AA Global Visiting Workshop hosted by CCA
10 Day Intensive Workshop _ 12 July to 21 July, 2010
BIODYNAMIC STRUCTURES
AA Visiting School @ CCA California College of the Art
Monday 12 to Wednesday 21 July, 2010
Biodynamics is the study of the force and energy of dynamic processes on living organisms. Through simple mechanisms embedded within the material logic of natural systems, specific stimuli can activate a particular response. This response occurs in carnivorous plants such as the Venus fly-trap, which uses turgor pressure to trap small insects in order to feed, and worms, which by contracting differently oriented muscles, achieve movement. This ten-day intensive workshop, co-taught by the faculty of the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the AA and the faculty of Architecture and MEDIAlab at California College of the Arts, will explore active systems in nature, investigating biomimetic principles in order to analyze, design and fabricate prototypes that respond to electronic and environmental stimuli. Students will work in teams to research specific biological systems, extracting logics of organization, geometry, structure and mathematics. Advanced analysis, simulation, modeling and fabrication tools will be introduced in order to apply this information to the design of both passive and active responsive architectural systems. Investigation and application of robotics, sensors and actuators will be employed for the activation of the material system investigation through the construction of working responsive prototypes.
Michael Weinstock (Academic Head, Director of Emergent Technologies Programme, AA London UK)
Christina Doumpioti, Evan Greenberg, Konstantinos Karatzas (Tutors, AA EmTech Programme, London UK)
Jason Kelly Johnson [Future Cities Lab], Andrew Kudless [Matsys] (CCA MediaLab Coordinators, SF CA)
ASSOCIATED FACULTY
George Jeronimidis (Director of Center for Biomimetics, University of Reading UK); Andrew Payne (LIFT Architects, Grasshopper Primer); Daniel Segraves (ASGG Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture); Ronnie Parsons + Gil Akos (Studio Mode, NY); Daniel Piker (Kangaroo Project Live Physics)
XERO: meaning dry; extremely arid (pronounced “zero”).
MAX: to the greatest or furthest degree; totally.
XEROMAX is a prototype for desert living; calibrated, tuned and responsive to its desert habitat. It is an adaptable, mutable and variable desert ecology. Contrary to current trends in desert suburban development, XEROMAX is a porous, permeable and evolving habitat in synchronicity with its surroundings – hyper situated, indigenous and local. XEROMAX responds to the DNA of the desert: wind direction, solar orientation, temperature, sand. XEROMAX attempts to reconcile two antithetical and disparate conditions that define modern desert living: extreme climate and extreme sprawl. How can the intense heat, aridity, and blistering sunshine of the desert be reconciled with the vast expanses of single-family homes cooled by central air, surrounded by golf courses, and bordered by artificial lakes? Can the synthetic recombination of these extreme conditions spawn productive new hybrids of desert living machines, landscapes and ecologies?
The exhibition includes a series of drawings, study models, and the XEROMAX Robot [XR]. XR is a working prototype for a responsive architectural system and interface. The XR model weaves ultra thin shape-memory alloy activated truss modules, arrays of infrared edge sensors with customized LCD display. It is part kinetic structure, part experimental interface, and part analytical drawing instrument. In addition to adapting in real-time to shifting conditions in the gallery, XR’s metaheuristic behavior gains intelligence, spatial complexity and richness over time.
Project Credits: Nataly Gattegno + Jason K. Johnson
Joy Wang was instrumental during design development and contributed greatly to the project. The XEROMAX research and exhibition was generously supported by the University of Michigan Fellowships in Architecture program 2008-09. We would also like to thank (in alphabetical order): Brad DeVries, Robin Dripps, Michael Hopkins, Miko, David Malda, William R. Morrish, Jae Oh, Lucia Phinney, Richard Tursky, Natalie Wiersma, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and Tom Buresh, the TCAUP Research Through Making Grant, the Graham Foundation, and MIGA Motors in Berkley, CA.
“In a landscape where nothing officially exists, absolutely anything becomes thinkable, and may consequently happen …” [Reyner Banham, Scenes in America Deserta]
XEROMAX Exhibition Opening images (below) from the 4/09/09 UMich TCAUP Fellow’s Show with Britt Eversole’s installation This Time is out of Joint.
Super Galaxy NYC > Tropospheric Refuge, Hotel and Leisurescape
Super Galaxy is an architectural system saturated in atmospheric and electronic phenomena. It is a nomadic enclave in an endless state of spatial and material flux. As it fluctuates between states of varying coherence (solidity, liquidity, and gaseousness) its inner structure maintains an invisible, yet definable pattern. It is a responsive system capable of dynamically interacting with its surroundings on many levels. It is in a constant state of motion as it calibrates and recalibrates relative to both real-time global datasets (weather, pollution, warfare, etc.) and local datasets (desired micro-climates, heat exchange, light and sound). Project Credits: Jason Johnson, Nataly Gattegno with Carrie Norman, Beth Haber, Thomas Kelly
Metatropic Housing Colony on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA
Under Development >>> Updated Images, Project Info coming soon!
Credits: Jason Johnson, Nataly Gattegno with David Malda
