭所裝的 Intel CORE i7 的晶片,裡面有七億三千萬個晶體,能處理不論是從硬到軟、從實體到虛體的軟體作業系統的 執行。呈現出人類社會所進行高度複雜、密度極高的事情,被具體實踐在電子世界裡。

我們稍微回到建築面,我們經常從建築史中學到各式的比例象徵不同的內涵,像是希臘、羅馬時期的神廟會依祭祀的神衹來設立不同的柱子根數、高度、比例及柱式。我們的視覺和認知被訓練著透過各種數字和比例關係來學習辨識的方式,並開始適應可見的模式和關係。就像從小到大會非常留意的自然界規律縱使不是很懂,但都覺得自然界都好像都有某種規律,這時,數學家或生物學家可能就會跟你說是關於費式數列或基因規律的關係。這些表現了許多有趣之處,也使得現在的設計師跟我們非常忙碌,有太多的資訊和規律可以捕捉。

可見與不可見的秩序

現在的設計領域裡有好的工具幫我們捕捉、創造或重製這樣的規律。像是現在建築相關科系學生非常熟悉的「Grasshopper」、「Revit」等參數化工具,這些工具使得我們有機會把腦筋所想及自然界所學的各式規律放進真實、可被製造的尺度和空間裡。有時候你腦海中的思考出的複雜度也許超乎能操作的程度,但現在因為有好工具的協助,只要思考得出來,工具就有辦法協助製造。更不用說3D列印,右上角這張圖也許才是3D列印真正可以幫助我們的。3D列印要能處理的不只是要取代人手,更是人手難以做到的事,成為人的延伸。就像很多研究學者和歷史學家花了不下三到四十年的時間研究高第在聖家堂和其他建築背後所代表的意義,這些研究結果有了成果,現在聖家堂已經不是只有一般的工匠在敲石頭了,而是機械手臂在切石頭,能以非常快速的方式興建聖家堂。

我們現在講它的秩序和規律。國家地理雜誌曾把高第在建築裡用到的數學法則、自然法則都做了蠻好的整理,可以看到原先採用的數學法則是如何混搭另外一種法則。它剛開始可能只用簡單的多邊形,但在上升的過程中一面旋轉,然後再跟另一外一個多邊形交疊旋轉去做增加,這時候就變成一根柱子了,所以你會覺得柱子非常繁複,但事實上背後的原理其實是非常簡單的。而高第的這個設計法則也給新一代的設計者一個啟發──你不見得要在一開始就把所想的東西直白地揭露出它的可見秩序,它可能有另外一種秩序是你內心所想的東西,消化之後才轉換成外顯的東西。

接著我們看看不可見的秩序。像是在磁力線,不撒鐵粉是看不到磁力線的存在。它超越了人類原本用眼睛才能看到世界的這件事,但我們要更進一步地知道並了解它背後其實有一股力量存在。我認為這個不可見的力量是目前驅策世界非常重要的因子,且到處都有,因為有許多東西經過時間的淬鍊和影響下會造就這些產物,不管是海浪、波浪、各種風化,都是各種力量的集合。

剛提到設計相關領域內找到好工具有助於我們製造,我們看似掌握了不錯的數位和電腦工具,但真正最早掌握的是一群在做藝術的人。藝術家在創作領域裡的角色就是不斷往前衝、不斷挑戰、不斷用自己的生命去開拓前端,設計師其實是走在藝術家的後面,因為需要面臨他人期待、負責安全、創造實用等問題。所以在各式科技文明發端之前,都會有負責做出非常奇怪而特殊的事情的一種人,這回過頭來其實都是在問──還有什麼樣的可能性?

