GSAPP AAD studio summer 2007
Instructor:Alisa Andrasek
Fabrication assistance:Mark Bearak
Scripting advisor:Ezio Blasetti
Computational geometry expert:Michael Reed

mesonic fabrics//micro-gardens///increasing resolution of architecture

Meson, n.
_any of a family of subatomic particles that participate in strong interactions, are composed of a quark and an antiquark, and have masses generally intermediate between leptons and baryons.
_in-between
_medium

“… When forces become necessarily cosmic, material becomes necessarily molecular, with enormous force operating in an infinitesimal space…”
Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari: 1000 plateaus:: 1837:Of the Refrain :::p.343


Overarching theme of the studio will be rethinking the fabric of space and its resolution in the context of algorithmic infrastructure and increased data populations applied to corresponding emerging modes of production (in this case numerically controlled fabrication).
On a global scale studio will work on a proposal for ecology of micro-gardens dispersed as series of climatic/sensorial inserts within the existing city fabric. Within this framework studio will zoom-in into material explorations at various scales including 1:1 prototype fabrication and generative design via advanced modes of scripting.

MESONIC FABRICS
Increased in resolution and highly articulated yet adaptable spatial tissue will release a series of micro-climatic conditions in the city _ new atmospheres… This internal ecology will nest itself as an opportunity for participatory occupancy of its users _ creative forces of multitude. We will work with the idea of production of space through interaction of its inhabitants with each other and with the high-res fabric of space. Mesonics will participate in bending of space-time continuum by interfering with temporal oscillators of nature already modified by the city’s own moods (caffeinated/overexcited/generically air-conditioned city that never sleeps…). Entering the mesonic fabric will be like entering an alternative facet of reality _ an atmospheric rupture/an alternative meteorology/non-chronological drifts/wrinkling of space.
These intrusions will nest itself into the existing city continuum via the strategy of adaptive point-clouds or non-periodic patterns _ as fuzzy envelopes incubating within the host. These fuzzy semi-structural scaffolds will support the internal growth of mesonic gardens _ high definition synthetic forests _ slowdowns within the hectic pulse of the city…
Drawing upon the material intelligence and non-linear behavior of complex fabrics the studio will question normative notions of hierarchical tectonics instead encouraging the development of networked or woven infrastructural ones.
As opposed to individuations as subject or form, design is understood instead as genetic inscription. The parallel reality of the invisible code is a common ground for multiple actualizations.
Given the computational complexity of the internal algorithmic network designer does not have an absolute control but the participatory one _ s/he can guide and stir specific behaviors instead of deploying more traditional approach using different modes of representation (such as representational modeling). By series of experiments one develops an intuition for parametric brackets within this design ecology and works through a design process as a form of composure.
Immense by way of their algorithmic origin, these systems are able to support probabilistic and improvisational nature of programmatic patterns.
As a means of addressing a more conventional understanding of architectural program, that which fixes and regulates, we are considering instead logics of programming, those which are provisional and interactive in nature and thus invested in processes of autonomy and invention.

As an example _ meandering logics of how one navigates the garden (or a labyrinth as its subset) will offer the opportunities for re-thinking the circulation and improvisational occupancy as a network/redundancy problem instead of more deterministic strategies of space design. Fabrics can act as a display///play infrastructure with different degrees of transformability. Inserts can be disorienting and dazzling labyrinths _ new kind of nature/synthetic landscape inserted in the city.

Simultaneously to being an interface for unstable programmatic occurrences one experiences creeping perception of variations within the fabric itself. In it’s “genetic” memory it is carrying potency for mesonic events. They reverberate through space as intricate and interlaced fabric imprints.

In words of Brian Eno:: future will be like a perfume…

METHODOLOGY//LOGISTICS///
Studio will be investigating a direct synthesis of information infrastructures (generated through algorithmic and parametric procedures via Rhino scripting) and the constraints of particular material and production processes used as a positive input for design.
The ambition of a larger research is re-programming production processes towards the greater variability of material systems within design production as well as building an open-source design library of computational instruments.
Our objective will be increasing the resolution/definition/constructability of small scale/large population building systems understood here as spatial fabrics. The idea of fabrics will be treated relative to their speed of transformation _ including for instance structural features such as rigidity. They will vary from structural systems to soft spatial accessories .

SCRIPTING
We will be exploring the shift from the technique-based approach that dominated generative practices within architecture in the recent past towards the more explicit computational approach by engaging with scripting directly in an open source manner _ addressing a growing culture of collective computational knowledge emerging within a discipline.
Scripting will be employed explicitly for deriving geometrical systems (informed by algorithmic logics of distribution and parametric data for their variability) as well as developing custom sets to allow for automation of production (such as scripting sequences to unroll geometries/calculate possible intersection points/ build up assembly notches, flaps, hole tabs / assign parts nomenclature / nest within material sheet constraints) within the constraints of particular production processes as a positive input for design.

FABRICATION
Studio will be working towards production of 1:1 prototypes _ tests of larger assemblies within a thematic framework of cellular infrastructures _ material networks with high degree of intricacy. Design explorations will occur at numerous scales outlined bellow relative to the different fabrication resources currently available at school:

1_ laser cutters _ material design studies _
Our goal will be to increase the resolution and simultaneously legibility in spatial fabrics made out of very high number of cellular agents. Strategies of “algorithmic growth” and parametric “fine-tuning” will be employed simultaneously with material testing (sheet based materials such as Mylar) _

2_ large scale CNC mill and water-jet cutter_ we will use large scale machines ONLY for the 1:1 cellular elements and connection details used for assembly studies towards the development of 1:1 scale prototypes _

The final outcome of the studio relative to fabrication will be 1:1 materialized prototypes with its expanded ecological back up (digital format) within a context of individual team projects. Students will develop complete production set which in the case of rapid production techniques (laser cutter, CNC) is becoming increasingly crucial.
Students will work in teams of 3 that will allow for more focused and extensive project development.
We will use Rhino script very intensively and will collaborate with guest scripting expert Ezio Blasetti and mathematician Michael Reed on more advanced scripting strategies.
Additional software will include Lamina (http://laminadesign.com), Pepakura (http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/) and RhinoNest as useful complement regarding insertion of notches and nesting parts as well as Processing…

Students with specific interest in computation and already some scripting and/or 3d modeling experience are strongly encouraged to enroll given the high demands and short duration of the studio.
It is highly recommended that students taking this studio also take VS workshop on fabrication taught by Phil Anzalone.