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Exercise 7 Material Process (Agilus)

In attempt to push the limits of what the Kuka can fabricate with a static material, I found a form composed of 4 surfaces that sweep to a point to prove beautiful and simple, yet complicated by the situation of the assignment. Not only did the limitation of the robot’s mobility act as a restraint, but the removal of the form from the cast also required additional work.

Situated Knowledges - Donna Haraway

In her work, Haraway argues against the objectivity of western science and against its constructionist methodology by revealing the way in which they frame the metaphor of vision as a way to create a positioning power that simply isn’t true, but also suggests a more functional model based on the concept of what she describes as ‘situated knowledges’. Instead she proposes a less simplistic mode of observation through theorizing an observer that is not an omniscient, god-like presence but is one that is conflicted, positioned, and contradictory. Following the suggestion that maybe observation might actually be conversation between observer and object and in this case something that is not so singular, becomes an interesting model to enact in the process of craft. Much like Haraway presents, this diaclectic question re-appropriating out ideals of what is made/we make could provide a way of seeing that is much more effective in analyzing content that would otherwise be muddled with a certain one-sidedness.

The Jig - Matthew Crawford

As Crawford explains in his work, the jig is something that becomes apparent in a variety of forms. It may be a single piece of lumber that is cut to a specific length and then used to mark where others must be cut, or can also be observed as the “jigging one’s environment”. As one can see with a bartender creating a physical representation of the drinks needed to be made by the glasses he would need, or a chef marking their progress by using a knife, this allows for work to be done as efficiently and painlessly as possible. What the physical jig does not do, however, is allow for the degree of freedom and improvisation as the "informational jig". Consequently, this might stress the importance of when the jig should be used vs. when one has to leave the comfort of control and repetition. Here, as Crawford mentions, it lies between the assembly line and ideal freedom. It does not become a solution for all, but rather a temporary method of structure that negates risk or dullness and is then abandoned when it is no longer needed. When considering formwork that we will be using to cast our digitally crafted model, the jig allows us to create a fairly straightforward, one-use technique of making these forms. Expanding upon this idea, the object can then become a jig if we want to mass produce them in reversing the procedure and producing a mold which can become another, multi-use jig.

Robot Technology Fundamentals - James Keramas

Extending the topic of automation, Keramas talks more specifically about its different forms as well as how robots fit into this idea. How robots fit into the process of production becomes interesting in that they are examples of programmable automation, they can also be applied in ways of flexible or fixed automation. The author also expresses his optimism for robots in the future, as he expects the technology to advance nearer to a level of human awareness and intelligence. This thought seems a bit ambiguous due to the fact that although robotic technologies may be justified in cost and efficiency, it is difficult to predict if those using these technologies will decide to follow the development. Although automation and the robotic manufacturing are closely related, I find it important to understand how these different methods of production affect the people working with and alongside them. As previously mentioned in Carr's work, over reliance on the process of automation can lead to the degeneration of the ability to take control when automation isn't enough.

Exercise 6 Continued

From the tool-path that was developed last week, we were able to run the simulation on the Kuka. It was cool.

Shanghai Skyline by https://qinweiw.tumblr.com/

Photos edited by https://lucasjrigney.tumblr.com/

EX6 [Robots] Taking a Line For a Walk

For the first week of our light painting exercise, we create a toolpath that is then followed by the robot. By understanding the range of the robot’s reach, we can begin to experiment with what the Kuka can draw. After the toolpath is created, motion type can be varied within the Grasshopper definition, being either linear or spline-based.

The Degeneration Effect - Nicholas Carr

In chapter four of his book, Carr focuses much on automation and it's tendency to remake not only our work, but ourselves. This happens as automation complacency and automation bias, both of which are result from feeling a false sense of security when working with computers and, more importantly, from our limiting ability to pay attention. The system isn't infallible, but we believe it is as it proves more and more reliable. I feel most can agree with Carr when he reinstates how automation does impact is as workers. Over reliance on the autonomous processes seems to disconnect us from what we're doing, effectively routing us from action to passively "watching". The idea of the Generation Effect, something to counter the automation of cognitive processes, although it might seem like a step behind in relation to the increased development and use of digital software and computing, the use of thought that's necessary in rudimentary software speaks volumes to how effective our minds can be over a "perfect" tool. Thus, rather than simply rushing past all the commands in a Grasshopper definition or expecting any type of robotic equipment to seamlessly run an autonomous script, being involved in the process and learning how to fill in the blanks helps us out live the fear of replacement by automation.

In Response to Branko Kolarevic’s “Manufacturing Material Effects”

In this section of Kolarevic’s writing, he interrogates the relationship between digital technologies in design and material properties while focusing on ideas of risk within craftsmanship, guiding parameters, and iterative processes. This circles back to Renzo Piano’s quote that the author initially uses, bringing attention to the constant communication between mind and hand in order to make, between digital design and fabrication. By the inclusion of emphasizing the importance of using parameters to delicately adjust the final out come, as well as the consideration of “zero-waste” fabrication methods, this reading provokes a greater degree of responsibility in designing and making using contemporary means. That is to say, maybe technology doesn't simply provide a variety of tools for us to use, but allows for us to establish a framework and more personal connection to both the material of the “thing” and how we are making it.

