Invited to the project by Hermann Weizenegger – an industrial designer and design professor running his studio haw in Berlin – I was responsible for designing the overall interface between the music by composer and violinist miki and the production process of the robot. Together with the incredibly talented chris jeffs, who provided me with the audio analysis and musical advice as well as Wolf Deiss and Roman Kühnert of artis gmbh we realized what to me was one of the most complex, challenging and inspiring productions I was part of to date.

Hermann’s vision of the overall performance consisted of five variations of a musical piece by MIKI represented in five objects. To address this vision, wax was chosen as a base material, since it allowed rapid manufacturing through milling and application of heat as well as a possible further use for casting. Thus, the performance was conceptualized as a two stages production process showing MIKI and a pianist along the robot manufacturing the objects. In a pre-performance process, the wax base shapes were milled to reflect the musical atmosphere, in the second process the robot finalized the objects with the use of a Bunsen burner in reaction to MIKI’s play.

Given my initial lack of experience with product design and the related manufacturing processes, I teamed up with steffen fiedler to create a formal concept that will work in the timeframe we had. Even though this initial design process happened in Java/Processing with the help of Chris’ analysis tools made in SuperCollider, we realized quickly we would need an entirely different toolset to create data for such a high performance manufacturing process. Thus, the formal concept to match the requirements of the short timeframe for milling was implemented in Rhino/Grasshopper. The concept consisted of a fluent terrain being distorted according to the music. The terrain was chosen to provide the greatest flexibility for how the robot would manufacture it. This translation process is also shown in a minimal dynamic visualization I created in Processing mainly for the audience to understand the process. It was integrated into the lights control done by Chris as well. The large scale renderings for the exhibition were made in sunflow – a fabulous open source renderer written in Java.

The pavilion’s form is derived from the structure of a tree and intends to provide shade to the immediate area. a triangular footprintwith crisp planar walls begins to unfold at the roof plane into a series of pleats. the hyplane structure is comprised of white metal panels in the shape of isosceles triangles. the bends create a curving wall which reflects and introduces a soft light into the interior.

“I wondered what would happen if the walls were to keep growing upwards and present an uneven surface like ‘pleats’. Pleats resemble a tree in the way that they spread out and capture the sun and I felt that they would produce a bright, impressive exterior. I also thought that the space beneath this surface would present a relaxed atmosphere, similar to that of tree shade that would be an ideal quality for an exhibition space.”

What is Chrysalis?
The purpose of the Chrysalis project is to make it easier for people to create 3D interactive applications for the web, by combining two already existing platforms: Processing and Grasshopper.

At the core of the project is an open source app, written in Processing, that translates designs made using the intuitive 3D design interface called Grasshopper into working Processing code. Also included are the necessary resources needed by Processing to support some of Grasshopper’s special types of 3D geometry, as well as a feature that runs within Gasshopper to initiate the translation into processing.

How will Chrysalis help designers?

There is a new paradigm emerging in which small scale designers are offering customizeable versions of their designs through interactive web applets. Customers can go to the website, select a number of settings, preview the customized product and get a price estimate. Then when they are ready, they press a button and the product is made and shipped to them directly.

Processing makes apps like this possible through its robust graphics handling, and the ability to run in a web browser and interact with other websites via html. However, Processing has a text-based code editor, which is difficult to use in 3D design, especially for visually oriented people.

The intuitive WYSIWYG interface offered by Grasshopper is much more effective for visually oriented designers because it shows data and its relationships graphically instead of as lines of text. Unfortunately, Grasshopper models are not as share-able as Processing. It is not possible to view or interact with grasshopper designs on the web. The answer is Chrysalis; Think of it as designing 3D interactive content for the web using an intuitive visual

What will the funding be used for?

Funding will pay for professional software developers to produce the following items, which will be open-source and available through the Processing and Grasshopper online communities, under the Creative Commons license:

-New 3D libraries for Processing to support selected types of NURBS geometry
-Adaptation of some existing 3D geometry libraries for Processing
-New Chrysalis translator app, written in Processing
-New initiator component to run within Grasshopper
-Complete documentation of all included libraries and translator app

SOFTlab has come up with a need project , a large outdoor installation for The San Gennaro North Gate located at on Mulberry St. between Houston and Prince St in New York. The piece was produced by Two Bridges and supported by St.Patrick’s Old Cathedral.

The geometry was engineered in collaboration with Matt Clark at ARUP and all of the building connections were designed by Nathaniel Stanton of CRAFT Engineering.

Installation will be up until September 25th, 2011

Design Team: Michael Szivos, Carrie McKnelly, Sean Madigan

Installation: Elliot White, Brandt Graves, Sarah Hunter, Liz Kelsey, Brandon Bartle, Sonal Patel, Simon Kristak, Henry Choi, Julia Schleppe, Katherine Salamat, Anthony Buccellato

The Dynamic Performance of Nature is a solar-powered installation designed to sense the animate natural environment of the world and interactively communicate it to the visitors of the Leonardo through an intelligent, dynamic wall. It’s inspired by the concept that sustainability for the 21st century should be crafted to evolve beyond conventional application of green techniques into something alive and integrated with the environment, conditioning the most sophisticated forms of creativity for the preservation of life. This dynamic and interactive installation will invite curious inquisition as well as detached contemplation of the synthesis between light, material, space, and global environmental information.

