Ankitha Vasudev – Looking Outwards – 03

The Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa was designed by LMN Architects in 2016. The architects used parametric modeling to explore the intersections of multiple theatrical disciplines. The concert hall features a suspended “theatroacoustic” system, unifying acoustics and lighting. I find this building inspirational because generative modeling was used to design and build the structure. The ceiling is assembled out of 946 unique, folded-aluminium modules that were digitally fabricated from modules digitally designed and fabricated from the architects’ parametric model. 

Using a series of generative-design scripts, the designers first protoyped and then created a unique architectural feature and used those same scripts to describe to the builder the geometry and construction sequence needed to fabricate and install the ceiling.

The builder then took the digital information computed by LMN’s generative algorithms directly to the fabrication floor, assuring absolute fidelity to the design the architects created, and manufacturing the system with computer-controlled accuracy.

Hence, without generative modeling, the design and construction of this building would have been impossible.