International conference on cross-disciplinary collaboration Sept 27/28 at University of Kaiserslautern

Register now to visit the RCA 2018 conference on cross-disciplinary collaboration in architecture on September 27/28 at University of Kaiserslautern. Meet researchers from leading institutions and groups such as ETH Gramazio Kohler Research, ICD Stuttgart, EPFL Xploration Lab, RWTH Individualised Production IP and many more. Listen to keynotes and roundtable discussions with experts across architectural research including Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, Caitlin Mueller, Michael U. Hensel, Christian Derix ,Margitta Buchert and Eike Roswag-Klinge. Registration includes the RCA2018 book and dinner.

The International Conference aims to discuss topics and methods in architectural research, focusing on their cross-disciplinary interrelations and their relevance to the design process itself. The organizers are interested to see approaches to the development of a research culture in architecture. This conference will identify research topics and methods, encourages a research discourse and provides impulses, especially for young researchers.

Complete info and registration...

Innochain exhibition starts today “Practice Futures – Building Design in a new material age” - KADK, Copenhagen

Aug 31-Dec 7

9.00 am-5.00 pm

KADK Exhibition Hall

Danneskiold-Samsøes Allé 51

1435 Copenhagen K

We invite you to the Innochain exhibition PRACTICE FUTURES: BUILDING DESIGN FOR A NEW MATERIAL AGE at KADK. Innochain is a European PhD network examining new potentials in digital design practice within architecture, engineering, IT, and fabrication. 

The exhibition showcases the results of 15 PhD projects from 6 institutions across Europe. With a strong industry focus, the PhDs are undertaken in collaboration with 14 cutting edge industry partners from across the interdisciplinary field. McNeel Europe S.L. is one of the official industrial partners.

Together we investigate the extended digital chain–the way that a shared digital platform can allow tools for analysis, fabrication and material design to interface so as to create new interdisciplinary methods and digital workflows for future building industry. Here you will see how:

• digital tools can make new use of traditional craft techniques
• resource aware optimization can lead to new structural designs
• shared digital platforms can lead to a new understanding of collaboration

Rhino, Grasshopper + Apps have been extensively used in all these PhD research projects.

The Innochain exhibition PRACTICE FUTURES is co-organised with the international conference PRACTICE FUTURES: Expanding information modelling for a new material age. The conference will take place at the Danish Architecture Centre, Nov 8-9, 2018. Registration to the conference is open now: http://innochain.net/conference/


Innochain Industry partners:
BIG, Bluhmer Lehmann, Buro Happold, Cloud 9, designtoproduction, Fibre, Foster Partners, HENN, McNeel Europe, ROK-Office, S-Form, Str.ucture, White Architects, Smith Innovation

Innochain Academic Partners:
The Bartlett School of Architecture - UCL, IOA - University of Applied Arts Vienna, CITA - The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, ITKE - University of Stuttgartt, IAAC, KTH School of Architecture

Complete details...

Innochain Second Year Colloquium and Lectures in Barcelona

Innochain Second Year Colloquium and Lectures

Barcelona, February 12-14, 2018

The InnoChain Second Year Colloquium, which will take place February 12-14, 2018, is an evaluation event in which all Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) present their research development. 

The InnoChain ITN Network is a shared research training environment examining how advances in digital design tools challenge building culture enabling sustainable, informed and materially smart design solutions. The network aims to train a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers through the development of 15 PhDs, with a strong industry focus that can effect real changes in the way we think, design and build our physical environment.

McNeel Europe is one of the industrial partners of Innochain, supporting the PhD students with the development of state of the art software.

The Second Year Colloquium invites all beneficiaries and industry partners to discuss the research development of the ESR projects in a plenum. 

Keynote speakers will give lectures to support the further research development and invited scientists will evaluate the level of work and progress within the network. In addition, the Industry Partner Board meetings take place on the second day, while meetings of the Steering Committee and ESRs’ take place on the third day.

