Escolar Documentos
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THE BOOK
Edited by Liss C. Werner
[EN]CODING ARCHITECTURE
THE BOOK
[En]Coding Architecture
THE BOOK
Edited by Liss C. Werner
COLOPHON
This edition first published 2013
2013 Carnegie Mellon University,
School of Architecture
Carnegie Mellon University
School of Architecture
5000, Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
ISBN
978-0-9762941-4-6
Editor
Liss C. Werner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reprinted or reproduced or utilized for commercial
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Trademark Notice:
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer:
Copy Editor
Madeline Gannon
Cover Design
Michael S. Jeffers
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
[EN]CODING
ARCHITECTURE
2013,
the
conference, first and foremost was made
possible through the generous support, trust and
engagement from Carnegie Mellon Universitys
College of Fine Arts and the School of Architecture,
mainly Steve R. Lee, Professor and Head, and
Dan Martin, Dean of CMU College of Fine Arts.
I also would like to mention and thank Prof.
Alfred Jacoby, Head of DIA, Dessau International
Architecture Graduate School, Anhalt University of
Applied Sciences, for encouraging me to approach
the position as Visiting Professor and George
N. Pauly, Jr. Fellow, within which I could create,
organize and chair the conference [EN]CODING
ARCHITECTURE 2013. Many thanks to Madeline
Gannon, who advised before, during and after the
conference, ran a workshop on scripting, and also
helped editing this book. The book itself was partly
financed by a grant from the Frank-Ratchye Fund
for Art @ the Frontier. Organization of the event
was only possible with the help of volunteering
students and highly supportive administration staff.
Many thanks to the Studio for Creative Inquiry,
run by Golan Levin for helping out with space and
logistics. I was very happy that one day of the
conference could be held within the Kresge Recital
Hall, and therefore would like to thank Carnegie
Liss C. Werner
A GRANT FROM:
dFAB
PREFACE
PREFACE
Liss C. Werner
Dessau International Architecture Graduate School
Carnegie Mellon University
The architect is no longer an organizer of matter
and space, but a designer of systems with multilayered components and complex relationships.
[EN]CODING ARCHITECTURE - THE BOOK was
put together after a conference on the autonomy of
architecture, code, fabrication, material morphology,
robots, machinic desire and computation held at
Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in February 2013. The
event focused on the ongoing paradigm shift in
architecture and the role of the designer/architect
in the age of code, beyond linear communication
channels or a a clear differentiation of disciplines,
which has dominated the profession of architecture
since the second industrial revolution. The event
brought together rising superstars, experienced
researchers and designers to present experimental
work, and thoughts, derived through computational
thinking and digital making. Lectures by Sanford
Kwinter, Neil Leach and Warren Neidich elevated
the conference subject and furnished debates with
new constructs.
The book presents an overview of what [En]
Coding in Architecture may consist of, how it
can be defined and which way a new language
and new tools, namely the language and tools
of computer sciences influence computational
thinking for architecture and the built environment.
[EN]CODING ARCHITECTURE 2013 positions
the field of architecture as an alloy of programming,
digital tooling, art, and science. The book
synthesizes new trajectories for the profession
in a cybernetic context of tectonics, cultural
philosophy, architectural theory and geopolitics.
Despite focusing on computation, the conference
specifically avoided to indulge in only one particular
strand of the profession and discipline. Instead
it aimed at triggering a conversation and debate
between various of topics, ranging from material
morphology via physical and cerebral interfaces
to politics. Along with the paper presentations and
panel discussions the conference also featured five
workshops: two on industrial robots in architecture,
two on scripting and one on the subject of The
Architect as Entrepreneur. Furthermore the
conference was accompanied by an exhibition
featuring some of the projects contained in this
book. A call for papers encouraged an international
group of approximately 200 architects, architectural
students and researchers to submit papers and/
10
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
Madeline Gannon
Warren Neidich
Neil Leach
Gill Wildman
MONAD Studio
Eric Goldemberg + Veronica Zalcberg
Rhythm as Code
CRITIQUE IN CODE
Marjan Colletti
Niccol Cassas
Fleet Hower
Zack Jacobson-Weaver
Collateral Intricacy
Mastery and Apprenticeship in the Digital Divide:
De-Mystifying Code Through Craft
MATERIAL
Sean Ahlquist
Dale Clifford
Material EnCoding
Nicole Koltick
Interior Prosthetics
11
ROBOTS
Wes Mcgee and Brandon Clifford
Alexandre Dubor and Gabriel Bello Diaz
La Voute de Fevre
Magnetic Architecture:
Communicating with Material
Vertical Territories of Recursion
deferentialCONSTRUCTIONS
Recursionism
Mill to Fit
INTERFACE
Benjamin Rice
Madeline Gannon
Panagiotis Michalatos
Guvenc Ozel
Vivarium
Reverberations Across the Divide:
Connecting Digital and Physical Contexts
The Environment as a Signal:
The Architect as a User
Cerebral Hunt
BUILDING
Stefano Arrighi and Pierpaolo Ruttico
Hironori Yoshida
Jacob Douenias
12
POLITICS
Ingeborg Rocker
VISIONS
Matteo Taramelli
Alex Woodhouse and Leah Zaldumbide
Matteo Maraviglia
Maj Plemenitas
Alchemic Psychosis
Desert Driftboat
the allHOLE Project
Cross Scalar ] LINK [ Complex
Heterogeneous Systems
Living Nature
BIOS
Editors
Authors
13
14
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
Madeline Gannon
Warren Neidich
Neil Leach
Gill Wildman
MONAD Studio
Eric Goldemberg + Veronica Zalcberg
Rhythm as Code
15
16
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY
Although analog
computers have
existed for centuries,
our relationship
with modern day,
digital computing
developed from
WWII era code
breaking machines.
17
Design constraints
define a framework
for what the user
intends to create,
rather than what
they explicitly create
in the program
environment.
Communication
through these
design constraints
gave the computer
an understanding
of the users
intentions ...
However, when
an objective is
ambiguous, like
in the nebulous
process of design,
this communication
model breaks
down...
18
SKETCHPAD
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
CYBERNETIC SERENDIPITY
Cybernetics
provided a model
for understanding
complex behaviors
as simplified systems
of regulatory information exchange.
19
20
LATENT IDEAS
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
ILLUSTRATIONS
21
22
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
I see the role of theory as multiplex: Firstly it is selfreflexive and creates a time, space and language
to assess what the field has accomplished and
what it might do in the future. Secondly it provides
a space for a creative practice untethered by the
forces that keep buildings standing or causes
them to fall down for in the minds eye, where
architecture can and must be envisioned, utopian
visions abound. Finally the written word samples
architectures meaning in ways that building
practices cannot. Writing about architecture
uncovers other conditions of architecture, which
collegial mimesis, other architects copying the
forms and styles of colleagues, fails to accomplish.3
The theory of cognitive architecture that I would
like to realize here stands firmly in the camp of
those theoretical approaches that are unconcerned
whether or not architecture and designed space
generate platforms for practice in the neoliberal
world of commoditized forms and environments.
Rather, instead of creating spaces and buildings
that potentiate the efficiencies of neo-liberal market
I want to suggest
a new opening for
critical architecture,
in opposition to
the post-critical or
projective practices,
which maintain the
uncritical status quo,
by suggesting an
alternative locus for
the repercussions of
avant-garde architecture and architectural
theory that is the neuroplastic potential of
the brain.
23
Politic Political
architecture like
political art is
unpopular with the
titans of industry
whose activities
generate the very
core issues that such
resistance reacts
against.
[...] it is a called
to arms for those
architects out
there who need a
reason to believe
in something else
beyond the flat
screens they are
chained to.
24
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
25
26
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
apparatuses of Junkspace. What are its engramexogram assemblages? Is there a positivist treatise
on their design history? According to Koolhaas
there is no design but only creative proliferation
that in the end produces an alt history of things
in transition. Where once detailing suggested the
coming together, possibly forever, of disparate
materials, it is now a transient coupling, waiting to
be undone, unscrewed, a temporary embrace that
none of its constituent parts may survive.25
The second example concerns the role of
paradigm shifts on the secondary manifestations,
those that have to do agency and mindedness
rather then those primarily political, on conditions
perpetrated by the Egyptian Spring. The causes
of which can be traced back to an urban and
architectural model. The use of social media has
created a technological divide between digital
natives, those born after the introduction of digital
technologies, and internet immigrants, those
that were born before the introduction of digital
technologies. It allowed for a catastrophic field
change with important consequences for those
who only understood urban space in the form of
a static model, defined by its buildings and plazas,
and those who understood it as a fluid and dynamic
field, defined similarly to a mobile phone, as a
place to roam and congregate. As such the points
of powers radiation no longer emanated from
public buildings, Murabak Head Quarters were
set ablaze, but rather from mobile hubs and their
constantly reconfigured net-landscape.
As such, these mobile hubs and the exographic
interconnectivities, they formed fields of dynamic
modulation in which transient consubstantiation
of interactivity created morphing complexified
exographic interfaces; sampled by one population
but not the other produced a crisis in surveillance
of the government and therefore a disruption in
their information gathering capabilities. As such the
digital natives were able to creatively reconstruct the
fields of meaning as dynamic manifolds in the urban
and architectural designed spaces thereby gaining
control of the city. Importantly this disruption of the
crystallized and instrumentalized distributions of
sensibility and their consubstantiated engramic
memory fields came under siege, and a state of
emergency ensued. Policing forms of normalization
that had used certain systems of control and
depended upon the engram-exographic system of
flows, historically set in place, and who themselves
were constituted by those systems, as means to
engage in a specified form of understanding,
were at a neurologic disadvantage. They were
neurobiologically blind for as we saw in the opening
remarks by Jameson they had not grown the organs
of perception necessary to understand the new
hyperspace or in this case the new dynamic fields
of communication. Their neuroplasticity had been
sculpted by a less dynamic and non-topological
As such architecture
is but one expertise
that has retooled
itself for the contemporary demands of
neoliberalism as a
global system.
27
I would like to
argue that the
transition from
architecture as a
form of organization
to one of enacted
articulation to one
of intense datafication, re-enacts an
altered history of
architecture and
urbanization as
an ontogeny of
the optimization of
extended cognition.
28
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
When built
space becomes a
totally interactive
and monitored
datascape
characterized by
smart buildings,
smart roads, smart
transit systems
ad infinitum,
data collection
possibilities will
abound and the
idea of crowd
sourcing will have
new meaning.
CONCLUSION
Computational architecture does have the potential
for abuse but as Michael Hardt suggested for
affective labor operating in the global economy
the same can be said for Neuropower, on the
contrary, given the role of affective labor as one
29
Infinite Data
Mining (IDM), a
condition I would
like to suggest is
the future of the
extended mind,
has implications
for surveillance
and individual
subjection.
30
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
79. http://psycwww.wp.queensu.ca/MerlinDonald/
Publications/01_Exographic.Rev.2010.pdf
[accessed September 2013].
16. Ibid., p72.
17. Clark, A., Chalmers, D., The Extended Mind,
Analysis, 58, 1998, pp.7-19.
18. Lambros Malafouris, C. Renfrow, The Cognitive Life of Things: Archeology, Material Engagement and the Extended Mind, in The Cognitive Life
of Things: Recasting the Boundaries of the Mind,
Cambridge, UK: McDonald Institute of Monographs 6, 2010.
19. Ibid.
20. John Sutton, Material Agency, Skills and History: Distributed Cognition and the Archeology
of Memory, in Material Agency, Towards a NonAnthropocentric Approach, ed. by C. Knappet, L.
Malafouris, New York: Springer, 2008, pp.37-55.
21. Lambros Malafouris, The brain-artefact interface (BAI): a challenge for archeology and cultural
neuroscience, Social Cognitive Affective Neurosciences, Volume 5, 2010, p.265.
22. Ibid., p.26. These sort of bidirectional dynamic
coalitions that lie at the heart of BAIs can take
many forms (eg. hard assembled (stable) /soft
assembled (reconfigurable) epistemic/pragmatic,
invasive/non-invasive, representational performative, transparent/non-transparent, constitutive/instrumental, etc.) and can be empirically observed
through diverse examples ranging from the early
stone tools to the more recent symbolic technologies such as calendars, writing, and numerals as
well as pencils, and papes. One could add that
brain machine interfaces (BMIs) that make now
possible for a monkey or human to operate remote
devices directly via neural activity.
23. Warren Neidich, Blow-up: Photography, Cinema and the Brain, NY DAP and the University of
California, Riverside, 2002, p.22.
24. Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace, in Constructing
a New Agenda, Architectural Theory, 1993-2009,
ed. by A. Krista Sykes, NY: Princeton Architectural
Press, 2010, p.137.
25. Ibid., p.140.
26. Carl Schmitt, Political Theology: Four Chapters
on the Concept of Sovereignity [1922], trans. by
George D. Schwab, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
27. Franco Berardi,The Soul at Work, From Alienation to Autonomy, trans. by Francesca Cadel and
Guiseppina Mecchia, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2009.
28. Arne Deboever, Warren Neidich, The Psychopathologies of Cogntive Capitalism, Part 1, Berlin:
Archive Books, 2013. There has been a cognitive
turn in cognitive capitalism in which the software
and hardware of the brain and its neural plasticity have become its new focus producing normalized subjects and perfect consumer/ workers. The
shift has not been without its tragic side as it has
31
32
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
MACHINIC PROCESSES
Neil Leach, USC
What are we to understand by the term machinic?
For sure it does not refer simply to the machine in
the sense of the mechanical, understood within a
positivistic framework to signify the world of engineering. Of course, in the context of an exhibition of digital fabrication it does include the use of
mechanical processes of production. But it is not
reducible to them.
