Greg Lynn is an American architect known for designing buildings with non-rectilinear and organic forms using computational design processes. This document provides biographical information on Lynn and outlines his design ideology and process which utilizes techniques like splines, NURBS surfaces, and animation to generate topological forms. It also summarizes several of Lynn's projects including the Presbyterian Church of New York which adapted an existing industrial building through the addition of undulating metal and stucco forms.

1. GREG LYNN
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N
M.Arch ,SEM II ,R.V.S 2014-16.

2. GREG LYNN
ABOUT HIM
IDEALOGY/
PHILOSOPHY
DESIGN
PROCESS
PROJECTS
CONCLUSION
MODAL
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

3. GREG LYNN
Greg Lynn was born in Ohio in 1964 and received his undergraduate design degree from
Miami University (Ohio) in 1986.
He completed his graduate degree in architecture from Princeton University in
1988; thereafter, he was employed with Antoine Predock Architect in 1987 and Eisenman
Architects 1987 to 1991.
In 1992 Lynn founded GregLynnFORM and currently has an office in Venice, CA and
Hoboken, NJ. Lynn is affiliated with numerous academic institutions internationally, both as
adjunct professor, visiting lecturer and critic. Lynn has exhibited his work in numerous
exhibitions and conferences.
ABOUT HIM
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

4. Theory CONCEPTS:
–Force
–Curvature
–Multi-type of performance envelope
–Topology
–Multiplicities
TECHNIQUES:
 Spline
 NURBS Surface
 Animation
 Metaballs
 Blebs, flowers, strands, lattices
NOTIONS
•Type and instances
•Ideal type notion
•Multi-type of performance envelope
–Size, position, rotation, direction,
speed are determined by elements of the design
–Surface results from elements
Study of ARCHITECTURE VIA COMPUTER
MODEL
•The computer mediates:
–Topology
–Time
–Parameters
IDEALOGY/PHILOSOPHY
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

5. Topological elements are the result of a calculation
•Topological line is a movement through control points (spline)
•Topological surface is also movement through control points (nurbs surface)
Spline and NURBS surface denote influence of
vectors
•Multiplicities
•Curvature of line or surface reflects conditions
•Relations can be studied with animation
Theory
IDEALOGY/PHILOSOPHY
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

6. METHOD
Analyses brief for major spaces.
•Decide on computational structure.
•Relate structure to the site.
•Determine forces on structure.
Keyframe major conditions on structure.
•Animate and study interactions.
•Freeze and develop one or more instances of the
animation
DESIGN PROCESS
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A R C H , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C B E , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

7. Animate Form
Animation is a term that differs from, but is often confused with, motion.
Motion implies movement and action, animation suggests animalism, animism,
evolution, growth, actuation, vitality and Virtuality
Virtuality is also a term used to describe the possession of force or power.
Two recent models for the modeling of movement in architecture; the first method
involves procession and the second involves superimposition
DESIGN PROCESS
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

8. sections
NURBS-surface
BLEB
MODAL
Bleb: A volume that appears from a self-intersecting
surface
Flower: The transformation of a tube
to a plane by increased flattening of
section.
sections
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

9. Path
curves
Profiles
MODAL
Strand: Creating spaces as bundles of lines.
Shred: Creating openings by means of
duplicate control curves.Duplicate
control lines Surface per two
control lines
Continued surface of other
control lines
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

10. MODAL
Lattice: Creating Space grid structure
Surface
Surface after
creation of
lattice
• Rapid prototyping and CNC milling techniques.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

11. Summary: 2-3 person firm - collaborates with
other cyber architects for project delivery.
Projects reviewed:
1 ) Presbyterian
Church of New
York
2 ) H2 House for the
OMV Austrian Mineral
Oil Company
3 ) Artist Space
Exhibition Design -
1995
4) Electra 96-
Semi-Permanent
Installation
5 ) Cardiff Bay, Wales,
United Kingdom
6)Embryological
house.
PROJECTS
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