Exercise 5... Part 2

Continuing on from last week, we find a surface reborn. Rather than a method of subtraction, we must now unroll this once “chunky surface” in order to provide it a sterile envelope to house the former.

Exercise 5 Generative Form

This exercise proved interesting as it let us create a mesh that could be manipulated by several different factors in the Grasshopper definition. We decided to produce a less-defined form due to routing time, as well as reducing the fragility of the final product.

In Response to "Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques" by Lisa Iwamoto

In Iwamoto's piece on sectioning, she draws a multiplicity of support for using sections as a technique in architecture and especially digital fabrication through examples of work that was designed through section. However, as the author expands on the topic of section, she makes clear that she doesn't consider the technique one of representation but one of fabrication. Something that seems most valuable of considering a profile obtained through sectioning a created digital object is the way in which this allows the designer to relate form to material tectonic. Given Iwamoto's own work, it's clear to see that in most cases the only way that the digitally fabricated installations can be designed and fully understood is in section, by breaking complex objects into components. This seems to originate from the author needing a greater degree of control in forming the interior space of these installations, information that orthographic drawings can't provide. When considering this while taking into account both the current exercise of milling a surface that's created through sectioning a lofted surface, this provides yet another visual reference to using section as a technique to generate form. Though this is only one instance in which this might occur, what it entails is something that can be applied in numerous ways.

In response to 'Deleuze and the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture' by Manuel DeLanda and 'The alphabet and the Algorithm' by Mario Carpo

The content in both DeLanda and Carpo's work both relates to the involvement of algorithms in the development in architectural form and representation, although they each offer different suggestions of how this occurs. Delanda's relation of finding form through algorithmic design methods, that of which he finds relatable to evolutionary models and prompts the reader to engage something that most find drab, like CAD software, and arranging the elements that make up this digital model in a way that would sustain the designed object as it would a systematic compilation of genetic data. In comparison, Carpo encourages the reader to consider the autographic mode of making which allows architectural design not to be limited to the "remote-controlled" bounds set by simplified notation. Given this, the digital algorithms and software allow for a set of new (non)standards which allow for the aspect of each individual object within a project to be designed, not just the subject of imitation. Thus, it seems that the freedom that designers should seek can be allowed by an algorithmic design process that inherently breaks away from the limitations of conventional means of creation and notation: the necessity of adaption to digital conception.

Exercise 4 Developable Surfaces

Using the Zund proved not to be too much trouble, ignoring minor issues in securing the material to the machine’ s bed. The real difficulty came in actually trying to construct the planes, in which either the bending in form or the large number of sides was complicated by the interlocking tabs.

Photo Credit: https://qinweiw.tumblr.com/ and https://lucasjrigney.tumblr.com/

For this exercise, I wanted to create a parabolic form created through a curve in order to create the illusion of the veil covering traditional geometric form.

In Response to Robin Evans' The Projective Cast

In his conclusion, Evans seeks to bridge the gap between visual space and haptic space and, in doing so, expresses his concern for what space means to us. He recognizes the need for external objects to exist without being restricted by the absolute "truths" of geometry. Thus, imagination seems to survive not in the mind-but through projection, perception- through the representation of space. This entwined sense of experience that Evans presents to us provides an interesting enigma that forces a reevaluation of most of our preconceived notions of how space exists and is translated. The idea that every method in which we consider the designed object whether it be perspective or imagination, projection provides a link between these two extremities. What we are offered by the author suggests a much fairer use of architectural design, one that doesn't simply align itself to a certain way of understanding architectural form.

In response to René Descartes and Jane Burry

In The Construction of a Problem: Architecture modeling after Descartes, Burry’s focus on modern architectural design returning to the origins of geometrical thinking in order to couple that with computing as a way to increase efficiency and explore variety in aesthetics and expand concepts in design. Furthering design through using the works of Descartes rather than simply engaging with systems of design allows for the simplicity of basic geometric forms to evolve into much more complex ideas that can be applied in various strategies. When considering the fluidity of this design language, this is a significant factor in which architecture can fit within a digitized age, which ultimately links the logic of faster production leading to the redefining of the structure back to what Burry teases in the essay. Perhaps attempting to “construct the problem” can prove more beneficial than a systematic way of receiving answers.

Exercise 3: Taking light for a walk.

Awe inspiring and anomalous, the heavenly bodies that we trace as they blaze above earth’s atmosphere seem so controlled by the inevitability of our natural laws-and yet free. The spectacle is imitated as the burning mass is filtered by thin strands of clouds that heighten the moments of clarity that we are entitled to see as it the spins and whirls quickly back into the void.

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