The term machinic processes is a reference to the
work of the French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze,
and his collaborator, the French psychoanalytic
theorist, Flix Guattari. Deleuze and Guattari use
the term machine in a quite unique way. Philip
Goodchild defines the machine in Deleuze and
Guattari, as an assemblage of parts that works and
produces.1 The machine is anything that operates,
and is conditioned by material flows. The machine
therefore extends beyond any earlier distinction
between the mechanical and the organic, to include
both domains. In other words, human beings
could also be described as machines. As John
Marks observes, Everything is a machine, and
everywhere there is production. For Deleuze and
Guattari, the machine is not a metaphor; reality is
The machine
therefore extends
beyond any earlier
distinction between
the mechanical
and the organic,
to include both
domains. In other
words, human
beings could also
be described as
machines
By machinic
process we should
therefore understand
a positive, creative
process that
inscribes human
beings within a
logic of desire.
33
An assemblage
could be defined
as a loose affiliation of individual
components that
have come together
to form a single
body but a body
that is never stable
or unified.
34
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
35
But it should be
stressed that
the rhizome is
not a form of
representation.
The rhizome steps
beyond the limits of
representation.
When we speak
of desiring
machines, then,
the key question
is the connectivity
afforded by those
machines.
36
As Deleuze and
Guattari comment:
The diagrammatic
or abstract machine
does not function
to represent, even
something real, but
rather constructs a
real that is yet to
come, a new type of
reality.
37
Just as science
can be viewed
through the lens
of science fiction,
so the mechanical
can be understood
in terms of a
somewhat romantic,
mechanical fictions.
we should not
overlook the role of
design in facilitating
the absorption of
the technological
within human
consciousness.
38
A MACHINE TO LIVE IN
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
39
40
ILLUSTRATIONS
41
42
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
This generation
shows signs of
wanting to do more
than simply work for
a consultancy.
43
44
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
PHOTOGRAPHS
And this is about moving ideas on and outside
of the traditional architect-as-consultant model.
Its not for everyone - nor should every idea
become a business and it takes a huge change
in self-perception from being in service to being
an author. It takes self-belief, strong support and
the right kinds of entrepreneurial skills. These
can be learned, and improved upon. So should
we start to think about architects thinking and
acting entrepreneurially as well as working in
consultancies? Definitely.
I think what were going to see is this generation,
in the next 10 years, at the helm of the biggest,
brightest and most successful companies weve
ever seen.1
1. Gen Y: The Startup Generation? Posted on September 1, 2011 by Larry Smalheiser in Entrepreneurs By Matt Torres of TriNets Public Relations
team, Trainer Communications 2. Annalyn Censky
CNN Money January 4, 2012.
2. Zaha Hadid vs. the Pirates: Copycat Architects
in China Take Aimat the Stars, Kevin Holden Platt,
Spiegel Online December 28, 2012.
3. http://www.fosterandpartners.com/news/foster+-partners-works-with-european-space-agencyto-3d-print-structures-on-the-moon/
45
46
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
RHYTHM AS CODE
MONAD Studio I Eric Goldemberg + Veronica Zalcberg
Rhythmic Code highlights the role of computation
as catalyst for a new spatial sensibility related to
the codification of rhythmic perception. It proposes
a novel understanding of architecture based on the
capacity of digital design to supersede its normative
instrumental role, demonstrating the potential to
engage in deeper, critical issues of the discipline
and to invigorate/shake a discourse of part-towhole relationships through the lens of rhythmic
affect. Pulsation introduces the fundamental
animate capacity of spatial organizations and
critically reshapes the character of our perception
across multiple scales of a project, codifying digital
inception and craft through fabrication.
Pulsation situates
the discussion
of architecture
practices that make
extensive use of
the fundamental
operational
capacity of digital
design to unveil
affective-perceptual
qualities of space by
means of rhythmic
articulation.
47
Baroque architecture
and the Art
Nouveau are only
part of an extensive
lineage of a
sensible knowledge
infused by sensual
overtones and
spatial innuendo.
48
WHAT IS RHYTHM?
DURATION, REPETITION AND DIFFERENCE IN
ARCHITECTURE
Whereas meter
presumes an
even division of
a uniform time,
rhythm presupposes
a time of flux, of
multiple speeds and
reversible relations.
Everywhere where
there is rhythm,
there is a measure,
which is to say law,
calculated and
expected obligation.
49
50
INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS
According to
Deleuze, a
succession of instants
does not constitute
time any more
than it causes it to
disappear;
51
52
MONAD STUDIO
AFFECT OF DECAY: A PROVISIONAL CODE
FOR ATMOSPHERES OF PULSATION
3. STRIATION RHYTHMS:
Part-to-whole
relationships form
the basis of such
synthetic codification...
ILLUSTRATIONS
53
54
CRITIQUE IN CODE
Marjan Colletti
Niccol Cassas
Fleet Hower
Zack Jacobson-Weaver
Collateral Intricacy
Mastery and Apprenticeship in Digital Divide:
De-Mystifying Code through Craft
55
56
CRITIQUE IN CODE
AN EXAMPLE OF [EN]CODING
NEO MATERIALISM:
ProtoRobotic FOAMing
Marjan Colletti, Innsbruck University, UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
In 1968, David Campion rightly anticipated, albeit
They have
ambitiously
revolutionized the
design process,
widened the formal
vocabulary and fastforwarded the theory
of architecture into
the 21st century.
The study of
fabrication and
assembly protocols,
shapes and joints,
structures and
skins goes hand in
hand with material
research.
57
NEO MATERIALISM
On account of new
demands of the
economical and
ecological crisis it is
understandable that
architects subjectivity and idiosyncrasy
are questioned.
58
and
financially
unsustainable
architectural
production methods of the past towards innovative
applied theories, techniques and technologies. On
account of new demands of the economical and
ecological crisis it is understandable that architects
subjectivity and idiosyncrasy are questioned.
However, I will not subscribe to a total dismissal
of these values! An over-rational misguidance
of the discipline throughout these paradigm
changes can bring architecture to lose its open
and dynamic nature, which sets it apart from the
building industry. Despite the bewildering variety
of the contemporary digital architectural debate,
the most pressing questions today are no longer
concerned with providing theories of cyberspace
or virtuality, but with providing a novel practice
and theory of actual applicability. After the initial
CRITIQUE IN CODE
ROBOTICS
59
60
CRITIQUE IN CODE
ROBOTIC FOAMING
61
FOAMing
62
CRITIQUE IN CODE
FOAMing seems
to decode in an
analogue way
encoded complex
accelerated
biological growth
algorithms.
63
64
ILLUSTRATIONS
65
66
CRITIQUE IN CODE
Dcadence (from
theLatin word
Decidere - to fall
down) refers to
the gradual loss of
DIGITAL DCADENCE:
THE FRACTAL DIMENSIONS
Niccolo Casas, Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna, Bartlett School of Architecture
Dcadence is a process of disintegration of the
whole where the particular acquires autonomy
and incrementation of visibility by shirking from the
functional subordination of the whole. It is about
the process of disintegration of an organism,
of a society or a culture and, more generally,
it concerns the process of fragmentation of a
system of relations. In the French dictionary,
Larousse, the word Dcadence (from the Latin
word Decidere - to fall down) refers to the gradual
loss of strength and quality of a civilization,
culture or organism; the beginning of the fall, of
the degradation: the beginning of decay. There
is a significant difference in meaning between
the French word Dcadence and the English
word Decadence. The Oxford Dictionary actually
translates the word Dcadence as decline or
degradation: the word describes the beginning of
the degradation of a structure of relations, cultural
or biological. The English word, on the other hand,
has acquired an ethical hint referring to the lack of
moral standards and behaviors (moral or cultural
67
Dcadence is
a process of
disintegration of the
whole...
Dcadence is
not only the
decomposition
of the social and
biological organism
but also the
fulfillment and the
gratification that is
derived from it.
68
CRITIQUE IN CODE
it was with
the French
mathematician
Benoit Mandelbrot
that the theory
of Fractals was
completely
elaborated and the
embedded order
of natures fractured
irregularity fully
revealed.
69
70
ILLUSTRATIONS
p.66Turbulence
p.68 top: Turbulence, back view
p.68 middle: Turbulence, top view
p.68 bottom: Turbulence, front view
p.69 top: Black Turbulence, back 1
p.69 bottom: Black Turbulence, back 2
p.70 top: Analogy, side view
p.70 bottom: Analogy, front view
p.72 Analogy, detail
TURBULENCE
Turbulence is a necklace designed in collaboration
with the fashion designer Leyre Valiente and 3D
printed at Materialise. Turbulence was part of the
Leyre Valiente collection, Malleus Maleficarum, and
was presented at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week
in Madrid in March 2013. Turbulence is the result of
the combination between the simulation of fractal
systems, part of my research on Digital Dcadence,
and an interest in extreme symmetric conditions
(as symmetry of animated components) that are
currently part of a music/design investigation.
BLACK TURBULENCE
Black Turbulence is the second necklace generated
via fractal system simulations. It pushes the
boundaries of the research on extreme symmetric
conditions that started with the white Turbulence,
by introducing a second model that is the twin of
the first one. The basic equation that describes
the general dynamical system, using complex
number - Z(n+1) = Zn2 +C -, remained the same
for the white and black turbulence whereas the
parameters related to the component data and their
overall symmetric disposition changed radically.
When compared, the two designs look symmetrical
at first, but in a second glance they reveal all their
differences.
ANALOGY
Analogy is the result of the process of investigation
on the aesthetics of Dcadence. If we consider
Dcadence as a state of dynamic transition leading
to the fragmentation of the whole, it is the fractal
geometry that articulates this process. Analogy
is about the simulation of a fractured system in
which the whole decomposes making singularities
emerge. Analogy concerns the process of
fragmentation of a system of relations and it is the
expression of the corrupted complexity generated
by simple iterations. Charles Baudelaire foresaw
that the discontinuity and irregularity of natural
shapes directly relates to the dynamic and mutable
status of nature itself. Furthermore, he identifies
in its irregularity the emergence of mathematical
harmonies that reveal analogies between scale and
subject changes: only those analogies possess
an unaccustomed liveliness; they penetrate and
they envelop; they overwhelm the mind with their
masterfulness.
Musical notes become numbers; and if your mind
is gifted with some mathematical aptitude, the
harmony to which you listen, while keeping its
voluptuous and sensual character, transforms itself
into a vast rhythmical operation, where numbers
beget numbers, and whose phases and generation
follow with an inexplicable ease and an agility which
equals that of the person playing. The Playground
of the Seraphim - The Poem of Hashish, Charles
Baudelaire.
CRITIQUE IN CODE
the morphological
irregularity is defined
by an index, the
fractal dimension,
that is a theoretical
measure of the
formal complexity
of irregular
configurations.
71
72
CRITIQUE IN CODE
CITATIONS / NOTES
REFERENCES
73
74
CRITIQUE IN CODE
COLLATERAL INTRICACY
Fleet Hower, RPI [Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]
Collateral Intricacy is a proposition for a new Gothic
architecture that combines the logic of traditional
Gothic geometric operations with the abilities
and precision of contemporary computation. By
encoding specific, quantifiable operations such as
conditional subdivision and proliferation of detail
that are present in Gothic form, a radically new
architecture emerges. Qualitative conditions such
as light and the relationship between structure and
form also find their way into the code, resulting in
conditional formal manipulation, ensuring that such
hallmarks of Gothicism are present and integral to
the projects development from the very first step
onwards.
Collateral Intricacy began by questioning the
possibility of contextualizing generative design
research by using its encoded impetus as an
established architectural lineage. The pursuit
of this answer led to a series of research
investigations into the formative process of
Gothic geometry while a parallel development of
computational studies encoded said operations.
As pure research objects the generative studies,
Collateral Intricacy
is a proposition
for a new Gothic
architecture that
combines the logic
of traditional Gothic
geometric operations
with the abilities
and precision of
contemporary
computation.
Encoding Gothic
qualities of relative
height, light, and the
relationship between
structure and ornament presented the
challenge of quantifying phenomena
that are experienced
qualitatively.
75
By encoding Gothic
characteristics,
both quantitative
and qualitative,
potential is present
from the outset of
the design process,
conditionally
put into action
according to
environmental
conditions.
The encoded
residues source
of influence is
often unclear, it is
Collateral Intricacy.
76
CRITIQUE IN CODE
77
78
ILLUSTRATIONS
79
80
CRITIQUE IN CODE
Where creative
computation
students are skilled
beyond the master,
who reasserts
the fundamentals
of becoming an
amazing artist,
architect or
designer?
Moreover, teaching
artists as computer
scientists counters
early potential for
computation to be
reinterpreted through
the arts.
Right now, in
higher education
one finds plenty of
creative computation
justified by the use
of bewildering
digital textures and
geometries rather
than cohesive
design.
81
Only through
the possibility
and limitation of
structured substance
does expression
come into being.
Otherwise it
remains only
inspiration..
Master designers
must understand
that creative
computation is not
so different from
paper, pencil, steel
or clay.
Even then, a bug
may not appear
until a program
has cycled several
times. This is a hell
of a splinter, but a
splinter nonetheless.
82
CRITIQUE IN CODE
[...] it no longer
needs to be the
computer scientists
role to describe
wood for a
woodworkers [...]
computer tool
Without the
sensitivity of
pre-digital mastery
embedded in
creative computation
the next generation
of designers is
doomed to toil with
recreating what is
already known.
It is the artists,
designers and
architects province
to sketch and to
iterate and, indeed,
to play!
Fundamentally,
creative computation
should be learned as
integral to craft.
83
84
MATERIAL
Sean Ahlquist
Dale Clifford
Material EnCoding
Nicole Koltick
Interior Prosthetics
myThread Pavilion
commissioned by NYC Nike FlyKnit Collective
85
86
MATERIAL
The distinction,
within the matrices
of formation/
operation and
virtual/real,
exists where the
virtual computes
fundamental
principles of
relational logics and
the real executes
resulting reciprocities
through highly
specific material
and contextual
constructs.
