This is a must see conference for everyone around LA interested in the status quo of computational design techniques and urban design sensibilities. To put it in a Hollywood term: A Blockbuster!

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The main qualities for the project formed the mainframe of the topological surface. The software output consisted of an extensive array of subtly varying surface conditions. According to their performative behavior the population of over one hundred individual entities where scrutinized for their fitness according to different criteria, such as the potential to fulfill the program, the performance as structural entity and the affect generated by its appearance. This process reduced potential candidates to a very small number. Finally this candidates ran trough a series of algorithms (various remeshings, subdivisions, optimizing the size of the spatial pockets etc.) which eliminated all candidates but one. 

This technique can be described as an evolutionary process driven by a series of intensive forces, such as the specific compartmentisation of the pouches, the loadbearing qualities of curvilinear conditions and the allover sensual experience of the space. The numerous explorations and investigations of SPAN into the nature of topological bodies, throughout the recent years, served as basis for the design process. One of the results of these investigations was a series of models only dedicated to seamless, continuous circulations within architectural bodies and apertures in complex curved geometries. These two fundamental architectural conditions, opening and circulation, are discussed in the project of the Austrian Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 in an alternative way. 

The lecture describes the design process of the Austrian Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010, as well as the construction method. The lecture depicts the advanced fabrication methods involved in the construction of the Project, such as the use of simulation softwares, building information modeling and CNC fabrication.

Expo_office

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Matias del Campo describes in this lecture the ballistic trajectories and gravitational forces shaping the design sensibilities of SPAN. From the initial desires to explore specific problems such as topological surfaces, algorithms based on biological behavior to extensive conditions and their trajectories unfolding in architectural space.

Vienna based Architecture Firm SPAN, headed by Matias del Campo and Sandra Manninger, is driven by a compulsive desire to speculate about architectural opportunities in the presence of animated matter, organic entities and their underlying geometrical and mathematical presence. Their award winning architecture designs are informed by a manifold variety of sources reaching from Science Fiction and Fashion to Biology and Botany. The multiplicious inspirations are fused into projects applying the most advanced digital design tools and casted into form by computer controlled machinery. Their activities include Architecture Design, exhibitions and lectures as well as teaching in various countries and institutions, such as the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Bauhaus Dessau and the ESARQ in Barcelona.

Please join us for the lecture, 

October 29th at the Facoltà di Ingegneria, Universitá di Bologna, v.le Risorgimento 2, Bologna, Italy

T2p_Mdc

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So, here is the new studio task for next semester in the Dessau Institute of Architecture:

DIA Dessau Institute of Architecture Advanced Architecture Studio WS09/10 

Prof. Matias del Campo: The Tangling Line - Urban design for the Expo 2012, Yeosu, Korea

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Braiding, Weaving and Bifurcations…

This semesters studio is focused on the idea of tangled structures—massively distributed networks made up of relatively weak cross-linked fibrous components that are the dominant mode of formation of structures in nature. This elegant concept of material assembly follows a long lineage in architectural history, from gothic interweaving to Art Nouveau braiding; textile techniques from two- 

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to three-dimensional weaving (Miyake, Northsails); Fine Arts from Pollock to Eliasson; Mathematics from topology to tangle theory; and science from advanced composites to tissue engineering demonstrate the omnipresence of this concept of matter assembly. A crucial characteristic of this structural morphology is that patterning, form, and organization are inherent conditions emerging out of the design process. The studio projects will explore in depth the aesthetics and performative parameters of tangled and patterned surface conditions as an alternative to prevailing assembly strategies in a

Model, Architecture Live 08, SPAN Workshop

 contemporary design environment, using the most advanced digital design tools and computer controlled fabrication methods, such as 3D printers and Laser Cutters. Design research is conducted into the architectural potential for this idea in the context of advanced engineering and contemporary construction methods.

The main task of the studio is to explore braiding, weaving and bifurcations as design tools for urban scale structures. The site and program for these explorations is the Expo 2012 in Yeosu, Korea. The site offers the opportunity to work on distributed, tangled networks along the coastline of the Expo Project. All the necessary ­data, such as plans and information about the site will be available from the studio master. Due to the size of the project group work is encouraged, limited to a maximum group size of 3 students.

For more information please visit the studio blog: http://bifurbication.blogspot.com/

 It is highly recommended that prospective students of this studio pick up the reader Deep Ornament: Primer that is available in the DIA Office. This reader forms the theoretical basis of the work in the studio.

