This is the 99 Failures Pavilion, a temporary pavilion which was named in support of the idea that failure is beneficial to knowledge and success. It was created by Architecture graduate students and design professionals at the Digital Fabrication Lab at the University of Tokyo in November of 2013.
Many structural models were tested in order to find the right geometry that would allow this flat, stainless steel to become sturdy in its 3D form. The stainless steel sheets were then welded together and formed to mimic pillows. I find it fascinating that even steel can appear as soft as it does in this project. It looks weightless and balloon-like.
Another element that I believe has helped this pavilion’s success is the golden tree behind it. Since it’s autumn, the structure seems more like a shelter for the cold days to come, and makes the steel more comforting. This ability to transform a material is what I appreciate most about this work. Architecture should not only be about functionality, but also about creating spaces with feeling.
In 2014, the design studio Nervous System created a kinematic dress utilizing generative technology and 3D printing. To do this, the studio first created a program coined Kinematics Cloth App, a web application utilizing javascript with the ability to generate dresses, shirts, and skirts that could be printed in 3D. Through the app, users have the option to customize the pattern of the dress as well as the fit and style.
What first drew me to this project was the combination of computer generated art and fashion. Although it makes sense that algorithms and the like are capable of creating such pieces, it still amazes me to even think of how one would go about taking into consideration all of the combinations of shapes that could go into customization.
Not only this, but the way that the web app is designed allows for users who are inexperienced with CAD modeling. Having the ability to give accessibility to such advanced technology to the everyday person without losing the customizability of the designs seems simple in theory, but takes a lot of strategic design.
The Silk Pavilion by the MIT Media Lab consists of 26 polygonal panels and silk threads woven by a CNC (computer-numerically controlled) machine. The algorithm used to weave out the silk threads was based upon study of silk worms, their natural behavior and how they use something 2-dimensional to create a space that is 3-dimensional. The shape of the pavilion uses an algorithm that uses a continuous thread to weave the panels with differing degrees of density. Once the machine-aspect of the pavilion was finished, 6500 silkworms were placed onto the pavilion was to bring in the natural aspect by allowing them to reinforce any gaps neglected by the CNC machine.
This project is a synthesis between man-made, digital form and natural form. It’s introducing something controlled to the natural environment and introducing something natural to the machine. What is also admirable about this project is the focus on studying the silkworms and its natural instincts, which the team was able to transfer into code for the machine to develop an architecture for the silkworms.
Michael Hansmeyer’s L-Systems in Architecture explores the possibilities that L-Systems can open up in architecture. L-Systems is a string-rewriting algorithm that was created by biologist Aristid Lindenmayer. Lindenmayer created this algorithm to model simplified plants and their growth processes. Hansmeyer’s is an architect and programmer. His interests lie in the idea that architecture should be judged by the experiences that it produces. He takes advantage of computational methods to enhance these experiences intellectually and sensually.
There are two parts to the project. The first half explores which qualities of a design are essential to the logic of the algorithm. It considers methods for visualizing L-Systems. The second half incorporates aspects of parametric systems to expand the algorithm’s language. This part of the project explores the different ways that the L-System can react to its environment and how these adaptations can physically be applied to architectural design.
Nature has been the muse of many architects due to it’s forms and geometries. Many times the product of nature’s inspiration is executed too literally. Hansmeyer utilizes these characteristics as ways to improve the function of a building rather than to solely determine it’s form.
As soon as I saw “Rottlace” created by the MIT Media Lab I knew where it was from. Rottlace is a series of masks created for Bjork and inspired by Bjork’s music. I enjoy the intricacy of the masks and how they seam to be in motion, as well as the technical quality they have. The ideas of self-healing and having a skinless face align well with the visual style of the mask.
This parametric object was 3D printed using multi-material printing, which allows the elaborate combinations of different properties and variables to be produced. The properties are distributed complex structures, in this instance Bjork’s face, allowing the mask to fit perfectly as well as allowing the structure and shape of the mask to coexist with Bjork’s face, causing both elements to complement each other. The technology utilized in the printing of this mask has allowed the design to be fluid and has allowed for the combination of elements with different transparencies and generated modules to coexist in a single form. The simulation that generated the code and creation of this piece is mimicking that of both lace but something of vein structure as well.
KINEMATIC PETALS DRESS
Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston
Project by: Nervous System
The Kinematic Petals Dress explores the “synergy between fashion and technology” by creating 3D printed clothing utilizing an algorithm that can be altered based on the wearer and designer. Individually customizable, the dress can be manipulated through a computer program that adjusts sizing through a 3D scan. The shape of the interlocking petals that create the material can also be tailored to the designer’s liking. When the design is complete, it is then sent to the 3D printer and the 1600+ unique pieces and 2600+ hinges are fabricated and the dress is complete.
