Ddf generative design FA10

From TTU College of Architecture

Office: 705 C Email: Christian.Pongratz@ttu.edu Studio location: 601 Phone: 806-742-3169-226 Course time: T>9-11.50 A.M. Office Hours: W 10-11 A.M.

Course Instructor: Christian R Pongratz

Course Information: ARCH 5304 (5301_FA2010_Special Problems in Architecture (3). Prerequisite: College approval. Individual study projects in architecture of special interest to students. May be repeated for credit. Particularly useful for Interdisciplinary Studies master’s program.)
Generative Design Credits: 3 semester credit hours

Generative Design

Catalog description

Generative Design (3:3:3). Explores emerging methods of computation as generative drivers of the design process, where design intent captured through algorithmic processes and parametric modeling enables design alternatives.

Course purpose

This course is an elective class and part of the digital design and fabrication certificate. It is a digital design media driven class, where technology is used to teach specific design research skills. Class assignments and exercises will inquire how to define research that supports design innovation in contemporary practice. Students that gain insight into the deep knowledge which informs innovative design strategies, learn on how to reflect on the results and are able to creatively apply it to other design projects.

Course description

This course is an intensive introduction dedicated to advanced computing and parametric modeling. It will explore digital processes of design related to the intellectual conceptualization and development of formfindung in Architecture. Investigating topics such as, generative natural systems, the history of evolutionary morphological processes of form development and their resulting geometrical changes is expected to trace a relationship with emerging computational models of form generation. A particular field of computational techniques coupled with a conceptual research theme may be determined by the instructor each semester, such as the discreet variation and modularization of surfaces in relationship to the theory of difference and repetition, formgebung versus formfindung, generative design, evolutionary design, genetic algorithms, component assembly in nature and their self-organizing potentials.

Methodology of inquiry:

Recent algorithmic processes and scripting techniques in several software packages (MEL, GH, DP, GC etc.), allow for control, variation and differentiation of design strategies through parametric definition and scheduled intelligence. Instead of linear processes being employed in the design development process as in the past, chance and performance occur simultaneously, which permits us to address current necessities with inclusive design strategies. The exploration of relationships and dependencies of objects with programmed loops and open “what if” conditions maximizes the exploration of a large number of variations within reduced time restraints. The course is intended to explore with small exercises the different steps involved with design logic, parametric and programming concepts. With increasing competency, individual methods, paths and programs will be developed which experiment with the potential of parameter changes and environmental influences on the system.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course the student will gain the following abilities:

Design process
Ability to develop a methodology of formal exploration and expression as a source of ordering systems and examine its potential to generate spaces. Understand rule-based logic inherent in architecture and demonstrate the codification of the design intention. Design Research Skills
Ability to formulate design research concepts and gather, assess, record, evaluate and apply relevant information into architectural design work.

Digital Design / Media
Ability to use appropriate digital media and technology in the design and building process, including but not limited to emerging computational methods.

Recommended Texts

determined by the semester topic and instructor
• H. Pottmann, A. Asperl, M. Hofer and A. Kilian: Architectural Geometry. Bentley Institute Press (2007), 724 pages, 2200 figures in color, ISBN 978-1-934493-04-5.
• Landa de M, A thousand years of nonlinear history, Swerve Editions, 2000
• Landa de M, Intensive Science and virtual philosophy, Continuum, 2002
• Terzidis K., Algorithmic Architecture, Architectural Press, 2006
• Bateson G., Mind and Nature, A necessary unity (advances in systems theory, complexity, and the human sciences), Hampton Press 2002
References: (In Library)
• Abruzzo E, Ellingsen E, Solomon D; Models, 306090, Vol.11, Princeton Press, 2007
• Silver M., Programming Cultures, AD, 08 2006
• D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form, Cambridge Press, 1992
• Hersey George L., Architecture and Geometry in the Age of the Baroque, University of Chicago Press, 2000

Software

Software requirements will be given by the instructor at the beginning of the class. Students are to purchase student software licenses in the case these are not provided by the College of Architecture. Typically these are latest parametric design programs and afford additional study outside of class time. Students may further be required to participate in workshops as indicated by the instructor. In the case additional outside instructors are invited to participate in workshops or group instruction an additional workshop fee will be established or added as a course fee (FA_2010, estimated 150$).

links:
Nature by Numbers

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