 

 

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SPAN will be part of the exhibition Rouse[d] which will open its doors Saturday September 26st, at 555 Gallery, 5716, Michigan Ave, Detroit. The show is comprised of two parts: Part one covers the results of the Rouse[d] competition and shows the best results. The second part, that includes the work of SPAN, shows a series of innovative architecture practices that encompass the universe of digital design. Among the long list of participants are the likes of Marc Fornes (theverymany), Skyler Tibbits, Tom Wiscombe (Emergent), Andrew Kudless (MATSYS), Alisa Andrasek (Biothing), Cage Clemenceau, Roland Snooks (Kokkugia) and Chris Perry & Marcelyn Gow (Servo). 

Concept

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The current Issue of Frame magazine focusses on the issue of color. This edition also features the Austrian Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 by SPAN & Zeytinoglu.

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Here is a description of the Magazines Agenda: 

Frame is the world's barometer of interior design. The magazine shows you what's happening and where to find it. The hottest spaces, the coolest products, spiced up with slices of art and architecture: that's the essence of Frame magazine. We gather the most radical and fashionable work from around the globe and package it to perfection in six hefty issues a year. Loaded with nothing but the best in contemporary design, Frame is an inspiring and indispensable reference for professionals in interior design and other creative pursuits.

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Finally, after a Semester of hard work our students presented their results to a distinguished panel of critics at the Dessau Institute of Architecture. The results of this semesters work at the Advanced Architecture Studio where well received by the Jury consisting mainly of members of the Faculty of the Kansas State University and some additional members such as Nina Rappaport. Here are some images of the sudents work:

Park Guell Butterfly House, Interior ©Isa Cabera 2009

Park Guell Butterfly House, ©Isa Cabera 2009

Park Guell Butterfly House, ©Wong Chui Kwan 2009

Park Guell Butterfly House, ©Mahmud Nobi 2009

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The design of the Austrian Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 made it on to the cover of the renowned Austrian architecture magazine Architektur & Bauforum. The editorial by journalist Brigitte Amort describes the history of Austria´s contribution to various World Expo´s, starting with the hosting of the 1873 World Expo in Vienna, through the various contributions such as in Sevilla, Aichi and Zaragosa to the upcoming world Expo in Shanghai 2010. The project is described extensively within the editorial. Architektur & Bauforum is available at the kiosk of your choice.

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Review TU

Review TU

 specific desire: the desire to create seamless continuous bodies as well as sleek and unarticulated surfaces. In this course we are going to tackle this problem with a different approach, opposing the before mentioned desires, and embarking on an exploration of the surface grammar. Three components, differentiation, structure and form, can be read as archetypes of architectural conditions, simultaneously unfolding in novel spatial experiences trough the use of advanced computational design techniques that enable us to explore other geometries.

What we perceive, or understand as a surface grammar, can be described as the means to generate all the valid strings of a specific surface language; it can also be used as the basis for a recognizer that determines for any given string whether it is grammatical (i.e. belongs to the language). To describe such recognizers, formal language theory uses separate formalisms, known as automata.

Surface Grammar Studio TU-Wien

A grammar can also be used to analyze the strings of a language – i.e. to describe their internal structure. In computer science, this process is known as parsing. Most languages have very compositional semantics, i.e. the meaning of their utterances is structured according to their syntax; therefore, the first step to describing the meaning of an utterance in language is to analyze it and look at its analyzed form (known as its parse tree in computer science, and as its deep structure in generative grammar).

In this sense we are using geometry as the basic grammar of the surface explorations. To rigorously investigate this condition the course relies on a contained set of geometrical rules, or strings of information. This container is formed by specific tessellations. Two conditions form the rules of the surface grammar:
Tessellation & Delamination. These two conditions alone can create a thriving array of variation.

Expressions

Charakter

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Det5

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Transit

Panel discussion...

David Rutten showcasing Grasshopper

Chris Williams

Recent introduction and coupling of digitally mediated design and production environments facilitated a radical deviation from the traditional ways of using representations, knowledge assets, organisational forms and standards. At the core of the technological shift lies the 3D knowledge rich Parametric Design and Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools/systems. These systems offer radically new methodologies to merge design with execution. The relationship between the designer, the organisational structure of the collaborating parties and their interaction with different tools (e.g. Parametric design and BIM tools) at different stages of the design process and the extent to which this interaction contributes to innovation vary. Different tools and systems suggest different workflows and support different organisational structures and methodologies. As architectural design/production moving towards a more dynamic and process oriented model for digital practice, both the profession and the academy is in the process of coming terms with these new forms of thinking.

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Concept

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