CPAD ASSIGNMENT
SOPHIA CHIN
313117251022
YEAR IV
CASE STUDY ON FRACTALS IN ARCHITECTURE
FRACTAL GEOMETRY 01
DEFINITION CHARACTERISTICS
• The computer-scientist Benoit Mandelbrot The best way to define a fractal is through its
introduced the word "fractal” in the year attributes:
1975 to describe irregular, not smooth,
curves. • A fractal is rugged
• A fractal is Self-similar
• “Fractals are objects of any kind whose • A fractal is infinitely complex
spatial form is nowhere smooth, hence
termed "irregular", and whose irregularity • A fractal is developed through iterations
repeats itself geometrically across many
scales” • A fractal depends on starting conditions
• Fractals are common in nature
• “A fractal is a geometric shape that exhibits
self-similarity across all scales”.
CHARACTERISTICS 02
• The core of fractal concept is the further layers of
details that are displayed when the fractal structure is
observed closely.
• The smaller elements of the structure have the same
properties as the original whole structure. Self-
similarity, scaling and never-ending characterize the
fractal structure and fractal concepts.
• Mandelbrot explained self-similarity as ‘each part is a
linear geometric reduction of the whole, with the
same reduction ratios in all directions’ (Mandelbrot,
1989, p. 4).
• The parts of a structure that is self-similar are
COMPUTER GENERATED FERN characterized to resemble the whole structure, no
matter how small the parts are (Ots, 2011).
CHARACTERISTICS 03
• That can be explained as: small parts of an
object are similar to larger parts of the object,
which sequentially are similar to the whole
object. Similar to self-similarity, scaling is the
process of reduction and/or progression of
elements.
• In (figures 3 and 4), scaling was used to generate
a natural fern and Koch curve by number of
iterations. Never-ending is one of the fractal
structure characteristics which is more theoretical
than practical. In natural fractal structures such
as ferns, never-ending has to end somewhere,
even in computer generated fractals, feedback
loops have to end at a certain time otherwise
the computer program crashes. KOCH CURVE
TYPES OF FRACTALS 04
• Symmetries
1. Translational Symmetry
2. Reflectional Symmetry
3. Rotational Symmetry
• Self-similarity
• Initiators and Generators
• Geometry of plane transformations
• Iterated function systems
• Inverse problems
• Random algorithm
• Driven IFS
• Fractals in architecture
CASE STUDY – FEDERATION SQUARE
INTRODUCTION 01
• Federation Square is the creation of a new urban
order on a site that had never before existed.
• More than just a new set of buildings, federation
square is the new centre of cultural activity for
Melbourne amidst network of technology, fast
communication and high speed movement.
• In 1996, the Federation Square Management Pty
Ltd, the State Government of Victoria, and the City
of Melbourne held an international design
competition for a new civic square capable of
accommodating up to 20,000 people in an open-
air amphitheater on a 38,000 sq.m (9.4 acre) block
to be built above the Jolimont railyards.
• The site was to support a broad range of civic,
cultural and commercial activities, responding to
the vitality and openness of daily life.
INTRODUCTION 02
• In addition to a number of shops, bars, cafés and restaurants, the
site would also house:
• The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
• The Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria,
Australia
• The BMW Edge Amphitheatre
• Headquarters of the Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) (public television)
• Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame
• National Design Centre
• The Melbourne Tourist Information Centre
• The site was completed in 2002 with a total budget of $440 million,
entirely publicly funded. It is colloquially known as “Fed Square.”
SITE CONTEXT 03
• Federation Square occupies a site roughly the size of
an entire city block, bounded by the busy arterial
streets Swanston, Flinders, and Russell to the west,
north, and east respectively and by the Yarra River to
the south.
• The site as a connector
• Link between the city’s historical central district and
surrounding landscapes: Birrarung Marr Park, River
Terrace, Southbank district, Melbourne Park
• Located adjacent to Flinders Street Station, the ‘Hub’
of Melbourne’s metropolitan train service loop. All trains
begin and end their journey here.
• “New civic gateway,” transition into the city
• First large public square or gathering place in
Melbourne, bringing people together
SITE CONTEXT 04
HISTORY 05
• Up until 1870 the land later occupied by the railway yards was
occupied by 3 groups of aboriginal peoples, comprised of 5
language groups. The location along the Yarra river was ideal for
fresh drinking water, bathing, food, and transport.
• After Europeans began to settle the area in 1838 land began to
be subdivided. Plots located to the east of Flinders Street were
auctioned off to private parties and the land situated between the
Yarra River, Swanston Street and Flinders were zoned for public
uses.
• Discovery of gold in the area led to an influx of people. Between
the years 1851 and 1842 the population in the area tripled. New
public amenities were needed including an area for morgue.
• In 1871 the first public morgue in the area was completed along
the Yarra River near the future site of the Princes Bridge and
adjacent to the city’s registrar’s office. This central location meant
that unpleasant fragrances and sites permeated the everyday life
of all local residents.