The Colloquium is organized around three sessions presenting the three Work Packages:

WP3 Communicating Design, Chair Jan Knippers, ITKE

WP4 Simulating for Design, Chair Ulrika Knagenhielm-Karlsson, KTH

WP5 Materialising Design, Chair Bob Sheil, BSA

Visiting Scientists: Mark Burry and Jane Burry (Swinburne University); Christoph Gengnagel (Berlin University of the Arts).

Completed details...

Researcher / Developer wanted in Singapore

The Advanced Architecture Laboratory at Singapore University of Technology and Design is looking for a researcher. The researcher will support software development in Grasshopper for an exciting project that combines architectural design, mathematical optimization, and multivariate visualization. The project aims to develop optimization and design space exploration tools for architectural designers that are more intuitive and efficient than existing ones.

The position entails GUI development, visualization tools, and interfaces between existing software components. Depending on the skills and interests of the candidate, greater involvement with other components of the project (such as benchmarking, user testing, and publications) is possible. The starting date is as soon as possible. More details are available upon request.

Requirements:

• A  Bachelor's degree in computer science and related disciplines, or in architectural design with proven programming skills. 
• A Master's degree is preferred. 
• Knowledge of C# or another .NET language. 
• Familiarity with Windows Presentation Foundation and development using the Grasshopper SDK is not necessary but considered an important asset.

To apply, contact Thomas Wortmann...

Innochain Winter School 2017 in Berlin

HENN will host the Innochain Winter School 2017. Join us for two days of great presentations, discussions, and exhibitions in Berlin.

Innochain Early Stage Researcher (ESRs) and their Industry Partners (IPs), as well as Universities, are asked to describe how their research will make a difference to society and the building profession in both a short and long-term perspective. 

Please join HENN for two days of discussions and presentations.

October 12-13 Public Sessions and Presentations

Complete details...

Tech+ New York - Pushing forward in tech

Tech + 

May 23, 2017 

Metropolitan West

639 W 46th St

New York City

Go to Tech+ to see the latest cutting-edge products to help designers create spaces of the future. Products range from virtual reality-aided design tools, mobile apps, and software platforms to rapid prototyping and fabrication. Come see the latest in smart building systems, advanced materials, networked sensors, and innovative products.

• Exhibitors will have demos and presentations of their newest products and the innovative ways to use them. 
• Check out the long list of featured presenters. 
• A Startup Showcase will feature inspiring student work from leading architecture and design schools and from early stage startups.

Who attends: Architects, engineers, designers, construction and real estate professionals, investors, entrepreneurs, software developers, researchers, makers, students, and more.

Industries: Virtual reality, AEC software, prototyping, smart buildings, drones + robotics, site analysis, IoT.

More info at Tech+ web site....

Register now...

inFORMed Matter Workshops Series: Clay, Polymers & Biomaterials - March, April, May 2017, Turin (Italy)

inFORMed Matter Workshops Series: Clay, Polymers & Biomaterials

inFORMed Clay matter March 24-26, 2017

inFORMed Polymers matter April 21-23, 2017

inFORMed Bio matter May 26-28, 2017

digifabTURINg – Fablab Torino

Via Egeo 16, Torino

The idea for these workshops rose from a collaboration between Co-de-iT, Fablab Torino, and Officine Innesto, based on ongoing Co-de-iT research called inFORMed matter.

The inFORMed Matter Workshops Series is focused on the exploration of nonconventional additive fabrication processes aimed at producing form through the morphogenetic properties of matter and by embedding further information structures during the fabrication process itself by mechanical (robots, printers) or biological (organisms) constructor agents.

Its goal is to step beyond the current state of prototyping, according to which the physical prototype should be as adherent as possible to its digital counterpart, making fabrication a purely replicational process. Instead, by coding and embedding additional levels of digital and material information, new physical and aesthetic properties arise. In this way, the production and digital fabrication phase becomes an integral part of the design process.

