CA-Tetra Forming
Tetra Forming is a study on combining the notion of world building with gaming theory from the one side and the concept of computational design with of digital fabrication in architecture on the other side. Worldbuilding or conworlding is the process of constructing a fictitious world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe, it is a metaphoric vehicle that allows us to imagine a set of problems and contextualize them within a worldview.
We investigate this topic as a potential empowering tool that can provide us with a new set of tools and skills to contextualize and tackle design problems. Therefore we use it as metaphor to create the design space upon which we develop a non linear computational design scenario. This approach combines gaming theory, with basic tectonic and geometric principles as well as the real time user experience and feedback that gaming involves .Inspired by natural phenomena such as termites and their building activities, as well as technological advancements in digital fabrication and material science this project describes a ubiquitous game that speculates on a swarm construction system in which robots and people cooperate to build 3D structures much larger than themselves in order to expand the territory of an fictitious island located in the pacific ocean.
Tetra Forming from topotheque on Vimeo.
Rendering an “updated model of making”: spatial aggregations class
Images from an ongoing project at DFAB (Gramazio and Kohler), ETH Zurich,
Images from an ongoing project at DFAB (Gramazio and Kohler), ETH Zurich,
This project is part of an elective course that is focusing on the notion of Digital Materiality, which describes emerging changes in the expression of architecture.Today, materiality is increasingly enriched with digital properties and is developing into a formative effect of our built environment. Digital Materiality arises from the interplay between digital and material processes during designing and building. Data and material, programming and design are intertwined. This synthesis is made possible by digital fabrication. The goal of this course is to position straight rod-like elements in space by making use of robot`s six degrees of freedom. Part of the investigation is the configuration of buildup sequences as well as the evaluation of logics that allow to aggregate spatial structures without the need of additional scaffolding. Such aggregations lead away from conventional space- frame typologies, performing ever more complex structural capabilities. In this, it is enabled a new design scope while generating robust, inherently redundant aggregations with multiple load paths and connection opportunities.
The proposed scheme takes as its departure points: a)the principle of the reciprocal frame b) a certain numbers of sticks, as well as c) the basic principle of the all the possible ways of connections between the rods.
With a script that was developed in Python, different patterns of connections are being investigated. The generation of the geometry is based on two curves that define one surface as well as a base curve that defines the footprint of the structure.
At the final stage of this course, a selected design scheme will be further developed and we will be constructed with the aid of the Chair’s robotic facilities in 1:1 scale, during a 4 week workshop in June.
Title: Raristev.
Date: SS2012
Location:Zurich,CH.
Type: Architecture, Digital fabrication,Scripting
Platforms: Rhino, Python, Kuka robot