科技藝術展裡經常會看到一些作品,看起來似乎沒有規則可循,但是有某種說不上的類似性與規則性。有一些雖然是電腦所創造出來的,但它試圖開始做一些令人覺得熟悉的及自然的東西,會開始感覺好像身在一個被法則和秩序規範的世界,開始與看似狂野不羈而沒有太多秩序可循的環境和自然開始有點聯繫。大家會發現有很多例子背後應該都存在驅策的力量,這驅策的力量可能來自很多事情。第一,可能是藝術家內心所想的規則。他不會將他的詮釋告訴你。第二,將從外界觀察的訊息規律性地轉化到作品中。第三,可能是掌握色彩的方式。第四,可能是讓作品會動,而動的方式是被他所掌握的,只是不被講明。這些都是促使藝術創作和工藝創作從起初單純用3D列印或是電腦運算做作品的企圖,開始發展出更多的可能性。

今天如果真的要追尋對於秩序、法則的掌握的話,不只推到剛創造電腦的時候,我們可以推得更早。大約1757年莫札特的時代,他們就在做這些事情了。當時皇室經常要他們每天作一首小步舞曲,曲需要量產,但量產背後的每一首又要不一樣,所以就想到投機取巧的方法──只要先作好很多小步舞曲的片段,用擲骰子來決定怎麼演奏就好。這叫作「musical dice game」,是人類在研究規律法則時非常有名的例子。可以猜想因為音樂是一種單向度的時間藝術,所以音樂家很早就掌握序列化特性,也才有所謂的和聲學,音再怎麼配,只要考慮到音高、音長和時間的關係就好,不用考慮二維或三維,所以早在還沒有數位化與數字掌握的時代,人類就可以掌握這個規律。像這類的工具在設計領域或非建築領域的視覺領域、音樂領域其實已經非常多,像我大學時就已經開始玩電腦音樂,結果我是到開始教書的時候才開始教有關建築的、電腦的參數化工具。這樣似乎有點晚了,但對於建築領域的人來說這好像是很新、很棒的工具,所以我發現還有很多很有趣的事可以從別的領域借鏡。

Architect V.S. 建築

這時候回過頭來看建築師,這幾年我一直在想,職業或既定印象中對於「建築師」這三字或英文「Architect」的想像、期待,以及身上所背負的職責、能力、 培養和教育,其實有很多的事情值得我們思考。我喜歡用英文而非用中文,因 為建築師三個字在說建築物的建築師,但Architect這個字在英文裡說的不盡然只是建築物的建築師, 而是可以把複雜的系統或問題用自己的專業能力整合後擬出一個最適合的解決方案,並符合使用這個複雜系統的使用者需求的人,擁有 這個能力基本上就可以被稱為 Architect。

當從可見與不可見慢慢走到具象化的時候,會發現還有很多人在做我們還不知道的具象化。除了剛剛提到的3D列印,有些人用3D列印在蓋房子、做大型雕塑。早在大約十五年前的3D列印技術就已經可以蓋了,而當初擁有技術的教授現在已經不做這一塊,因為有太多人在做。之所以舉他的例子,是因為他跨越了我們未曾想過的領域──跟美國太空總署合作,現在太空總署合作最適合,因為如此一來就不用派太空人到月球去鏟水泥。歐洲和美國的學校思考到更進一步的問題──如何與更前衛的東西結合,建築師未來思考的事情將超越現在所謂工班分配、木作、泥作等的問題。

現在大家喜歡光雕的原因並不只是因為建築立面上面投影了一些動畫, 而是利用光線的幻象改變了建築物原本不能動的印象,活過來後也容易講故事、說歷史。現在有許多領域內的人開始挑戰把建築的概念拉的更遠,比如說麥可・福克斯(Michael Fox),他利用泡泡佔據空間,人多的時候泡泡會把空間讓出來, 人少的時候泡泡會將空間佔據。他之所以要挑戰建築物會動這件事,是因為經常聽到建築師或建築系的老師與學生們在抱怨建築就只能被動地接收, 只能使用市面上有的產品或工法。但他反問為甚麼不去創造並開始改變你的角色?福克斯所談的是與其抱怨不如投身創造還未存在的東西。

