This winter the AA will hold its first annual Beijing Global School at the Digital College of CrystalCG in collaboration with the parametric Studio of Tsinghua Architectural Design & Research Institute.

I will be a part of this event as a tutor.

The studio-based course is open to anyone interested in the experimental design of architecture and will investigate emerging computational approaches in the context of Beijing, one of the world’s most architecturally eclectic cities.

Challenging the Iconic As the capital of the world’s fastest growing country, Beijing has become an experimental platform for many architects, making grand statements encouraged by the obsession for so-called iconic buildings. Does Beijing need more of these and do these projects respond to the city’s history and culture or create an entirely new context? This workshop will address these questions. The objective is to evolve a coherent architectural prototype by ‘Super-Blending’ conflicting elements co-existing in Beijing (e.g. hutong and boulevard, courtyard and skyscraper, culture and technology, old and new, nature and artefact, order and chaos). Students will tour parts of the city prior to working in a team-based design studio. A series of seminars and lectures related to computational design will also be offered. The essential parametric design technique will enable students to experiment with code-based modelling and simulation following the workshop’s objective to challenge the iconic buildings of Beijing. participants will learn Rhino Gh and Scripting, plus some Maya and 3D Max animation and simulatio techniques, as well as 3D printing of prototype models.

Applications
The deadline for applications is 15 January 2010. Application forms and additional information are available online at:
www.aaschool.ac.uk/beijing2010 and applications can be submitted to: visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk

Posted: November 15th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

As part of my work for Zaha Hadid Architects, I have designed the installation for the ZHA retrospective exhibition and the Table of Architecture, both of which have been unveiled during the 2009 Barbara Cappochin International Architecture Biennial. The exhibition takes place at The Salone of Palazzo della Ragione (constructed 1172-1219), one of the most notable monuments in the city of Padova, being reputed to have the largest roof unsupported by columns in Europe and decorated inside with an elaborate cycle of frescoes.

The Palazzo has presented itself as a vigorous design challenge for Zaha Hadid due to the historical quality of the space. The aim has been both to respect the spatial / contextual characteristics and to intervene in the space at the same time. The Salone is viewed as a field upon which the existing data of the space, such as entrances/openings, act as shaping forces. This force-field has resulted in the creation of a world of undulating landscape-like forms, made up of blocks and plinths. Due to their slender geometry, the blocks, performing both as installation and exhibition medium, allow the visitors to appreciate the frescoes and other existing sculptures in the space. The plinths can be used for placing the various products/furniture pieces ZHA has designed as well as offering seating spaces for the visitors.

The undulating blocks, whose forms are defined by the rules of breaking and continuity, generate 6 distinct islands within themselves. Each of these islands define the Conceptual Morphologies of the ZHA exhibition concept, namely: (1) Lines/Bundles/Networks, (2) Waves/Shells/Cocoons, (3) Aggregations/Clusters/Jigsaws, (4) Fields, (5)Landscape & Topography, and (6) Parametricism.

The purpose of the Table of Architecture is to showcase the winners of the 2009 Barbara Cappochin Biennale. Located in Piazza Cavour, Padova, the object is designed to challenge the usual perception of wood as a sheet or stick material, rediscovering the sculptural potential of the wooden mass. A large block of wood is carved out by dynamic forces to create an undulating structure, installed as a large scale piece of urban furniture which will attract and surprise the pedestrian flow around it. Seating areas as well as displays are provided within the sculpture.

The top undulating surface has been panelized to generate a series of elements that can display the architectural projects of the winners of the Biennale.

Table of Architecture is 2,3m x 1,5m x 19,8m and it weighs 7,3 tonnes.

Me with the Table of Architecture and the Installation

Posted: November 15th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

I am glad to announce that I will be a PhD Candidate Student at the Architectural Association starting in September 2009.

As part of PhD in Architectural Design Program (which is an option for qualified architects with experience in design research and an interest in relating theory to design practice), the topic of my research is “MATHEMATICS IN NATURE: SELF-ORGANIZATION IN PARAMETRICALLY GENERATED MORPHOLOGIES”.

I will be updating my blog regularly showing the progress in my PhD research.

Posted: August 16th, 2009 under News.
Comments: 2

I have been invited by Nous Gallery (Melissa Woolford) to participate in Beyond Media 2009, the 9^th Edition of the International Festival for Architecture and Media, that takes place in Florence, Italy during 9-17 July 2009.

I will be presenting a 3-minute video showcasing my work on www.elif-erdine.com, as part of the Nous Gallery installation at the Stazione Leopolda.

Here is some information on Beyond Media 2009:

“BEYOND MEDIA is one of the main events worldwide dedicated to the most current visions on contemporary architecture and on the outcomes of the intense relations which exist between architecture and the media.”

