Projects
Seed (p_ball)
Size: 96″ x 96″ x 96″
Location: University of California, Berkeley Botanical Garden, Redwood Grove
Material: Fiber-Reinforced Concrete
Exhibition: Natural Discourse: Artists, Architects, Scientists & Poets in the Garden
Project courtesy Salamatina Gallery. Please contact the gallery for more information on the project.
Description: The latest iteration of the “P” series of projects (P_Wall(2009), P_Wall (2006), P_Wall (Weathering)), the Seed takes the series into a new dimension. Inspired by the vitality of the Redwood Grove at the UC Botanical Garden, the Seed attempts to embody the fertility, wonder, and strength of the redwoods through the placement of this mysterious concrete object within the Grove. The form is composed of 32 thin-shell fiber-reinforced concrete panels that are based off of plaster patterns made from casting liquid plaster into fabric forms. The fabric expands under the mass of the plaster slurry until it finds a state of equilibrium with the tensioned fabric. This play between the pressure of the liquid versus the tension in the fabric fibers mirrors the dynamic conflict that exists within every cell of organic bodies.
Credits: Andrew Kudless (Design), Ron Rael of Emerging Objects for the fabrication of the 3D-printed concrete prototype, Mark Rogero of ConcreteWorks for the generous donation of fabrication support, David Shook for engineering support, and Shirley Watts and Mary Anne Friel (curators and organizers of the exhibition, and all of the staff of the Botanical Garden for their support.
Rendering of Seed within the Botanical Garden's Redwood Grove
3D printed concrete prototype by Emerging Objects
3D printed concrete prototype by Emerging Objects
3D printed concrete prototype by Emerging Objects
3D printed concrete prototype components by Emerging Objects
3D printed concrete prototype components by Emerging Objects
Inflation Test 01 from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
Chrysalis (III)
Size: 190cm x 90cm x 90cm
Materials: Composite paper-backed wood veneers from Lenderink Technologies. Cherry veneer (exterior) and poplar veneer (interior).
Tools: Grasshopper, Kangaroo, Python, Lunchbox, Rhinoscript
Location: Permanent Collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Exhibition: Multiversites Creatives, May 2 – August 6, 2012
Project courtesy Salamatina Gallery. Please contact the gallery for more information on the project.
Description: The latest in a series of projects exploring cellular morphologies, Chrysalis (III) investigates the self-organization of barnacle-like cells across an underlying substrate surface. The cells shift and slide across the surface as they attempt to find a more balanced packed state through the use of a relaxed spring network constrained to the surface. Each cell is composed of two parts: a cone-like outer surface made from cherry veneer and a non-planer inner plate made from poplar veneer that stresses the outer cone into shape. Each of the 1000 cell components are unfolded flat in the digital model, digitally fabricated, and hand assembled.
For more information about the exhibition, please download the Multiversites Creatives press releases in English or French.
Credits: Andrew Kudless (Design), Jason Vereschak and Emily Kirwan (Fabrication Support), Maciej Fiszer (for the lending of assembly space in Paris), and the Pompidou Centre Industrial Prospectives Department (Valerie Guillaume, Hélène Ducate, Dominique Kalabane, and Marguerite Reverchon)
Orthographic Drawings
Diagram of Plate Formation
Still frames of 2D animation of cell relaxation from pure voronoi network to relaxed voronoi network (vorlax)
Assembly Diagram showing the various stages over 5 days in different colors
Vorlax in 2D from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
Vorlax on Surface from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
SG2012 Gridshell
Location: Smartgeometry 2012, RPI, Troy, NY
Size: 11m x 7m x 4m
Material: Straight Wood Lath
Workshop: Gridshell Digital Tectonics
Workshop Instructors: Mark Cabrinha, Andrew Kudless, David Shook
Description: This 4-day workshop at SmartGeometry 2012 focused on the design and construction of a wooden gridshell using only straight wood members bent along geodesic lines on a relaxed surface. Using parametric tools, the design was developed and analyzed to minimize material waste while maximizing its architectural presence in the space. In addition, a feedback loop was designed between the parametric geometric model and a structural model allowing for a smooth workflow that integrated geometry, structures, and material performance.
More information on the Smartgeometrty website.