12. A Multi-Functional Addition
Sunnyside, Queens, New York City, New York
GregLynnFORM with M.McInturfArchitects and GarofaloArchitects
The Korean Presbyterian Church of New York in Sunnyside, Queens, is the collaborative effort
of Michael McInturf, Douglas Garofalo and Greg Lynn involving the adaptive re-use of and addition to an
existing factory building.
The design team worked in three cities; Garofalo Architects in Chicago, IL, Michael McInturf
Architects in Cincinnati, OH, and Greg Lynn FORM in Hoboken, NJ.
Through internet connection, the combined offices had a seven-person team that
exchanged CAD files, model photos and other project information throughout the typical day. By
distributing the workload variably between offices and with the combination of each office’s experience
and expertise, the three small offices were able to design a project that would have been too large and
complex for any of them to manage individually.
The existing building, originally the Knickerbocker Laundry Factory, designed by
Irving Fenichel, was built in 1932. The 88,000-sq. ft. factory building was originally constructed as a two-
floor laundry facility with 15’ clear height ceilings and a large three-story boiler room to provide power.
In 1932, it was described by the architectural and cultural critic, Lewis Mumford, as America’s best
example of “misplaced monumentality” due to its South facade.
The monumental facade of precast concrete was built to exploit the visibility from the Long Island
Railroad tracks.
PRESBRYTERIAN CHURCH of NEW YORK 1995 - 19981
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

13. The architectural approach to the re-use of the factory building as a church was
to retain the industrial vocabulary of the existing building and transform its interior
spaces and exterior massing into a new kind of religious building.
he addition exploits the eccentricities of the existing structure which is divided into
roughIts scale and industrial vocabulary reflect the importance and uniqueness of the church
congregation.
The form of the two areas; the first is a large shed structure with repetitive, long
span, open areas; the second structural system of steel elements to the South vary greatly in
length, depth and orientation.
The addition relates to these existing areas through two types of construction;
the first is a long span shed structure that is clad in metal and has an undulating shape
following the rail lines;
The second forms are stucco clad entry tubes which snake between existing
structural bays vertically through the building. Where the existing building presents a vertical
facade to the railway the new building sets up a much more horizontal relationship to the site
with this combination of low undulating forms.
Along with conventional architectural models and drawings, analyzing the
relationship between the existing and new building uses using “Meta-blob”
computer software derived the design of the sanctuary.
Using this process, local constraints could be adjusted while maintaining a continuous
volume.
The resulting massing that was produced was transformed as both an exterior metal
roof enclosure constructed with identical long span trusses and a more intricate interior
volume of louvered hung ceiling panels and faceted walls.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

14. The roof construction combines regularization and differentiation in its building
components.
This concurrence can be seen in the organization of columns supporting the
individual trusses, which are spaced irregularly allowing the joists bracing the 135’ long, 8’
deep trusses to be of equal lengths, despite the variable slopes of the roof. Similarly, new
means of vertical circulation and lobby space were invented using a series of overlapping
linear entry spaces.
Through the selective removal of structural components, these tubular spaces
connect between existing columns and provide definition for a new circulatory system of
lobbies, stairs and corridor.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

15. Multi-Functional Visitor and Demonstration Center - Schwechat, Vienna, Austria 4
H2 HOUSE for the OMV AUSTRIAN MINERAL OIL COMPANY - 19962
A multifunctional demonstration and visitor center for the display of new solar and low
energy technology for the Austrian Mineral Oil Processing Company OMV Aktiengesellschaft.
The building serves as a public relations educational facility for the public who visit the OMV
refinery in Schwechat, Austria. The interior of the building is separated into two zones by a
translucent fabric upon which computer animations, video sequences and still images are
projected.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

16. The design of the building utilized state of the art computer simulation software to model
the solar vault throughout the year for the alignment and shape of all shading devices and
the photovoltaic cells.
The north facade of the building was shaped through the simulation of the
automobile movement on the highway. The motion of the cars was used to sweep a series of
surfaces that reveal the interior of the building as a sequence when viewed at speed from the
roadway. These forces were translated into the surfaces through the construction of a system
of flexible surfaces that dynamically responded to the forces exerted on the site.
The topography of both site models is built with laser cut aluminum plates, which are stacked
up to form a solid base. One shows the larger context of the site with the close storage tanks
behind the building, the access road with the line of trees and a parallel running road, which
offers access to the main parts of the refinery.
This model is built in metric scale 1:200. The second one shows the immediate
building environment and the parallel road across the little depression north of the building.
This model is built in metric scale 1:100. Both building models are fabricated with
stereolithography technology. Both the building and site models are generated from the same
3D-computer file, which was used for image rendering and line drawings.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