重新連結、對應與擴增

關於重新連結和重新對應,可能是我們下一個要面臨的問題。所以所謂的「remapping」跟重新詮釋的概念,在當今處理各式各樣的設計資訊下是個蠻重要的觀念。各位如果學過電腦音樂都知道,電腦音樂之所以容易學,是因為它就88個鍵盤,裡面的中央C是60,所以60、61、62、63、64就是各一個半音,每12個音就是一個8度,所有的東西都數字化了之後,就可以把樂譜轉成一串數字。而音樂作曲家的靈感則是全部在樂譜上。樂譜上所有的符號現在都可以被數位化、被詮釋,漸強、漸弱就是數字越大或越小的差別。這樣似乎把音樂講得太過淺白,但若把音樂裡所有的東西都變成數字,事實上會是一個非常龐大的系統,它是另一種看事情的方法。

再往下挖掘,出於想要了解名建築師是怎麼想建築這件事情,早年就有所謂「shape grammar」、「space syntax」,或稱「設計語法」。我們嘗試描述設計師的思考,並整理規律及進行研究。不斷的用電腦或工具來驗證這個世界是在科學界一直再進行的事情,而現在設計界也在進行,回到設計這件事,大家都忘了還有一個很重要的詞──設計科學。其實現在全球的設計教育中還蠻缺乏設計科學的教育,包含對於這個世界、自然界、人類社會、數學、心理學、社會學的基本認識,然而在國外開始有老師警覺了這些學科的重要性。在設計領域裡,我們與世界的接觸其實是有點偏狹的,因為很多人會覺得有些很新的東西還不是我們需要接觸的。剛剛說到一些數學法則,是幾百年前就由植物學家提出來的,所以現在可以很快地模擬各種植物。像是被用爛的「voronoid」,這背後到底只是取用它的樣子,還是真的明白原理?如果真的知道原理,就進到「design science」,但如果只是拿來用,大概就只是一個重視視覺感覺的淺白設計而已。

現在設計科學生可以用比較數學、科學的工具,以簡短的參數方程式描述就描述完以往耗時的建模和一連串操作做出的形體。然而這簡短的參數方程式並非與人無關,也就是說在創造方程式的同時,方程式也在幫是在幫忙描述你的思考,當你掌握了方程式,它就像個黑盒子,你可以自由改變它,不像過去耗時費工的程序是難以回溯的。我們過去做了一些有趣的創作,這是我們和一群ETH Zurich的學生所做的,概念是從中國山水畫來的,山水畫要轉成一樣東西其實是令人匪夷所思的,不過因為他們想用的是山水畫中虛無縹緲、留白的概念,所以能看到很多格柵式的格子,裡頭的格片都非常通透,但當它多層相疊後是不通透的,企圖在通透卻不通透中找到平衡點。

剛剛以原理和設計科學的角度談,最後一個議題是關於擴增這個層面。在設計裡除了以現有工具作設計之外,具備向外延伸的企圖更是重要。人體有很多感測系統,在腦接收訊息後就知道身體所處的環境。同樣的概念下,如果我們把它套用到一個都市呢?如果市政府有各式各樣的感測器可以知道城市發生的狀況,可以對城市的大小事情進行決策呢?雖然目前市政府沒有辦法掌握城市的一切,但是如果腦中的幾億個神經系統都有辦法這樣做,未來的理想是不是有機會做到,這還是一個正在進行式的問號。

