Nature of Code – Midterm Sketch

Midterm Sketch
(applied algorithms in material structures and pattern generation)

While no code has presently materialized for my midterm sketch, a good deal of inspiration has that will hopefully lead toward interesting directions in the second half of the semester.

I have begun to shift my conceptual focus from discrete computational visual models toward applied models in material structure, fabrication, and pattern generation for print. This is motivated primarily by a desire to establish something that might function beyond the screen in either a rarified physical design context or even a purely utile one.

Even reconsidering the first sketch from the class a simple motion study I began to see possibilities for progressive textile print patterns.

Prime Numbers - textile pattern test

At left is a simple repeating pattern generated from the sketch which had a common continuous canvas, making the pattern generated by the sketch perfect for tiling and repetition. Two additional patterns generated at different points in time from the same sketch can be seen below. The idea of graphic patterns sharing both a formal and procedural connection is a simple but powerful concept. Other more sophisticated models such as reaction diffusion (used in the above 3D printed example) and similar generative algorithms seem like an interesting points for investigation.

I found the work of New York based architects Benjamin Aranda & Chris Lasch to be very inspiring -especially in the context of this class, practicing an ideology that looks at fundamental natural phenomenon with the help of the computer as an entry to design.