Functional Brick Pattern
Form follows Everything!
Bricks in Iranian Architecture had a lot functional roles. It spreads from aesthetic to structural behavior in big spans and high rise minarets and domes. The main idea of responsivity related to these functions made us to start on developing a toolkit to challenge bricks in different patterns. As a prototype an experimental work turned into a real façade design which won the 2nd place in façade festival in Qom. Our way through making these functions dynamically are currently on progress but we are trying to have as many factors as we can all working together toward a better solution. Though, we actually started it by a solid pattern which was adapted to sun radiation and had been tessellated according to it. The next step also is to have bricks it’s better to say the facade based on traditional functions responsively. As forms follows everything, we believe any tessellation might be controlled by aspects of design and there is a question here all about it: If there is a place and time which we should bring this scenario of integration up, where and when is it? The answer seems to be true is: Design Process!
The idea behind this experience is being developed by some of my students in Imam Reza International University. These guys are following the rules and plays by Functional Brick Patterns known in Traditional Iranian Architecture. You can find them here: www.brick-pattern.com.
FEA by COMSOL MultiPhysics 5
Finite Element Analysis is the way to check early design and how it works. In many cases we use COMSOL to figure out Building Physics influences and choosing a better decision. In Brick patter project the most challengeable part was knowing if the bricks can bare Loads because of rotation or not.