LookingOutwards-03

Looking Outwards 03 – Computational Fabrication

Purl installation at night – photoluminescent fibers charge during the day with solar power.

One project that especially inspired me was Jenny Sabin’s’ Purl installation in Abu Dhabi. The project is a very immersive example of Computational Fabrication being used to create an environment. The installation serves as an “interactive” canopy, which has digitally weaved photoluminescent fibers. What really inspires me about this piece is the incorporation of computational biomimicry, and this allusion to patterns in nature with this high tech piece. It relates to Andy Lomas’ Cellular Forms exploration, which highlights the beauty of morphogenetic processes through an ambiguously generated form. The piece is extremely organic, which bolsters its intent/message of fostering a community/ecosystem within the commissioned area.

As per the article, Sabin’s work employs the use of modularity, and understanding how the parameters of these recursive functions produce these overarching environments. In context of the concept of gestaltum and parametric objects, it’s interesting to recognize the variables that were adjusted to create the specific weaves – whether the relationship between the hexagonal shapes indicates the numbers used?

Purl, Jenny Sabin 2020

blog 3

Paul Li 
Section A


Arabesque Wall (2014/2015)

This project is very similar to my selection from last week, the Subdivide Column by Michael Hansmeyer. In fact, it was a project by Benjamin Dillenburger in collaboration with Hansmeyer. I just found their work so limitless and inspiring. I think the mixture of the ornamentation that is reminiscent of historical decoration and the sci-fi aspect of the forms and curves really pushes ideas of architectural concepts and forms I’ve been taught. The algorithm behind the creation was based on actual arabesque ornament examples, which are very mathematical and geometric in nature. By dividing and repositioning surfaces, tiles are altered into microscopic to large pieces that are folded and in the end composes a very complex geometry. I also really admire the amount of details of these structures, while being grand in size as well. The artistic aspect of these projects is that there is unlimited potential and every one of them can be adjusted with generative controls that ensures the uniqueness of each piece while being able to reach a certain desirable form.



https://benjamin-dillenburger.com/arabesque-wall/

Looking Outwards-03: Section B

Desbians Design Research is a company dedicated to computational fabrication and design. Of their many projects, I find the Fahz, face in a vase, project fascinating. This project transforms photographs of faces in profile by first converting them into vector coordinates. The coordinates of up to four photos are uploaded into software that generates a unique vase design that incorporates each face. The final piece is 3D printed.

There are four distinct faces in this vase.

The faces are not carved into the vase, but are created in the negative space around the vase. The minimalism and simplicity of this project are at odds with the hyper, overproduced world we live in. The art found in the absence inspires me. Sometimes less really is more.

This project was originated by Daniel Desbians in 2014. He modeled the vases with Rhino 3D design software with an add-on called Grasshopper to aid with creating algorithms. Python was also used to put it all together. Each vase is unique and designed by software from a parametric model. This is an example of generative art fabricated into physical form.

Looking Outwards 03: Computational Fabrication

Braumann J. and S. Brell-Cokcan – ‘Real-Time Robot Simulation and Control for Architectural Design’ (2012)

The project that was really inspirational for me was the ‘real time robot simulation and control for architectural design’. Many factors attracted towards this project, as it was something that was happening in real time and improving lives and the built environment. I really liked the way architects made use of the multifunctional nature of robots, I was not aware that robots had a lower cost than that of actual workers. I was also fascinated by how these tasks were accomplished with pristine accuracy by employing simple algorithms. Using grasshopper to create computational design was something that really fascinated me. The paper/project is targeted towards introducing robots in the field of architecture and how useful they might be when employed correctly, via using algorithms and peeking intuitively. I do not know much about the algorithms that generated these designs or are responsible for computational design in architecture, but I do know that grasshopper is a key
tool in this task, and I have a little experience using grasshopper. Grasshopper has a relatively easy and understandable interface and generates algorithms that in turn projects 3 dimensional computational design of Rhino. The final project is an example of what a computational fabrication environment is able to achieve, thus, a proof of concept and mass customization.

Link

LO 3 – Computational Fabrication

The reason why I so admire the Voronoi architecture statue made by June Lee is that I am really impressed by the organic form in architecture. The Voronoi diagram is a type of partition created by segmenting midpoints of distances of different points. To make this random geometric two-dimensional diagram look smooth and organic, the creator smoothened the shape of each Voronoi cell in grasshopper, then using the negative space created by smaller smoothened cells and the square border of the cube, the creator made a wall with organic Voronoi shaped holes. One great thing about using the grasshopper algorithm to generate shapes is that it allows the creator to easily tweak and manipulate every aspect of the geometry. For example, in this project, June Lee is able to change the size of the cube, how big the holes are, and even how smooth those holes are, without remaking the whole shape.

source

Looking Outward Blog #3 TREDDY

TREDDY by F.A.T Lab

The project I admired most is the TREDDY, which is a free software to customize rubber stamps with any artistic ideas. The part TREDDY inspired me the most was its usefulness in daily life. Although other Parametric 3D Project might be artistically pleasant, but most of them have little to do with real life. Maybe in term of stimulations other Projects are useful too, but TREDDY is the most user friendly one that’s open to the public. We can use TREDDY to improve our quality of life by making our rubber stamps visually pleasant to us, and it’s also a great way to create toys for kids.