17. ANIMATIONS - Studies of the Sun
Animated simulations were utilized to calculate the specific angles of a south wall built with
separate panels rather than as a solid, blank wall. Three representative sun-path curves for
this specific area are taken and a network of nodes, held between all three-curve radii and
the wall panel's foot points, are drawing an average. Each of the nodes is mathematically
linked to its panel; the movement of the node is translated into a rotation over time within
this spherical sun system.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

18. Therefore each of the solar voltaic panels, mounted on this south wall, will be operating
optimal at a specific sun angle of the year, all panels together could be
seen as a "solar-keyboard".
A series of animations were developed to show different movement- and motion behavior
of one and the same skeleton system with altering parameter settings, different speed and
orientation of the attractor movement, and differences in basic skeleton geometry
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

19. Artist Space Gallery - Soho, New York City, New York
ARTIST SPACE EXHIBITION DESIGN - 19953
The exhibit consists of two kinds of materials,
the first is virtual and mobile in the form of computer
generated animations and the second is concrete and inert
in the form of both miniature models and the full scale
exhibition space itself. The installation space was a
concrete printout of the virtual exhibition, in various plastic
materials.
The virtual designs are viewed at a micro-scale
within a space that exhibits the qualities and
characteristics of the spaces presented in miniature.
There are no plans or section drawings
presented, as the topological spaces and the animation
techniques with which they were conceived is best
presented on television.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

20. Rather than presenting finished models and documents the exhibition presents design
processes with five videotaped animation sequences accompanied the five groups of
miniature models.
The complex organic forms of the
projects are realized directly through 3-d plots
from computer files using various rapid
prototyping and 3-D printing techniques
including laser cut metal plates and
stereolithography. These models are extremely
small (less than 10” square) yet maintain a high
degree of detail.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

21. ELECTRA 96 - SEMI-PERMANENT INSTALLATION - 19964
Henie Onstad Kunstcenter, Oslo, Norway
This installation presented micro-scale models produced using 3-d printing
technology within an environment similar to the models yet realized at full scale.
A series of five nodes were suspended in the Keyhole Gallery”
of the Oslo museum and their orbital trajectories were captured to create two
groups of composite surfaces rather than a single continuous band as in the New
York installation.
These orb like spaces were supported on post-
tensioned aluminum bars that spanned the 30-
foot opening of the “keyhole gallery”. Steel
bars fabricated into hoop profiles rested on these
aluminum trusses across which a series of
lightweight steel tie rods were welded to stabilize
the structure. The entire construction was clad in
flexible plastic and rigid lexan sheets, lending the
space a range of translucency from above.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

22. The models were extremely small (less than
10” square) yet maintained a high degree of detail,
within a micron. The same design schema, or diagram,
was used for both the design of the Oslo space and the
Artists Space Gallery, an exhibition which took place one
year previously in New York City. Because the context of
the exhibition space was different, the design technique
yielded very different results.
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

23. CARDIFF BAY OPERA HOUSE-19945
Design Competition, Cardiff Bay, Wales, United Kingdom
The siting of the Welsh National Opera House on
the now defunct industrial waterfront of the Inner Harbor
of Cardiff Bay mandated a new concept for waterfront
urban space that would nonetheless be continuous with
the history of the site and Cardiff's waterfront.
The proposed project utilized the empty shell of
the defunct technology of the Oval Basin, not as a
monument to a bygone era but as the generator of
a new waterfront civic institution that is an
interface between land and water. The Oval Basin
becomes the chrysalis out of which the Opera
House emerges. As Cardiff's coastline is a simple
singular edge of the city, but a highly particularized
and negotiated edge that occurs at several scales
where it is the generator of urban growth and
development..
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

24. The sunken reservoir space with parking and a shopping concourse one half level
below the Opera House allows for a multiplication of the site surface, where the Opera
House foyers and lobbies exist at one half level above grade and parking and movement onto,
across and through the site occurs at one half level below grade. The project proposes a civic
institution that is not monolithic but is rather permeated with public space and programs at
its base. The project has not only a public space in plan surrounding the Oval Piazza, but
deploys a sectional public space. Like the graving docks that floated the volumes of the hulls
on cradle supports, the Opera
By borrowing the pattern of the graving docks and their ability to slope the land
into the sea the Opera House is connected to the water through the invention of a new
public reservoir space that flows under and through the site-Topologial
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