HISTORY 06
• 1888 a new Princes Bridge was opened to “make a truly
nobel approach” into the city and by 1990 the site was officialy
known as the Melbourne’s gateway. The bridge connnected
the land north of the river with the land south. Ferries were no
longer needed to cross the Yarra. Today the Princes Bridge is
considered one of the most important 19th century bridges in
Austrailia.
• The future area of Federation Square was always designated
“sacred” due to the surrounding signifigant buildings of St Paul’s
Cathedral and Young and Jackson’s Hotel.
• Due to public complaints the morgue was shut down in 1883
and plans for a railroad station began.
• The growth of railway infrastructure fed Melbourne’s suburban
expansion. The station located at Princes Bridge was the
terminus of Melbourne’s Windsor and Brighton lines which later
got moved to Flinders Street station at its completion in 1910.
HISTORY 07
• Beginning in the early 1920’s the city
recognized the potential of developing the
land above the traintracks at Flinders Street
Station. Proposals for parking lots, parks, office
blocks, civic plazas and terraces were all
submitted to the city but none were
developed.
• Development of Federation Square began as
part of the Jolimont Rail Yard rationalisation
project (1990) that reduced the railway lines
running parallel to the Yarra River from a total
of 53 lines to 12 (made possible by advances in
railway technologies).
• International design competition was held to
to create a new center of cultural activities
(1996)
CONCEPT 08
• The designers used the political concept of
federation: “a league of parts rather than
central authority” in an ordering system the
designers call “Tectonic Aggregation” (a
collection of crystalline structures grouped
together and considered as a whole)
• They instilled the space with a sense of
difference and coherence.
• The designers wanted to create a cultural and
civic precinct based upon permeability and
interaction referring to the “original” interactive
nature of civic exsistence (the agora).
• The forms create “a network of animated,
emotive and enlightening experiences.”
ACCESS 09
• The metro trains, the Tram network and the Yarra River together provide a strong link to the site for the
Melbournians.
• The Square is conveniently accessed both by pedestrians from flinders station, the tram stops and the
river and the vehicles from the two thoroughfares along the site.
TRANSIT 10
• Connectivity of the site is indicated by the multitude of metro and rail
lines that pass through the Flinder’s Street station by the site.
LAND USE 11
• Federation Square is familiar as a public building because it under-invests in floor area and over-invests
in building quality.
• A grand square joins seamlessly to the surrounding streetscape at Swanston Street.
• It is a purely cultural and commercial facility with a complete absence of residential land use.
• The federation square conforms to the reputation of Melbourne as a culturally vital city.
SITE PLAN 12
SITE PLAN 13
SITE SECTIONS 14
THE DECK 15
• The deck is supported by over
3,000 tonnes of steel beams,
1.4 kilometres of concrete
‘crash walls’ and over 4,000
vibration-absorbing spring coils
and rubber padding.
• The deck is designed to
support some of the most
sensitive uses imaginable –
galleries, cinemas, and radio
and television studios – and it
needed to isolate them from
vibration and noise.
• https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=GVmyksumZYQ&list=PLt
h3CCkc85dn0xNQ29VoX-
FXr8rC3mC_3
LABYRINTH 16
• Maze of zig-zag corrugated
concrete walls is a unique
passive climate control system
for the glazed atrium’s north
and south sections. Zig-zag
profile doubles the cooling
capacity.
• Spread over an area of 40×40
metres, the labyrinth is
positioned beneath the civic
plaza and above the deck over
the railway, using a space that
would have otherwise been
unoccupiable.
• It simultaneously provides
support for the plaza deck slab.
LABYRINTH 17
• Cool air is pumped through the labyrinth’s
cells at night, which in turn cools the
concrete walls. By day, air is again
pumped through the cells, this time being
cooled by the concrete. In winter the
labyrinth’s thermal mass maintains an
inherent warming potential, which will be
supplemented as required.
• The system directs air to the atrium,
introduced at floor level, dispersed by use
of a low-velocity displacement system.
• Equivalent to conventional air
conditioning but using one tenth of the
energy consumption.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ma
krm2bzSk
ATRIUM 18
• The atrium is a unique
covered public space
which provides a
complement to the open
plaza.
• Symbolic of a public
street running through
the site.
Continuously open and
publicly accessible, the
atrium is emblematic of
federation square’s
intended connection of
city and river.
• Interior volume-16 metres
high and up to 20 metres
across.
ATRIUM 19
• South atrium steps from the
deck level over the railway
down to the river side
promenade offering
transitional perspectives of
the city beyond.
• The deep space of this
supporting frame acts as a
thermal chimney, evacuating
the build-up of hot air. the
atrium space is conditioned
by a passive-cooling system,
using a low-level air
displacement system to keep
the atrium cooler than the
outside temperature in
summer.
THE SQUARE 20
• The square is the civic and spatial component, establishing connections with the diverse context of the
city and the surrounding urban and riverside landscape.
