Conventionally, material in architecture has been treated as the 'servant' of form. An iterative ... more Conventionally, material in architecture has been treated as the 'servant' of form. An iterative design process, though, that continuously integrates material, form and force has the potential to unfold a new generative logic of form-finding. This offers ways of processing the flow of forces through a material object and balancing variations of form with the organisation and behaviour of material. Toni Kotnik and Michael Weinstock present a series of experimental construction projects, developed within the Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) programme at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, that explore the intricate relationship between material, form and force.
This paper describes the design, fabrication and assembly process of a medium scale demonstrator ... more This paper describes the design, fabrication and assembly process of a medium scale demonstrator that was developed in the framework of the authors' research on Interlocking Particle Structures (IPS). The demonstrator not only served as proof of concept, but also as an exhibition booth during the 2017 Aalto Festival in Espoo, Finland. In addition to insights from the design, fabrication and assembly process, the paper also presents a FEA study that sheds light on the structural performance of individual IPS joints, as well as IPS as a structural system. The demonstrator in question (see fig. 1) is based on a configuration with an initially orthogonal distribution of panels in space. It is composed of six square birch plywood panels with an edge length of 145 cm and a thickness of 27 mm.
Die Erweiterung der grafischen Statik in die 3. Dimension basiert auf der geometrischen Konstrukt... more Die Erweiterung der grafischen Statik in die 3. Dimension basiert auf der geometrischen Konstruktion des Kräfteflusses und steht damit im Kontrast zu einer numerischen Berechnung. Das bedeutet, dass die Logik des inneren Kräfteflusses innerhalb einer Struktur wichtiger wird, als die analytische Bewertung der Struktur. Damit gewährt die grafische Statik einen intuitiven Ansatz und ermöglicht so prozessorientiertes Entwerfen.
Journal- International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, 2011
The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded around the world as one of the pioneers of... more The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded around the world as one of the pioneers of shell structures. In his specific interest in shell form two concepts were melded: Lardy's concept of aesthetics and the universality of the natural laws. Out of this a form-oriented scientific organicism has emerged that, on one hand, coincides with the ideas of Violett-le-Duc and, on the other hand, reflects Alberti's thinking of concinnitas. It is argued that the all-encompassing importance of the laws of nature within Isler's thinking has limited his architecture.
This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with incorporatio... more This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with incorporation of the subjective influence of user feedback in the design process. In the devised framework, the truss chords are described using Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines (NURBS), a representation typically used in computer aided design (CAD) for describing free-form geometry. This allows for a convenient interface between the optimization scheme, namely a particle swarm optimizer (PSO), and the user. Based on the assumption that aesthetic design goals are not straightforwardly quantifiable, key elements for an interactive optimization framework are derived, and implemented for the design of truss structures subject to an additional set of structural criteria/constraints. Setting off from an initial design the user can visually assess interesting solutions that arise during the optimization process, save them for later assessment, actively drive the optimization towards individual goals, re-initialize the process from a set of preferred solutions, or restart the design. For translating the user's perception into quantifiable terms, a criterion is introduced to measure the similarity of candidate solutions with respect to reference designs. The framework is then applied in the design of 2D and 3D truss structures. The effectiveness of the similarity criteria, as well as the ability of the user to drive the optimization towards specific design goals is demonstrated.
The act of changing the direction of a sheet surface along a non-straight curve is a specific cas... more The act of changing the direction of a sheet surface along a non-straight curve is a specific case of curved folding. From an architectural point of view, curved folding is an exciting operation. One or a couple of operation can generate highly complex shell-like spatial enclosure. From a digital design perspective, the implementation of curved folding with the built-in toolsets of available computer-aided design softwares is a challenging problem. The equilibrium state of curved folded geometry is needed to be found with a computational form-finding strategy. To use curved folding as a digital design operation, we introduce a new tool through developing a digital procedure for form-finding. The tool we develop can enable the experimentation with curved folding in the early stage of design process and facilitate the subsequent design development. In this article, we briefly present the literature focusing on curved folding in computational geometry, as well as the scope and description of a subclass of curved folding operation. Then, we introduce a digital tool, CURVED.IT through a design manual for its implementation and an algorithmic framework for its extension. Lastly, we discuss the design examples generated by CURVED.IT, and the potentials of the tool.
