Wendi Rahm and Erin Lindley
ARCH 6012: Digital Fabrication Studio
Athanassios Economou, PhD; Nadir Tehrani
Spring 2006

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

Composition-construction. Form-formwork. Fabric-fashion. Rigid -fluid. From studies on fabric-formed concrete to computational scripting, this project explores moments of transition from the energized to the calm, from the spatial to the planar. Through movement and material, the project engages its user in a series of sensory shifts from smooth [flat, even, level] surfaces to undulating ones and from straight paths to winding ones. The circulation adheres to the walls created by the splits remaining rigid to the north/south axis and transition to the fluid, winding stairs as they follow the walls from the exterior to interior. The walls serve as a representation of the larger theme of the project. In the experiential and formal shifts, the wall/stairs flow from the rigid axis to the fluid one. The stairs, embedded in the wall, negotiate their own rigid geometry with that of the flowing fabric -like concrete wall.

Lorraine Ong
ARCH 6012: Digital Fabrication Studio
Athanassios Economou, PhD; Nadir Tehrani
Spring 2006

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.