Workshop Collaborators: Elif Erdogan, Giuseppe Giacoppo, Alexander Jordan, Chu-Hao Pan, Lara Alegria Mira, Elliot Mistur, Artyom Maxim, Sarah Murray, Dan Reynolds, Oliver Sjöberg, Caressa Siu, Elsa Wifstrand, Katja Virta
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Photo by Mark Cabrinha
Front Elevation
Side Elevation
Assembly Plan
Rendering showing proposed mini-lath skin
2D Lath Layout
Detail of 2D Lath Layout
Curvature Analysis of smallest bending radii in structure
Smartgeometry 2012 Gridshell Digital Tectonics Cluster from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
sg2012 cluster: gridshell digital tectonics from Marc Webb on Vimeo.
Catalyst Hexshell
Date: 2012
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Size: 25′ x 30′ x 12′
Material: 1/8″ Corrugated Cardboard
Description: This project was the result of a 4-day workshop taught with Marc Swackhamer at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture in March 2012. The workshop explored the design and fabrication of shell structures. Inspired by the work of designers such as Guadi, Otto, and Isler, the workshop explored how digital tools could be used in the design, simulation, and fabrication of a contemporary thin-shell structure. The workshop was structured in the following way:
- Day 1: Parametric Modeling Tutorials and Lecture on Thin-Shell Structures
- Day 2: Design Competition among student teams
- Day 3: Fabrication
- Day 4: Assembly
Credits: The project could not have happened without the amazingly talented and dedicated students at the University of Minnesota who designed and built the structure using the tools that I provided them at the beginning of the workshop. Thanks to all of them:
Namdi Alexander, Daniel Aversa, Tia Bell, Alex Berger, Amy Ennen, Andrew Gardner, John Greene, Kelly Greiner, Artemis Hansen, David Horner, Jonathon Jacobs, Hwan Kim, Jenn McGinnity, Shona Mosites, Kristen Salkas, Stuart Shrimpton, Paul Treml, Katie Umenthum, Pablo Villamil.
Catalyst Hexshell from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
Construction drawing used by the team to divide the larger shell into smaller assemblies.
Catalyst Catenary Simulation from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
Catalyst Catenary Construction Time Lapse from Andrew Kudless on Vimeo.
P_Wall Reinstalled @ SFMoMA
SFMoMA has reinstalled the P_Wall (2009) piece in their 5th Floor Gallery overlooking the Sculpture Garden. The wall is part of their “The More Things Change” exhibition focusing on the work of emerging artists over the last decade. The exhibition closes on November 6, 2011.
(Note: The amazing chair shown in the images is, unfortunately, not mine. The chair is by Dutch designers Tejo Remy & René Veenhuizen. The curators at SFMoMA did a great job pairing the wall and chair together.)
Aldgate Aerial Park
Project Name: Aldgate Aerial Park
Year: 2010
Location: London, UK
Description
Aldgate, one of the medieval gates of London, sits between the old City and the new eastern development for the 2012 Olympics. The Aldgate Aerial Park resists the binary relationship of the traditional gate typology. More than just a singular threshold between one urban zone and another, the network of vaults span multiple streets and pathways. Rather than a simple opening between one place and another, it expands out into the city and forms its own identity as a new urban park. The aerial park creates a space of relaxation and community above the chaos of the city streets. The cells of the park include amphitheaters, gardens, restrooms, and open spaces. Rather than reinforce the dividing line between new and old London, the new gate attempts to create a spatial blur that brings people together.
Diploid_B Lamp
Year: 2010
Size: 20″ x 20″ x 20″
Description: Working with an updated version of the script that produced the earlier Diploid Lamps, this new lamp is fabricated entirely without glue. Every connection is a locking tab that enables the lamp to be built quickly despite the nearly 1000 parts. For price, please email info@matsysdesign.com
Zero/Fold Screen
Year: 2010
Size: 10′ x 10′ x 3′
Location: Kasian Gallery, University of Calgary, Canada
Description: Although digital fabrication has allowed architects and designers to explore more complex geometries, one of the byproducts has been a lack of attention to material waste. Often digitally fabricated projects are generated from a top-down logic with the parameters of typical material sheet sizes being subordinated to the end of the design process. This project attempts to reverse that logic by starting from the basic material dimensions and then generating a series of components that will minimize material waste during CNC cutting while still producing an undulating, light-filtering screen in the gallery.