下一個更有感覺的是,在座的各位把神經網路撒到全球,感受的就不再只是這裡的溫度,眼裡不再只有我。現在我們開始進入多重感知的世界,若每一個人都能感知想要感知的東西,那究竟是什麼樣的狀態?事實上我們已經快達成這個狀況了,它也許就是所謂的物聯網,但物聯網目前被想得太過產業了。對我來講,物聯網不只是產業而已,而是和人類未來文明與文化關係大過與產業的關係。擴增,談的其實是我們對於人的事情。事實上這件事情改變非常大,我心裡認為整個未來的政府應該只有一個部會,就叫文化部,其他部會應該在文化部下才對,因為文化本來就是人類生活的集合,產業、工業、軍事全部都是文化,如果沒有以文化治國的話,基本上系統會有點問題。但文化治國所要想的可能就不只是執行、執法層面,而是從大的角度來看整個國家在執行中會是什麼樣子,如何形塑人和人、人和企業、人和系統所形成的模式。

我們過去在國外有參與關於社會住宅跟屋頂違建相關議題的比賽,把房子蓋出來會發現,真正學習的並非蓋一棟房子,而是在過程中將感知推進到無遠弗界的地步。這房子是完全可以運作的,房子裡透過各式各樣的感測器產出各隊隊伍的積分表現。當大約一戶四口的房子裡裝了五百多個感測器,每一個房間、角落的溫濕度、門窗開關、電器溫度、用電量、太陽能板集電量都能感測時,我突然感覺它像一個生物體,它知道它所有的一切,我們也有機會知道它的一切。當一棟房子有機會得到豐富的資料,這時候我們要問的是:當房子真能夠自己打理自己的一些事情,它要打理什麼?它要怎麼做?我覺得這才是真正的大問題。我們對於數字的感受其實蠻薄弱的,在只有一個數字或甚至在一堆數字中,我們不一定有辦法知道其中含意,而是必須把數字跟脈絡串連才能知道意思。這些數據一旦跟意義串聯,心中會形成對於情境和故事的了解。數字和脈絡的關係對我來說其實是很重要的,包含數字有沒有機會再被詮釋,裡頭的東西有沒有辦法被轉換成另一種關係。

下一個更大的問題:AI慢慢來了。這是一個約莫五年前的產品,還不是人工智慧,但它在幫室內設計師做事情。這個系統已經可以雲端操作,可以看懂平面圖、把牆面拉出來、做基本配置,而且可以提出多種配置,配置後還能連線家具的廠商,系統會自動下訂單,全部的東西就來了。當這套系統被介紹到一些室內設計科系的時候,有些老師們第一個反應是,我以後怎麼教書?這樣的系統的能力,甚至已經可以取代大二到大三的基本能力。也就是說,以後室內設計行業裡分成兩類人,不是有辦法發展自己的風格跟設計,不然就是在幫忙操作這個系統的人員。它瞬間取代了許多屬於勞力階層的事情,而且很快就能完成。接著是「人工智慧建築師」這個系統,它的能力大概堪比建築系大二左右的程度,基本上輸入用地取得方案、基地配置、建蔽率、交通、日照、限高等各式各樣分析後的參數之後,就能跑出方案了。以往八十小時才能擬出一個方案,現在只需要八秒,當然也有很多建築師會說,那我怎麼辦?但是它所談的事情其實是在取代勞力。我自己認為這是一個還不錯的發展,因為我們開始要釐清人類到底在從事屬於創造性的行為中,是不是很多時候只是在做所謂勞力付出而已,那對我們的創造力其實沒有太大的幫助,只是重複性地操作。

慢慢進到所謂社會貢獻,國內有個環境監測團體跟國內幾個科技公司和五都合作,首先是與台北和工研院一起打造「空氣盒子」計畫,現在五都都已經佈滿。台灣目前是全球感測器密度最高的國家,光是西部就已經設置五千多顆感測器,另外還有一千顆是民眾自願參與的。我們現在已經可以追溯過去年度的空汙狀態以及再結合風向後的走向,你就會發現,以前覺得風光明媚或空氣很好的地方可能是汙染最重的地方,因為沉降作用,會把北部的汙染吹到南部的某個山區,就在那個地方沉降下來。這些是以前沒有這些資料時我們所不知道的,跟福島核災遇到的狀況是一樣的。