2011 Core Tutors: Evan Greenberg (AA), Christina Doumpioti (AA), Jason Kelly Johnson (FCL/CCA), Andrew Kudless (Matsys/CCA)
Studio Tutors: Andrew Payne (Harvard/Lift), Ronnie Parsons (Mode/Pratt), Gil Akos (Mode/Pratt)
AA Visiting Tutors: Michael Weinstock (AA), Toni Kotnik (AA/ETH)
Workshop Tutors: Rip DeLeon, Ben Golder, David Shook (SOM), Scott Minneman, Michael Shiloh, Nick Riddle
2011 Guest Lecturers: Thom Faulders (CCA), David Gissen (CCA), Mark Sarkisian and David Shook (SOM), Bill Kreysler

2011 Sponsors: McNeel & Associates (Seattle, WA); SOM (Skidmore Owings and Merrill); Kreysler & Associates Digital Fabrication.
Special Thanks: CCA Fabrication Lab and Workshop Staff and Students; Andrew Sparks

Software Links: Rhino/Grasshopper, Firefly, Arduino, Kangaroo, Karamba

El taller afortunadamente ha tenido muy buen recibimiento y nos quedan muy pocos lugares en caso de estar interesado no dudes en ponerte en contacto cuanto antes.

Detalles:
Instructores: Rodrigo Medina | Daniel Camiro

Lugar: Plataforma de Arquitectura http://plataforma.com.mx/

Senda del Amanecer No. 151 Milenio III, Querétaro, Qro. México

Fechas: 29,30,31 de julio 2011

Cupo: Limitado a 15 plazas

Costos:
Estudiantes: $2,800

Profesionales: $3,400

Fecha límite de pago: miércoles 27 de julio 2011

Importante:
Todos los niveles de experiencia son bienvenidos el único requisito es tener un entendimiento básico de los programas CAD y una actitud positiva hacia el aprendizaje de dichas herramientas.

*Los participantes deberán traer su propia laptop con todo el software y actualizaciones (originales o versiones de demostración oficiales) previamente instaladas.(se fijara una fecha unos días antes para revisar que todos los equipos estén en orden y listos para trabajar).Si planeas venir de fuera de la ciudad avisanos y te pondremos en contacto con otras personas que también vayan a hacerlo para en caso de desearlo puedan compartir su lugar de estancia.

Contacto

info@chidostudio,com

Jesus Méndez 4421869813

Daniel Camiro 4422472424

The project started out as an ambitious student-powered endeavor to design and fabricate at a 1:1 scale the flagship pavilion for the ZA11 Speaking Architecture event in Cluj, Romania. While at the same time integrating into its historically-charged context, the design boasts a strong representational power which was much needed in order to fulfill its main goal: attracting passers-by to the event. The object tries to make legible the new ontology which is slowly defined by computational architecture and is a showcase for the processes empowered by it. At the same time, the pavilion offers a sheltered space for the unfolding of different social events pertaining to the corresponding architecture festival.The project started out as an ambitious student-powered endeavor to design and fabricate at a 1:1 scale the flagship pavilion for the ZA11 Speaking Architecture event in Cluj, Romania. While at the same time integrating into its historically-charged context, the design boasts a strong representational power which was much needed in order to fulfill its main goal: attracting passers-by to the event. The object tries to make legible the new ontology which is slowly defined by computational architecture and is a showcase for the processes empowered by it. At the same time, the pavilion offers a sheltered space for the unfolding of different social events pertaining to the corresponding architecture festival.

The process
The design was elaborated during a parametric design workshop specifically geared towards its production. We were faced with the harsh requirements of creating an actually working design with the material and tools available from sponsors (Graphtec, Holver) while at the same time fitting inside a budget dwarfed by its expectations. Therefore we constrained the creative exploration agenda to a relatively limited approach which, most importantly, was scalable in terms of materials and fabrication techniques. The final design consists of 746 unique pieces, which, once assembled, create a free-form ring which is subdivided into deep hexagons. This particular geometrical configuration allowed for the sheltering of the different planned events while at the same time inciting curiosity through its unusual, spectacular form. The realization of the design was made possible by advanced use of parametric design techniques, with the help of which the whole process was controlled from exact geometry generation to piece labeling, assembly logic and actual fabrication (CNC milling).

Conclusions
The ZA11 Pavilion emerged as a powerful urban attractor which managed to engage the local society on all levels. Interest was aroused in both young and senior citizens, both professionals and non-architects by the completed pavilion as well as during the act of its construction, thus proving to be more than an indifferent temporary shelter. Furthermore, it successfully provided a flexible and comfortable space for the different events pertaining to the event (temporary bookshop, open-air cinema, tea party, jam sessions and a small concert + sleeping in the sun) to unfold.

The International Conference on Machinery and Materials, initialize a wave of movement in linking architecture to computation in central part of China. The workshop, hosted in Hauzhong University of Technology and science and co-organized by various universities, is a pioneer event in this region of China. The workshop was a five days intensive training and production follow by international conference by top practitioners, professors, architects and researchers to share and deliver the message of a new era of digital architecture to this region of China.

The Installation

The 1:1 scaled model, named the Face, is an architecture surface that constructed at the end of the five days workshop. The Function of the surface is flexible, for example it could be a table, chair, wall, ceiling, etc. Building a 1:1 scale model push the limit of integration of digital tools and physical model, as several uncalculated focuses like gravity, tension, wind, etc added stress to the connection detail of the basic paper unit.

Digital modeling

The explorations of digital tools to mimic, analyze, visualize, and predict the constructability of the model was an important lesson learned during the workshop. A wide range of programs were used during the workshop like grasshopper, rhino, maya, processing,rhinoscript, freeform origami, realflow, tess, Xfrog, paracloud, kangaroo, etc.

Digital to Physical to Digital

During the workshop participants learned the importance of stepping back from the computer and understand the constrains of the materials and real world , this helps to have a better knowledge of how you need to use digital tools and take this consideration into early faces of design to have much better results.