“Within a world that is rapidly accelerating, architecture itself is attempting to renew its identity, to redefine its function and tools, and to reconfigure the borders of its areas of intervention. And it is in this progression that communications and media increasingly become part of the means with which project designers operate and develop their relations and tools that, as a result, inevitably influence a consistent part of architectural production and its widespread presence.

With BEYOND MEDIA we have chosen to insist upon the investigation of this scenario in order to effectively convey and report the architecture of our times, through a manifestation that gains strength from both widespread sentiment and independent observation.

It seems that, in the last few years, contemporary architects have lost their ability to pursue grand visions and to construct a broad outlook that engages complex transformations of the built environment. They are unable to construct thoughts and a conscience beyond that which is usual, empirical, and visible. It is also true that the massive production and consumption of architectural images has resulted in a greater proximity to design issues by the general public. In the era of global communications, the representation of projects expresses an increasing tendency to develop new capacities to elaborate its very realm of action and to determine new systems of relations, while heading towards something that can be interpreted as a renewal of those persuasive intents that were part of humanistic representationalism. However, at the same time, those images, which are often so autonomous as to seem disassociated from representation, have altered the way people conceive of architecture; hence they seem to have affected the ability and the opportunity to generate visions, and hence theories, that are deeply rooted in our time and, at the same time, receptive to new, possible scenarios.
With VISIONS, this festival proposes a new reflection on the themes of project figuration and representation, and on the limits of our ability to observe and report that which is not in front of our eyes, in order to move towards a research of more effective visions that are extended in space and time. Visions that allow us to think about and better define the context and framework for the future.”

Posted: July 11th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

Developed from ‘Costa’ minimal surfaces, this design incorporates sitting, lighting and storage into an elegant unit suitable for waiting lounges. Sleeves for magazines and newspapers are incorporated into the pads while a lighting fixture, placed in the central part of the structure, adds a glowing ambiance to the design.

The Costa minimal surface was plotted in Wolfram Mathematica, after which the geometry was imported into McNeel Rhinoceros for further manipulation.

The design allows for various plan layouts of the lounge system.

 

 

 

Posted: June 19th, 2009 under Architecture, Parametric Design.
Comments: 3

Bracelet design generated through Rhino Scripting. First of all, the Pickover Strange Attractor is scripted. For more information on Pickover Attractors, you can check http://www.chaoscope.org/ .

Then, each point in the Pickover Attractor point cloud is evaluated. The nearest 7 points to each point is found and connected to the input point.

Thanks a lot to Seda Zirek for her help in the point connection code.

(http://mel-examples.blogspot.com/)

Pickover Strange Attractor code

Option Explicit

‘Script written by Elif Erdine

Call Pickover()

Sub Pickover()

Dim i

Dim x()

Dim y()

Dim z()

Dim pt()

Dim maxpoints

maxpoints = 20000

Dim A, B, C, D

A= -0.759494

B= 2.449367

C= 1.253165

D= 1.5

ReDim Preserve x(maxpoints)

ReDim Preserve y(maxpoints)

ReDim Preserve z(maxpoints)

x(i) = 0

y(i) = 0

z(i) = 0

i=0

Do While (i < maxpoints)

x(i+1) = Sin(A * y(i)) – z(i) * Cos(B * x(i))

y(i+1) = z(i) * Sin(C * x(i)) – Cos(D * y(i))

z(i+1) = Sin(x(i))

ReDim Preserve pt(i)

pt(i) = Array(x(i), y(i), z(i))

If IsArray(pt(i)) Then

Call Rhino.AddPoint(pt(i))

‘ Dim plane

‘ plane = Rhino.PlaneFromNormal(pt(i), Array(0,0,1))

‘ Call Rhino.AddCircle(plane, 0.2)

End If

i = i+1

Loop

End Sub

Point Connection code

Call ConnectPoints()

Sub ConnectPoints()

Dim ptcloud, ptall

ptcloud = Rhino.GetObject(”input pointcloud”, 2, True, True)

If IsNull(ptcloud) Then Exit Sub

ptall = Rhino.PointCloudPoints(ptcloud)

If IsNull(ptall) Then Exit Sub

Dim i

Dim ptnearest

For i=0 To UBound(ptall)

Dim arrPtall : arrPtall = functNearestNeighbor(ptall, i)

Dim strLine1 : strLine1 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(0))

Dim strLine2 : strLine2 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(1))

Dim strLine3 : strLine3 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(2))

Dim strLine4 : strLine4 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(3))

Dim strLine5 : strLine5 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(4))

Dim strLine6 : strLine6 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(5))

Dim strLine7 : strLine7 = Rhino.AddLine(ptall(i), arrPtall(6))

i=i+1

Next

End Sub

Posted: June 11th, 2009 under Parametric Design.
Comments: 1

Gumowski-Mira attractors were developed at the CERN research centre in 1980 by I. Gumowski and C. Mira while aiming to calculate the trajectories of sub-atomic particles. They create organic patterns resembling natural/marine forms.