By exploring the code-matter-machine interaction process, the potential emergent behaviors of the system can then be studied while, by tapping into the self-organization properties of matter, a new sensibility towards computational design/fabrication process can be learned and exerted.

TOPICS

The inFORMed Matter Workshops Series will explore different material systems in three different workshops:

inFORMed Clay matter workshop
This workshop focuses on the exploration of an integrated digital design and manufacturing process developed through an additive process of ceramic mixture material deposition. By simultaneously understanding material behaviors and tool constraints, participants will acquire the necessary feedback to iterate through the design and production phases by means of custom made digital tools and a 6 axis robotic arm fabrication setup.

inFORMed Polymers matter workshop
This workshop explores the design potentials offered by midair deposition of polymeric material (ABS, PLA). This digital fabrication process is particularly suited for the production of complex lightweight spatial structures, engaging in the design and development of efficient extrusion paths necessary to physically fabricate their designs by means of a custom robotic 3D printing setup.

inFORMed Bio matter workshop
This workshop focuses on the implementation and deposition of living systems (microorganisms) as main materials and agents of transformation of organic matters. Participants will explore different design strategies by programming specific morphogenetic processes and robotic behaviors for the synchronized deployment of both substrates/scaffoldings and of the living materials. Combining the unique potential of computation, robotics, and biological building agents, the workshop will offer the opportunity to explore, algorithmically design, and fabricate temporary structures capable of supporting growth. By simultaneously understanding living materials’ needs and behaviors, as well as constraints, participants will acquire the necessary skills to iterate through the design and production phases by means of custom made digital tools, biological agents and a 6 axis robotic arm fabrication setup.

Registration deadlines:
inFORMed Clay matter workshop – March 17, 2017
inFORMed Polymers matter workshop – April 7, 2017
inFORMed Bio matter workshop – May 5, 2017

To register for one or more workshops please email digifabturing@gmail.com

More information...

Innochain First Year Colloquium + Design Probes Research Exhibition - March 7-8, Vienna (Austria)

Innochain First Year Colloquium (March 7-8) + "Design Probes" Research Exhibition (March 7-20)
Angewandte Innovation Laboratory Vienna
Franz Josefs Kai 3
1010 Vienna (Austria)

On March 7-8, the Innochain First Year Colloquium and "Design Probes" Research Exhibition will take place at Angewandte Innovation Laboratory Vienna.

This pinnacle event within the Innochain network is where all ESRs present and discuss their research and methodologies in plenum with all Innochain beneficiaries and industry partners.

The two day event will open with presentations by ESRs on their research topics and outcomes, with a specific focus on the industry partner collaborations. An international panel will discuss and review the work. The panel consists of beneficiaries, industry partners, and invited scientists:

• Prof. Mark Burry (University of Melbourne)
• Prof. Christoph Gengnagel (UdK Berlin)
• Prof. Achim Menges (University of Stuttgart)

In the evenings the event is open to the public with keynotes, who open up the research and give a broader vision. The exhibition, “Design Probes”, will be on display for two weeks until March 20, 2017. This Innochain exhibition features the work of Innochain in its first 18 months.

Tuesday March 7

•  9:30: Start of Colloquium Day 1
•  20.00: Keynote 1: Strategies for Combining Parametric Modeling and Structural Design – Clemens Preisinger, IoA / Bollinger Grohmann
•  21.00: Exhibition opening 

Wednesday March 8

•  9:00: Colloquium Day 2
•  20:00: Keynote 2: Mark Burry, University of Melbourne

More info here...
Poster and agenda in pdf here...

The InnoChain ETN network is a shared research training environment examining how advances in digital design tools challenge building culture, enabling sustainable, informed and materially smart design solutions. The network aims to train a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers with a strong industry focus that can effect real changes in the way we think, design and build our physical environment.

