This week we covered the topic of nature and ecologies, as well as working on the concept for our final research project of the term.
For our research topic we were tasked to form groups and pick a theme. I decided to work with a student that has a similar background to me; before starting the course we both worked in Graphic Design, even studying the same BA at the Arts University Bournemouth. We were both interested in researching how generative design can be merged with methods of traditional craft, such as the letterpress, sculpture and the construction of buildings. In regards to an artefact, we are interested in using rules and algorithms generated from computational tools and exploring how this can be realised through techniques such as 3D printing, CNC milling or laser cutting.
I was particularly interested in architecture and how the forms we generate could influence the design of a building. This is similar in a way to the work of Frank Gehry, an architect that takes influence from the forms of everyday objects such as tin cans or crunched up bits of paper, as well as quick sketches:
“I know I draw without taking my pen off the page. I just keep going, and that my drawings I think of them as scribbles. I don’t think they mean anything to anybody except to me, and then at the end of the day, the end of the project they wheel out these little drawings and they’re damn close to what the finished building is and it’s the drawing”
I find Gehry’s methods interesting, as it is a lot looser than what you would commonly assume an architects process to be. I feel like his work could be a useful starting point for this project, as we have to come up with concepts in a limited time frame. I also found an interesting book at Goldsmiths library titled ‘Generative Design, Form and Technique’ by Asterios Agkathidis. A course leader at the Liverpool School of Architecture, he teaches his students to use computational tools to create 3D objects, considering how they could be used to influence the form of a building.
I also discovered another book titled ‘Form and Code in Design, Art and Architecture’. It gives an overview of digital art and computation throughout history, looking at a variety of disciplines in which it has had an influence. I was particularly interested in the piece ‘Resolution Wall’ by ‘Gramazio & Kohler’:
This piece was created with a variety of concrete blocks at different sizes, pieced together with robotic arms. The use of large blocks accelerates the building of the wall but reduces its resolution, affecting the level of detailing. Small modules are placed where a high density of information is desired, while areas with low information can be built quickly and efficiently with larger blocks.
Another topic explored this week was around the theme of Nature and Ecology. One of the podcasts I was tasked to read was interesting as it covered topics such as how VR and AR can be used to imagine new realities. It includes an interview with Jakob Kudsk Steensen, an artist that uses virtual reality to create environmental storytelling about natural phenomenon. I find it interesting how Steensen use this technology to provide a connection with natural environments - he explains in the podcast that this is achieved from a ‘sensory vacuum’ that occurs when someone puts on a VR headset. An example can be seen in the piece tree VR, in which Steensen uses VR technology to replicate an area of the Peruvian Rainforest that is suffering from de-forestation:
Bibliography:
jakobsteensen.com/about
https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/back-to-earth-systems-and-sprouts/
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Generative-Design-Methods-Implementing-Techniques-Agkathidis/e89c273d26e9a8b4577c707741b019b88d962295/figure/4
https://gramaziokohler.arch.ethz.ch/web/e/lehre/131.html
https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1068402
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/architecture/staff/asterios-agkathidis/publications/
formandcode.com