Awards

1st Prize, Form- Z Joint Study Program Award of Distinction for Fabrication ACADIA: Association of Computer Applications in Architecture Louisville, KY, 2006

Keywords

Computational design; Parametric design; Fabrication studio; Module design; Figuring Configuration

The algorithmic encoding of form affords an unprecedented precision in the description of a design as an instance in a gradual transformation between minute discrete conditions. The study here explores the geometric representation of an architectonic module, the concrete panel with a singular opening/hole, as a continuous unfold between two extreme boundary conditions. The study deploys a particular compositional strategy, the transformation of rectilinear to curvilinear geometry. The process starts out with a script to map the gradual procession from void to solid and the other way around. The script is then reinterpreted in a 3d environment to generate variations on the z-axis. The end form is a gradual decomposition of the solid wall in all three axes. The set of instructions are finally used to generate a two-dimensional negative imprint - a modular formwork - that is used to cast the panels out of concrete. A significant aspect of the project is that the script is used to generate the formwork rather that the form and in doing so opens up one more condition in the loop between composition and construction.