Premise: any systems can be understood as sum of primitives – theory & science argues that ”the whole can be greater then the sum of its parts” – MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY™ has been interested to translate such ideas into architecture up to its physical realm. The research is based on a simple but extreme premise: the exploration through DIY design and production of structures made of MANY parts. Such quest involves the development of computational protocols for the generation of compound morphologies and descriptive geometry, both combined with a necessary logistic of production. As based on numbers (units, time,…) both are constantly evaluate through efficiency in order to make it happen.

Design intend : the quality of such aggregates structures is depending on population / numbers. In order to reach the inherent qualities of distributed field condition one needs MANY singular elements.

Geometry test : (the continuum of a long series of investigation) – minimum of primitives, maximum of diversity.
a minimum of primitives has an interesting property in terms of logistic: it allows to afford molding techniques – as the efficiency for a mold is exponential with number of replicate (due to the original effort and cost needed to develop one).

Material test : written within a series of installation investigating Do It Yourself modes of production, looking into ways to reduce time of production for a single elements in order to be able to produce many. The premise of the research was seeking a time cap less than 30 mins to produce one single finished element of certain complexity in terms of geometry.

In the fall of 2010 Joris Laarman Lab was commissioned by the High museum Atlantato develop a kinetic installation that would illustrate a direction of future design. The installation is part of the exhibition “modern by design” that also features Nendo’sVisible Structuresand works from the High’s growing collection of contemporary design that showcases late twentieth- and early twenty-first century design. Next to that the exhibition will feature a selection of works chronicling three key moments inThe Museum of Modern Art’s design collection and exhibition history—”Machine Art” (1934), “Good Design” (1950–1955) and “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” (1972).

Digital Matter was inspired by development of digital nanomaterials, parallel to rapid innovations in computer graphics. An approximation of a rococo console with voxels (3d pixels) suggests that the state of the art in digital materials has it’s counterpart in low resolution graphics from early computer games. Michal Piasecki collaborate in the project with development of parametric models and scripts in Rhino which aid the modeling of roccoco console made of voxels in three sizes: 3, 5 and 10 mm. Digital Matter was manufactured using a 7-axis robotic arm.

Making of – Digital Matter from anita star on Vimeo.

t of the exhibition “modern by design” that also features Nendo%E

Bodily Interarticulations |AA School Paris/ Spring 2011
Architectural Association
The Architectural Association School of Architecture, one of the world’s most respected and ambitious pedagogical laboratories for architectural design and spatial research, offer a 10 day international visiting programme in Paris running twice per year.

Agenda
Within the framework of fashion, designers recognize the value of innovation and surprise in clothing designs and spectacle within seductive displays of retail to attract press, clientele and capital to continue this same endless process season after season.
Fashion scene today is not only a collection of captured images, but rather an ensemble of socio-morphological forces connecting people, catalyzing experimental, open-ended design. Fashion and its affinity for transformation is a complex terrain of architectural identities, scenery and performance. These dynamic spaces are the field where vanguard ideas incubate.

From right within fashion’s creative nexus Bodily Interarticulations foster ‘integral spatial qualities’ by harnessing the surprising typolo¬gies intrinsic to temporal bodies, fluid matter(s), and singular proportions. On the edge of couture’s technologi¬cal transformation, we rapid prototype templates that stage sharp, raw, urban, experimental and alien spatial apparel logics. Bodily Interarticulations work towards a mutual understanding of various couture forms so that we can computationally adjust their spatial characteristics. On the edge of couture’s technological transformation, we rapid prototype templates that stage sharp, raw, urban, experimental and alien spatial apparel logics.

Students S/S 2011
Team 1. Nicolas Pajerski/ Yinghao Lin
Team 2. Marja Mia Kolendic/ Petra Zaninovic/ Tamara Trumbic
Team 3. Vinita Tejapaibul/ Tadyanee Koranee/ Kamkan Supabanpot
Team 4. Ayami Takada/ Ming Yin/ Fai Sasimanas Hoonsuwan

Director: Jorge Ayala
Tutors: Marco Verde, Marc Fornes, Christoph Eppacher
Assistants: Brice Maurin, Geoffroy de Riberolles, Mario Saenz
Location: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107-111 rue de Rivoli, Paris 75001

PARIS | F(AA)SHIONS | AA Visiting Workshop | 21-31st March 2011
Director: Jorge Ayala | Location: Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris
Marc Fornes has kindly been invited to run one of the studio at the f(AA)shions workshop / one of the visiting workshop of Architectural Association School that will be hosted at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.
Paris AA Visiting School Website – link   |   Application: vistingschool@aaschool.ac.uk
Marc will propose to his group a special type of workshop in a two steps process:
# First to be part of the assembly process for an installation by THEVERYMANY™ for the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The piece will be assembled at the Centre** and will give a chance for the students to experience the process &  logistic involved around the physical production of complex morphologies resulting from the development of highly custom protocols of descriptive geometry (written in Python / Rhcommon).
#Then will initiate the students to text based protocols/scripting (RhinoPython/Rhinoscript) – and investigate a similar design approach then the installation through applied exercises on the human morphology and study multiple ways to describe it…

You can see more info and images ot the process HERE.