這個跟建築有什麼關係?那到底氣候、微氣候跟建築是什麼關係?當然有關係,現在所有在進行風向模擬和熱模擬時,最困擾的就是官方給的資料不夠細,偵測數據常是在三十公里外的數據。所以通常學建築的人在算這些數據時,一面算都有點心虛,都不知道到底準不準確。因為數據的密度根本是不夠的,這就是為什麼需要關注微氣候狀態的原因。地球上有太多數據是學設計的人本該關注的,但在這領域裡面投入的設計的人其實非常少,當然可能因為平常設計工作太累,還要玩這個就不得了了。

回過頭來我們要問,剛剛講的那麼多事情裡面,似乎有些新東西也有些舊議題,但是我試圖將它往外拉,有些東西是和社會關注、環境關注、新工具、新思維有關的,並且期待在透過這一次的主題,可以一起思考還有什麼樣的社群、能力、興趣,或者跟剛才提到的這些事有點關聯性,並思考一些新的事情。

https://prototypingideas.blogspot.com/

Orders and Models

I do not come from an architectural background, so “Beyond Architecture” is natural to me, and I want to share with you my observations on architectural issues over the past few years from an unconventional architectural perspective.

When we look at orders and models, we have a unique ability to capture orders and models, and we cannot help to quickly notice things that have some kind of orders or models. Let’s compare the pictures of a densely populated residential area in Mexico and a circuit board, these two are entirely different things, but they all face a similar situation – when gathering high-density things that are congregated, we must solve the problems of communication, traffic, and flow, as well as the issue of heat that comes with high density. Another picture here shows the metropolitan area of Chicago. If we compare it to the number of Intel CORE i7 chips installed in this latest computer, there are 730 million chips, which are capable of processing the execution of software operating systems from hard to soft, and from physical world to virtual world. Human society’s activities with high complexity and density are concretely realized in the electronic world.

Visible and Invisible Orders

We often learn from architecture history various proportions and their symbolic significances. For example, the number, height, proportion, and style of pillars in an ancient Greek or Roman temple would be determined depending on which god the temple worshipped. Our visual perception and cognition are trained to learn the ways to tell things apart through various numbers and proportions, and start to get use to visible models and relations; it is like, growing up, we always feel that nature has certain laws. In today’s design industry, there are wonderful tools that help us capture, create, or reproduce such laws, and these tools give us the opportunity to put our thoughts or various laws we learned from the natural world into real and manufacturable scales and spaces. Sometimes the complexity of an idea your brain came up with would exceed the level of operability, but today, with the assistance of good tools, as long as we can come up with an idea, the tools have ways to help us materialize it. As for invisible orders, like the lines of magnetic force, you need to sprinkle iron filings, or else you will not be able to see the lines. It goes beyond the world human can see through their eyes, but we need to take a step further to learn and understand that a force actually exists behind it. I believe this type of invisible forces is an important factor that is currently driving the world, and they are everywhere. Many things have been refined and influenced through time to produce these products, regardless of tides, waves, or various types of weathering, they are the assemblies of various forces.

Architect vs. Architecture

Now, let’s refocus on architect. I have been thinking for these few years, about the existing vocational or stereotypical imaginations and expectations for the word “architect,” or its mandarin equivalent, as well as the duty, ability, upbringing, and education of one; there are actually many things worth our consideration. I like to use the English word instead of the Chinese term, because in Chinese, it means the person who builds, but in English, the word “architect” means more than just that person who builds. Architect may refer to a person who utilizes own professional capability to integrate complicated systems or issues and come up with the most appropriate solution, which meets the demands of the user of this complicated system. A person with this ability can be referred to as an architect.