87
88
MATERIAL
As an
encapsulation of
knowledge, the
prototype is not
the physical entity
but rather the
processes shaping
the generative
constraint space.
In a series of
sequential yet
overlapping studies,
the matrices of
structure/behavior
and force/material
are unfolded to
explore the means
in which the
virtual behaviors
project real
materializations.
89
90
ILLUSTRATIONS
pp.86, 88 centre: Hyper-Toroidal Deep Surface Prototype. Boyan Mihaylov, Viktoriya Nikolova, Institute
for Computational Design (Sean Ahlquist, Prof.
Achim Menges), University of Stuttgart, 2011.
p.88 top: M1 Textile Hybrid at La Tour de
LArchitecte in Monthoiron, Merkus Bernhard, David Cappo, Celeste Clayton, Oliver Kaertkemeyer,
Hannah Kramer, Andreas Schoenbrunner, Institute
for Computational Design (Sean Ahlquist, Prof.
Achim Menges), Institute for Building Structures
and Structural Design (Julian Lienhard, Prof. Jan
Knippers), University of Stuttgart, 2012.
p.89: Cylindrical Deep Surface Prototype. Peter
Pelzer, Christine Rosemann, Institute for Computational Design (Sean Ahlquist, Prof. Achim Menges),
University of Stuttgart, 2012.
p.88 bottom, pp. 90-91: Semi-toroidal textile hybrid.
Doctoral research by Sean Ahlquist. Institute for
Computational Design (Sean Ahlquist, Bum Suk
Ko, Prof. Achim Menges), University of Stuttgart
2012.
91
92
MATERIAL
MATERIAL [EN]CODING
Dale Clifford, Carnegie Mellon University
Encoding is the rule-based process of converting
information for the purpose of communication.
[En]coding Architecture, implies that architecture
itself can be more responsive and communicative.
The title infers that architecture will increasingly
embody energy and information flows to become
more communicative, and perhaps more adaptive.
A shift towards responsiveness is emerging as
architects, designers and engineers develop
technologies and design strategies that are
environmentally sensitive. One of the pathways
towards this goal is the design application of
the energy harvesting and storage capacity of
responsive materials to enable architecture to
interact with environmental change. All materials
have the ability to store electrical, mechanical or
thermal energy. Responsive materials - those that
change their properties significantly in response to
external stimulus - are of particular interest due to
their degree of formal change during the storage
and release of energy. The Bio_Logic Design
Group at Carnegie Mellon University is directed
toward understanding the porous boundaries
between living and non-living systems through
the lens of responsive materials. Predicated on
the exchange information between the natural
and the artificial, the group develops building
technologies that operate in accordance with the
biologic condition of homeostasis (the ability for
an organism to maintain equilibrium in response
to fluctuating environmental conditions). Much of
the work is located at the building envelope, the
interface between interior and exterior. The intent is
The Bio_Logic
Design Group at
Carnegie Mellon
University is
directed toward
understanding the
porous boundaries
between living and
non-living systems...
93
NOTES
94
MATERIAL
CONCLUSION
ILLUSTRATIONS
95
96
MATERIAL
INTERIOR PROSTHETICS
Nicole Koltick, Drexel University
Interior Prosthetics resulted from a special topics
digital fabrication seminar run in fall 2012, led by
Professor Nicole Koltick at the Westphal College
of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University.
Students were challenged to develop a series
of prosthetic design interventions to the newly
renovated URBN Center.
Based on a narrative methodology, the seminar
explored design speciation through developing and
prototyping a variety of additive and subtractive
design species. Moving beyond formal mimesis, we
set out to induce a series of procedural operations,
which could yield novel outcomes of design
We were
particularly
interested in the
potential of synthetic
relationships that
might arise from
interactions between
varied species
and their prosthetic
interaction with the
building.
97
as when neurons
manipulate
concentrations of
metallic ions, or
a psychological
entity interact with a
chemical one
the logic of
speciation - the
evolutionary process
by which new
biological species
arise
If there is anything
monstrous in
evolution, its the
uncertainty in the
system at any and
every point.
98
ILLUSTRATIONS
pp.96, 98-99: Special Topics Seminar: Interior
Prosthetics, material prototype (silicone, resin)
assembly by Kathryn Pellegrino.
p.99 bottom: Special Topics Seminar: Interior
Prosthetics, research.
99
100
MATERIAL
Coupling between
digital generation
and analog
production resulted
in an inquiry
into how parties
interested in
exploring emerging
digital techniques
are able to engage
with the topic in a
meaningful way with
lacking access to the
equipment generally
required for its
proper execution.
101
since an automated
means of cutting
and assembly was
not available to the
fabrication team,
the labeling and
organization of the
resulting panels
became paramount
102
NOTES
103
104
ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUNTEERS
Jesse Baiat-Nicolai
Sam Buckens
Katie Bujalski
Alex Cabral
Kristen Gainnone
Mary Hale
Chris Harp
Cassandra MassArt
Mike Modoono
Sean Owen
Nick Pappastratis
Frank Pereira
Ryan Philbin
Jason Skibo
Brian Slozak
Jeff Smith
Kate Spalla
Mikkel Stromstad
Dunja Vujinic
Rosie Weinberg
Jason Weldon
Lin Yang
Sue Yoo
CREDITS
Artforming (design and fabrication):
Rob Trumbour
Aaron Willette
Erblin Bucaliu
Stephanie Rogowski
Anthony Sanchez
Jared Steinmark
105
106
MATERIAL
WX
Jose Luis Garcia del Castillo, Universidad de Sevilla, Harvard GSD, ParametricCamp
Christian Ervin, Rice University, Harvard GSD
Krista Palen, Harvard GSD
WX is a numerically-controlled wax sculpture
machine in which form emerges from a materialspecific combinatory fabrication process. This
project investigates the properties that arise in
the dynamic merging of two fluid media: melted
wax and water. The project takes advantage of
the dissipative effects produced when hot wax
and water combine and forms of thin wax-shells
emerge. Exhaustive material research with various
types of wax and water mixtures at controlled
temperatures and rates of mixing gave our team
tremendous insight into the behavioral effects of
these materials as they interact.
In calibrating the discovered parameters and
their related effects, the resulting volume is an
efficient, thin-walled cellular structure; a frozen
animation of the complex fluid dynamics at play
the process of
materialization and
rationalization of
a firstly speculative
formal approach
became the actual
challenge
107
WX is a project in
which geometries
are derived from
a material-specific
combinatory
fabrication process,
influenced by
real-time human
interaction.
108
ILLUSTRATIONS
109
110
MATERIAL
myTHREAD
Jenny E. Sabin, Cornell University, Jenny Sabin Studio
Advancements in weaving, knitting and braiding
technologies have brought to surface high tech
and high performance composite fabrics. These
products have historically infiltrated the aerospace,
automobile, sports and marine industries, but
architecture has not yet fully benefitted from
these lightweight freeform surface structures.
myTHREAD, a commission from the Nike FlyKnit
Collective, is the first architectural project to feature
knitted textile structures at the scale of a pavilion.
The evolution of digital tools in architecture has
prompted new techniques of fabrication alongside
new understandings in the organization of material
through its properties and potential for assemblage.
No longer privileging column, beam and arch, our
definition of architectural tectonics has broadened
in parallel to advancements made in computational
design. Internal geometries inherent to natural
forms, whose complexity could not be computed
with the human mind alone, may now be explored
synthetically through mathematics and generative
systems. Textiles offer architecture a robust design
process whereby computational techniques,
myTHREAD, a
commission from
the Nike FlyKnit
Collective, is the first
architectural project
to feature knitted
textile structures
at the scale of a
pavilion.
The myTHREAD
Pavilion situates itself
at the center of this
paradigm shift by
integrating emerging
KNITTING ARCHITECTURE
technologies in
design while pushing
the boundaries even
further through the
materialization of
dynamic data sets
generated by the
human body
111
The myTHREAD
Pavilion uses the
flexibility and
sensitivity of the
human body as a
bio-dynamic model
for pioneering
pavilion forms.
112
We are interested
in probing the
human body as a
bio- dynamic model
that provides new
ways of thinking
about issues of
performance and
adaptation at an
architectural scale.
113
114
The materials
response to sunlight
as well as physical
participation is an
integral part of our
exploratory approach to
the subjects of
performance and
formfitting.
115
CREDITS
my Thread Pavilion by
Jenny Sabin Studio
on view September 15 - November 10, 2012
Nike Stadium NYC, 276 Bowery
The myThread Pavilion was commissioned by Nike
Inc. for the International Nike FlyKnit Collective.
Jenny Sabin was selected as 1 of 6 innovators from
around the globe to contribute an original work for
the Collective inspired by the Nike FlyKnit technology and its core benefits. Sabin led the NYC FlyKnit
Collective.
approach could
be extended
with significant
architectural
Consulting Engineer:
Daniel Bosia, AKT Engineers
Consulting Textile Designer:
Anne Emlein
Fabricator:
Shima Seiki, Dazian Fabrics, Smucker Laser
Installation Crew:
Leslie Cacciapaglia, Aaron Gensler, Mi Young
Kang, Rachel Kaplan, Jae Won Kim, Zhongtian Lin,
Liangjie Wu, Younjin Yi, Zhenni Zhu
Lighting:
Kayne Live
116
implications.
ILLUSTRATIONS
117
ROBOTS
Wes Mcgee and Brandon Clifford
Alexandre Dubor and Gabriel Bello Diaz
118
La Voute de Fevre
Magnetic Architecture:
Communicating with Material
Vertical Territories of Recursion
deferentialCONSTRUCTIONS
Recursionism
Mill to Fit
119
120
ROBOTS
DE LE FEVRE
LA VOUTE
Wes Mcgee, Taubman College University of Michigan, Matter Design
Brandon Clifford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Matter Design
La Vote de LeFevre is a mashup of ancient
stereotomic vault construction with contemporary
computation and advanced fabrication. The vault is
a compression-only structure calculated through a
custom particle-spring physics simulation program
to determine how large each units opening should
be in order to adjust its volume, and therefore mass,
in relation to its neighbors. This project exemplifies
Matter Designs dedication to translating past (and
often lost) methods into contemporary culture.
We are truly conflicted. We are pre-occupied with
computational design and digital fabrication commonly assumed to be rapid, fashionable, and
surfacial, though simultaneously pre-occupied with
volume - thick, heavy, ancient, and permanent. We
also maintain an emphasis on speculation, and yet
our dedication to reality resists this claim. We intend
to innovate and transform the future of architecture,
yet we look to history in order to do so. Somewhere
in this milieu of confusion and confliction is the
kernel that defines us. Marc Jarzombek recently
suggested one could determine how well a society
We also maintain
an emphasis on
speculation, and
yet our dedication
to reality resists this
claim.
These projects
mined the past
knowledge of
stereotomy as a
way to robotically
carve foam.
121
The purpose of
this research
is not to revert
to antiquated
architecture. It
is intended to
re-engage in a
problem unfamiliar
to our contemporary
culture.
122
123
124
ROBOTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
CREDITS
PROJECT TEAM
Jake Haggmark, Maciej Kaczynski, Aaron Willette
BUILD TEAM
125
126
ROBOTS
MAGNETIC ARCHITECTURE:
Communicating with Material
Alexandre Dubor and Gabriel Bello Diaz,
IAAC - Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalunya
Magnetic Architecture is a research child of
materiality, code, tectonics and robotics that
stretches into the architectural design process.
Research within the field of Magnetic Architecture
triggers the visibility of new data through observing
affects between a controlled magnetic field, and
responding geometric formations of a magnetic
material subjected to the field. Hence the project
encouraged us to implement sensor technology
and mapping software in order to record, visualize
and be able to analyze how the magnetic material
responses and behaves when manipulated within
the magnetic field. Using magnetic energy to explore
a freeform approach suggests an alternative to 3D
printing at building scale. Magnetic Architecture
aims at the development of a new building process
that focuses on an iron based material controlled
with magnets. One future goal of the project is
to set up this process in the building scale using
recycled and granular material.
127
128
ROBOTS
CONTROLLING CONTROL
CONTROLLING LOGIC
Increasing
complexity drove
the design decisionmaking process
for Magnetic
Architecture.
129
ILLUSTRATIONS
130
ROBOTS
CONTROLLING RESEARCH
REFERENCES
Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, Johannes Braumann, RobArch 2012: Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art
and Design, Vienna: Springer, 2013.
Neri Oxman, Digital Craft: Fabrication Based Design in the Age of Digital Production, 2007.
Lisa Iwamoto, Digital Fabrications: Architectural
and Material Techniques, 2009.
Sistemay Consultores S.A., Sustainable Design
Analysis and Building Information Modeling, 2010.
Fabio Gramazio, Matthias Kohler, Digital
Materiality in Architecture, Zurich: Lars Mller
Publishers, 2008.
Manuel De Landa, Material Complexity, presented
at Digital Tectonics Bath, UK, 2002.
Jerome Frumar, Code to Craft: Beyond the Voxel,
2007.
Jaspar Morrison, Everything but the Walls, Zurich:
Lars Mller Verlag, 2006.
B.D. Cullity, C.D. Graham, Introduction to Magnetic
Materials, London: Wiley, 2008.
William Gilbert, De Magnete, NY: Dover Publications, 1991.
131
132
ROBOTS
Space is formed
through the playingout of a set of
abstract data sets, or
protocols.
133
134
Resulting territories
exhibit vast spatial
differentiation, ranging from moments of
porosity to moments
of extreme density.
