Discrete Automation

The workshop will explore computational design methods for prefabricated furniture and interior elements based on the notion of discreteness.

The discrete introduces a computational understanding of Prefabrication and Modularity in Architecture.  In recent years, prefabrication and modularity have made a come-back in architecture, under pressure of an emerging global housing crisis.

Discrete Design methods attempt to construct large-scale structures from versatile, pixel-like elements, which are independent from the whole. This discrete capitalises on automation and scalability to ultimately offer a more adaptable and complex forms of architecture.

The workshop explores architectural parts as versatile, discrete building blocks with programmable properties, which can be assembled into speculative models for furniture and adaptive reuse of interior spaces. Participants will work with Rhino Grasshopper to build up various computational strategies, while also developing and reflecting on the spatial application of their systems.

There will be an explorative exercise that drives the progress of this workshop where each participant gets to design their own architectural furnishing strategy using custom-developed discrete timber components for a standard floor slab. The workshop will kick off with an initial lecture and an intro to the Grasshopper workflows. Afterwards, participants will develop their own building blocks and applications through hands-on tutorials and presentations.

• Discrete architecture
• Innovative post-tensioned timber construction
• Combinatorial design
• Patterns
• Discrete timber component design
• Grasshopper
• Wasp plug-in
• Representation techniques
• Project driven workshop

• Rhinoceros 6 (free versions available)
• Wasp Grasshopper plug-in installed
• Vray for Rhino (A 30 day trial version of V-ray can be installed here)
• Adobe Photoshop (An Adobe Photoshop trial can be downloaded here)
• A second monitor is highly recommended

Knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper is required. There will be no introduction into these softwares, though we will give an introduction into the specific grasshopper plug-ins.

If you do not have skills in Rhino and Grasshopper, you should register for to our Computational Design for Beginners workshop.

Some use of rendering and representational techniques are a benefit.

Windows operating system is highly recommended since many of the Grasshopper plugins still do not run on Apple IOS operating systems.