Diploid Lamp Series
Year: 2009
Size: 36″ x 12″ x 12″
Description: The Diploid Lamp series explores multiple patterns inspired by nature such as scales, honeycombs, and barnacles. Using parametric modeling, scripting, and digital fabrication, the light’s geometry is created, refined, and produced. Each lamp is custom designed and hand assembled from digitally fabricated paper components. The series is composed of five individual lamps and is an ongoing project.
Horseshoe Cove
View South towards Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco
Siteplan
View of the waterfront park
Elevation
Competition Boards
Year: 2009
Location: Marin Headlands, California
Collaboration: David Fletcher of Fletcher Studio and Nenad Katic of nenadk.com
Description: For over 100 years, Horseshoe Cove has undergone massive spatial, programmatic, and ecological change. From its early years as grazing land to its long military use, the Cove has evolved to its current status as one of the Bay Area’s most significant cultural, educational, and recreational sites. However, the site has been developed in a piecemeal fashion that has resulted in the abandonment of the water’s edge. Although other sites such as the Cavallo Conference Center and the Bay Area Discovery Museum draw large groups of visitors, the water’s edge has remained in a state of neglect and disuse.
This proposal for the redevelopment and restoration of the water’s edge starts with the concept creating a dynamic, mixed-use site. The Cove is unique in its combination of recreational, military, and educational uses and the goal is to support and grow this programmatic diversity. This is accomplished through the construction of an interdigitated landscape between land and water. Like the fingers of two hands interlocked, the project stitches together the larger landscape into the San Francisco Bay. Land is pushed out into the water and water is pulled back into the land. Although the overall “horseshoe” shape of the cove is retained, a much more dynamic and diverse water’s edge is created. Understood biomimetically, the folding of the water’s edge increases its overall surface area and becomes a better filter between the land and water.
The folded joint between the land and water acts as the central circulation across the site. Its meandering geometry extends the promenade and connects it back with several important site features. The interior of each fold houses the primary functions of the site. From providing improved fishing piers to creating a bermed earth outside amphitheater, this project spine connects and redistributes the activities of the site. In addition to a warming hut containing restrooms and a waterfront café/restaurant, one of the new landscape piers houses a community event space that can be reserved by the public for things such as weddings, reunions, and other social gatherings. Finally, the inland landscape folds contain programs such as a National Park Service Visitor Center and Shop as well as a bike and boat rental/repair shop.
Beyond the programmatic diversity of the project, there is also a strong desire to integrate the ecological diversity of the site into the project. Several methods have been used to restore and enhance the ecological footprint of the project. Starting on western side of the site, the existing underground drainage system is daylighted, creating a new stream that would support flora and fauna as well as providing an opportunity for interpretive walks from the discovery center. This stream would exit into a newly constructed estuary on water’s edge. In the center of the site, a newly created wetland and bio-pool would process and store the graywater from the site while providing for educational and recreational opportunities. A contemporary interpretation of the famous early-20th century Sutro Baths across the bay, the bio-pool would quickly become a Bay Area icon of health, ecology, and recreation.
The project proposes two energy generation strategies through the use of wind and solar power. The Horseshoe Cove and Discovery Center parking lot will be covered with photovoltaic solar panels. Not only will these panels provide the project with energy, but they also provide shade for the cars below. Wind power is provided through a series of wind turbines sited near the historic Fort Baker bunker in a prime wind corridor. The turbines would be painted to match the Golden Gate Bridge as a reminder of the link between 20th and 21st century infrastructure of the Bay Area.
This plan for Horseshoe Cove recasts it as a place of life, energy, and education for the region. Providing much needed amenities for the thousands of annual visitors, the project stitches together land and water to create a new hybrid edge condition.
P_Wall(2009)
Year: 2009
Location: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Size: 45′ x 12′ x 1.5′
Description: P_Wall (2009) was commissioned by the SFMOMA Architecture and Design Curator Henry Urbach for the exhibition Sensate: Bodies and Design. The wall, part of a series started with P_Wall (2006), is an evolution of the earlier work exploring the self-organization of material under force. Using nylon fabric and wooden dowels as form-work, the weight of the liquid plaster slurry causes the fabric to sag, expand, and wrinkle.
