Computer in architecture: Norman Foster's Swiss Re building in London - Assignment Example

For purposes of this brief analytical piece, the author will be focusing upon the way in which elemental traces of computer assisted design can be delineated with respect to Norman Foster’s Swiss Re Building; located in the heart of London’s financial district. It is the further hope of this piece that by analyzing this building and noting the markings of CAD and the means through which technology was leveraged in order to make the design a reality, the reader can come to a more broad and informed understanding with respect to the ways in which CAD, and other methods of technological integration, are currently leveraged within the modern world as a means of assisting architects, engineers, and planners to envision and construct a growing number o the buildings, infrastructure, and monuments that dot the landscape.

Although the analysis will be partially concentric upon CAD and the means through which this has altered the approach that many architects have engaged previously, it must be understood that regardless of the evolutionary process that this helps to underscore, the role and responsibilities of an architect remain virtually unchanged; regardless of the level of technological evolution that has recently been experienced within he field. Before delving into a thorough discussion of how the telltale marks of computer assisted design are evidenced within the Swiss Re building in London, it must be understood that the building itself could have been constructed without any form of computer assisted design (Zhang et al. 877). However, with a more thorough and complete understanding of the way in which computer assisted design allows the architect(s) a greater degree of freedom and the vast amounts of time-saving, and appreciation for what computer assisted design can perform and the manner through which these performance markings are indicated within the Swiss Re building (Dominik 19).

The first core component in which it is fully obvious that computer system design was utilized was with respect to the design requirements that the original architects placed upon the design team. Ultimately, the building itself was intended as a historical replacement for a prior building that had been bombed by the IRA. The previous building was in and of itself a rather traditional square shape with a very large floor plan. Realizing that merely recovering in this building and starting from the ground up was no longer a conceivable option, a spirit of exploration and ingenuity grips of the team.

As such, rather than merely providing a building that harkens back to the style of the one which had been destroyed, the design engineers and architects sought instead to incorporate these elements into the new building in a nuanced and imaginative way (Kwee 112). It is at this very juncture that computer assisted design first came to be employed with respect to designing the building that eventually grew to be known as London’s “gherkin” tower. As can clearly be seen in the below figure 1.

0, the unique curvature of the building was easily facilitated by the utilization of CAD software and the manipulative properties that it could provide the design team. Whereas the interior of the building can be understood to be noticeably similar to the office and spatial layouts of other business buildings, the exterior was what required the