• It opens to the surrounding streetscape and rises up one level towards the east, providing entry at an
upper level to further buildings.
• To distinguish it from the city’s existing pavement, the square was surfaced in hand-laid (approx.
500,000) cobblestones of variegated colored Kimberley sandstone.
THE SQUARE 21
• The sandstone paving has been
laid in a patterned design. It
comprises a series of overlapping
stone tablets inlaid with layers of
typographically scaled and
interwoven texts.
• The Federation Square has re-
covered a ground and folded it
back to the city
• The design’s geometry allows for
a vast array of configurations and
arrangements, from the largest
scale public gathering of up to
15,000 people to intimate sites of
relaxation and contemplation.
BUILDING FAÇADE 22
• The building represents the need for a
common man to address public space as
something, which generates variety and
breaks out of the familiar.
• Sandstone, zinc and glass have been used as
cladding, structured within a triangular grid.
• The modular system uses 5 single triangles to
make up a self-similar larger triangular panel.
Five panels following the same geometrical
logic are joined together to create a mega
panel that is mounted onto a structural
frame.
• The fractal façade system allows for individual
buildings of the square to be differentiated
from each other while simultaneously
maintaining an overall coherence.
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 23
• This triangular piece is just the right shape so that it can be replaced by five red sub-triangles of the same
shape.
• Then those sub-triangles can be replaced by green sub-sub-triangles, and so on.
• We can stop with the orange tiles pictured, giving us part of the Federation Square tiling.
• However this is when the doppelgänger appears, enticing us to keep going.
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 24
• Let's begin again with the five red sub-triangles. However, at the next stage we only replace the
rightmost red triangle.
• Similarly, at the next stage we only replace the rightmost green triangle.
• We do the same at the next stage, and the next, and ... we just don't stop. There are infinitely many
stages, where at each stage the rightmost miniscule triangle is cut into five micro-miniscule triangles
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 25
• Recalling the mantra "one half base times height", we see that the
original brown triangle has area 1.
• It follows that each of the four red triangles have area 1/5, the green
ones have area 1/5 x 1/5, the orange ones have area (1/5)3, and so
on. Summing the areas of all the sub-triangles, our diagram shows at
a glance that
• Or, after dividing both sides by 4,
• That is a simple and beautiful summing of an ”infinite geometric
series”.
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 26
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 27
• The same geometrical motif
extends to the glazed atrium.
• The generative pattern is extruded
inside and outside and bracing
members have been added to
enhance the complex structure of
the atrium.
• The deep space of the extruded
structure of the atrium acts as a
thermal chimney. The atrium
space itself is conditioned by a
passive-cooling system.
• The thermal chimney works to
evacuate the space of hot air and
heat gained form the sun and
adjoining zones.
FRACTAL TECHNOLOGY 28
• The low-level air displacement system replaces the hot air with cooler air which keeps the atrium cooler
than the outside temperature in summer.
• The fractal envelope was designed three dimensional to be used in the environmental solution. Yet the
fractal geometry was used as a motif on the extruded structure.
WATER CONSERVATION 29
• Fed Square Pty Ltd has implemented water saving initiatives including rainwater harvesting projects and
installation of a system to filter and recycle water into cooling towers. These measures have reduced
Fed Square’s Water Consumption by 14% in 12 months (Feb 07 – Jan 08) equating to 13-14 million litres.
Specifically, water measures implemented and completed during 2006 and 2007 include:
• Upgrading works to the Cooling Tower
• Installation of rev erse osmosis filtration system to recycle discharged water back into the Cooling
Towers.
• Working with Melbourne Water on improving the quality of storm water that discharges into the
Yarra River, including the completion of the Car Park “rain garden” as a filtration project to improve
stormwater quality entering the Yarra River.
• Installing 9 water tanks (capacity 40,000 litres) to collect stormwater runoff from the Square’s main
plaza to water the garden beds along River Terrace. This system also uses Class A recycled water.
• Installing 2 water tanks (capacity 9,000 litres) in the loading bay collecting stormwater from Russell
Street to use for cleaning purposes
• Installing flow restrictors to all public toilet hand basins.
WATER CONSERVATION 30
• Planting water efficient vegetation including grass.
• Installing 11 waterless urinals.
• Installing AAA showerheads in 12 showers across the site.
• Installing water efficient sprinkler heads in gardens and rain sensors to stop sprinklers coming on (in
accordance with current water restrictions current).
• Displaying water conservation messages daily on LED message wall.
• Given their arid climate, Australian city leaders need to be particularly sensitive about water use and
handle it like the precious commodity that it is.
• The designers made some effort to recycle, reuse, and reduce the need for a certain amount of water
on site, which is a good step towards resource self-sufficiency.
• However, especially in light of Australia’s thinning ozone layer, we think the designers could have
provided adequate shade in the form of vegetation, which would have reduced the heat island effect
and detained more water on-site.
• Still, it looks like the plaza would be very pleasant in the evenings.
VIEWS 31
