Vanguard
Working with Computers to Create a New Paradigm for Architecture and Urban Landscapes
Professor Yasushi Ikeda believes that when it comes to architectural design, computers can be much more than tools—they can actually expand the range of possibilities and suggest new paths to follow. We talked with Professor Ikeda about his vision for architectural design generated through the terplay of computer technology and human creativity.
IKEDA, Yasushi
ProfessorGraduate School of Media and Governance
Encouragement of Architectural Learning
From the time I was a small child I
loved to draw. I was in elementary school when Osaka Expo ’70
opened, and I was so inspired by its futuristic vision of the human
living environment that drawing imaginary cityscapes became my
passion. I decided to major in architecture at the encouragement of
my high school art teacher. At a time when I was finding it hard to
settle on an academic and career path, he told me, “If you like
drawing pictures of cities, the department of architecture would be
the best place for you to learn about the urban environment and its
architecture from an engineering standpoint.” Everyone experiences
certain life-changing encounters, and that day I experienced mine. On
the very same day my teacher gave me that advice, I went to the
library and stumbled on a book illustrating the work of Frank Lloyd
Wright and Minoru Yamasaki, the Japanese American architect who
designed the former twin towers of the World Trade Center. I took the
book out, and as I looked through it, it became clear to me that this
was the path I was meant to follow. By the time I applied for
college, I knew for certain that I wanted to major in architecture.
Viewing Architecture in the Context of Urban Landscapes
In college, I was determined to study
under Professor Fumihiko Maki, who was already a superstar in the
world of architecture. I entered his laboratory, and in fact ended up
studying with him for about nine years altogether, including graduate
school and the time I spent working in his design office. Professor
Maki became my master and mentor in the field. My goal when I began
college had been to learn how to design a building, but in the Maki
Lab, the focus was not so much on individual buildings as on the
urban space as a whole. Instead of treating architecture in
isolation, Professor Maki was advocating a broader approach that
removes the distinction between individual structures and the urban
space they collectively form. He felt there was more to be learned by
studying the urban systems that spring up naturally in a community,
without anyone consciously creating them, than by focusing narrowly
on the works of specific architects. For my undergraduate Bachelor’s
Project, I drew up my own development plan for Tokyo’s Shiodome
district, which is now undergoing redevelopment. In graduate school,
one of my research projects involved taking photos of the urban
landscape, loading them onto a computer, and analyzing the underlying
rules and principles informing those townscapes.
Computers and Architecture Come Together
In my second year of graduate school, I
had the opportunity to assist in the preparation of Professor Maki’s
successful entry for the Makuhari Messe design competition. Because
the structures Professor Maki’s team envisioned for the convention
center used a huge number of trusses, drawing the plans by hand posed
a daunting challenge. I wondered if a computer couldn’t be used to
render the trusses. At that time, computer-aided design (CAD) systems
were virtually nonexistent, so I did my own programming and used it
to complete the drawings. From there, I began to contemplate the
possibilities for architecture designed with the aid of computers,
and that train of thought led eventually to the idea of algorithmic
design, which even today remains a key concept in my research.
Researchers in the field of algorithmic design are making the most
not only of human skills but also of what computers have to offer. We
are exploring the new possibilities that open up when computers
become the basic platform for architectural design instead of the
architectural drawings that have always performed that function.
Computers as a Source of Insight
Overseas, what we call algorithmic
design is commonly referred to as parametric design. The reason we
adopted the term algorithmic design instead is that we want to convey
our own unique approach. Parametric design still carries the nuance
of computers as nothing more than tools for the execution of human
ideas. Our idea was to go beyond that and try to make computers do
half of the “thinking,” so to speak. We believed that by enabling
computers to “think,” we could have them point the way to new
possibilities that had never occurred to people, and that was the
role we wanted them to play. If we can simulate our existing
perceptions on a computer, we can also reverse the process and use
that capability for other purposes, to do things we never did before.