Light sculpture is popular today not because it projects some animation onto the façades of buildings; rather, it utilizes the illusion of light to change the impression that buildings cannot move; once they come to life, it is easier for them to tell stories and share their history. Currently, people from many disciplines are beginning to take on the challenge of stretching farther the concept of architecture. For example, Michael Fox uses bubbles to occupy space; when there are more people, the bubbles would cede the space to them, and when there are few people, the bubbles would take over the space. The reason why he wants to challenge the idea that architecture cannot move is that he has frequently heard architects or architecture professors and students complain that architecture could only passively receive, they could only use existing products and techniques available in the market. He turns around and asks, why not create or start changing your roles? What Fox is talking about is, instead of complaining, you should really go and invent things that do not exist yet.

Reconnection, Re-Correspondence, and Augmentation

Reconnection and re-correspondence may likely be our next major issues. The concepts of so-called “remapping” and reinterpretation, are important as we deal with various design information today. The last issue is about the aspect of augmentation. The human body has many sensory systems, and when our brain receives the information, it knows the environment that the body is in. What if we applied this concept to an entire city? If there were all kinds of sensors that could learn the situations in a city, perhaps decisions could be made about all the things going on in the city? Hypothetically speaking, if all of you sitting here spread your neural networks around the world, you would no longer just perceive the temperature here, and just see me; you would enter a world of multiple perceptions, and everyone could perceive what they wanted to perceive. What exactly would that kind of state be? The truth is we are almost there. It perhaps is the so-called IoT (Internet of Things), but right now the IoT remains too industrial. To me, the IoT is not just an industry, its relationship with our future civilization and culture is far greater than its relationship with the industry. Augmentation, it is really about us and other people.

In the past, I participated in overseas competitions on issues of social housing and rooftop illegal structures; when the house was built, I discovered that over 500 sensors were installed in the house for a family of four, and when it could sense the temperature and humidity at every corner in every room, the status of the doors and windows, the temperature of appliances, power consumption, and the power generated by solar panels, I suddenly felt like it was a living organism. The house knew everything it had, and we also had an opportunity to know everything about it. What we need to ask now are: when house can take care of itself, what does it need to take care of and how? I think these are the real questions to ask. We are quite insensitive when it comes to numbers. When we see a bunch of numbers, we do not necessarily understand what they mean; we can only find out after we put the numbers in context. Once data is connected with meaning, our mind will get the understanding on scenario and story, including whether the number has a chance to be reinterpreted, and whether the things inside can be converted into another relationship.

The next even greater problem: AI is coming. It instantly takes over works belonging to the labor class, and does them much faster. In the past, we needed 80 hours to formulate a plan, it takes only 8 seconds now. This is not a bad development, because we are about to find out whether, when men are engaged in creative endeavors, we actually spend a lot of time doing labor works which is really not that helpful to our creativity, and is just simple repetitions. Then we can slowly move onto social contributions, such as the “AirBox” project. Taiwan is currently the country with the highest density of sensors in the world . We can now trace back to air quality in past years, as well as the direction of the air pollution after factoring in the direction of the wind. We realize that, places we found to have great air quality and sceneries were perhaps the most polluted. Because of sedimentation, pollution in the north would be blown to a certain mountain area in the south, and the particulates settle down. These are things we did not know in the past because we had no such information.

What has it to do with architecture? What exactly is the relation between climate, microclimate, and architecture? Of course, they are related. When we do wind direction simulation and thermal simulation, the one thing that bothers us the most is that the official data is not detailed enough. We have insufficient data density. This is why we need to pay attention to microclimate conditions. There are too much data students of design should be concerned with to begin with, but there are too few people engaged in design in this area. Looking back, we have to ask, we have just talked about so many things, and there seems to have some new ideas and some old issues; but if we stretch the scope, some of these things are related to social concern, environmental concern, new tools, and new thinking. I hope that, through this topic, we can think about what kind of communities, abilities, and hobbies, are perhaps associated with the things we just mentioned, and consider some new things together.

https://prototypingideas.blogspot.com/


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