From the exhibition text written by Henry Urbach:
Andrew Kudless’s P_Wall, commissioned by SFMOMA for this exhibition and its permanent collection, marks a radical reinvention of the gallery wall. Typically smooth, firm, regular and, by convention, “neutral,” the gallery wall has shed its secondary status to become a protagonist in the space it lines. Made of one hundred fifty cast plaster tiles — individually formed by pouring plaster over nylon stretched atop wooden dowels — the new wall possesses an unmistakable corporeal quality. Bulges and crevices; love handles and cleavage; folds, pockmarks, and creases: these are among the characteristics of human skin that come to the fore. Contemporary in its effort to capture dynamic forces in static form, P_Wall nonetheless has its origins in the experiments of earlier, 20th century architects including Antoní Gaudí and Miguel Fisác, both of whom investigated the potential of cast material to yield unique, sensual and, at times, bizarre shapes. P_Wall replaces the modern gallery wall with an unwieldy skin that can only approximate the fleshy enclosure that we, as human beings, inhabit throughout the course of our lives.
SFMoMA also produced a short video about the design and fabrication of the wall.
Credits: Andrew Kudless, Chad Carpenter, Dino Rossi, Dan Robb, Frances Lee, Dorothy Leigh Bell, Janiva Ellis, Ripon DeLeon, Ryan Chandler, Ben Golder, Colleen Paz
Weathering (P_Wall)
Seed in the studio
Year: 2009
Location: Not in a gallery
Description: The process of weathering is often intentionally resisted (if not completely forgotten) in most contemporary design. This is a legacy of Modernism and its fascination with minimal, timeless, and antiseptic materials. David Leatherbarrow and Mohsen Mostafavi have done an excellent job of mining this ground through architectural history in their book On Weathering (1993). They reveal in this book a long tradition in the design world of working with the act of weathering in a way that enhances the design concept over time. Rather than design in a way that presents the Sisyphean task of negating the influence of time on a project, they document other strategies architects have taken to accept that their buildings will have a life of their own after the drawing board.
This concept has been hovering in the background during the evolution of P_Wall (2006 / 2009) over the last 3 years. When people see the wall, they seem to have an inherent desire to touch it. The hint of softness, the evocative forms, the fabric textures all draw people in, seducing them to feel its rounded curves and deep creases. After each time it has been exhibited, a certain patina can be seen on the pieces: fingerprints here and there, scuffs from handling, etc.
This projects explores the potential weathering of P_Wall. Beyond the simple marks of humans in a gallery environment, the wall is located outside, open to the elements. The undulating forms would collect dust, pollen, soot over time. Moss would take root in the subtle groves of the fabric texture. Birds and other creatures would make the holes their homes.
This is not an exercise in Romanticism. The goal is not to produce a picturesque image of the wall. Rather, there is something about the wall that craves to be touched, to be made unclean, to be used, worn, soiled. Throughout the fabrication of the tiles, spiders would constantly be found making the holes their traps. A fine layer of soot, plaster and saw dust seemed to be constantly attached to the forms. This project accepts these intrusions on the “pure” form and makes them apart of the design. No more resistance, P_Wall accepts the life of the world and changes with it.
SFMoMA July Update
The wall for SFMoMA is done! Or at least my part is pretty much done. The great art movers from Atthowe started crating all of of the panels today and delivering them to the museum. Since the last update we’ve sealed all of the panels so they easier to clean and some of the minor surface discolorations are muted. But, the cast texture of the fabric formwork is still very visible as you can see in the photos.
The opening reception at SFMoMA is on the evening of Thursday, August 6 and the exhibition is open from the following day until November 8th. Here’s the press release from SFMoMA on the larger show: Sensate: Bodies and Design.
SFMoMA June Update
Panels drying in the studio.
Morning sun on the drying panels
The new hexagonal tile pattern.
A nice detail of the folding, twisting forms
Detail of a crease. Notice the surface texture left by the fabric form.