As I see it, the possibilities suggested by the results of various
computer simulations can change our basic perception of form-making.
Moreover, by their very nature, computers can come up with ideas that
are unbound by the constraints of convention. Whenever human beings
apply themselves to a familiar problem, they automatically restrict
themselves to a narrow range of solutions. For example, when laying
out windows in an architectural drawing, we instinctively stay within
an established range of possibilities instead of starting from the
idea that windows can take any number of forms.
Computers can generate simulations of plans that are more complex than anything a
human being can draw. They can serve as the bridge between new ideas
and the actual feasibility of those ideas. In all of these ways,
computer programming has made it technically possible to do things
that we human beings were unable to do by ourselves. Rather than
simply ask how technology can help us execute what we already have in
mind, we want to focus more on drawing inspiration from the new
possibilities offered by technology as we consider what sorts of
designs to tackle next.
Expanding Horizons at SFC
I used computers in the practice of
architectural design before coming to the Shonan Fujisawa Campus, but
after coming here I began to consider the relationship between
computers and architecture/urban space in a context separate from
design practice. With the development and spread of computer and
network technology over the past dozen years or so, our social
systems have changed by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, the design
of our urban environment has not changed as dramatically as one might
hope. To some degree, people in the design industry have resisted the
rise of virtual space and remained centered on conventional methods.
I think the reason is that, while computers have expanded our
thinking, there was some uncertainty as to what people could actually
do with this enhanced three-dimensional view computers have given us.
But I am convinced that all this will change in the years ahead, as
our algorithmic design methods are linked up with the
computer-controlled industrial technology known as “digital
fabrication.”
Then our methods will evolve into a real industrial
technology that uses IT to create spaces “intelligently,”
allowing us to shift from the twentieth-century model of architecture
and urban design, which is predicated on mass-production and
mass-energy consumption, to a whole new kind of value in urban and
architectural design. It seems to me that I only began thinking in
such terms after I entered into a situation where my perspective is
constantly alternating between that of an architect who creates
actual structures and that of a teacher-researcher. At SFC,
instructors and students with a great diversity of ideas and
approaches come together to create an atmosphere that I find
extraordinarily stimulating. Here one learns about cutting-edge
technology, all the while working closely with real objects, real
creations, the real world. As I see it, discovering new possibilities
in that interaction is what SFC is all about. And I am committed to
incorporating this unique strength into the work we do in my own
laboratory.
A Brief Background of Professor
IKEDA, Yasushi
Professor Ikeda graduated from the Department of Architecture of the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Engineering in 1985. He went on to complete the master’s program in the Graduate School of Engineering and earn his Ph.D. in engineering. He joined Maki and Associates in 1987 and worked there until 1995, when he left to establish the Yasushi Ikeda Design Studio (renamed Ikeda Kokubun Design Studio, or IKDS, in 2003). After teaching for several years at the Keio University Faculty of Policy Management as associate professor（non-tenured）and in other positions, he was appointed associate professor at the Faculty of Environmental Information in 1999, and became professor in 2008. Professor Ikeda’s specialty is architecture and urban design. His major projects include the Multimedia Conference Room, Keio University SFC (1999); Design Studio Buildings, Keio University SFC (2000); Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University (2001); New Main Building, Keio Futsubu School (2001); Daizawa Plus Co-op (2005); plan for an apartment complex in Binjiang, Quanzhou (2005); Sakata City Community Service Seminar Center Multipurpose Hall (2006); and plan for an airport rapid transit system station, Taipei Main Station redevelopment project (2006). His publications include Vijuaru ban kenchiku nyumon 5: Kenchiku no gengo (Visual introduction to architecture 5: The language of architecture) (Tokyo: Shokokusha, 2002), to which he contributed a chapter.
Ikeda Laboratory (in Japanese)
Ikeda Kokubun Design Studio (in Japanese)
(23 August 2010)
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