I think it is a very unique approach to traditional attire. There are plenty of pros and cons to this design as although it can be completely devised through a computer program and printed instead of sewn like traditional clothing, however, shell structures can only move in one direction which has its limitations and prevents the 360 degrees of movement other fabric has. Another feature of the Kinematic Dress is its customizability as it is tailored for each customer based on their 3D scan. In addition, the pattern of the scales, shape of the scales, and the length of the dress can be altered. The algorithm created probably forms the base that the dress begins at when beginning the design process, with uniform scales over a standard body type. This could then be changed to the designers liking and the base form is still generally represented in the final design. It is amazing how innovative designers have become to arrive at the stage where it is feasible to design and print clothing from a computer.
More information at: http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/?p=7162
Trussfab is an extremely cool platform, created by Robert Kovacs and his HCI team at Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany, that allows users to design something that can be fabricated into large structures using recycled bottles and 3D printed joints.
Personally, I think the very coolest part of this is that the user doesn’t need to have any outstanding knowledge on engineering or have certain materials/equipment, but still can produce these large structures. You design your structure via Trussfab and then they will generate all the 3D files for all the hinges and joints that are needed to complete the structure.
In Trussfab application
The idea of Trussfab being an easy to use platform for people to create structures and prototype different things is really great. What is even cooler is how much you can manipulate the structure (with decorations, small details, etc) and the fact that it can even support human weight. I am extremely interested in seeing where this will take a lot of designers and architects with their ideas and whether or not it will become a part of some people’s practices.
Chair made via Trussfab
I am not completely sure what the algorithms for the actual Trussfab extension are, but I am sure that there was a lot of complex thinking behind it. Robert Kovacs and his HCI team are definitely more into the background, the actual algorithm and the coding that goes into it, because it is meant to serve the artistic sensibilities of other people. I think it’s really cool because it directly relates to design being a “service industry” and they have created a platform that conveys this idea. I am excited to see the future of Trussfab.
MIT Media Lab’s Mediated Matter group (Neri Oxman, Jorge Duro-Royo, Markus Kayser, and Jared Laucks) created a structure that naturally and robotically mimicked the weaving patterns of silk worms. They initially started by tracking individual silkworms’ movements by attaching small magnets to their heads. The data and movements collected from those sessions were then translated into code so that a robot arm could weave different simplified versions across 26 panels that would eventually be formed into an elevated dome. However, they tie back in their original inspiration for the last step by putting the silkworms back on the threaded structure and integrating their natural silk. That is probably what I admire the most, the fact that they took the next step and incorporated silkworms after they could have easily stopped and left it at the threaded structure.
In terms of algorithms, they used the tracked movements of the silkworms and translated that into a single route the CNC machine would trace with a single white thread. But incorporating the silkworms as the last step really changed the final form and emphasizes the creator’s artistic intention of magnifying the silkworm phenomenon.
A design based on algorithms that interested me is the auditorium in the Elbphilharmonie, which is a concert hall in Hamburg designed by an architecture firm called Herzog and de Meuron and opened in 2017. The Elbphilharmonie is a complex that resembles a city; it offers many different attractions, such as the main philharmonic hall, music hall and restaurants.
construction of the main auditoriuma closeup of individual, unique cells
TThe building complex as a whole is extremely intricate, with its many geometries and attractive materiality but an area that is more impressive in regards to its use of technology would be the largest concert hall. The concert hall was created based on algorithms. Over 10 years, architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Mueron created about 10,000 gypsum fiber acoustic panels that cover the walls. Basically, the entire auditorium is covered in algorithmic, NURBS-based cells that look like shallow dugouts in the sand. The concave cells look like they were hand-carved, but were actually milled with CNC milling machines, based on precise calculations made computationally. The algorithm that lies underneath varies the characteristic of each cell so that individual cells play their unique role in handling the sounds and perfectly fill up the walls. Some of the variables here are depth, radius and splits, as seen in the image directly below.
variables of each carved cell
With the help of an acoustician (Yasuhisa Toyota) the architects were able to create and fabricate a space that insures the highest acoustic qualities that a music hall can ask for. The variations that the algorithm randomly creates within its parameters significantly affect the sound in the auditorium. Depending on the shape of the surface that sound waves hit, the sound gets manipulated differently: some are absorbed by the surface, while others are disseminated, ultimately creating a balanced harmonic sound.
Algorithms in this case allowed the firm to manifest its style of conveying through materials and complex geometries and suggest at infinite possibilities of creating structures that require such finesse that might not be achievable through manual work.
This is “Still Life (Morandi’s Infinite Shelf)” by Jason Salavon. I was really intrigued by his piece “Generic Mammal Skull” that was shown in the lecture notes given with the instructions for this Looking Outwards, so I went to check out his website and was delighted by what I saw. This Infinite Shelf is somehow able to make itself run forever and slowly produce new, possibly randomized vases as the image crawls along, from what I can see. I love art that seems mundane but actually has a fantastical sense to it. It tickles me. I feel like I could find this shelf in the house of a modern, scatterbrained wizard.
If you feel like watching a slow pan of a shelf for three hours, here’s a video of the work where you can observe Still Life in action.
And here’s his website. And the page where this work can be found.
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