<u>Interfaces: Architecture, Engineering, Science</u>, Annual Meeting of the International Association of Shell & Spatial Structures (IASS), Hamburg, 25-27 September 2017, Sep 24, 2017
In the 19 th century it was common to use graphical methods for study the relationship between fo... more In the 19 th century it was common to use graphical methods for study the relationship between form and force. The central element of all drawing methods for representing the inner flow of forces was the investigation of the dependence of equilibrium and force polygons, as well as their representation in two geometrically dependent diagrams with different units. This research is part of an on going project to extend the methods of 'graphical statics' of Carl Culmann (1866) to the third dimension in order to overcome some of the 2D-limitations of this approach. It is focused on the construction of resulting force within 3D and the utilization within discrete space frames (tetrahedrons) in equilibrium. The objective of the EGS is to focus on constructing in contrast to calculating. That means that the logic of the inner force flow leads to a process-oriented and visible approach of design, which gets computationally accessible. With the use of digital tools and increasing importance of performative methods of form-finding a renewed interest in these vector-based geometric methods of construction of force flow has occurred. This maybe will give the possibility to get an alternative to the common form finding methods by relaxation processes and analysis by FEM.
This paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development... more This paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development of a method to use additive manufacturing technology as a generative agent in architectural design process. The primary technique is to variate speed of material deposition of a 3D printer in order to produce undetermined textural effects. These effects demonstrate local variation of material distribution, which is treated as a consequence of interaction between machining parameters and material properties. Current stage of inquiry is concerned with studying material agency by using two different materials as variables in the same experimental setup. The results suggest potential benefits for mass-customized fabrication and deeper understanding of how different materials can be employed in the same manufacturing system to achieve a range of effective behaviors.
Conventionally, material in architecture has been treated as the 'servant' of form. An iterative ... more Conventionally, material in architecture has been treated as the 'servant' of form. An iterative design process, though, that continuously integrates material, form and force has the potential to unfold a new generative logic of form-finding. This offers ways of processing the flow of forces through a material object and balancing variations of form with the organisation and behaviour of material. Toni Kotnik and Michael Weinstock present a series of experimental construction projects, developed within the Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) programme at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, that explore the intricate relationship between material, form and force.
This paper describes the design, fabrication and assembly process of a medium scale demonstrator ... more This paper describes the design, fabrication and assembly process of a medium scale demonstrator that was developed in the framework of the authors' research on Interlocking Particle Structures (IPS). The demonstrator not only served as proof of concept, but also as an exhibition booth during the 2017 Aalto Festival in Espoo, Finland. In addition to insights from the design, fabrication and assembly process, the paper also presents a FEA study that sheds light on the structural performance of individual IPS joints, as well as IPS as a structural system. The demonstrator in question (see fig. 1) is based on a configuration with an initially orthogonal distribution of panels in space. It is composed of six square birch plywood panels with an edge length of 145 cm and a thickness of 27 mm.
Die Erweiterung der grafischen Statik in die 3. Dimension basiert auf der geometrischen Konstrukt... more Die Erweiterung der grafischen Statik in die 3. Dimension basiert auf der geometrischen Konstruktion des Kräfteflusses und steht damit im Kontrast zu einer numerischen Berechnung. Das bedeutet, dass die Logik des inneren Kräfteflusses innerhalb einer Struktur wichtiger wird, als die analytische Bewertung der Struktur. Damit gewährt die grafische Statik einen intuitiven Ansatz und ermöglicht so prozessorientiertes Entwerfen.
Journal- International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, 2011
The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded around the world as one of the pioneers of... more The Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926-2009) is regarded around the world as one of the pioneers of shell structures. In his specific interest in shell form two concepts were melded: Lardy's concept of aesthetics and the universality of the natural laws. Out of this a form-oriented scientific organicism has emerged that, on one hand, coincides with the ideas of Violett-le-Duc and, on the other hand, reflects Alberti's thinking of concinnitas. It is argued that the all-encompassing importance of the laws of nature within Isler's thinking has limited his architecture.
