Outline
The terms ‘hard-’, ‘soft-’ or even ‘firm-’ when used as delimiting descriptions of various ‘wares’ are increasingly contestable, inadequate and misleading, more dramatically when the wares in question are attached to discussions of design methodologies. Echoes of Descartes’ mind/body duality emanate betraying a naivety manifest in an inability to recognize the curated hybridity of contemporary praxis with regard to material and virtual domains. Here then, the task is to create a logical system with agency over the formal, material and behavioral definition of a system as artifact incorporating feedback loops that are simultaneously virtual and actual.
The Project
The project is to design and fabricate a full-scale (1:1) working chandelier. The chandelier is to be the outcome of a strictly generative (and morphogenetic) design process. A variety of growth algorithms will be studied with each group assisted to produce their own custom logics of formation. The final chandelier will also contain a population of LED lights that are to be controlled and operated algorithmically. The focus here is not merely on a demonstration of proficiency of the various skills and techniques covered but rather the positioning of the project as a contribution to the larger architectural discussion supporting the value of this methodology. As such the workshop is best understood as the means towards creating a “project-as-proof” of computation’s potential contribution to architecture. Critical to success in this workshop will be a demonstrated exceeding of the potentials of all forms of parametric modeling.
Methods + Materials
Computational design [including scripting], component modeling and the creation of files for fabrication will all be conducted primarily within Rhino [VbScript]. Potential forays into other software environments such as Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, Isosurf, Surface Evolver etc. will be facilitated on a per team basis where necessary or beneficial for specific tasks. The algorithmic control of multiple LED’s will be via Arduino circuit boards within a Processing based scripting environment.
The design and testing of full-scale partial prototypes will represent a significant percentage of the working time during the two weeks. It is anticipated that students will primarily employ laser cutting, but milling or 3d-printing of various sub-components will also be possible if time permits. Students will have complete freedom in the selection of physical component materials.