In-Formation - an installation by Ross Lovegrove for Alcantara® at Imm Cologne (Germany)

In-formation
Imm Kölnmesse
(between Halls 3 and 11)
Messeplatz 1
50679 Köln
January 16-22, 2017

Opening Hours: Mon: 9am-9pm; Tue-Sat: 9pm-6am; Sun: 9am-5pm
Press Conference: January 17, 2017 - 10 am

A>T announced its second collaboration with Ross Lovegrove for "In-Formation", an Alcantara® installation for Imm Cologne, the international interiors show.

This large scale project (about 3meters H x 20meters L), made using Alcantara® fabric stripes, has been a proving ground for A>T's longtime research on developable surfaces. The computational design was made by Arturo Tedeschi, Maurizio A. Degni, and Davide Lombardi.

Digital Wood - Master's Thesis Research Project at Chalmers University of Technology

Digital Wood - Design & fabrication of a full-scale exhibition structure in plywood
Team: Viktoria Henriksson, Emil Poulsen and Oscar Gillkvist

Viktoria Henriksson has been kind enough to share with us her Master's Thesis research project, which she did together with Emil Poulsen and Oskar Gillkvist, for which Rhino and Grasshopper were used as the primary design tools.

"Plywood has many times before been used for temporary structures in architecture, mainly because of the relatively low cost and availability. Plywood is often seen as a perfectly flat sheet material, free from otherwise common properties of timber such as imperfections and grain direction. However, plywood is actually a diverse material with inherent dynamic properties associated with the tree it once came from. This is something that is rarely seen in contemporary plywood design but could be emphasized and more accessible through computational design and digital fabrication.

The research project “Digital Wood” investigates and utilizes the bending properties and dynamics of plywood through the use of computational design and digital fabrication. Through a design-by-research approach using full-scale experiments and digital tools, this project seeks to explore new perspectives of programming timber in the field of architecture and design.

In collaboration with industrial partners, a temporary structure was designed and built for the Wood and Technology exhibition in Gothenburg, Sweden to function as a gathering place and visual label for visitors, while exploring new unexpected ways of implementing wood.

3D-modelling in Rhinoceros and Grasshopper played a major role both in the design process and the realization of the pavilion. Custom tools and scripts were developed and used for everything from generation of cutting patterns to automating the production of CNC files. With the use of modern technology and new treatment methods, “Digital Wood” pushes the boundaries for how conventional material can be used to unleash new creative potentials".

Link to the flip book on Issuu...

The new Arch_Tec_Lab at ETH Zurich

The Arch_Tec_Lab demonstrates how digitization can contribute to resource-efficient, compact, and emission-free construction. Six professors from ETH Zurich have pooled their research approaches and developed a prototype of the innovative building.

The largely digital planning and construction process took six years and involved architects, civil engineers, building service engineers, and construction physicists from six Chairs at the Institute of Technology in Architecture at ETH Zurich. Together, they investigated how to use digital technologies and collaborative planning processes to contribute to resource-efficient and spatially compact construction. They have created a laboratory with real-world conditions where they can apply their latest findings on a 1:1 scale. A new building—the embodiment of sustainability at every possible level—has been built on the roof of an existing car park on the Hönggerberg campus and is connected to the existing Department of Architecture building by a skyway.

See Rhino in use in the video!

More info...

Registration open for DIVA Day 2016 - Toronto

Registration is now open for DIVA Day in Toronto. DIVA Day is an annual symposium to discuss building performance and design using DIVA and environmental analysis tools in design practice, research, and architectural education.

Hosted by Solemma and the John H Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto, DIVA Day is September 30th, with DIVA and HDR photography workshops on September 29th and October 1st.

Register before September 5 to receive the DIVA Day t-shirt. Multiple attendees from the same firm receive 25% off the conference rates. Student rates are also available.

For more information email info@solemma.net.

To register ....