Some words Thomas shared with me about the project and his personal experiences.
About the process:
Basically I’m working always in the framework of parametricism. This implies a focus on the development process (design process) itself.

I was working a few years now on scripts and tools in various platforms, such as maya, rhino grasshopper and so on. Then I got the great opportunity to do an internship at NOX in 2009 and one at Zaha Hadid Architects in 2010. This showed me the importance of being able to work cross platforms since each platform has its very specific assets and drawbacks. This was basically the kick off for the Airport project. I wanted to practice my cross platform skills. Also, according to the history of architecture it self, I think its time that architects and tool developer split, like architects and engineers did a while ago. I think it is very important to implement and use tools such as these from [uto] and Jon Mirtschin rather then try to develop some very specific for each project.

I’m by no means an expert at any of it but my research has given me a pretty good overall view of what’s out there. In my opinion, generative design (sometimes called parametric design or computational design) is currently following two methodologies: object based geometry population (sometimes called propagation) and scripting.

Object based geometry population starts with a predetermined overall form and uses the software to populate desired geometries over the surface of that form. Good examples of this approach include Rhino’s Paneling Tools and ParaCloud GEM. These programs are easier to learn but their power is limited since the overall form of the design must be created first using conventional modeling techniques. In other words, only the component geometry that is populated over the form is generated by the computer. Note: ParaCloud also has a product called Modeler that can be run with an Excel spreadsheet. It is probably more powerful than the GEM product.

Scripting involves writing code that generates geometry following constraints and parameters. It is used to design systems that generate into complex forms. Good examples of this approach include Rhino’s RhinoScripts (similar to LISP routines), Rhino’s Grasshopper and Bentley’s GenerativeComponents. These programs have a longer offshore pharmacies learning curve but are also more powerful than object based systems since both the individual components and the overall form of the design can be generated by the computer. Note: I have learned that Rhino is transitioning from RhinoScripts to Python scripting going forward.

Both methodologies have their place, but learning how to script is the key to becoming a power user of generative design technology. I’m just now getting my feet wet with scripting after using the object based systems for a while. I would recommend starting with object based methods and working your way into scripting as well.

I highly recommend that you invest in Rhino. It is relatively inexpensive compared to other 3d modelers and all of the GD tools I’ve mentioned are free plug-ins. If you’re an AutoCAD user you’ll find Rhino to be fairly easy to pick up because it is a command line driven interface just like AutoCAD. In fact, Rhino was initially intended to be a plug-in for AutoCAD but ended up being a stand-alone application instead.

I also recommend that you download GenerativeComponents. It’s free and is a stand-alone application that no longer requires MicroStation to run it. Its native file format is DGN (MicroStation) but you can export to DWG format as well. I haven’t learned how to use it yet, I’ve been focusing on the Rhino applications lately, but GC is probably the most powerful generative design platform available today. It also probably has the longest learning curve and therefore you might want to learn other options first like I am!

As an interesting side note, Dr. Robert Aish, the developer of GC at Bentley, recently moved to Autodesk. It was three years ago and Autodesk is just now starting to introduce parametric conceptual design products. Project Vasari is an Autodesk Labs free download that uses the Revit Architecture platform to facilitate conceptual parametric design using adaptive components. Dr. Aish announced another product called DesignScript during Autodesk University 2010 that will be available in 2011 and it will run in AutoCAD. It will be a language based program that supports scripting and plug-ins.

Four things become apparent with this side by side comparison:
1. Rhino has become a major player in generative design technology.
2. There are a lot of free options to choose from.
3. GenerativeComponents and Grasshopper are the only platforms (to my knowledge) that
currently support plug-ins to increase their functionality.
4. ParaCloud GEM and Modeler are excellent choices for SketchUp users.

One other GD platform out there is Digital Project by Gehry Technologies. It’s built on the CATIA modeling kernel and because of this it’s very expensive. In my opinion, the cost of admission will limit the adoption of this tool to only the largest, most prestigious firms and therefore it will not become a mainstream GD product anytime soon.
There is also processing.org. This website allows you to create your own stand-alone platforms for specific problem solving using an open source programming language and environment. Rodrigo brought it to my attention and I plan to look into it.
Well, that pretty much covers everything I’ve learned over the past year or so. I will be posting a second discussion that compares GenerativeComponents to Grasshopper. What do you think about this discussion? Are there some generative design products that I’ve missed?

The installation is 9 meters tall and is supported by two metal rings located at the top of the site stairwell and the other attached to the lobby ceiling. The surface is composed of over 1000 custom panels which are changing from a squared shape to an X shaped one based on the position of the panel in relation to the space.

A Grasshopper definition and a MEL script for Maya were created for the development of this piece you can see more details of the process at their lab page.

Nuages is an art space installation designed in collaboration between e+i architecture and nuDance Theater. The objective was to design and build and environment for an artistic dance piece titled “into me see”, which is currently on view at the Lab Gallery on 47th and Lexington, NYC.