This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with incorporatio... more This paper presents an interactive framework for the design of truss structures with incorporation of the subjective influence of user feedback in the design process. In the devised framework, the truss chords are described using Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines (NURBS), a representation typically used in computer aided design (CAD) for describing free-form geometry. This allows for a convenient interface between the optimization scheme, namely a particle swarm optimizer (PSO), and the user. Based on the assumption that aesthetic design goals are not straightforwardly quantifiable, key elements for an interactive optimization framework are derived, and implemented for the design of truss structures subject to an additional set of structural criteria/constraints. Setting off from an initial design the user can visually assess interesting solutions that arise during the optimization process, save them for later assessment, actively drive the optimization towards individual goals, re-initialize the process from a set of preferred solutions, or restart the design. For translating the user's perception into quantifiable terms, a criterion is introduced to measure the similarity of candidate solutions with respect to reference designs. The framework is then applied in the design of 2D and 3D truss structures. The effectiveness of the similarity criteria, as well as the ability of the user to drive the optimization towards specific design goals is demonstrated.
The act of changing the direction of a sheet surface along a non-straight curve is a specific cas... more The act of changing the direction of a sheet surface along a non-straight curve is a specific case of curved folding. From an architectural point of view, curved folding is an exciting operation. One or a couple of operation can generate highly complex shell-like spatial enclosure. From a digital design perspective, the implementation of curved folding with the built-in toolsets of available computer-aided design softwares is a challenging problem. The equilibrium state of curved folded geometry is needed to be found with a computational form-finding strategy. To use curved folding as a digital design operation, we introduce a new tool through developing a digital procedure for form-finding. The tool we develop can enable the experimentation with curved folding in the early stage of design process and facilitate the subsequent design development. In this article, we briefly present the literature focusing on curved folding in computational geometry, as well as the scope and description of a subclass of curved folding operation. Then, we introduce a digital tool, CURVED.IT through a design manual for its implementation and an algorithmic framework for its extension. Lastly, we discuss the design examples generated by CURVED.IT, and the potentials of the tool.
<u>Interfaces: Architecture, Engineering, Science</u>, Annual Meeting of the International Association of Shell & Spatial Structures (IASS), Hamburg, 25-27 September 2017, Sep 24, 2017
In the 19 th century it was common to use graphical methods for study the relationship between fo... more In the 19 th century it was common to use graphical methods for study the relationship between form and force. The central element of all drawing methods for representing the inner flow of forces was the investigation of the dependence of equilibrium and force polygons, as well as their representation in two geometrically dependent diagrams with different units. This research is part of an on going project to extend the methods of 'graphical statics' of Carl Culmann (1866) to the third dimension in order to overcome some of the 2D-limitations of this approach. It is focused on the construction of resulting force within 3D and the utilization within discrete space frames (tetrahedrons) in equilibrium. The objective of the EGS is to focus on constructing in contrast to calculating. That means that the logic of the inner force flow leads to a process-oriented and visible approach of design, which gets computationally accessible. With the use of digital tools and increasing importance of performative methods of form-finding a renewed interest in these vector-based geometric methods of construction of force flow has occurred. This maybe will give the possibility to get an alternative to the common form finding methods by relaxation processes and analysis by FEM.
This paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development... more This paper presents intermediate results of an experimental research directed towards development of a method to use additive manufacturing technology as a generative agent in architectural design process. The primary technique is to variate speed of material deposition of a 3D printer in order to produce undetermined textural effects. These effects demonstrate local variation of material distribution, which is treated as a consequence of interaction between machining parameters and material properties. Current stage of inquiry is concerned with studying material agency by using two different materials as variables in the same experimental setup. The results suggest potential benefits for mass-customized fabrication and deeper understanding of how different materials can be employed in the same manufacturing system to achieve a range of effective behaviors.
Uploads
Papers by Toni Kotnik