Systematic approach to design build for freeform facade: AFA Cultural Center

The design and construction of the complex, irregularly shaped, and curvilinear building forms are also known as freeform architecture, have gained an interest form architects throughout the history of architecture. Nowadays, the freeform architectural designs owe their existence to the introduction of advanced digital design and manufacturing technologies of the emerging availability and user-friendliness of the computer-aided tools which were introduced to the field of architectural design through film, car, ship, and aeroplane industry. Freeform architecture is still one of the major challenges for architects, engineers, and the building industry. Whereas architects have being studied having full knowledge of the tools while proposing freeform building designs with them, the disciplines have involved in the technical realization of building designs with them have also involved the technical realization of such building designs. Depending on being computer constructed curved surfaces with minimum repetitive parts and components of the freeform building, the systematic design approach is described within this thesis to give the control over the design and manufacturing process of the freeform buildings within whole disciplines are involved the process. In the context of this thesis, freeform architecture is identified not only with its curvilinear geometric characteristics but also the process that is used to design and construction freeform designs in a systematic way. Results from the literature study show that there are possibilities of designing and manufacturing the freeform building through the implementation of the systematic design approach as in the product design process. With the help of the systematic design approach for freeform designs, buildability of the freeform buildings increase, and utilization of the geometrical theory to divide entire freeform building surfaces into the manageable smaller parts enable, and allowing for the interdisciplinary/collaborative process of the freeform buildings. This thesis focuses on freeform façade surface system and the challenges of design and manufacturing process due to the complex geometry. Hence, this thesis addressed method for the freeform façade implementation. The proposed method is the application of existing product design approach and planar surface façade design approach to freeform facade design. The method studied in this thesis is applied in the case of AFA Cultural Center facade implementation process where the systematic design approach for freeform facade is proposed. Within the context of this thesis is concentrated on the implementation process of the AFA Cultural Center following concept design decisions. The façade is coded parametrically in the Grasshopper which is the plugin of the Rhinoceros software based on NURBS geometry. The aims of the thesis are to improve the viability of the proposed method and decreasing the gap between the other disciplines and architects in a systematic way without losing creativity of the architects.