135
136
ROBOTS
ILLUSTRATION
137
138
ROBOTS
deferentialCONSTRUCTIONS
Harold Sprague Solie, Mark Wright, Ning Zhou, and Bennett Scorcia,
Taubman College University of Michigan
deferentialCONSTRUCTIONS also takes its
cue from a phenomenon known as Apophenia,
perceiving of patterns in otherwise random or
meaningless data. If used advantageously,
Apophenia can allow for multiple readings within
a single spatial environment. The project attempts
to leverage a basic architectural proto-condition to
test out the implications and possibilities inherent
within this phenomenon. The goal is to create a
system, which by oscillating between complete
control and a total absence of control allows its
users to interpret their environment in a variety of
ways. The architectural proto-condition describes
the aperture, the physical ly constructed typology
tak the panelized wall system. Main goals of the
project were
a) to create systems of control that maximize output
Embedded within
this logic is the
notion that the
designer is removed
from the final
representation.
139
140
ROBOTICS
GEOMETRY LOGIC TO
ROBOTIC FABRICATION
141
142
CONCLUSIONS ON CONTROL
By leveraging
emerging
technologies the
final construction
achieves its goal
of developing a
design strategy that
oscillates between
top down and
bottom up design
process.
ILLUSTRATIONS
CREDITS
Professors:
Matias del Campo
Adam Fure
143
144
ROBOTS
RECURSIONISM
Recursionism was
developed as
an exploratory,
research-based,
critique and
self-critique of computation in a design
environment.
In order to explore
where computation
and fabrication
meet, we needed
to establish a
fluid relationship
between code and
material.
145
146
ROBOTS
MACHINING DATA
A tool accepts a
series of inputs,
one being the
information that
would then lead to
the generation of an
architectural form,
the others being
environmental
data, constraints,
tolerances, and
constants.
Architecture
generated in a
decidedly a-material
world brings
problems, with even
more advanced
computational
solutions.
147
Architect
pt Program
pt Wind
srf Population
pt Circulation
cm Structure
cmPhysics
srf Solar
cs Joinery
cs 2DPacker
Site
Wind
csRobCVLabel
Solar
World
148
Material
ROBOTS
TOOLING RECURSIONISM
ID
Each plasma-cut
finger was marked
with its parent node
ID number, and its
finger ID letter and
sign.
This nomenclature,
limited set of object
types, and simple
connection methods
made the entire
assembly drawing
free.
149
150
ILLUSTRATION
p.144: Detail of the assembly of plate #86 in the
final instantiation. The assembly, relationships of
parts, and identifying nomenclature makes physical
what was only understood in an abstract virtual
realm.
p.146 top: The plywood plates, serving as the
node of the joinery strategy, are seen here each
with their registered hole pattern locking the XY
angle of each finger. Etched with the plate ID, the
local-finger ID letter and sign, the local and global
assembly nomenclature is present.
p.146 bottom: Plasma cutting fingers - The capability and universal adaptability of tool-end of a robotic
arm allowed us to more fully control processes,
tooling, and tolerances of our operations. Seen
here is one such arm equipped with a plasma torch.
p.147: Prog script capture - The program manipulates the point cloud data through an attractionrepulsion relationship of spatial information. This
local system reaches a dynamic equilibrium at the
151
152
ROBOTS
MILL TO FIT
Andreas Trummer, Felix Amtsberg, and Stefan Peters, Technical University Graz
A significant increase of industrial robots used
in architectural workshops not only mirrors a
new approach in tooling and processing but also
influences the discussion about material and
making in general. After years of researching
and prototyping the academic community gives
feedback to a high efficient building industry. This
article features two prototypes that investigate the
use of an industrial robot as a milling machine. Both
projects were developed at Technical University
Graz. Architectural innovation is often inspired
and driven by technological developments; most
notable are material innovations like steel, concrete
or float glass. In the past decade the computational
influence on architectural design and building
processes is widely discussed and provides a kind
of playground for young academics and industrial
manufacturers at the same time. As one result
architectural projects characterized by highly
After years of
researching
and prototyping
the academic
community gives
feedback to a high
efficient building
industry.
153
MILLING
Attaching the
spindle as an end
effector to the head
plate of an industrial
robot transforms the
robot into a precise
milling machine,
which can be
especially useful
for load-bearing
elements.
154
ROBOTS
L-PANTHER
155
ROB-ARCH
This project
revealed the
importance of
precise milling in
consideration of
geometry and flow
of force, whereas
the parametric
model considered
boundary conditions
of geometry, force
and material.
Depending on
material and time
resources we can
differ in processes
that change the
overall shape of
structural elements
and in processes
that finish joints
to get a precise
prefabricated assembly set.
156
OUTLOOK
ROBOTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
157
INTERFACE
Benjamin Rice
Madeline Gannon
Panagiatos Michalatos
Guvenc Ozel
158
Vivarium
Reverberations Across the Divide:
Connecting Digital and Physical Contexts
The Environment as a Signal:
The Architect as a User
Cerebral Hut
159
160
INTERFACE
VIVARIUM
Benjamin Rice, University of California Berkeley, Matter Management
161
Digital organisms
mimic the behavior
of both the living
and robotic
microorganisms
to intensify and
ease the process.
Investigating the
physical and
metaphoric space
between biology
and architecture,
the installation fuses
these organisms
within the vivarium.
Organic material
provided the
origin point for the
process, producing
the initial condition
from which data
could be harvested.
162
163
ILLUSTRATIONS
CITATIONS
1.http://www.designboom.com/art/juan-azulaymatter-management-vivarium/
designboom [accessed August 2013]
164
165
166
INTERFACE
167
Therefore, no matter
how intricate or
complex, the digital
geometry will
always be exported
as a valid, 3D
printable mesh.
168
IMPLICATIONS
169
ILLUSTRATIONS
170
171
172
INTERFACE
Design as a cultural
practice poses social and political
problems of meaning and aesthetics
that, since these
aspects are not
readily quantifiable,
are often ignored in
the computational
design literature.
173
Interfaces for
accessing and
developing design
are not simple
extensions or
reincarnations of
drafting tools.
174
INTERFACE
In effect we can
start asking questions on the not so
immediately perceived information
in our environment,
information that is
hidden not because
it is concealed but
because it is habitually ignored.
175
Lev Manovich in
the 90s argued
that the camera
has become the
universal metaphor
through which all
digital information is
accessed.
Linear perspective
was a way of
simulating visual
perception but it
got codified and
became universal
through the use of
matrix transformations that became
the dominant mode
of visualization
in both games,
science and design
software.
176
INTERFACE
For that to happen,
perhaps it would
be useful for the
nascent field of
computational
design to shift the
debate on the
relationship of
digital media and
architecture beyond
the effort to convert
design into a
pseudo science.
177
178
INTERFACE
ILLUSTRATIONS
179
180
INTERFACE
CEREBRAL HUT
Gven zel, UCLA [IDEAS PLATFORM], OzelOffice
In neuroscience, an evoked potential is the
electrical response detected from the brain as
a result of a sensory stimulus. Architecture has
the potential to become a form of technology that
triggers a discernable cue through a feedback loop
between a spatial configuration and the human
senses, directly.
An android is a robot that resembles a human.
The architecture of the twenty-first century is an
android. It is the real-time spatial reflection of the
human mind in constructed matter.
As we attempt
to translate the
animate into the
material and vice
versa, we submit to
the twentieth century
notion of modernism
where the designer
organizes material
conclusively, which
in return is expected
to have definitive
phenomenological
outputs.
181
182
INTERFACE
computer.
This computer decodes the data sets from the
users brain waves, and activates scripts to control
an electromechanical system that achieves a
volumetric transformation. As a result, Cerebral Hut
becomes a game-space where the user controls
the physical boundaries of the environment by his/
her thoughts. As the user engages in activities that
increase concentration levels, the environment
responds real time and changes its formal
configuration.
Cerebral Hut is an exploration on building the
foundation of a reactive architecture that directly
responds to the human psyche. It creates
a collective architectural form in constant
transformation, composed of the mental traces of
its users embedded in its physicality. As a form of
kinetic architecture, it has no final, or ideal form, its
interior and exterior is in constant transformation,
triggered by user participation. The project
suggests one way of intelligent comminication that
embodies space, human and robot simultaneously.
EEG helmet
Processing
Arduino
Stepper Motors
183
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Designed and Conceived by
Gven zel
Installation Team
Gven zel
Philipp Reinsberg (London)
Lena Krevanek (Istanbul)
ILLUSTRATIONS
ABOUT
Cerebral Hut is an interactive large-scale architectural
184
185
BUILDING
Stefano Arrighi and Pierpaolo Ruttico
Hironori Yoshida
Jacob Douenias
Bence Pap and Andrei Gheorghe
186
187
188
BUILDING
RESPONSIVE PATTERNS ON
DOUBLE-CURVED SURFACES
Pierpaolo Ruttico, Indexlab, Politecnico di Milano
Stefano Arrighi, Politecnico di Milano
RELATED WORK
partially unexpected
result.
Programmed art
was the piloting
of the effect. As
Umberto Eco stated
in 1962, the result
was not a form, but
the film of a form in
movement.
189
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
190
a
A
u1
P(u1,v2)
u
P(u2,v1)
u2
B
P(u2,v2)
b v1
v2
BUILDING
P(u1,v1)
c
A
tu (A)
P(u1,v1)
P(u1,v2)
u1
P(u2,v1)
B
P(u2,v2)
u2
v1
v2
v
v
A
B
C
Pv1u1
D
F
Pv1u2
v1
P(u1,v2)
u1
P(u2,v2)
u2
v2
iors. It automatically controls its permeability, varying smoothly between a completely covered and
an open state. It controls inner light and heat by
reconfiguring movable panels. The system can be
configured to match double-curved surfaces and to
create a seal to protect against dust and rain .
PARAMETRIC ENVIRONMENT
modeling.
SURFACE DISCRETIZATION
191
PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGN
Real-time data is
analyzed and represented through the
parametric model,
which reacts to the
new set of inputs
and configures new
geometries.
192
BUILDING
193
194
DIGITAL FABRICATION
PROCESS AND STRUCTURE
In order to validate the basic functions of the proposed adaptive skin and the associated sensor /
actuator network system a prototype was created.
The three-dimensional surfaces of the digital model
were unfolded to two-dimensional templates for laser cutting. We developed an algorithm that takes
material thickness into account and labels the panels with pertinent information, such as location and
bending angle. The algorithm turns three-dimensional surfaces into a collection of flat pieces. The
panel profiles are laid out on 60cm x 90cm templates for cutting and folding. The primary structure
of the prototype consists of a waffle-grid made out
5mm thick laser-cut sheet metal, arranged as parallel-sectioned ribs. The steel plates are manually assembled and welded together. Computer-controlled
folding becomes a method of making: it turns the
flat aluminum surface into a three-dimensional one.
When folds are introduced, the panels gain stiffness and rigidity, hence become self-supporting.
The final faade mock-up presents the doublecurved responsive skin, equipped with sensors,
micro-controllers and actuators; a proposal for a
building system that is able to alter its porosity in
response to changing weather conditions or the
movement of passers-by.
Computer-controlled
folding becomes a
method of making:
it turns the flat aluminum surface into
a three-dimensional
one.
Besides the
investigation regarding mechanical
actuators, research
in the field of shape
memory alloy and
smart thermo-bimetal
materials has been
initiated.
195
ILLUSTRATIONS
196
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
197
198
BUILDING
SCAN TO PRODUCTION:
Heterogeneous Material features for
digital Fabrication
Hironori Yoshida, ETH Zurich
ScanToProduction [STP] is a material oriented
design/production process, integrating digital
scanning, computer aided design and digital
fabrication in a one-shot digital chain. This process
is a modern translation of how craftsman reads
characteristics of natural materials and dynamically
reflects on fabrication processes. Thanks to the
recent inexpensive sensing devices and the
exponential rise of computing power, tools are
finally able to adapt their machining processes to
the heterogeneous nature of materials. The article
examines how digital scanning techniques can be
utilized in the digital fabrication of hybrid materials.
It explores how imperfections discovered in natural
materials can inform unique design solutions. In the
first part, the technical scan-to-production process
is explained. Secondly, this novel production
model is discussed against current standardized
production processes. The final part of the article
introduces ways in which the proposed research
method can be incorporated into emerging design
practices through four realized projects, Digitized
Grain [Yoshida, 2010], Digitized Grain Planks
It explores how
imperfections
discovered in
natural materials
can inform unique
design solutions.
...feature explicitly,
the imperfections
of natural materials
with minimal impact
on production
efficiency.
199
SCAN-TO-PRODUCTION
TECHNICAL PROCESSES
Features recorded
with devices
include such visual
properties as
grain-stratification,
knots, aggregates
and defects such as
fungal stains and
cracks [...]
The technical process of STP is as follows: a natural material with heterogeneous characteristics
such as timber or stone is scanned, and information about the geometry of its physical structure
are recorded and analyzed. Scanning devices
used include a Kinect camera, Xray-CT scanners.
Features recorded with such devices include visual properties like grain-stratification, knots, aggregates and defects such as fungal stains and
cracks, as well as internal structures not able to be
detected by the human eye. A design decision is
then made as to which feature to utilize as a design
input in the next step. The input is then fed into an
algorithm developed within the coding environment
Processing, which translates this input into machine code to create a unique cutting path for each
material piece. The piece is then fabricated using
its custom tooling path, using digital fabrication machines such as a 3-axis CNC milling machine, or a
6-axis KUKA robotic arm.
200
PROJECTS
2. Digitized Grain:
BUILDING
The STP process
is no different to
historical tools in
that it is a mark of
its age.
The algorithm
used in this project
transforms the
scanned 2D data
to a 3D model by
converting the color
values to depths
of each pixel and
connecting them with
vector lines.
201
The scale of
the installation
highlighted the
physical properties
of the hybrid
material to another
level of experience
from product to
spatial element.
202
4. Project Yew
THE MATERIAL
The Balustrade
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Scanning:
Image Processing:
The project
is currently
investigating the
development of a
scanning system that
uses a mobile x-ray
source and a line
detector attached to
two robotic arms...
Image segmentation
is a key technical
process in the
development of STP.