The installation was inspired mainly by their request for a vaporous/liquid like environment that could allow interactions as well as creating various levels of visibility.

For the creation of the installation a rhinoscript was created for testing gradient density patterns, you can take a look at the code at Ian Gordon´s blog. prescription drugs online without a prescription

Description:
Over the course of two(+) days participants will examine the cultural as well as technological domains of associative practices within architecture and its related fields. Participants will iteratively develop parametric assemblies with an emphasis placed on material prototyping as a vehicle for design innovation.

The format of the workshop includes daily instructional, design, and fabrication sessions and will be conducted in a fast-paced and hands-on studio environment. Participants will have direct access to digital fabrication equipment, including an industrial CNC 3-axis Mill and CNC High-Force Cutter. An optional third workshop day is offered to those participants desiring further time to develop and prototype individual projects.

As part of a larger online infrastructure, modeLab, this workshop provides participants with continued support and knowledge to draw upon for future learning.

Attendance will be limited to provide each participant maximum dedicated time with instructors.

Details:
Instructors | Ronnie Parsons + Gil Akos | Partners, Studio Mode.
All experience levels are welcome.
All participants are required to bring their own laptops. Trial software will be made available.
Registration Pricing (limited enrollment) : $550/$650.
Workshop Location :  modeLab | NYC.
Workshop Hours : 10AM-6PM.
Examples of Previous Workshops.

Infrastructure:
modeLab Workbook | Printed + PDF Documentation
modeLab Exercises | Annotated Pre- and Post-Exercise GHX Files
modeLab Primers | Annotated Primer GHX Files
modeLab Strategies | Annotated Parametric Strategy GHX Files
modeLab Utilities | Custom Parametric Design Workflow Utility GHX Files
modeLab ModeTools | Custom Plug-In Add-On GHA Files
modeLab Fabrication Equipment |  CNC 3-Axis Mill + High-Force Cutter

Topics:
Parametric Design Logics
Computational Geometry
Modularity + Recombination
Pressures + Influencers
Interoperability + Digital Fabrication

Dates:
2010.August.27 | Workshop Announced + Registration Opens.
2010.September.20 | Registration Closes.
2010.September.25 | Workshop Begins.
2010.September.27 | Optional Workshop Session.

To register or get more detailed information please visit this link or send your questions to info@studiomode.nu.

Mensa is an altar made for the restoration of the Antica Chiesa Plebana, a XV century church located in S. Maurizio Canavese (To). The project was developed by the artist Elio Garis in collaboration with craftsman Bruno De Masi and Co-De -It a computational design research studio that were in charge of operating as a mediator between the digital realm of the information model and the physical sculptural aspects of the project by translating the initial design into a coarse fabricated model in plywood.

Description (from the site)

When it comes to the use and implementation of digital strategies and tools one of the most common temptations is digital exhaustion: the project starts and becomes perfect in the digital realm. According to this obsession the digital outcome takes command and dictates the rules to which all material aspects should be subjected. Emergence material effects and any kind of post-machine work is seen as a flaw in a search for a fully file-to-factory process. Another common temptation which usually pairs the one we just described is the pursue of digital perfection: since digital tools allow accuracy and precision extreme specificity is often seen (and not without reasons) as a goal or an improvement. These are the case that serve optimization for iterative production, but we think that this shouldn’t be a universal rule.

Digital strategies and tools in our mind are not a substitute of all existing tools and techniques, rather they have their own specificity; they integrate and expand the existing set, adding new extended potential and novel possibilities to it. Substitution happens when the new tool is not only performing the same tasks than the old one but also adds new or improved qualities (performance in speed, accuracy, variation, added features, etc.).

This is an exploration of the territory that lies in-between the digital and the physical realm, using the digital as a resource to amplify the expressive palette of an artist (Elio Garis) working in tight connection with a craftsman (Bruno De Masi, we already worked with him for the Bosco project) for the design and realization of Mensa, an altar which should enrich the restoration of the Antica Chiesa Plebana, a XV century church in S. Maurizio Canavese (To). The design was conceived by Elio Garis, then developed by Bruno De Masi under his guidance, while Co-de-iT prescription medicine operated as a mediator between the digital realm of the information model and the physical sculptural expressive potential, translating the initial design into a coarse fabricated model in plywood. The model was purposely kept coarse to allow a final physical interaction by the artist in order to let him orchestrate material properties and effects according to his sculptural sensibility and experience.

Sculptural sensibility is not a pure hylomorphic process. There is an intensive logic underneath, something that is even more evident in pottery making, where the potter should constantly interact with material properties in order to tease a shape out of clay: temperature, finger pressure, rotational speed of the plate, humidity are all intensively interacting at the same time and directed by the artist’s sculptural sensibility. To that extent, this project explores vagueness as a quality that could be implemented through digital tools: sculptors often take inspiration from pieces of material, guided by vibrant sensibilities they feel resonance and envision a potential to be disclosed.

Our contribution with the digital tools is to explore through generative strategies a wide range of rule-based vague forms that can be coupled (according to material and fabrication logics) to several material palettes and let the final part of their morphogenetic process to be directed by the artist’s material sensibility.