The Hex Kite. Wind Architecture by Stanislav Roudavski and Bradley Elias

Description of project by Stanislav Roudavski and Bradley Elias

This brief project report seeks to provide a brief reflection on adequacy, as an alternative to permanence. It begins with some notes on architecture understood as a set of relationships. The reader is then invited to consider these relationships in the context of a provocative example of wind-supported structures. To further aid this reflection, some of the possible implications arising from thinking about kites as architecture are provided in the conclusion.

Mechanics of Permanence

Contemporary physics suggests that there is no thing as permanence, it is always an impression of an observer operating at a particular time scale, in a particular local environment. The best one can have is a prolonged existence of a pattern that changes but manages to retain some recognisable character. Retention of such character in the face of entropy, through natural self-organisation or through a targeted human effort requires work and energy. Any form of permanence has to exist as active resistance that is: permanence is an activity.

In the current world of accelerating change, the need to engage with long time intervals is undeniable. The Anthropocene discourse demonstrate the humans’ ability to impact geological timescales, even if unwittingly. The need to engage with extended, pervasive and uncontrollable phenomena, so called hyperobjects, such as global warming or radioactive pollution is also clear.

In this context, should architecture be reconsidering its relationship with permanents? Are permanent errors good? What are the costs of permanence given that design actions aiming for permanence are necessarily distractive; firstly, they replace a fond state with a new one at the time of implementation and, secondly, they imply an everlasting maintenance.

Instead of material arrangements such as buildings, concepts, ideas, relationships, memory, history, diversity; ecologies and communities, these are the things of long-lasting value, perhaps not of permanence but of greater temporal extension and of actual value. With such phenomena, what matters is the availability at the moment of need, rather than permanence. This adequacy can be negotiated by coordinating the availability of requisite affordances on one hand and the management of needs on the other.

The Hex

An experiment in such negotiation, The Hex is an inflatable structure made from lightweight fabric. During inflation, it self-organizes into a self-supporting space grid that expands to some 430 cubic meters and is about 16 meters long and 4 meters tall. Deflated, it packs into less than half a cubic meter of space and, at about 10kg, can be easily carried by one person. A close relative of windsocks and drogues, The Hex is a sculptural form that is shaped and positioned by a flow of air. The bridling of The Hex attaches to the line that connects a separate lifter kite to the ground and The Hex’s bulk is oriented in space by the available wind. With appropriate bridling guaranteeing an appropriate angle of attack, inflatable structures similar to The Hex can be self-supporting.

Height above the ground surface, position in space, degree of inflation and the character of movement are all given by the interaction between the features of the landscape, the current weather and the adjustable geometry of the flying assembly. In smooth, moderate winds, The Hex can stay in the air for hours, reorienting with changing wind directions. Its position and movement are an expression of an invisible volumetric landscape that extends upward from the ground and its white translucent surfaces capture and emphasise the chromatic and tonal effects of environmental illumination.

The Hex is an outcome of Wind Architecture, an experimental studio run at the Melbourne School of Design in 2016. It was created by architectural designers as a provocation for the discipline of architecture.

Kites can be interesting for architects because they tame a powerful energy source with minimal means to achieve amazing, and sustainable performance. What if buildings could be supported by the available wind, just like kites? What can kites teach architects about the invisible landscapes of air? These are the types of questions asked by the broader ongoing research that motivated this project. The Hex is one of many prototypes that were used to develop form-making and fabrication workflows, investigate suitable materials and test the outcomes in the target conditions.

The making of The Hex begins with a utilisation of a custom-built algorithm to generate the graph of branches. This computational process was originally invented to describe the growth of plants but its operation can be used to produce other recursive or fractal patterns. Another task-specific procedural solution generates the skin for the branches and resolves complex intersections. These skins are then unfolded into flat patches and nested into standard-size sheets, ready for cutting and stitching. The process of assembly requires careful management of multiple similar parts and strict sequencing.

The Hex is a unique structure that has never been attempted before in a kite. However, it’s intended impact is not as a unique sculptural object but as an instance in a set of related forms. The semi-automated techniques used to produce The Hex allow designers to write down rules that can guide the growth of whole families of objects. Like living creatures evolving through natural selection, members of such families can adapt to diverse needs and conditions leading to outstanding efficiency, unimaginable forms and aesthetic enjoyment.

Immaterial Permanence

How can an ephemeral structure such as The Hex be related to an idea of permanence?

On one hand, The Hex accepts impermanence as an intrinsic characteristic of architecture that can be supported by wind rather than by mechanically sustained pneumatic pressure. Architecture of this kind cannot be available all the time but only when the weather is right. This surrender of convenience and predictability brings other benefits. A wind-supported structure conserves energy and materials, its dynamic character can result in a broader range of sculptural expressions, the whole assembly is portable and can be erected in a variety of locations and the structure’s use inescapably encourages a heightened awareness of the environment. In this case, resistance to permanence appears beneficial.

On the other hand, it is possible to argue that the very impermanence of such a structure and, more broadly, the impermanence intrinsic to the processes of its making are beneficial to the survival of the idea. In this sense, the generative, algorithmic approach to designing, with its families of possible solutions occurring in a technologically extended solution space can be seen as an attempt to prolong the potency of a concept, converging towards permanence.

In conclusion, this report presented the view of permanence as an active process that continuously accrues a cost and, in the context of architectural design, advocated an understanding that seeks to organise and prolong valuable relationship instead of monumentalising physical artefacts.