203
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONCLUSIONS
computer vision
techniques such as
skeleton generation.
Based on the
acquired 3D model
of the branch,
cutting paths for the
jigsaw attached to
a 6-axis robotic arm
are created.
204
BUILDING
ILLUSTRATIONS
REFERENCES
205
206
BUILDING
ALGAL ARCHITECTURE:
Integrating Biological Symbiosis
Jacob Douenias, Carnegie Mellon University
Our global society is wasteful. Human beings fuel
their expansion on the earth by mining, pumping,
drilling, damming, and other consumptive
behaviors. We waste large proportions of our
resources by pursuing, transforming, and
transporting them. Once we have used up
resources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, we
wont be able to manufacture anymore. If we were
to instead rely upon resources that convert the
suns energy directly into usable fuel and material
by integrating with waste streams, then we can
sustain ourselves. Algal Architecture: Integrating
Biological Symbiosis suggests a low-cost process
that enables to synthesize of what we need with
much lower impact than conventional systems of
consumerism.
CRADLE TO CRADLE
If we were to
instead rely upon
resources that convert the suns energy
directly into usable
fuel and material
by integrating with
waste streams, then
we can sustain
ourselves.
207
If we were to
instead rely upon
resources that
convert the suns
energy directly
into usable fuel
and material by
integrating with
waste streams, then
we can sustain
ourselves.
In an open loop
the focus is only on
the initial utility and
not on the whole
life cycle, as in a
cradle-to-cradle
approach.
208
BUILDING
Politically and
economically,
power and resource
supply would
still remain in the
hands of distant
UP-CYCLING
By increasing proximity to this system architecturally, heat stored in the thermal mass of algae water
can be harnessed to feed gardens with rich biomass
fertilizer, and power homes and vehicles with the
energy embodied within the architecture of homes.
Photo Bioreactors, transparent algae growth vessels, optimized for sunlight and governed by the
laws of fluid mechanics and buildability can replace
more inert traditional rain screens. These Photo
Bioreactors are then fed with the aforementioned
biogas derived from simple backyard food-scrap
composters allowing algae to multiply rapidly and
in doing so sequester large amounts of surplus
carbon dioxide leaving only clean burning methane
gas. Subsequently these hydrocarbons contained
and consolidated
entities...
Photo Bioreactors,
transparent algae
growth vessels,
optimized for
sunlight and
governed by
the laws of fluid
mechanics and
buildability can
replace more inert
traditional rain
screens.
209
The changing
quality of light, from
transparent to light
green, is not just
appealing, also
the technology of
homemade photo
bioreactors is easy
to adopt.
210
PROTOTYPING
FUTURE THINKING
ILLUSTRATIONS
211
212
BUILDING
DIE ANGEWANDTE
[The Architecture Challenge 2012]
Bence Pap and Andrei Gheorghe, University of Applied Arts Vienna
The IOA Architecture Challenge is a series of
international workshops initiated in 2011 by Andrei
Gheorghe [Assistant Professor, IOA] and Bence
Pap [Assistant Professor, IOA, Studio Greg Lynn] at
the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. The focus
and intention behind the series is to challenge
international students in a short period of time to
fulfill a full planning construction cycle starting from
spatial / formal concepts to actual fabrication and
materialization in form of human scale structures.
The challenge remains in this task twofold, both
for students in their ability to process and quickly
utilize new tools and a parametric driven approach
towards design within certain feasible constraints
in order to achieve a build structure in the end.
DESIGN PROCESS
the process of
materialization and
rationalization of
a firstly speculative
formal approach
became the actual
challenge
STRUCTURAL RESPONSIVENESS
funnel shaped
minimal surface,
suspended from 3
points
213
as a starting point investigating their structural capacities for a suspended structure. Structural forces were mapped out on the funnel with Grasshoppers structural design plugin Karamba, developed
by Bollinger+Grohman engineers in conjunction
with the IOA in Vienna. Tension, compression and
deflection behavior of the initial model were used
to inform the cellular setup and to specify each
opening and gradual densities from hexagons to
triangles in areas of higher stress. The digital setup could be modified in several iterations, always
achieving a responsive state between structural
optimization and form.
FABRICATION
a 6m x 6m x 4m
cellular structure
with embedded
structural optimization strategies
214
BUILDING
STUDENTS
CREDITS
Host
Instructors
Institute of Architecture
Oskar Kokoschka Platz 2
1010 Vienna
www.i-o-a.at
www.facebook.com/IoA.InstituteofArchitectureVienna
Institute of Architecture
Oskar Kokoschka Platz 2
1010 Vienna
www.i-o-a.at
www.facebook.com/IoA.InstituteofArchitectureVienna
Institute of Architecture
Oskar Kokoschka Platz 2
1010 Vienna
www.i-o-a.at
www.facebook.com/IoA.InstituteofArchitectureVienna
DIG ital
DES ign +
FAB rication
ARCHITECTURE
DIG ital
DES ign +
FABofrication
University
Applied Arts Die Angewandte - Institute of Architecture
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
ARCHITECTURE
http://architecturechallenge.wordpress.com/
http://architecturechallenge.wordpress.com/
DIG ital
DES ign +
FAB rication
ARCHITECTURE
CHALLENGE
http://architecturechallenge.wordpress.com/
215
216
POLITICS
Ingeborg M. Rocker
FLOAT_Beijing
217
218
POLITICS
It is a searching for
both: the codes that
have traditionally
informed architecture and those
codes that currently
encode architecture.
219
220
Streets become
integrated into
massive Podiums,
that become the
plinth of several
interconnected
towers, while
former streets are
swallowed by the
plinths shopping
mall system.
221
222
If the code is
misused, the vitality
of a city can suffer.
Hong Kong is
massively shaped
by the building
code and its exact
interpretation
by prot-driven
developers.
223
Rocker-Lange
Architects project
interrogates besides
the codes that
constitute the current
developments
The rule-based
model can vary and
adapt to different
site, programmatic
and environmental
conditions.
224
EN-CODING TYPOLOGIES
RE-CODING TYPOLOGIES:
From type to typological seriality
225
Essential to the
envisioning of the
future and a rethinking of the present
will be a constant
recalibration of
the relationship
between tradition
and innovation.
226
POLITICS
ILLUSTRATIONS
227
228
POLITICS
FLOAT_Beijing
Deren Guler, Carnegie Mellon University
Xiaowei Wang, Harvard GSD
In the spring of 2012, global attention shifted to
an invisible, imperceptible landscape; particulate
matter suspended in the air smaller than 2.5
microns in diameter. The source of all this attention
was the Beijing US Embassys independent
monitoring and subsequent public broadcast via
Twitter of air quality readings, which at one point
was evaluated as crazy bad. The Embassys
data was targeted towards its own population of
US citizens living abroad who are accustomed to
higher standards for air quality. The application of
US standards to Chinese air quality added to an
existing sensitivity of the Chinese government to a
legacy of imported expert knowledge and foreign
science with embedded imperialist tendencies.
Hence the Chinese government regarded the
US Embassy reports to be rather abrasive than
helpful, accusing the US of violating the terms
The source of
all this attention
was the Beijing
US Embassys
independent
monitoring and
subsequent public
broadcast via
Twitter
To issue air quality
information from the
internet, is not only
inconsistent with the
Vienna diplomatic
relations...
229
The sensors
themselves were
equipped with
LEDs, which
changed color
according to levels
of sulfur dioxide,
VOCs, ozone and
nitrogen dioxide...
The biopolitical
element of
governmentcontrolled data
was subject to
examination.
230
Wiring scheme
gas sensor
- 5v +
220
ohm
10k
ohm
RGB
LED
Attiny85/45
protoboard
5v battery
optional:
sd card
breakout board
optional:
gprs/gsm
sim reader+modem
sensors
mq-7
mq-131
mq-135
CO
ozone
VOCs
NO2
POLITICS
rgb led
ILLUSTRATIONS
231
232
POLITICS
The products of
computational
architecture tend to
become the new
flagships of the
old corporations,
always hungry for
new icons.
233
introduce state-led housing services and topdown infrastructure. Today, with the development
of neoliberal policies and the transformation of
Istanbul into a global city, these settlement are
heavily threatened by eviction and demolition, in
order to open up new lands to speculation and
retail areas development.3 The creation of TOKI,
the agency for mass housing, a new model of
low income neighborhood have been proposed,
a model that is not contextual, not relational and
not sustainable.4 There is a need to find a common
ground, to use a current definition, between the
two planes of top-down development and bottomup growth, between the city built by planners,
based on statistics and building code, and as the
grown outcome of the needs of inhabitants of
informal areas. We need an interface, a system of
interconnections between the two levels that would
allow for a continuous exchange of informations
and materials, in order to construct coherent
neighborhoods and strong dynamic communities.
We believe that the computational design tools offer
a possibility for the actualization of this strategy.
SIMULATION
The most relevant
step have been
the introduction
of a simple
economic model
in the simulation,
that allowed for
the representation
of the complex
interrelations ...
234
CONCLUSION
235
immigrants from ruralimmigrants from rural law bringing greater law bringing greaterMunicipalities
Municipalities
Land Office to
less than 20% urbanised.
less than 20% urbanised.
Gecekondu fund
part to city for betterpart to city for bettermunicipality and district
Gecekondu
fundland
moderate
municipality and district
Turkish economy wasTurkish economy was
Ministry of Public Ministry
Public
priceofand
provide
based on agriculture.based on agriculture.life, job and social life, job and social together,giving moretogether,giving more
Works and Settlements
upgrading
Works and
andSettlements
for different
power to district
upgrading
power to district
fund for
municipality.
municipality. Gecekondu fund for Gecekondusectors.
addressing problems.addressing problems.
End of worldwarII
Global economy crisisGlobal economy crisis
upper class
residence
1973
1969
1953
1945
1953
1945
emergence of
urban sprawl
emergence of g
communitie
4 to 5 storey walk-ups
starting t
4 to 5 storey walk-ups
transforming former
detachedformermove
to
transforming
detach
housing to apartment
blocks.
Sprawl.
housing
to apartment
block
residence
agriculture practiced
in
agriculture
practiced in
ILLUSTRATIONS
236
1929
1929
most Gecekondumost
and Gecekondu and
gives the inhabitants
gives the inhabitants
autonomy in regard
of
autonomy
in regard of
their food production
their food production
PUBLICATION
End of worldwarII
emergence of
urban sprawl
upper class
residence
lower class
residence
1923
1923
1900
1900
lack of commercial
lack of commercial
facilities lead to facilities
Isch
lead to Isch
Porta self-organized
Porta self-organized
street vendors food
street vendors food
and goods
and goods
further developmfu
Gecekondu alongG
POLITICS
Municipalities
Land Office to
Gecekondu
fundland
moderate
Ministry
Public
priceofand
provide
nts
Works and
andSettlements
for different
or Gecekondusectors.
fund for
ms.addressing problems.
Post GecekonduPost
stageGecekondu stage
the constructionthe
became
commercialised
tenants.,increase tenants.
construction
became ,increase
commercialised
POLITICS
ondustage Gecekondu
ond
er
ngle storey-owner
of.
nted out or sold of.
2005
2005
2000
1990
2000
1992
1990
1984
1992
1984
1973
1969
1973
1969
Neoliberalism policies
or Gecekondu
Neoliberalism policies first realstate trust
master
plan Fund for Gecekondu
-ups
starting to
to 5 storey walk-ups
etachedformermove
to
forming
detached
ting
blocks.
Sprawl.
to apartment
blocks.
starting to
move to
Sprawl.
du was
ed as a
onary
varos
,
Kurdish
immigrants ,
further development
of development ofKurdish immigrants
further
Gecekondu alongGecekondu
E-5
along E-5 political parties political parties
1. Yasar Adanaly, Casidy Johnson, Forced Evictions in Istanbul: Living in Voluntary and Involuntary
Exclusion.
2. Miranda Iossifidis, A Study of the Gecekondu
in Istanbul, Turkey, Thesis available online at: exchange.drawloop.com/published/download/11576.
3. A. B. Candan, B. Kolluoglu, Emerging Spaces of
Neoliberalism: A Gated Town and Public Housing
Project in Istanbul, in New Perspectives on Turkey,
no. 39, 2008, pp.5-46.
4. Ayse Pamuk, Convergence Trends in Formal
and Informal Housing Markets: The Case of Turkey
in Journal of Planning Education and Research, no.
16, 1996.
5. Michael Batty, Cities and Complexity: Understanding Cities with Cellular Automata, AgentBased Models and Fractals, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2007.
6. Andrea Rossi, InteractivePlanningIstanbul,
GitHub, https://github.com/AndreaRossi1988/InteractivePlanningIstanbul, 2013, [accessed September 2013].
7. Berlage Institute, SpaceFighter. The Evolutionary City (Game). http://web.mit. edu/kkdb/www/
newhome/amachine/sf/readings/RR-1yr-MAAS-A5.
pdf.
237
238
VISIONS
Matteo Taramelli and Nikita Azarkhin
Alex Woodhouse and Leah Zaldumbide
Matteo Maraviglia
Maj Plemenitas
Galileo Morandi and Silvia Bertolotti
Alchemic Psychosis
Desert Driftboat
the allHOLE Project
Cross Scalar ] LINK [ Complex
Heterogeneous Systems
Living Nature
239
240
VISIONS
ALCHEMIC PSYCHOSIS:
Dendritic Network for ritualized
sensoric Trauma
Matteo Taramelli, Nikita Azarkhin , DIA
Alchemic Psychosis: Dendritic Network for
ritualized sensoric Trauma discusses the idea of
psychogeography, defined as the study of the
precise laws and specific effects of the geographical
environment, consciously organized or not, on
the emotions and behavior of individuals.1. It is a
research-based project devoted to the investigation
into the powerful correspondence between selforganized systems in nature and the emergence
of architectural scenarios. The project was carried
out in two phases, phase one, researching and
simulating the adaptive growth behavior of a
particular material; phase two, understanding
the knowledge gained in phase one as systemic
approach to urban intervention. The multilayered
invention was developed through feedback
Alchemic Psychosis:
Dendritic Network
for ritualized
sensoric Trauma
discusses
the idea of
psychogeography.