Computational Environmental and Energy Design Workshop - Tallinn (Estonia)

Computational Environmental and Energy Design
4-12 July
Tallinn University of Technology
Departments of Structural Design and Environmental Engineering

Francesco De Luca, Researcher at Tallinn University of Technology, is organizing this workshop on the integration of parametric and generative design methodologies with environmental and energy simulations for architecture and planning.

The workshop is for students of architecture and civil engineering faculties at the master level from Estonia (11 seats), Latvia (3 seats), Lithuania (3 seats), and Sweden (3 seats). The selected students will have a full scholarship that includes travel, board, and lodging in Tallinn for 10 days (arrival on Sunday 3 July 2016 - departure on Wednesday 13 July 2016). The workshop is funded by the NORDPLUS program of the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM) - Higher Education objective.

Description
Digital and computational design tools are increasingly important for design and research for architects and engineers. They permit the integration of environmental and energy aspects from the very early stages of the design and planning process, achieving more performative, efficient, and integrated buildings and urban environments. The workshop attendants will broaden their design and technical knowledge with solar design, daylighting, and energy efficiency topics. They will learn how to integrate environmental analysis and building performance analysis tools with parametric and generative methodologies in architecture and planning.


Registration deadline: 31 May 2016.

Program, info, and registration...

In the weeks just before the workshop, the blog will also present materials and tutorials to get a basic knowledge of the topics prior to the beginning of the workshop.

AA Visiting School Jordan 2016 - 16-25 July, Amman and Aqaba / Red Sea (Jordan)

AA Visiting School Jordan 2016

Hyperbolic Reefs

July 16-25, 2016

Amman and Aqaba / Red Sea (Jordan)

The Jordan Visiting School (AAVVJO) is a summer program which operates beyond the traditional context of the AA at Bedford Square in London. It is an intensive, thought-provoking workshop which investigates natural and ecological phenomena found in Jordan and across the Middle East region. The design-research investigations of the program rethink the existing architectural practices in the region, and how architecture is conceived in ecologically sensitive areas. The program focuses on computational design methodologies and how they can relate to the abstraction and generation of natural phenomenon and morphologies.

This year's program brings together a network of distinguished international faculty and guests to offer design-research units, specialist software tutorials, and a guest lecture series. The program will be primarily based in Amman and will include an exclusive visit to Aqaba to study and document various marine habitats via snorkeling, photography, and 3D scanning.

At Jordan’s southern-most tip, the Gulf of Aqaba encapsulates vast biodiversity of marine life including coral reefs and benthic organisms and habitats, many of which are endemic to the area.

In July 2016, the focus will be on distinct marine topologies and morphologies found in the Gulf of Aqaba and their transfiguration into outcomes within architecture and design, with a particular focus on computational design methods.

Program Director:
Kais Al-Rawi

Program Faculty:
Julia Koerner, UCLA | JK Design
Vincenzo Reale, ARUP | AA
Filippo Nassetti, Zaha Hadid Architects | Mhox
Kais Al-Rawi, Walter P Moore | AA
Rana Zureikat, AA
Marie Boltenstern, Boltenstern
Mohamad Makkouk, Laceco International

Limited spaces are available. Register here.

Contact email: jordan@aaschool.ac.uk

Application/Payment deadline: June 15 2016

More info...

AAVVJO web site...

Register here...

FSU’s Facility for Arts Research is a new RhinoFabLab

We'd like to introduce you to the Florida State University's Facility for Arts Research. Please join us in welcoming FAR FAB LAB as a new Authorized RhinoFabLab.

About the Facility for Arts Research

Located in Tallahassee, Florida, FAR is part of Florida State University’s College of Visual Arts, Theatre & Dance. FAR incorporates both Small Craft Advisory Press (SCAP), which blends traditional and digital printmaking processes and promotes collaborations to create artists’ books, and formLab, which gives artists, designers and scientists access to a variety of tools they can use to create unique 3D objects and explore and visualize form in a tactile, multisensory way. 