25. House programs are housed in volumes that are supported above the reservoir.
The project is structured through two systems; portalized wall fins and rib structured hulls..
These two systems are
sheathed in a lightweight tensile
membrane that provides a sheltered but
environmentally permeable space over
the buildable site area. This image of the
project; of a glowing alien presence
within the chrysalis of a dead
technological waterfront monument
would allow the project to participate in
the history of the site and the industrial
heritage of the waterfront without
nostalgia, while proposing a new civic
institution that is continuous with the
history of the site and the waterfront of
the city
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

26. THE EMBRYOLOGICAL HOUSE --- GREG LYNN --- BODY DIAGRAMING6
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

27. B O DY DA I G R A M
Interpreting the possible relationships between “a body and a building” is difficult as
even thought the interaction is intended and planed in it’s the perception and the factor of
diversity of people that causes an imbalance in this equation. Architect Greg Lynn's
Embryological House is at once made and born, a hybrid of computer simulation and genetic
mutation.
Greg Lynn’s work the – “The Embryological House” is a postmodern, organicist style
inspired by evolutionary biology and the science of turbulence and made possible by the
computer's ability to generate warped or fluid forms. The relationship between architecture
and the body is apparent at many levels in this example of his work. The Embryological House is
suppose to trace the evolution pattern of the human embryo. One of Lynn’s biggest fears was :
How do you keep a biological house from eating its occupants?
Here are a sequence of diagrams that
address Lynn’s fear of the form consuming the
occupants.
THE EMBRYOLOGICAL HOUSE
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

28. The Embryological House represents a new approach to fabrication and growth.
Historically, a modern house would be thought of as a kit-of-parts. Each part is distinct
and discreet, and you customize the house through the addition or subtraction of parts
from the kit.
Here are a sequence of
diagrams that studies the
stages of evolution in terms
of mutation and blurring of
boundaries
At the prototyping stage Lynn defined this project in stages and each mutation
was considered a stage in evaluation, non of the mutations were considered perfect.
The Embryological House was an attempt to participate in that economic reality,
but with a completely different implicit lifestyle and relationship to the environment. Lynn
wanted to take a more biological approach, where there would be no discreet components.
Here are a sequence of diagrams that
studies the spreading of infection
through a system
“Blurring of boundaries”
The concept was that system had the same morphospace–the same form-space–so that a
change in any component would inflect every other component within the system.
THE EMBRYOLOGICAL HOUSE
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

29. THE EMBRYOLOGICAL HOUSE
“POSSIBLE MUTATION PATTERNS AS NON WAS CONSIDERED IDEAL”
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

30. THE EMBRYOLOGICAL HOUSE
“The Embryologic Houses can be described as a strategy for the invention of domestic
space that engages contemporary issues of brand identity and variation, customisation
and continuity, flexible manufacturing and assembly and, most importantly, an
unapologetic investment in the contemporary beauty and voluptuous aesthetics of
undulating surfaces rendered vividly in iridescent and opalescent colours.”
- Lynn
“The Embryologic Houses employ a rigorous system of geometrical limits that liberate
models of endless variations.”
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

31. Architectural Practice - Information Technology For contemporary process For Project
Delivery Methodology
Protagonist: Greg Lynn
Objectives: Use of IT to empower the architectural practice - Firm size fiduciary agent-
professionalism - role of project managers
Decisions: How to apply IT to fit value systems and professional objectives. Research
and aesthetics. Firm size.
Time period: 1992-2000
Main Issues:
1 ) Small firm – principal practices and teaches.
2 ) Collaborates with other small progressive digital architects through internet
3 ) Cyberspace practice - computer is inherent in all phases of practice and forms the
designers pedagogy and practice methodology.
4 ) The computer is utilized as both form generator of the idea and facilitator for
manufacturing of the physical artifact at the micro and macro scale.
C O N C L U S I O N
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6

32. INNOVATIONS:
1 ) Uses computer as form generator – problem solver – energy, etc.
2 ) Digital team design.
3 ) Experimental use of technology and software.
4 ) CADCAM interfaced – links design and manufacturing.
5 ) Designs in digital environment – high tech media presentations.
6 ) Successful use of technology to meet tight budget and time for museum
exhibition.
7 ) Direct link of creative genesis of idea to digital environment - manufacturing and
construction.
8 ) Computing is inherent in the rationalization of project design forces.
9 ) Computing is an inherent component of the interplay of geometric form and spatial
discovery in the design process.
C O N C L U S I O N
K . K E D H E E S W A R A N M . A r c h , S E M - I I , C O N T E M P O R A R Y P R O C E S S - I I , R . V. S - C b e , 2 0 1 4 - 1 6
HOME