Matsys was commissioned by SFMoMA to produce a wall installation for the upcoming exhibition Sensate: Bodies and Design. After many months of research and prototyping, production on the final wall began in early May and is nearly complete. At the moment, all of the panels have been cast and we are just waiting for them to fully dry. Check back soon for more images of the final installation.
Sietch Nevada
Sectional perspective of underground city
View of the urban life among the water bank canals
Site plan
Plan, above ground (left) and below ground (right)
Site model
Detail of site model
Year: 2009
Location: 37°46’20.10″N, 117°31’57.38″W
Exhibition: Out of Water | innovative technologies in arid climates at the University of Toronto
Description: In Frank Herbert’s famous1965 novel Dune, he describes a planet that has undergone nearly complete desertification. Dune has been called the “first planetary ecology novel” and forecasts a dystopian world without water. The few remaining inhabitants have secluded themselves from their harsh environment in what could be called subterranean oasises. Far from idyllic, these havens, known as sietch, are essentially underground water storage banks. Water is wealth in this alternate reality. It is preciously conserved, rationed with strict authority, and secretly hidden and protected.
Although this science fiction novel sounded alien in 1965, the concept of a water-poor world is quickly becoming a reality, especially in the American Southwest. Lured by cheap land and the promise of endless water via the powerful Colorado River, millions have made this area their home. However, the Colorado River has been desiccated by both heavy agricultural use and global warming to the point that it now ends in an intermittent trickle in Baja California. Towns that once relied on the river for water have increasingly begun to create underground water banks for use in emergency drought conditions. However, as droughts are becoming more frequent and severe, these water banks will become more than simply emergency precautions.
Sietch Nevada projects waterbanking as the fundamental factor in future urban infrastructure in the American Southwest. Sietch Nevada is an urban prototype that makes the storage, use, and collection of water essential to the form and performance of urban life. Inverting the stereotypical Southwest urban patterns of dispersed programs open to the sky, the Sietch is a dense, underground community. A network of storage canals is covered with undulating residential and commercial structures. These canals connect the city with vast aquifers deep underground and provide transportation as well as agricultural irrigation. The caverns brim with dense, urban life: an underground Venice. Cellular in form, these structures constitute a new neighborhood typology that mediates between the subterranean urban network and the surface level activities of water harvesting, energy generation, and urban agriculture and aquaculture. However, the Sietch is also a bunker-like fortress preparing for the inevitable wars over water in the region.
Credit: Andrew Kudless (Design), Nenad Katic (Visualization), Tan Nguyen, Pia-Jacqlyn Malinis, Jafe Meltesen-Lee, Benjamin Barragan (Model)
Resonant Field
Overview of garden
Garden section
Day 001 of the garden installation: Mounds are hydroseeded
Day 365: The seed mounds have bloomed
Garden Plan
Construction Sequence
Year: 2008
Location: Jardins de Metis, Canada
Description: Resonant Field is a self-organizing incubator for local ecologies, and a super soil generator. The Field celebrates the life of the garden and it’s ecological context, seen and unseen, by appealing to all of the senses. It will evolve and change through time, providing a visceral panorama of experience. The Field embodies and celebrates the natural cycles of life and death, growth and decomposition.
The Field will be composed of the gardens pure constituent parts: soil, sand, manure, organic debris, etc. Each material constituent will be randomly piled in the allotted space, approximately 10m by 30m, varying in height from 1m to 3m. The field of material cones will then be hydro-seeded with a mix of native seeds, selected from the many ecologies that surround the site: woodland, meadow, grassland, and ripairian.
A sequence of varied compost core-areas will be established within the field of material piles, which will receive constant material generated by the Redford Garden campus and beyond. A gravel pathway system will connect the composting cores. Native species will become established, through a process of facilitated succession, and will express themselves according to the varied slopes and exposures of the Resonant Field. The field will become a generator of biomass and a seed bank. Fauna will feast on the nectar, seeds, and nuts which will be spread to revegetate the local ecologies with native species. Upon the projects completion, plant materials can be harvested and redistributed, and the entire garden will be mixed and piled to provide fertile substrate for future gardens and ecologies, extending it’s life in the form of future fruits and flowers.