Visit FAR on the web at artsresearch.fsu.edu or check out FAR’s Facebook page. For more information, contact Michelle Ray, Information Assistant/Writer, Facility for Arts Research or call (850)562-1238.

What is a RhinoFabLab?

A RhinoFabLab™ (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale digital workshop, certified by McNeel, with an array of Rhino and Rhino compatible software and computer controlled tools and training. These tools cover the various leading-edge industrial methods and materials needed to design, analyze, and fabricate almost anything.

Robots in Architecture Association

Robots in Architecture is a young association founded by Sigrid Brell-Cokcan and Johannes Braumann. Its main goal is to show approaches on how to integrate the robot not just in the parametric model, but in the design process itself.

Robots in Architecture has just recently developed some interesting Grasshopper plug-ins for intuitive KUKA robot control (incorporating e.g. milling strategies or full kinematic control). Its work will be presented at CAAD Futures 2011, 3D Modeling Symposium Berlin and ACADIA 2011.

• July 4-8 - CAAD Futures 2011, Liege - Belgium
  Workshop "Parametric Design to Production"
   This workshop will demonstrate the optimization of the robot data workflow from digital parametric design to a physical geometry. In Grasshopper the robot's end effector visualization, the generation of manufacturing and design variants for mass customization and the necessary calculations for direct robot programming will be performed in real time providing instant design feedback. As a result of the parametric design process the KRL (KUKA Robot Language) Code will be automatically generated. A KUKA robot will be used for physically producing the participants' parametric designs. The custom KRL Component will be available. Participants will be introduced to the concepts of production inmanent design, manufacturing parametric designs, writing G-Code for CNC machining and controlling a robot with existing parametric design software (Grasshopper).
   
• October 8-12 - Design Modelling Symposium Berlin - Germany
   Master Class "Plug & Play a KUKA robot" In this two-day Master Class participants will be using an innovative plug-in for Grasshopper, which enables the intuitive generation of robot code directly out of the parametric environment, without the former need for special software suites. This direct integration of CAD and CAM allows users to easily combine the existing geometric and analytic components of Grasshopper with the new robotic component – not only to rapidly output physical models but also to analyze, simulate and optimize the design and fabrication strategy, as well as to implement concepts such as mass customization. A compact KUKA KR5 sixx R650 industrial robot will be available on site to execute the parametrically generated jobs.
   
• October 11-16 - ACADIA 2011, Calgary / Banff - Canada            "We'll be presenting something really exciting at this year's ACADIA conference in Calgary/Canada. The uploaded sneak peak should be able to give you a hint what's coming up! :) Hopefully we'll meet many of you fellow robot-handlers there!"

Grasshopper gets iterative loops

Yiannis Chatzikonstantinou has introduced a new Grasshopper component called Hoopsnake.

Hoopsnake makes it possible to send the output of a set of components back to its input in a looping fashion. With a little bit of Data Tree manipulation, this should open up some new possibilities for iterative process modeling.

Find out more at the Hoopsnake group.

FioredelCielo: a user story

Designed in Rhino, FioredelCielo is the competition-winning project for "La Macchina di Santa Rosa" of Viterbo in Italy (2009). The design concept was developed by Architecture and Vision using parametric 3D design methods and experimenting with models and real scale mock-ups in collaboration with local manufacturers and experts.

Each year, at the beginning of September, the 30 m high structure is carried through the narrow streets of the medieval town and stops at each major square. Every five years a new design is introduced. FioredelCielo is characterized by a space-frame structure wrapped with three helix bands. Inside three perforated spheres are suspended on different levels representing different stages of Santa Rosa's life (the patron of the city).

All the materials used, like the light-weight steel truss design and waterjet perforated aluminum panels, are fire-resistant. The tower weighs less than five tons. The tower is illuminated by hundreds of candle flames and more than 1200 computer-controlled LEDs. A sophisticated scenography has been developed to emotionally move the people participating in the event. At one stop, thousands of rose petals are released, gently falling from the top of the tower onto the people.

More info...