Archive of articles classified as' "aesthetics"
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Reworks-Ripple Bench
28/09/2011
We joined forces with our beloved KUH to design and construct two public space installations under the auspices of the notorious Reworks festival that takes place every year in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.
EPIC BITE
10/08/2011
bite:(Urban Dictionary Definition)
To rip off another person’s style, especially with respect to art. From early hip-hop culture.
ex.: “Why don’t you come up with your own style instead of biting every piece that hits it big in the streets?”
T_wist table
11/06/2011
Topotheque was asked to design a conference table for the meeting room of an architectural office in Ioannina, Greece. T-wist table is a case study of a research on algorithmic design that can be easily customized and rapidly fabricated. The algorithm analyzes any given surface according to its UVs coordinates in a waffle-like structure and after setting certain parameters (grid density,ribs, material thickness etc) , it outputs a labeled 2d design that can be nested and cut from a flat sheet using CNC technology. The interlocking ribs can be assembled easily even by non specialized workers. The algorithm was developed in Rhinoscript based on a David Man’s script.
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7PLY 2011
3/06/2011
7ply project launches again for 3rd year. An amazing event powered by Propaganda Skateboards taking place at Technopolis Gazi Exhibition Space in Athens. More information about the event here. Topotheque is taking part in the skateboard exhibition and welcomes everybody who is going to be in Athens on the 4th and 5th of June 2011. Special thanks to Selfaux and our guardian angel Samiamidi Spectrum. Enjoy!
Actualizing Ornament with Shape Grammars
6/04/2011By Magdalena Pantazi
Abstract
In the past two decades, a shift in perception of the notion of ornament has occurred in architecture. Ornament, which was almost exiled from design for about a century, reappeared in architectural discourse and began to participate actively in the design process. The development of computer software seems to have had a significant impact on this shift: the use of new digital means in the design process introduced novel ways of approaching ornament design problems and, more specifically, renewed the architect’s interest in using algorithms to solve these problems. The use of algorithmic processes is expected to expand the potentialities of ornament design, leading to unique and novel artifacts. So far, however, little research has been done in this field and the reasons that led to the resurfacing of ornament in architectural design remain vague. This paper will examine the reappearance of ornament in architectural discourse and will argue that the emergence of computation facilitated this return. In order to examine how computation influenced the design of ornament I will study the way that shape grammars – a visually based computational design technique – introduce ornament into design. In this framework, I will attempt to develop a grammar for ornament design. In order to study the possible combination of the rules application and to produce many different results I will use the computer-based programming language processing.