Credits: Joint submission by Andrew Kudless (Matsys) and David Fletcher (Fletcher Studio)
S_Window
Year: 2008
Location: London
Description: Matsys was asked to submit quick sketch designs for temporary window installation in a London department store. Several windows were considered with potential designs for each. The design for the corner window explored self-organizing branching structures through the use of elastic cords and free nodes. The structure’s shape would be determined by the location of the upper and lower constraints and the self-organization of the individual members.
The side window builds off of the research in the R_Screen and Sky Rail projects. The bone-like wall opens and closes view into the store according to the direction of travel on the sidewalk.
Sky Rail
Final Prototype (Image by SUM Arch)
Final Design (Image by SUM Arch)
Site Diagram (Image by SUM Arch)
Process: Step 1: Select Guidelines
Process: Step 2: Mesh creation through script
Process: Step 3: Convert to Polysurface
Process: Step 4: Convert to Mesh and Weld Seams
Process: Step 5: Smooth Mesh
View inside the railing of the twisting holes
Prototype image showing the angled aperatures
Year: 2007-2008
Location: San Francisco
Description: Matsys was hired as a computational geometry consultant by SUM Arch on this residential project to help create tools to design a stair railing. Using a series of user-generated guidelines, the script builds a irregular cellular pattern of apertures on the railing. Based on a field of attractors, the apertures rotate in the plane of the railing causing the entire railing to open towards certain views as a person walks up or down the stair. Dozens of script iterations were explored before the final design was achieved.
Branching HyPar
At the event. Photo: Craig Scott
Video projections by Chris Larson
Branching points at balconies
Plan
Early renderings of design
Year: 2008
Location: Berkeley Art Museum
Description: From artists such as Naum Gabo to architects such as Antoni Gaudi, Felix Candela, and Frei Otto, the geometric entity known as a hyperbolic paraboloid has emerged as something that is both formally evocative and easily constructible. Although composed of only straight lines, the hyperbolic paraboloid traces a complexly curved surface. For this installation, the central space of the Berkeley Art Museum is tied together with a series of HyPar surfaces that emerge from the upper levels and then bifurcate at each balcony, framing a series of video projections.
The installation was created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Matrix, the contemporary art department of the Berkeley Art Museum. Although it was only commissioned for a one-night party on April 25, 2008, the curators of the museum decided to keep it up for a few months. The installation consists of around 15,000′ of nylon rope, 4 steel frames, 4 laser-cut acrylic column braces (affectionately knowns as the “armadillos”), and 4 amazing videos created by Chris Lael Larson of Natural Lighting in Portland.
Design and Fabrication
Andrew Kudless of Matsys
Design Collaborators
Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott of IwamotoScott
Steel Fabrication
Joel Hirschfeld of Hirschfeld Fabrications
Motion Graphics Design
Chris Lael larson of Natural-Lighting.com
Engineering Consultation
Andrew Sparks
Installation Team
Michael Chang
John Kim
Thien Mac
Pia-Jacqlyn Malinis
Ashley Matsu
Natsuki Matsumoto
Plamena Milusheva
Azadeh Omidfar
Colleen Paz
Aaron Poritz
Eleanor Pries
SmartCloud
Physical prototype by Cook + Fox
Digital prototype: natural light
Digital prototype: artifical light
Digital prototype: night lighting
Labeling system for prototype
Ceiling plan of built prototype
Unrolled cells for laser-cutting
Early design prototypes
Early Design Prototypes: Scripts were created for each scenario for design team exploration and testing
Early Design Prototypes: Fabrication issues
Early Design Prototype: Fabrication diagram
Early Design Prototype: Plan of Scheme 5
Early Design Prototype: Section through Scheme 05
Year: 2007
Location: New York
Description: Matsys provided computational design consulting for Cook + Fox on this project. The project was sited in the lobby of a fashion designer’s studio in a Manhattan tower. The design team needed tools to help them model, visualize, and fabricate their design. Matsys created several rhinoscripts that could be used by the design team to iteratively explore their design concept.