241
242
where people
come together to
learn with and
from each others.
ILLUSTRATIONS
243
244
VISIONS
DESERT DRIFTBOAT
245
246
VISIONS
247
SCENARIO
the virus is
inoculated into the
existing urban body
of NYC
248
VISION
ILLUSTRATIONS
249
250
VISIONS
251
ILLUSTRATIONS
252
VISIONS
253
254
VISIONS
LIVING NATURE
Silvia Bertolotti and Galileo Morandi, Politecnico di Milano
Living Nature describes a design strategy for a new
urban settlement in the Italian West countryside
between Milan and Bergamo. The project suggests
a possible solution to the current challenging
conditions through scripting and the theory that
complexity follows cognitivity. A combination that
organizes, and structures the built environment
in a complex and specific way. If thinking means
understanding and interpreting, focusing on and
applying conventional concepts/formulas seems
obsolete. The area in question is characterized
by agriculture, organized in extensive fields with
rivers and canals. Rural buildings, large industrial
districts and smaller towns with little infrastructure
characterize human activity within the area.
Missing physical and social connections between
the different programs is evident. Our research
aims at finding innovative, creative and sustainable
solutions to trigger interaction without relying on
top-down planning regulations that tend to generate
simplification rather than enrichment. Further, the
project acts as critique of the general paradigmatic
view that buildings are mere objects, that cities are
centers of power with high concentration of activity
and that the surrounding territory, as the sum of
If thinking means
understanding
and interpreting,
focusing on and
applying conventional concepts and
formulas seems
obsolete.
255
256
CREDITS
VISIONS
Maya hair
system and its
self-organization
properties were
used as the main
tool for organizing
project and design
process.
This design
strategy avoids
codified solutions
and goes beyond
a merely rational
tradition.
A flexible
approach,
awareness of
mutation and
unpredictable
solutions to the
challenges is part of
future architecture.
ILLUSTRATIONS
257
258
BIOS
Editors
Authors
259
260
EDITORS BIOS
LISS C. WERNER, EDITOR
Liss C. Werner is a licensed German Architect based in Berlin, architectural researcher and Assistant
Professor at Desssau Institute of Architecture. She is founder of Tactile Architecture - Office for
SystemArchitektur, based in Berlin since 2007. In 2012/13 Werner acted as George N. Pauly, Jr. Fellow,
visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture. Her main interest and research
subject lies in the relevance and implications of early cybernetics, for computational architecture in C21,
exploring code-based tools to provoke an architectural vocabulary that allows architecture to depart from
the 19th century understanding of predetermined static form and the establishment of Euclidian space
per-se towards an architecture of self-organization, agent-based formations and biological understanding.
As practicing project architect, Werner worked in the UK, Germany and Russia. As architectural educator
and researcher she has been teaching and lecturing since 2002 in the UK (London, Nottingham), Austria
(Kunstuniversitt Linz at Institute for raum&designstrategien), US (Carnegie Mellon University, Texas Tech
University, CalArts, MIT), Germany (DIA, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, TU Berlin, Karlsruhe
University of Applied Sciences, HTW Berlin) and Ukraine (Canactions). Further Werner was invited as a
critic at Stdelschule, University of Liverpool, the Bartlett, USC and UCLA. She contributed to a variety of
conferences, symposia and workshops in the UK, Ukraine, Germany and the US, co-organized and spoke
at summer academy ars11, organized and chaired Digital Week at DIA 2011 and [En]Coding Architecture
2013 at Carnegie Mellon University.
Her computational design studio Codes in the Clouds was founded in 2010 at DIA and is looking at
growth of sublime, philosophically and tectonically challenging generation of form to arrive at provocative
architectural prototypes with embedded data and intelligence. Research focuses on cybernetic principles
resulting in explorative architecture derived through behavioral logic and scripting, developing dynamic
design strategies and cross-disciplinary design thinking. Codes in the Clouds was exhibited and published
at DigitalFutures, Tongji University in Shanghai and the 13th Venice Biennale 2012 in the Slovenian pavilion
in conjunction with Maribor 2112AI 100YC, the European capital of culture 2012.
Liss C. Werner holds a Master of Architecture and Diploma with commendation from The Bartlett as well
as a 1st class Bachelor of Arts from the University of Westminster. Further she studied at RMIT. Werner
received the deVere Urban Design Prize, Peter Fuld Scholarship, George N. Pauly Fellowship and a grant
from the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art at the Forntier. She is a member of Architectural Humanities Research Association [AHRA], Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium at Humboldt University Berlin (where
she is currently writing her Doctorate Philosophicae), Architektenkammer Berlin and the American Society
of Cybernetics [ASC]. Werner believes that FORM is a VERB and not a noun.
261
AUTHORS BIOS
SEAN AHLQUIST, Taubman College University of Michigan
Exploration and Fidelity in Material Computation:
Stefano Arrighi is a freelance Architect and independent researcher based in Italy. Arrighi holds a Master
of Science in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano. He is an Assistant Instructor of parametric and
algorithmic design at the Politecnico di Milano School of Building Engineering. Arrighi is currently working at
INDEXLAB as a computational designer, his latest research is dedicated to exploring complex geometries
and adaptive building systems.
Silvia Bertlotti is a founder of the Milan studio CREATE, an office for innovative solutions in the field of
architecture and urban planning, which she runs together with Galileo Morandi. Bertolotti worked as a
project designer at EMERGENT LTD (Tom Wiscombe). She teaches urban& architectural strategies
at Politecnico di Milano as Assistant Professor and acts as author for a variety of Italian architectural
magazines. She is a member of the international Project Team NUTAU/USP - LATAS/Polimi, an academic
research group that participates at international competition projects to find innovative and sustainable
living solutions for developing areas in Brazil. Bertolotti holds a post-graduate Master degree in Sustainable
Territory & Architecture and a Master degree in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano.
NICCOLO CASAS, Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna, UCL Bartlett School of Architecture
Digital Dcadence: The Fractal Dimension
Niccol Casas is currently a professor of Digital Modeling Techniques at the Accademia di Belle Arti in
Bologna and PhD Candidate at The Bartlett School of Architecture, where he focuses on characteristics of
Digital Dcadence as a contemporary movement founded on the poetic of decline and senescence. He is
a designer, architect and professor. After studying architecture at the Universit degli Studi in Florence and
the I.S.A. St Luc in Brussels, he participated in a series of international projects designed to highlight the
convergence of architecture, art and fashion design. Casas was invited by Gabriel Esquivel to be part of the
Visiting Designer Program at the University of Texas A&M School of Architecture in Spring 2013, together
with Eric Goldemberg [Monad Studio]. He taught Workshops on parametric design at The Universit degli
Studi di Genova and Florence, London South Bank University, The Bartlett, and F.I.U. Florida International
University. Cassas recently created Alchemy a Fashion collection for Materialise presented at the 10th
Anniversary Materialise World Conference and Turbulence a 3D printed necklace designed in collaboration
with the Spanish designer Leyre Valiente for her collection Malleus Malefiacarum.
262
David M de Cspedes is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan Taubman College of
Architecture & Planning. During his tenure at as a graduate student, de Cspedes acted as Editor-inChief for Ampersand Volume Six: Sites of Decline, a student-led publication funded by Taubman College,
focused on a fresh analysis of architectures role in sites of urban degradation, abandonment, and decay.
Prior to attending Taubman College, de Cspedes received a Bachelor of Arts from Florida International
University, and subsequently completed a three-year teaching fellowship with Miami-Dade County, aimed
at engaging under-performing secondary schools through design and technology curriculum. David is
currently a founding partner of AND-OR-US, a design collaborative that analyzes the inherent complexities
in contemporary society through built form.
Brandon Clifford is currently the Belluschi Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well
as Principal at Matter Design. Clifford received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University in
2011 and his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006. Clifford
served as editor of Pidgin Magazine from 2009-11, the 2011-12 LeFevre Fellow at The Ohio State University, and the founder of the Malleablist Movement in architecture. As Principal of Matter Design, his works
have won international design competitions such as the West Cork Arts Center and the 10Up! Competition and awarded honors such as the AZ Award and Architectural Record Product of the Year. Clifford
has also received the 2011 SOM Prize and the 2013 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects.
At Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Arizona, Clifford has initiated coursework and research
programs to develop building technologies based on regional building practices, biomimetics, and advances
in materials science. The vehicle for Cliffords research is prototyping and includes full-scale demonstration
projects to field-test transitional building technologies.
JOSE LUIS GARCIA DEL CASTILLO, Universidad de Sevilla, Harvard GSD - Parametric Camp
WX
Jose Luis Garcia del Castillo is the founder and CEO of ParametricCamp. He holds a Masters degree in
Architectural Technological Innovation from Universidad de Sevilla, where he also serves as an invited
lecturer, and has taught several workshops on computational design, creative code and digital fabrication.
Garcia del Castillo has worked as a structural consultant for several international firms including OMA,
Mecanoo, and Cesar Pelli, and currently studies and teaches at Harvard University Graduate School of
Design. http://www.parametriccamp.com
Prof. Dr. Marjan Colletti [*1972, Bozen] is an architect, teacher, researcher and theorist. He is full University
Professor at Innsbruck University, where he is Head of the Institute of Experimental Architecture [Hochbau
and studio3] and of REX|LAB; and Associate Professor at the Bartlett, where he is currently acting MArch
Architecture program director, MArch Unit 20 master, MArch GAD research cluster 2 leader, and PhD supervisor. He has taught in several schools in Europe [Innsbruck, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris, Vienna], the UK
[Bartlett, University of Westminster, Royal College of Art, KIAD], and Asia [Feng Chia University, Tunghai
University Taiwan]. He is author of the forthcoming design-research theory book Digital Poetics, and was
editor of the 80th anniversary issue of Architectural Design entitled Exuberance. He is co-founder of the
architectural studio marcosandmarjan in London.
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Gabriel Bello Diaz currently resides in Seattle, Washington where he works as a writer, architectural
researcher and instructor. His writings and research focus on robotics and neuroscience in architecture
and the emergence of the digital artisan in relationship to the history of fabrication. As an instructor, he
focuses on 3D modeling and printing through the studies of complex geometries generated from both
nature and mathematics. He has presented work in several conferences and exhibitions including: Robots
in Architecture 2012, Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 and Future Traditions 2013. Further, Diaz is
director at the F.A.C, Future Architectural Coalition, a global non-profit organization that advocates for a
new standard in public school education and initiates interventions for communities in different countries
with the international design team.
Alexandre Dubor is an architect researcher hacking new technologies in an attempt to reinvent how we
build and live in our cities. He is currently assistant instructor in Digital Fabrication & Digital Tectonics class
of the post-graduate master course at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalunya [IAAC]. Dubor
also works at Fab Lab Barcelona and Appareil. His current research includes MagneticArchitecture.org
and SmartCitizen.me.
Jacob Douenias is a recently graduated Bachelors of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, where
was awarded the John Knox Memorial travel scholarship to explore and research Japan and India. He is
interested in how architecture can maximize the relationship between integrated building systems and the
occupants experience combined with a vested interest in the hands on approach to architecture, which
allows for the use of his sound experience in DIY fabrication. In 2011, he worked in New York for SOM.
Currently, Douenias is working for BioLogic; an architecture research group, run by Dale Clifford, dedicated
to materials research, where he focuses on implementing the findings of his thesis work, featured in this
book, transitioning into a substantial research project; a collaborative start-up residential algae lab aiming
at the distributed approach to energy and sustainability through algae.
www.biogenous.net
Christian Ervin is a Master of Design Studies student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He
holds a B.Arch from Rice University, and has worked for several years in design, architecture, and music.
He is currently a Research Assistant for the Responsive Environments and Artifacts Lab, creating novel
applications for technologies developed at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Ervin is a
Teaching Fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he mentors students in
design innovation in ES20 and Teaching Assistant at the GSD for Responsive Environments. Most recently,
he spent the summer managing the Idea Translation Lab, a unique fellowship offered by the Lab at Harvard
[in collaboration with the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Wyss Institute] for students to develop
world-changing ideas at the intersection of the arts and sciences. Ervin grew up in Bangkok, Buenos Aires,
and Mexico City before moving to the place he now considers home: Portland, Oregon.
Andrei Gheorghe is currently teaching as an Assistant Professor at Die Angewandte, University of Applied Arts, Vienna.Previously he was Assistant Professor in Architecture at Portland State University USA,
where he developed pedagogy and research in digital media and fabrication. He studied at the Academy
of Fine Arts Vienna and after being awarded the Fulbright Scholarship at Harvard University, where he
graduated with distinction and received the Harvard GSD Digital Design Prize. Gheorghe taught at various
institutions such as Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, SCI-ARC Los Angeles and Harvard GSD, where he offered architectural design studios in the Career Discovery Program. Previously, he worked as an architect
for international offices such as Jakob + MacFarlane, dEcoi Paris and Foreign Office Architects [FOA], London. His research focuses on Digital Media and Design [Parametric-, Algorithmic- and Kinetic Architecture]
for which he was awarded the Harvard Digital Design Award in 2009.
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Goldemberg holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.
He worked in New York for Peter Eisenman and Asymptote Architecture, and is the author of Pulsation
in Architecture which highlights the range and complexity of sensations involved in constructing rhythmic
ensembles. He is Associate Professor at FIU, Miami, taught at Pratt Institute, Columbia University, New
York Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and University of Buenos Aires. He further
lectured at Studio-X, Cooper Union, AA, Angewandte, Politecnico di Milano, ETSAB, Iaac, MIT, University
of Puerto Rico, MOCA, Wolfsonian Museum Miami, University of Miami, University of Buenos Aires, among
other institutions. His firm MONAD Studio was co-founded in 2002 in New York with Veronica Zalcberg.