TEDDY allows us to 3D print through CAD files. In terms of the algorithms, I think that it puts a set of variables into the parametric equations to create shapes on the rubber stamps and the rubber stamps itself. The final form of creator’s artistic sensibilities was demonstrated through the drawing created by of rubber stamps when stained with ink and the rubber stamps itself.

The link to software (found on the blog, but it not working)

TREDDY by Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.) Lab, 2013-: https://fffff.at/wheels

Video: https://vimeo.com/golanlevin/treddy

Caption- The video explaining what TREDDY achieves by Golan Levin.

Metal and Robot arm

Author: Students in seminar led by Jeremy Ficca

Project Name: Fabricating Customization Seminar

Robot arm deforming the metal. The image is from the project website

The project I admire comes from our school. It is a studio project led by Professor Ficca that experiments with the relationship between how robotic arms interact with metals to create customizable shapes generated by computers. It has the potential to renovate the means of mass-producing metal plates. The precision and rigidity of robot arms make it possible to create them. The process involves using computational design to generate different shapes of metal. Many variables control the final form, such as the panel shape, the number of folds, and the joining location. Such a degree of freedom allows for a range of unique metal forms. The students selectively choose complex shapes to produce manually and experiment with means of producing the shape. Thus, they have to understand how metals are bent to write the correct code to control the robot arms. I adore the project because it not only focuses on generating shapes but also on how to make sure those shapes can be produced physically.

LO3:Computational Fabrication

The project that I find inspiring is Jeremy Ficca’s: Fabricating Customization Seminar;

This is a very interesting project that associates robotic research and AI with architecture design. Through coding and generating patterns, we can cut out patterns on paper or other materials that helps us build special shapes that we want. This is helpful in generating facades and textures in Architecture design.
I think the algorithm behind the project is to first generating random patterns and shapes through different functions and programs, controlling the size of the patterns and some parametric calculation process. Then with the help of robots and laser cutters, these programs could be successfully transformed into pieces of shapes ready for use. Also the programs calculate which piece fits in which position, so that people can put these pieces together and form a complete design.

link here

In collaboration, multiple designers, including Arturo Tedeschi, Michael Pryor, Pavlina Vardoulaki, and Matteo Silverio, designed a suspension lamp called HorisON. Inspiration for this lamp draws on the contrast between high-tech and traditional handcrafting. These designers speculate that future design will not depend on the constant technological improvement of products and their production, but rather on an integration of the high-tech with humanistic characteristics, such as uniqueness in imperfection. The lamp is made up of two main parts a 3D printed, parametric form that diffuses LEDs inside and a handcraft shell, made in Murano in Italy. During the day, when the lamp is off the shell hides the inner coils and becomes the centerpiece of the lamp. When one, the lamp’s 3D printed core becomes the centerpiece. By emphasizing the combination of human and high-tech, I believe these designers are bridging a very quickly growing gap of disinterest and devaluing of items brought by mass production. Both the handcrafted and paramedic design are objects deserving of appreciation and awe but each is perceived differently. The handcraft part tells a story of craftsmanship and offers people the opportunity to appreciate the skill of the artist while the parametric design offers interest as an unusual item that represents the modern.

The visual duality of the lamp represents the contrast between machine production and handcraft.

Looking Outwards-03

If you have read my first blog post, you will remember that I am an advocate for fashion design, especially if the usage of advanced technology are involved. Through this class, I have been able to discover a variety of different computational design artists. In this blog, I would like to highlight Nervous System‘s famous and innovative 3D printed Kinematic fabric dress, which has been featured in an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Nervous System has created their first dress using Kinematics, a unique 3D printing system that creates complex, flexible forms of articulated modules. They first use WebGL, a JavaScript API for rendering 2D and 3D graphics, to write computer programs based on processes and patterns inspired by nature. The team also uses 3D scanning and a physics simulation to fold a piece of fabric into the machine for fabrication, and later is printed with SLS technology. The idea is that once the fabric piece is removed from the machine, it can unfold into a dress.

Kinematics Dress in motion

I greatly admire the intricate detail and the thousands of unique interlocking elements that were incorporated into the dress. I believe it showcases the future of both sustainably made garments and fashion in general, with digital fabrication making any designer’s wildest ideas come true. Nervous System mainly draws inspiration from natural phenomena, and I can see how they implement the complexities of nature in their designs. Their design platform pushes fashion and computational fabrication in a way where they are able to express and customize their concepts with CAD software and 3D printing to create evolutional and affordable wearable art.