R_Screen
Recursive Subdivision between 5 source lines
Year: 2007
Location: New York
Description: Over the last 5 years there have been a large number of projects dealing with the population of components on a surface. To a large extent, most follow a simple UV (distorted grid) across a curved surface. Even most projects that do not appear to use a rectangular grid (like my very own Honeycomb projects) are still tied to the UV grid. This short research project explored a tiling system that does not use a regular UV grid as the underlying framework for the component population. Instead, the system works with a series of user-generated frames and recursive sub-divisions within that frame. The user sets how many generations of recursion as well as the number of subdivisions at each generation of recursion. The result is a highly non-uniform cellular pattern that still allows easy component population.
The script was further developed for the Sky Rail project.
N_Table
N_Table at KSA
N_Table with C_Wall in background
Detail
On site
In use
Ronnie stacking the cells
Year: 2007
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Description: This table was designed for small video installation by Norah Zuniga Shaw. The table is made from roughly 200 individual folded paper cells. Using a variation of the rhino-qhull algorithm, each voronoi cell face is further triangulated to create a more rigid structure. The geometry of cells becomes increasingly irregular from bottom to top. The top of the table is covered with rear-projection fabric while the projection and audio equipment and computer are all contained at the bottom of the table.
Credits: Andrew Kudless and Ronnie Parsons
EOES
Image from performance. Photo: Joel Thorson
Photo: Joel Thorson
Photo: Joel Thorson
Photo: Joel Thorson
Photo: Joel Thorson
Photo: Joel Thorson
Tahni lifting. Photo: David Clark
Testing in Tahni's studio
Tahni checks the set out for the first time
Natural light in Tahni's studio
Chris testing strength of plastic
Chris inside
Welding the plastic
Lifting the half-size prototype
First view of the half-size prototype
Prototype of welded texture
Diagram of welded procedural texture
Diagram of folding and layering of multiple sheets of plastic
Original inspiration image
Full Title: Endless Ocean Endless Sky Set Design
Year: 2007
Location: Portland, OR
Description: This project was commissioned by emerging choreographer Tahni Holt for her performance Endless Ocean Endless Sky. The set was designed in response to several design criteria relating to both the evocation of the choreographic aesthetic and the limits of financial and logistical constraints. From the very beginning of the design phase, we were interested in creating a minimal set that could be built and transported easily that was also able to create an evocative and mutable space for both the performers and audience. Relying heavily on the work of Ant Farm and their inflatable constructions in the 1970’s, a small 20′x40′ space was made using standard polyethylene. Additional seams and creases were welded into the plastic in order to avoid the typical balloon aesthetic of inflatables. Rather, there was a desire for the installation to be able to evoke both things that were simultaneously heavy and light (massive icebergs floating in the sea, 747’s flying through the sky, etc.). A generative algorithm was developed that would allow a fragmented pattern of creases to emerge on the surface without having to laboriously transcribe a predefined pattern on to the surface.
A short video of the last half of the performance can be found here. Other videos of the piece: 1, 2, 3.
Credits: Andrew Kudless with help from Ronnie Parsons and Chris Walker.
Constellations
Constellation_04 (10,000 circles) with each separate network differentially colored
Constellation_06: Neighborhoods
Constellation_06: Circles
Constellation_06: Network lines
Constellation_02
Constellation_02 Detail: Circles
Constellation_02 Detail: Just network lines
Constallation_02 Detail: Circles
Year: 2006
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Description: Although I have been interested in circle-packing for a few years and did physical tests exploring it earlier projects (1, 2), I had never actually worked on any packing scripts until this spring. One of my students in my Processing Matter seminar at OSU was interested in it and that got me started on helping her write a circle-packing script. It was a lot easier than I expected, or at least my version of it was. Here’s a much more sophisticated version by David Rutten.
The pseudocode of the script works like this:
Input: maximum radius of circles, number of circles to pack, boundary condition
- Find a random point within the boundary
- If any circles already exist, test if the point is within any of their boundries
- If not, find the distance between the point and the closest circle
- If the distance is greated than the maximum radius add a circle at that point with the maximum radius. This creates a new “root”
- If the distance is less than the maximum radius, add a circle at that point with the measured distance. This creates a new circle that is tangent with the closest circle. Draw a line between the new point and the centerpoint of the closest circle.
- Repeat steps 2-6 until the desired number of circles are created.
Credits: Andrew Kudless and Laura Rushfeldt