MONAD Studio has been published in The New York Times, Architectural Record, World Architecture
(China), Architecture in Formation book, Conditions Magazine, I4Design, Future Arquitecturas, Miami
Herald, Florida InsideOut, Design Book Magazine, Summa+, La Nacion, PP@PD (Penn School of Design),
Evolo Magazine among other architecture journals. MONAD Studio was one of the 5 finalists of the 2008
PS1-MoMA competition and the project was exhibited at the MoMA in New York. www.mondastusio.net
Zuliang Guo is an architect and researcher. He has wide interests in architecture, urbanism and ecology.
His work explores possibilities of keeping people in harmony with nature. His current studies focus on
mathematical-driven design approaches including scripting, observation research, statistical design and
physical experimentation. As Fengshui practitioner, he has been following and cooperating with top Fengshui
masters in China for a many years years. His Fengshui design projects have been widely recognized. Guo
holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Michigan in 2013, and Bachelor of Architecture
degree with distinction from Hunan University in 2011. He is also a visiting member of the Architectural
Association (AA).
Deren Guler holds a Masters of Tangible Interaction Design and a B.S. in Physics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her research investigates technology that uses interactivity and accessible computation to
explore nature through a playful, educational, and sustainable approach. Guler is interested in how digital
media and low-tech devices can provide novel solutions and form fluid interfaces; either in a specific context
or a larger, global scale. She has lead many community-based interactive projects around the world ranging from energy harvesting playgrounds to DIY environmental sensors. Guler is constantly thinking about
where to go next. She loves to take things apart and has a giant collection of knobs and switches.
Fleet Hower is a designer and educator with expertise in computational methodologies. His interests lie in
the development of strategies to understand, synthesize, and harness multiple complex systems present
in architecture. Such challenges are approached by designing procedural logics that underlie disparate
architectonic or urban systems, allowing them to negotiate through a non-linear generative process. Design solutions are created with embedded relationships between traditionally irreconcilable parts. Hower
holds a Master of Architecture and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania
where he received the Lewis Dales Traveling Fellowship and Will M. Mehlhorn Scholarship for academic
excellence. Hower is currently Adjunct Faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he teaches in
the first-year undergraduate and M.Arch. II programs. Further he taught at Philadelphia University and
directed workshops at Tongji University in Shanghai. He worked as an architectural designer in several offices, including responsibilities as a designer and project manager for Kokkugia in New York and Shanghai.
Prior Hower worked at MAD architects in Beijing, developing large-scale projects in China and throughout
southeast Asia. Hower holds a B.A. Georgetown University, M.Arch. University of Pennsylvania, MLA University of Pennsylvania.
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Michael S. Jeffers is a recent graduate of the BArch program at the Carnegie Mellon University School of
Architecture in Pittsburgh, PA. Jeffers received the schools Robotic Fellowship position, continuing work
with computation, CNC and robotic fabrication and assembly. His work revolve around the questioning of
assumptions, the construction of an argument, and the actuation of this process. The construction of logics,
carries the same weight as the construction of spaces. This illustrates the coupling of both computation
and fabrication in his work. Jeffers is a strong advocate for both the use of computer numerically controlled
machines to advance construction techniques, but for the use of computation in the design process as a
means to more accurately execute logical relationships and goals of the designer. His work suggests that
the result of a process is minute in the face of the importance of the process that led to that result.
Nicole Koltick is an Assistant Professor in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University
and a principal in the research practice lutz/koltick. She is the Director of the Design Futures Lab where she
leads a graduate research group in critical design practices and speculative proposals focused on three
main areas of inquiry; tangible interaction in the built environment, the incorporation of novel advancements
in science and computation into our built environments and new models for ambient communication.
The lab explores tangible interaction scenarios through the design and assembly of full-scale prototypes
incorporating microprocessors, sensors and a variety of novel fabrication methods. Nicole Koltick pursues
a diverse trans-disciplinary collaborative research agenda that seeks to synthesize and explore a variety of
ideas and methodologies in the service of novel design narratives and outcomes. Koltick holds a Masters
of Architecture from UCLA and a BFA, in Art from Carnegie Mellon University.
Neil Leach is a Professor at the University of Southern California. He has also taught at the Architectural Association, Columbia GSAPP, Cornell University, Dessau International Architecture Graduate School, IaaC
and SCI-Arc. He is the author, editor and translator of 23 books, including Rethinking Architecture, The
Anaesthetics of Architecture, Designing for a Digital World, Digital Tectonics, Digital Cities, Machinic Processes, Swarm Intelligence, Scripting the Future, Fabricating the Future and Camouflage. Leach has been
co-curator of a series of exhibitions worldwide including the Architecture Biennial Beijing. He is currently a
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Fellow working on robotic fabrication technologies for the Moon and
Mars, and is working on a publication about Space Architecture.
Wes Mcgee is a Lecturer in Architecture and the Director of the FABLab at the University of Michigan
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. His ongoing research and teaching has been focused
on developing new connections between design, engineering, materials, and process as they relate to
the built environment through the creation of customized software and fabrication tools. As Principal of
Matter Design, he has presented work at multiple international conferences on design and fabrication,
and published in recent books such as Fabricate. In 2012, he collaborated with Supermanouevre on an
installation in the Australian Pavillion at the Venice Biennale. In 2013, awarded the Architectural League
Prize for Young Architects. In 2014 Mcgee co-organizes the second Robotics in Architecture Conference,
hosted at the University of Michigan.
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Matteo Meraviglia was born in Castellanza, Italy in 1980. He holds a Master degree in architecture from
Politecnico di Milano [complex and sustainable development of Queens and Brooklyn waterfront. NY city]
and post-graduate degree in Sustainable Territory and Architecture STA [thesis on Milano Expo 2015].
Meraviglia is a collaborator and researcher at the Department of Design and lecturer at laboratorio di
progettazione architettonica 2 [Prof. Attilio Nebuloni] at Politecnico di Milano, worked within international
architecture and urban design studios in Milano and Cairo. His interest lies in the development and application of theories and concepts regarding scenarios of complex architecture, sustainable systems, liquid and
blurring architecture, contradiction and paradox, non-matter and energy, self generative system nourished
by learning from biological and philosophical processes in architecture and urban design.
Panagiotis Michalatos is an architect registered in Greece and UK. His work includes a broad spectrum
of design and computation from software development for structural engineering and interdisciplinary integration to interactive artistic installations. He worked as an Interaction Designer at the Stockholm based
contemporary dance company, CCAP, and as computational design researcher for the London based engineering firm AKT. Along with colleague Sawako Kaijima, Michalatos provided consultancy and developed
computational solutions in the development of architectural design involving complex interdisciplinary problems for a range of high profile projects by architecture practices such as Zaha Hadid Architects, Thomas
Heatherwick, Fosters and Partners. Their work was published and presented at internationally. They also
developed a range of software applications for the intuitive use of structural engineering methods in design. Currently he is an Assistant Professor in Architecture Technology at Harvard GSD. His teaching and
research focuses on the development of digital interfaces for collaborative and participatory design and the
application of structural optimization and signal analysis techniques in design problem. www.sawapan.eu
Galileo Morandi is a founder of the Milan studio CREATE, an office for innovative solutions in the field of
architecture and urban planning, which she runs together with Silvia Bertolotti. Morandi worked as a project
designer at XEFIROTARCH INC. (Hernan Diaz Alonso). He teaches urban& architectural strategies at Politecnico di Milano as Assistant Professor and acts as author for a variety of Italian architectural magazines.
He is a member of the international Project Team NUTAU/USP - LATAS/Polimi, an academic research
group that participates at international competition projects to find innovative and sustainable living solutions for developing areas in Brazil. Morandi holds a post-graduate Master degree in Sustainable Territory
& Architecture and a Master degree in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano.
WARREN NEIDICH
Computational Architecture and the Statisticon
Warren Neidich is an artist and writer, in Los Angeles and Berlin. He has been exhibited internationally at
such institutions as PS1-MOMA, The Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA, Los Angeles, Museum
of Contemporary Art, Chicago, The Walker Art Center, The ICA, London, The Ludwig Museum, Koln,The
Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, Berlin, Fons Welter Gallery, The Netherlands, and Gallery Moriarty, Madrid,
University of California Irvine, Contemporary Arts Center. Awards include The Murray and Vickie Pepper
Distinguished Visiting Artist and Scholar Award, Pitzer College, 2012, The Fulbright Scholar Program Fellowship, Fine Arts Category, 2011 and the Vilem Flusser Theory Award, Berlin, 2010. He is co-organizer of
the Pathology of Cognitive Capitalism. Dr. Neidich graduated Magna Cum Laude from Washington University, St. Louis, studied neurobiology at California Institute of Technology and Medicine at New York Medical
College. After completing an internship in Medicine he went on to become Board Certified in Ophthalmology at Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans. He was Instructor in Ophthalmology at New York
Eye and Ear Hospital, until 1993 when he decided to dedicate himself full time to his art practice and writing.
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Gven zel is a Turkish, Los Angeles based architect, artist and researcher. He is the Technology Director
of IDEAS at UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, a cross disciplinary research platform
and technology lab, and the principal of Ozel Office, an interdisciplinary design practice located in Los
Angeles, working at the intersection of architecture, technology, visual arts and research on urban culture.
A native of Izmir, Turkey, zel studied architecture, sculpture, and philosophy in Bennington College, USA.
He holds a Masters of Architecture degree from Yale University, where he graduated with multiple awards.
He worked in the offices of Rafael Vinoly, Jrgen Mayer H. and Frank Gehry, amongst others. His projects
and experimental installations were exhibited in the USA and Europe. He formerly taught at Yale University,
Woodbury University and University of Applied Arts, Vienna. His recent work has been featured in media
such as CNN, Boston Globe, Euronews, AP, The Independent, Architectural Digest, Gizmodo, Creators
Project/ Vice, Archdaily, Archinect, Dwell and Designboom. He currently conducts research on emerging
technologies with specific focus to create reactive environments that challenge contemporary fabrication
techniques and spatial assemblies.
Krista Palen is an Environmental Engineer, and interdisciplinary designer. She is currently pursuing her
Masters of Design in Sustainability at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In Toronto, she led the
Passive Practice at Halsall Associates, one of the largest green building-consulting firms in Canada. The
current focus of Kristas work is passive building design, community ecology and biomimicry.
Lila Panahikazemi s a recent Master student from DIA, Dessau International Architecture Graduate School,
which she attended after studying at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2009, where she finished her first
year of MArch dealing with bioregional, closed loop urbanism with Greg Keeffe, In the UK she worked at
Sturgeon North architect in England. At DIA shePanahiKazemi focused on computational design, bridging
the gap with her previous research at Leeds Metropolitan University. She currently collaborates with Co_
Des (peer to peer education) in Dessau, developing workshops on digital design tools. She has exhibited in
Slovenian pavilion at XIII Venice Biennale as part of Maribor 2112 YC, presented at EnCodingArchitecture
conference at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA), at the Performance Driven-Exhibition at the
FUGA Gallery (Budapest, HU), 39 th world congress on housing science in politecnino di Milan (Milan,
Italy), and been one of the workshop leaders at MediaCities 4 conference at the State University of New
York (Buffalo, USA). Her current thesis research, Spatializing the Social will be included as research
poster in the upcoming ACADIA Conference Adaptive Architecture at the University of Waterloo (CAN).
Jordan C. Parsons is a recent graduate of the the BArch program at the Carnegie Mellon University School
of Architecture in Pittsburgh, PA. While at Carnegie Mellon Jordan developed interests in digital fabrication,
computation and robotics through his studies across the university and work in the Digital Fabrication
lab. He is inherently skeptical of the process of computational architecture. Parsons believes strongly
in materiality, tectonics and and the importance of fabrication and craft in computation. He is looking
to continue to explore the generation and study of an architectural methodology that pairs an intimate
knowledge of computation and fabrication to create an architecture that surpasses pure code.
Bence Pap is an architect by education and currently practicing and teaching as an Assistant Professor in
Vienna at Die Angewandte, IOA University of Applied Arts, in the studio of Prof. Greg Lynn. Pap studied
architecture in Vienna at the Technical University, the Academy of Fine Arts and holds Diploma from the
University of Applied Arts with distinction. Pap advocates novel generative design strategies with a strong
focus on fabrication methods and material behavior. He has conducted several workshops throughout
Europe focusing on Digital Design and Fabrication. Pop gained his professional experience with a number
of award winning architectural firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects in London [2007-2011] where he has
been involved in a wide range of high profile projects ranging from urban master plans to cultural institutions
and residential buildings. He has also participated in a variety of projects with F451 Arquitectura Barcelona,
Stan Allen Architects Princeton, and other offices in Vienna.
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Maj Plemenitas is an Experimental Design Practitioner, Researcher and Educator of Architecture. His
current interest and research approach is focused on innovative cross scalar and interdisciplinary design,
through combination of computational methods. The research work explores the relations between design,
materialization, production, environment and users at various scales. This interactive and inclusive
approach enables drastical expansion of possibilities to tackle challenges that are otherwise beyond the
design range. After graduating from the Bartlett School of Architecture, as Master of Architecture from
Graduate Architectural Design, with his multi award winning thesis 10]LINK[10, Plemenitas established a
research platform and design practice LINKSCALE. Currently he is teaching at the Graduate Architectural
Design Program at the Bartlett, UCL. In parallel he is actively researching, exhibiting his work and lecturing
internationally. www.linkscale.org
Benjamin Rice is a principal of Matter Management, an award-winning design practice. Before joining
MM Rice helped deliver high profile architectural projects and competitions for some of the worlds leading
architectural firms. Recently, he has focused his practice on the future of cross-disciplinary collaboration,
working alongside his partner Juan Azulay with artists such as musician Mia Maestro, Chef Daniel Patterson,
No Wave legend Lydia Lunch, and fashion design house FLoWEN.Benjamins work has been published
and exhibited widely, including the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, the Storefront for Art and Architecture
in New York, and the Denver Art Museum and publications in Log, On Ramp, Pidgin Magazine, TARP,
eVolo Magazine, and The Huffington Post. Rice is currently a Senior Lecturer at the California College of
the Arts and a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught at Virginia Tech School of
Architecture + Design, Southern California Institute of Architecture and Princeton University. He received
his Bachelor of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture with distinction, and his
Master of Architecture from Princeton University where he was a Fellow of the Graduate School.
