En{coded}fields has grown through multiple events and the infusion tutors’ personal teaching experience in academic arenas like the Angewandte in Vienna, the AA DRL in London and Innsbruck University and the professional environment of Zaha Hadid Architects and CoopHimmelb(l)au. The approach to design is a holistic operation negotiating the macro and micro scales of the built environment.
En{coded}fields. Polymorphism
En{coded}fields. Polymorphism is an advanced design workshop in Florence, taught by Bogdan Zaha and Daniel Bolojan. The workshop’s contemporary discourse will introduce a series of global methodologies through formal explorations of possible design heuristics enacted by the medium of computation and parametric design. The multidimensional offerings one has at hand within the design space give the possibility for almost endless problem space speculations. The need for such explorations comes as an inherent architectural problematic of the ever more increasing global connectivity and changes within the ways we interact. In order for speculation to become lawful one has to acquire meaning. As a core competency, architecture’s task is to articulate form and function into a binomial relation that meaningfully addresses societal needs. Through our approach we carefully articulate this relationship through architecture’s physicality as an information vessel, a milieu specific receptor that transpires as a semiological medium. Architecture’s capacity to “speak” to its users is an essential parameter for a fluid and legible built environment.
This workshop is an opportunity for architects, designers, artists, students of Architecture and Art interested in developing contemporary design strategies through the use of digital techniques. Participants will have the chance to go through a professional design workflow that will combine the use of different tools such as Autodesk Maya, Rhinoceros and Grasshopper; they will build up several technical skills and share their own design ideas.
En{coded}fields. Polymorphism aims to investigate possible scenarios for some Florentine sites that are under the radar for future development and could provide a base for further discussions involving the local community.
Urban Fields (Phase I)
In the first part of the workshop we will be looking at field conditions and how to generate and design such fields that can help structure a possible urban condition in Florence.
We will be exploring dynamic systems, geometric systems and network theories to generate and design an abstract field condition that extends the urban experience of the city onto the vertical dimensions of towers. Simple operations that would span variations from an initial state will give rise to high level of complexity. The goal of this exercise is to create a rich and diversified intelligible urban space that can be later on subjected to local interventions and zooming in to locally enhance each design. This first part will mainly run using Autodesk Maya polygon-modelling, deformers and dynamics – for investigating the design of diverse urban fields – and Maxwell Render – for visualization.
Agent Bodies Polymorphism (Phase II)
The second part of the workshop will build upon first phase; participants will select one archetype (high rise tower) as a study model for further development. Besides engaging with multi agent algorithms design strategies, attendees will address strategic utilisation of structurally and environmentally generated morphologies to design coherent and highly differentiated tower exo-skeletons. Tutors will introduce agent-bodies polymorphism in order to explore the generation of structural aware and capable geometries through agent based formation of non-linear hierarchies and emergent patterns. These agent-bodies will operate in a complex spatial manner to form structure, partitions or enclosure and will operate across scales, creating a poly-scalar level of detail. Attendees will speculate how autonomous systems can create new structures and intelligent distribution of structural elements, about new collaborative strategies of construction and the performativity they will evoke (performance, effects, responsiveness, interaction). This second part will run using a mixed workflow across main platforms such as Rhino/Grasshopper – for structural/environmental analysis and development of agent bodies systems – and Keyshot – for visualization.
Dates
11-15 July 2018
Schedule
10:00am – 1:30pm | 2:30pm – 7:00pm
Venue
EX32 _ Via del Mezzetta 2P, Firenze
Language
English/Italian
Software
Autodesk Maya
Rhinoceros + Grasshopper 3D
Maxwell Render
Keyshot
Participants will need to bring their own laptops with software installed; other plugins will be distributed at the workshop.
Prerequisites
All tutorials are beginner level. No previous knowledge of Maya and Grasshopper needed.
Basic knowledge of Rhinoceros recommended.
Participation
The workshop is limited to the first 20 applicants.
Each student will receive a certificate of participation.
Prices
Prices include VAT and are intended for 5 days workshop. Participants who want to take part only to either the first or the second phase can contact us at: info@ax-om.com.
Special Early registration (only for first 5 applicants) : SOLD OUT
Students 310€
Professionals 360€
Regular registration
Students 390€ *
Professionals 440€
Group registration of 3 or more people will get a 20% discount.
* Students from the University of Florence and previous AX:OM (or D.Chromosome) students will get a 20% discount.
Day 01
Introduction to parametricism: agenda, methods and design brief
Introduction to Maya
Introduction to modelling, animation and dynamic tools
Day 02
Division in teams
Introduction to field condition, urban strategies and design concepts explored in object design.
Development and adaptation of presented tools on urban fields and population objects
Design tests, development of urban fields and object population
Day 03
Design development
Output diagrams, renderings
Mid presentation and discussion
Day 04
Introduction to Grasshopper
Introduction to agent based algorithms
Introduction to behavioural algorithms
Introduction to Agent-bodies Polymorphism
Day 05
Development and adaptation of presented algorithms to work with the extracted archetypes
Design development of tectonic articulation
Output Production
Final presentation and discussion
Bogdan Zaha is a Vienna based computational designer, researcher and architect. He graduated from the Masterclass Studio Zaha Hadid Vienna in 2010 and joined Zaha Hadid Architects in London. He is currently employed in the Agent Based Parametric Semiology Research Project at the Angewandte in Vienna also a PhD candidate at the Institute of Architecture. This is a collaborative research between the Viennese team and Zaha Hadid Architects, the project being led by the Practise’s Principal, Patrik Schumacher. He is also teaching at the Institute for Structure and Design at the University Innsbruck since 2017.
On his evolutionary path he has been teaching various workshops and lectured or exhibited his work in different venues. Past collaborations and exhibitions include Die Angewandte in Vienna and Architectural Association in London as technical tutor and The Venice Biennale as exhibitor.
As a professional and researcher he likes to think about experiencing architectural space as binomial intelligent relationship articulated through carefully crafted aesthetics, He believes in the capacity of architecture to adapt and perform on milieu specificity through embedded global intelligence.
Daniel Bolojan is a Vienna based computational designer, researcher and architect. He received his diploma from University of Applied Arts, Studio Zaha Hadid, were he was also a Research Assistant, teaching Processing, Mel scripting and Grasshopper.
In 2013, he founded his research studio nonstandardstudio, which focuses on generative strategies (e.g. growth processes, multi-agent systems etc.), targeting creation of highly complex autopoietic systems that offer new opportunities for architectural organization, articulation, and signification.
Since 2014 he is a Junior Associate with Coop Himmelbau where he has been practicing on numerous international projects and competitions. He is leading the office push to develop custom computational tools, computational design strategies, virtual reality/augmented reality applications, and robotic fabrication processes.
He is currently a PhD Research Fellow at University of Applied Arts Vienna, under the supervision of Patrik Schumacher, and also an External Lecturer at Innsbruck University.
Andrei Padure is a London based computational designer and architect. He graduated from the Technical University, Faculty of Architecture in Iasi Romania.
In 2013 he started his design and research studio DMG.build with the goal of serving as an operational research and education platform. Twentiyfive workshops later he started to provide consultancy in computational design for various players in the AEC and to partner up with other educational platforms such as rese-arch and DesignMorphine.
He is currently working for Zaha Hadid Architects Office in London.