Category: LookingOutwards-03

Digital Fabrication/ Computational Fabrication

Computational fabrication is a relatively new field in comparison the rest of the discipline of building and making. With the advent of computational design and software the need for fabrication techniques to realize these new fantastical objects arose. Office Da an architectural firm based in Boston led by Nader Tehrani and Monica Ponce de Leon, explored these concepts in their piece “An Installation of folded Steel Plates” at the MoMa. Conceived in 1998 for the show “Fabrications” at the Museum of Modern art, Architecture as a discipline has just began to investigate the infinite possibilities of Digital fabrication with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum a year prior. For a building sized object to consist of many pieces of customized geometries and complex forms became possible with the inquiries the architects have made into computational designs and fabrication. In the installation Tehrani and Ponce de Leon created, they seek to use the fabrication techniques to blur the line between the traditional structural systems of architecture (tectonics) with actual geometrical design. They do this by digitally folding metal panels and stitching them together in very precise ways. The perforations on the panels are also generated via a computational device in order to lower the weight of the metal panels. The installation also relied on computational tools and fabrication to realize it’s optical illusionary characteristics. From certain angles the installation appears to be flat which it is actually conceived of many customized metal panels. This is interesting because the project begins to touch on the idea of mass customization, a process previously possible but costly. Large amounts of customizable pieces and objects can be designed and fabricated with the correct algorithms and machines. Customization, with the discoveries of Computational fabrication is no longer a luxury provided by the craftsman and artisans, but now a new mode of production.

As an architecture student, parametric or generative design is a new field that is slowly gaining traction. This new method of designing allows for unexpected, novel ideas to emerge, and allows for rapid iteration with these completely original forms. The ability to use designs driven by algorithms allows one to bypass the technical constraints of designing forms with highly complex, repetitive elements. Furthermore, generative modeling allows for the creation of more organic and amorphous designs thanks to artificial intelligence being able to resolve complex issues like structural viability/stability.

Currently, parametric design is being used practically mainly for aesthetic design features such as building facades, interior light fixtures, fenestration designs, and so on. However, generative designs will eventually become integral parts of overall structural form-finding for buildings and homes.

LMN Architects’ Voxman Music Building’s ceiling is a prominent example of generative architecture being utilized. The ceiling was parametrically designed, from its organic structure to the small, triangular apertures arranged on its surface. “The design integrates acoustic reflection, stage and house lighting, audiovisual elements,, and fire suppression into a single eye-popping ceiling system” – Architect Magazine.

I explored the piece Proteus, made by RobotsInArchitecture. It is a display featuring a series of pixel-like structures in which a robot rearranges ferrofluid similar to how a computer screen recolors pixels to form images. Ferrofluid art isn’t particularly rare, but I find that the robotic programming of the piece makes it much more interesting as it coordinates and randomizes how its magnetic array is realigned, rather than simply having a preprogrammed structure it moves. Algorithms which control the magnet array have to feature some sort of group of randomized controls, with preset timers and restrictions on making the same pattern twice, as it is emphasized that the robot constantly shifts between patterns and has a large amount and doesn’t follow any sort of specific order. Patterns most likely aren’t programmed, but magnet movement of course is, meaning that there are technically limits to what the robot can create, but the creators programmed it so that it constantly is shifting, and transitions from pattern to pattern make the art almost limitless. It reflects a lot of the sensibility of RobotsInArchitecture as they constantly look to expand the usage of robots in art, and creating such an intricate robot I believe displays that same spirit of progress. It also reflects the piece’s title, reflecting the shapeshifting sea god of Greek myth who never keeps the same form, just as the robot constantly shifts its ferrofluid.