Architecture – Earth to Space

For Architects, Architecture comes with a deep history of combining culture, art, function, materials, construction techniques and technologies. It is both an Art and Science, a process by which we can imagine and create the built environment. It serves humanity in profound and practical ways. It embodies our daily habits and is the physical manifestation of our aspirations for life in the future.

Systems Thinking for Space Architecture

As a Designer and Space Architect, I am inspired by the boundless possibilities of space architecture. The ability to design and build structures that can survive and thrive in the harsh conditions of space is an incredible design and engineering challenge that can be solved to make space accessible for future explorers. And as I have come to appreciate, one of the most important tools we have for meeting this challenge is systems engineering which can be traced back to the origins of General Systems Theory (GST).

Space Architecture – The High Frontier

Since man could gaze upon the stars, he has been fascinated by them. Space has always seemed like a place of mystery and adventure, and humans have long dreamed of exploring it. The history of space exploration began when astronomers started to develop theories about the existence of other planets. In the early 1800s, telescopes were invented that allowed scientists to observe planets and stars in greater detail. This led to further discoveries about space, and eventually to the first space missions.

Dartmouth Conference

Can computation give us an insight into the intelligence of the mind? In the summer of 1956, the field of AI was founded at the Dartmouth conference in which bold predictions of the future emerged. Those who participated proposed numerous ambitious futures, in which AI would be achieved within a matter of decades. The challenges to reaching those goals set during the summer of 1956 were due to the limitations in hardware and processing. These goals were eventually supported to a significant degree by the US Department of Defense with numerous contracts throughout the 1960s. The two leading models during that time were differentiated in the way they approached solving learning.

The Science of Architecture in the Age of Information

In his “Order out of Chaos,” Ilya Prigogine who won the Nobel Prize in 1977 for his work on the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium systems, established the idea that all systems and their subsystems exist in constant flux, a condition in which an instance of amplified disruptive energy can shatter an established organization. This condition can be transformed at any moment when it becomes impossible to determine the direction of change and whether this sudden break will turn into disorder or a more differentiated higher order which Prigogine referred to as dissipative structures. This notion of spontaneous disorder and self-organizational systems has been applied to economics, biology, and technology as a way of understanding the complex processes of indeterminate change.

Future Paradigm of the Skyscraper

What is driving the future paradigm of tall structures? The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa at 828 meters (2,717 ft) in height is one of the greatest design and engineering accomplishments in the history of tall structures. In the classification of tall buildings, it is considered a mega-tall structure that surpasses 600 meters (1,969 ft) in height. It is a revolutionary work of architecture with the application of high-strength reinforced concrete and a structural system unlike any other building in the world. The overall “Y” shaped structural configuration consists of a hexagonal buttress core with three wings radiating outward at 120 degrees in each direction. The concrete core together with the three wings works together as a buttress system to resist torsion from lateral forces both wind and seismic.