Ingeborg M. Rocker is a German architect and lives and works in Boston. Rocker received her PhD from
Princeton University in 2010, her Master of Art from Princeton University in 2003, her Masters of Science
in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in 1996 and her Diploma in Architecture from
the RTWH Aachen, Germany in 1995. She has taught at Columbia University, Princeton University and
the University of Pennsylvania. Currently she is an Associate Professor of Architecture in the Department
of Ar- chitecture at the GSD, Harvard University, where she has been employed since 2005. She teaches
Architectural Design and gives courses and seminars in the theory sequence. Rocker is principle of
Rocker-Lange Architects is an architecture rm located in Hong Kong and Boston. The rm is interested in
practicing architecture through designing, building, researching, writing and teaching.
ROCKER-LANGE ARCHITECTS
[En]coding and [Re]coding Architecture: From Proto Types and Parametric Types Rocker-Lange
Architects is an architecture rm located in Hong Kong and Boston. The rm is interested in practicing
architecture through designing, building, researching, writing and teaching. Founded by partners Ingeborg
M. Rocker and Christian J. Lange, the office is a full service architecture and design rm specializing in
installations, urban interventions, cultural and residential projects. Projects materialize out of an in depth
investigation of contemporary issues in architecture that are constantly scrutinized. Our work is developed
through intensive research in conjunction with the use of innovative digital design methodologies guiding
efficiently and creatively the design and construction process. The office has developed a distinctive
method for the develop- ment of architecture, with an emphasis on open spatial congurations, material
transformations and rened detailing and crafts- manship. Underlying themes in the work have focused
on the conceptual use of building tectonics, components and materials, modied with both traditional and
digital techniques. Recently Rocker-Lange Architects exhibited their work in the bi-city Biennale in Hong
Kong & Shenzhen 2012+2009, and the Ve- nice Biennale 2010. Their work has been published frequently
in international magazines ranging from Harvard Design Magazine, Mark Magazine to vivre magazine.
Currently the office has projects in China and Germany.
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Andrea Rossi is a recent Master student DIA, Dessau International Architecture Graduate School, where he
studied under the supervision of Liss C. Werner (Tactile Architecture, CMU Pittsburgh), Matias del Campo
& Sandra Manninger (SPANarch), Alexander Kalachev (AL_TU) and Krassimir Krastev. He holds a bachelor
degree in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano, concluded with the thesis Notes on Digital Design: New
Tools and Research Lines. He worked as intern for NuMiStudio (Milan) and then he moved to Berlin, working as architect in AnOtherArchitect (Daniel Dendra) office. He took part to various workshops on digital design tools, and recently he started teaching these topics in a series of workshops in Italy, Germany and USA.
He is the initiator and the main organizer of the group Co_Des (peer to peer education) in Dessau, where
hes teaching design tools to other students. He has exhibited in Slovenian pavilion at XIII Venice Biennale
as part of Maribor 2112 YC, presented at EnCodingArchitecture conference at Carnegie Mellon University
(Pittsburgh, USA), 39 th world congress on housing science in politecnino di Milan (Milan, Italy), at the
Performance Driven-Exhibition at the FUGA Gallery (Budapest, HU) and been one of the workshop leaders
at MediaCities 4 conference, State University of New York (Buffalo, USA). His current thesis research,
Spatializing the Social will be included as research poster in the upcoming ACADIA Conference Adaptive
Architecture at the University of Waterloo (CAN). (http://temporaryautonomousarchitecture.blogspot.it/)
Jenny Sabins work is at the forefront of a new direction for 21st century architectural practice, one that
investigates the intersections of architecture and science, and applies insights and theories from biology
and mathematics to the design of material structures. Sabin is an Assistant Professor in the area of Design
and Emerging Technologies in the Department of Architecture at Cornell University. She is principal of
Jenny Sabin Studio, an experimental architectural design studio based in Philadelphia. She is co-founder
of LabStudio, a hybrid research and design network, together with Peter Lloyd Jones. She was a founding
member of the Nonlinear Systems Organization, a research group started by Cecil Balmond, where she was
director of research. Sabin holds degrees in ceramics and interdisciplinary visual art from the University of
Washington and a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania where was awarded the AIA
Henry Adams first prize medal and the Arthur Spayd Brooke gold medal for distinguished work in architectural design. Sabin was recently named a USA Knight Fellow in Architecture.
Bennett Scorcia is a graduate student of Architecture at the University of Michigan, where his research
focuses on the development of emerging technologies, morphogenetic computation, material research,
and computer aided manufacturing that encourages a non-linear dialogue between actors and parameters.
Scorcias most recent work is situated on the interrelationships of wood as a natural material, traditional
wood bending techniques and the engagement of digital tools to produce highly articulated and performative
structural system that leverages the natural morphologies of wood. Bennett has collaborated with many
professors and students to complete full scale installations that have been exhibited around the world. In
his position at the University of Michigan FABlab Scorcia is responsible for operating various CNC routers,
water-jets and robots. www.BENNETT3D.com
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Harold Sprague Solie is a graduate student and an entrepreneur at the University of Michigan Taubman
College of Architecture where his studies are focused on leveraging design ideas across multiple scales
and platforms. His educational and professional endeavors both as a student and founder at designGOOD,
blur boundaries between formal design strategies, materials research and emerging modes of fabrication
and construction. Solie is continually exploring how a design idea can navigate complex material and
production systems while evolving into fully realized architectural artifacts. Currently, as part of his thesis
research, Solie is exploring material realities as they exist in the post-industrial city in an effort to construction
a retroactive history of Americas industrial centers which frames its ruins as the site of future architectures.
Matteo Taramelli is a recent graduate from DIA, where he received a Master of Architecture. He holds a
Bachelor degree in Science of Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano. While studying in Milan, Taramelli
carried out research in the field of 3D-Augmented-Reality within the Architecture & Plan Department of
Politecnico in collaboration with Samsung, Istanbul Technical University, presented at Yenikapi Symposium,
Istanbul. He worked at NuMiStudio architectural office on a project for the Architectural & Urban Forum,
published by lArca magazine. Taramelli also produced a series of short films, audio- responsive visuals
and conducted generative-music experimentations. He assisted Prof. Attilio Nebuloni at Politecnico di
Milano, and taught at Co_Des (Computational Design Dessau), an autonomous student group at DIA.
Part of his master work was shown at the Slovenian Pavilion, XIII Venice Architecture Biennale, as part
of Maribor2112YC. He has recently collaborated with PhyCo, Milan, for the event Fotografia Europea,
creating visual interpretations of movement tracking through smartphones. Throughout his career Taramelli
has been working with Atlas Publishers.
Justin Tingue was born in 1989 and grew up just outside of Buffalo, New York. He studied architecture as
an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he developed his interest in the role
of computation in architecture, which was explored at the school itself and during a trip to Tokyo, Japan.
Tingue holds a Masters of Architecture degree from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
at The University of Michigan.
Rob Trumbour, AIA, is a founding partner of the design research practice Khora; a registered architect in
Massachusetts and an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston,
MA. In 2006 Trumbour founded Artforming, a design and research collaborative in Boston. Educated in the
fields of the fine arts and architecture Trumbours current work engages in art, architecture and landscape
through the medium of installation art and emerging technologies.
Andreas Trummer is Assistant Professor at the Institute for Structural Design at the Technical University
Graz where he heads of the Robot Design Labor and created the ABB Robot Lab in year 2012. These
labs are used in the project Prefabricated shell structures made from UHPC, a project that includes all
steps from design process to fabrication. He researched on a lightweight load carrying box beam system,
made of wood and plywood, which resulted in a scalable timber beam system (www. kielsteg.at). Trummer
studied Civil Engineering at the TU Graz and ETH Lausanne, worked as assistant at TU Vienna and the
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, where he received his PhD within the field of Cross
laminated Glass-fiber reinforced Timber-Plates. In 2013 Trummer worked together with Martin Bechthold
at GSD, Cambridge was a visiting scholar. www.ite.tugraz.at
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Xiaowei R. Wang has a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design
where she received the Norman T. Newton Prize in design. Her most recent project, FLOAT Beijing, in
collaboration with Deren Guler is a finalist for the INDEX: Design Award 2013. She is interested in tools at
the intersection of design, technology and ecology to affect patterns of uneven development in East Asia.
Currently, Wang is researching patterns of urbanization along the Eurasian Steppe and examining the political dimensions of computation within geographic indices that have shaped perceptions of settlement in
nomadic communities of the Steppe and cartographic marginalization.
Zack Jacobson-Weaver is a maker. He received his B.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Michigan
School of Art & Design in 2001, where he was a technical instructor of sculpture and digital fabrication from
2006 2011, guiding 3D disciplines into the 21st century. The exploration of physical and digital tools, materials and processes led him to Carnegie Mellon University in 2011 where he studied Tangible Interaction
Design in the School of Architecture under Professor Mark Gross, working at the anti-disciplinary intersection of Art, Design, Architecture and Engineering. His work encompasses conceptual art, custom interior
design and open-source and repurposed technologies in automation and fabrication.
As a co-founder and principal of the innovation consultancy Plot, Wildman designs and develops the interventions Plot undertakes across industry sectors for clients such as Nokia, the BBC and Participle. She
is an advocate for more open forms of participation that foster interdisciplinary collaboration and produce
better people-centered system designs. Wildmans early work, as a researcher and developer of local public
services used the community development approach, which puts an emphasis on designing relationships.
Her personal and professional research interests include identifying success factors in start-up business
incubation, design strategies for new technologies, and exploring the impact of new pervasive technologies in everyday life. A graduate and former assistant director of Brunel Universitys Design Strategy and
Innovation MA, Gill has played numerous academic and industrial advisory roles for Dundee University, the
British Standards Institute, SVA and Tisch, as well as four years national service at the Design Council,
London. She recently held Carnegie Mellon School of Designs Nierenberg Chair with Nick Durrant, and
was a Visiting Professor where she taught StrategyLab and Future City Services. She is co-developer of
the incubator, Upstarter.
www.plotlondon.net
Aaron Willette is a founding partner of the design research practice Khora; a principal in the architecture/
art collaborative Artforming, and a graduate student and research assistant at the University of Michigan,
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in Ann Arbor, MI. His current research explores the
technical and spatial implications of coupling of industrial fabrication techniques, bespoken computational
processes and indepth material studies,focusing on their intersection with traditional interpretations of technique and craftsmanship.
Andrew Wolking completed his M. arch from the University of Michigan in the Spring of 2013. His work
focuses on the intersection of architectural space in relation to landscape, and explores this through the
lens of making. This interest is coupled with the role of digital technology in the execution of built / designed
spaces that strive to enhance that relationship. His thesis at Michigan explored the under utilized capacity of
color in the post-industrial landscape of Detroit to expose its absence in architectural design and pedagogy.
Currently Wolking is working in the Ann Arbor / Detroit area continuing research in structural robotic plastic
extrusion, as well as working as a freelance designer.
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Alex Woodhouse is currently a graduate student at California College of the Arts, where he is completing
a Master of Advanced Architectural Design focusing on digital design- and fabrication-technologies. He
holds a Bachelor of Architecture Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Before continuing his education at CalArts,
Woodhouse spent three years working as a project designer at LMN Architects in Seattle. He is continuing
the research investigations of Desert Driftboat as he participates in the design and construction of a 3D
extrusion device in collaboration with Future Cities Lab in San Francisco.
Mark Wright is a recent graduate from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University
of Michigan. He received his Bachelor in Arts in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Wright is
interested in how increasing capabilities and usage of new fabrication technologies can empower a designer to create unique and increasingly complex architecture. As well as the consequences of this proliferation
of technology and how this may change interaction between users and users and the built environment.
Hironori Yoshida is a craftsman in the digital era, using robots to fabricate human-scale objects such as
furniture and interior. He is a PhD candidate at CAAD, ETH in Zurich and his research focus is scanning
heterogeneous structures in natural materials. He gave talks at research institutes and international conferences such as SIGGAPH. He was a visiting scholar at CoDe lab, Carnegie Mellon University, and worked
at OMA and Vincent de Rijk werkplaats.
Leah Zaldumbide is currently a fourth year Architecture student enrolled in the Bachelor of Architecture
course at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Throughout her educational career she has
worked on a range of conceptual projects ranging from the large scale, to temporary installations, to explorations in robotics. In 2012 Zalumbide attended a travel studio, which visited several architectural sites and
organizations in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Barcelona; which sparked an interest in exploring
the potentials in the relationship between robotics and other fields of design.
Ning Zhou is a graduate student at the University of Michigans Taubman College of Architecture and Urban
Planning. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Dalian University of Technology, China. During her
undergraduate study Zhou traveled to Sweden as exchange student. She used to be the leader of National
College Students Innovative program working on a nationally funded project on small towns developments.
She was awarded as Taubman scholar and received NR-WHITE Fellowship. Zhou is interested in responsive design and the challenge to achieve beauty in design projects and the buildings.
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Preface
Introductory Essays
Critique in Code
Material
Robots
Interface
Building
Politics
Visions
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ISBN 978-0-9762941-4-6
90000
9 780976 294146
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