Option Explicit

‘Script written by Elif Erdine

Call GumowskiMira()

Sub GumowskiMira()

Dim i

Dim x()

Dim y()

Dim pt()

Dim maxpoints

maxpoints = 5000

Dim B

B = 1

ReDim Preserve x(maxpoints)

ReDim Preserve y(maxpoints)

x(i) = 0

y(i) = 5

i=0

Do While (i < maxpoints)

x(i+1) = B*y(i) + GM(x(i))

y(i+1) = GM(x(i+1)) – x(i)

ReDim Preserve pt(i)

pt(i) = Array(x(i), y(i), 0)

If IsArray(pt(i)) Then

Call Rhino.AddPoint(pt(i))

Dim plane

plane = Rhino.PlaneFromNormal(pt(i), Array(0,0,1))

Call Rhino.AddCircle(plane, 0.2)

End If

i = i+1

Loop

If IsArray(pt) Then

Dim ptcloud

ptcloud = Rhino.AddPointCloud(pt)

End If

Dim ptdel

ptdel = Rhino.GetObjects(”select points to delete”, 1, , , True)

Call Rhino.DeleteObjects(ptdel)

End Sub

Function GM (ByVal x)

Dim A

A= 0.305

GM = A*x + 2*(1-A)*x^2 / (1+x^2)

End Function

Posted: April 16th, 2009 under Parametric Design.
Comments: 1

Rossler attractor behaves similarly to Lorenz attractor. It’s formed by 3 non-linear ordinary differential equations. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossler_map )

 

 

Call Rossler()

Sub Rossler()

            Dim x, y, z

            Dim maxpoints

            maxpoints = 8000

            Dim h

            h = 0.025

            Dim p(2)

            Dim ptnew()

            Dim i

            Do While (i<maxpoints)

                        p(0) = p(0) + h* dx(p(0), p(1), p(2))

                        p(1) = p(1) + h* dy(p(0), p(1), p(2))

                        p(2) = p(2) + h* dz(p(0), p(1), p(2)) 

                        Rhino.AddPoint(p)

                        ReDim Preserve ptnew(i)

                        ptnew(i) = p

                        i=i+1                

            Loop

           

            Call Rhino.AddCurve(ptnew, 3)

End Sub

 

 

Function dx(ByVal x, ByVal y, ByVal z)

            dx = -y-z

End Function

Function dy(ByVal x, ByVal y, ByVal z)

            dy = x + 0.4*y

End Function

Function dz(ByVal x, ByVal y, ByVal z)

            dz = 0.31 + z*(x-5.3)

End Function

 

Posted: April 16th, 2009 under Parametric Design.
Comments: none

I’ve recently started using Rhino Scripting as a design tool in my research. I will be documenting here my learning process through the .rvb scripts.

This study shows the Curlicue Fractal, which generates quite intricate patterns. (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CurlicueFractal.html)

 

Call Curlicue()

Sub Curlicue()

            Dim f

            Dim i

            Dim j

            Dim pi

            pi = Rhino.Pi

            Dim sqtwo

            sqtwo = 1.4142135623730950488016887

            Dim eulers

            eulers = 0.577215664901532860606512

            Dim golden

            golden = 1.618033988749894848204586

            Dim lntwo

            lntwo = 0.69314718055994530941

            Dim e

            e= 2.71828182845904523536028747

            Dim p(2)

            Dim ptCur()

            

            For j=0 To 50000*pi Step sqtwo*pi*2

                       

                        f = f + j

                        p(0)= p(0) + Cos(f)

                        p(1)= p(1)+ Sin(f)

                        p(2)=p(2) + Cos(f)*Sin(f)

                       

                        ‘Rhino.AddPoint(p)

                        ReDim Preserve ptCur(i)

                        ptCur(i) = p

                        i=i+1

                       

            Next

            Call Rhino.addcurve(ptCur, 3)       

 

End Sub

Posted: April 16th, 2009 under Parametric Design.
Comments: none

The House of Arts and Architecture Association CASARTARC settled in Settimo Torinese, Turin, is developing a project called ‘Advanced Architecture Settimo Tokyo’ (AAST), a group of Generative Architecture events: workshops, a two days conference and an exhibition with venues in Settimo & Tokyo and possibly Cagliari & London.

The events of AAST focus on the approach to design through parametric design tools, such as Rhinoscript, Grasshopper, Mel script, DP, GC.

YME will be part of the international exhibition with our AA MArch. thesis project Hybrid Species, presenting the utilization of Mathematica as an architectural design tool.

The first stage of the exhibition will run from 7 April to 17 May 2009 in Turin, Italy. The opening conference for the exhibition will be made by Patrik Schumacher (partner at Zaha Hadid Architects). The exhibition will travel to Tokyo, Japan in May 2010.

For more information, you can check http://www.casartarc.org.

Posted: March 15th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none