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AI In+form: Bio-inspired Solar Designs in Architecture
Computational Design | Online Workshop | English + Spanish | North-South Americas
Description:
Key Words: Solar Design,Bio form-finding,CA aggregation,Human-machine Intelligence
Required Skills: basic rhino/grasshopper basic knowledge
Required Software: Rhino, grasshopper, GhWasp, Rabbit, Ladybug, Visual Studio, Python, Houdini
Required Hardware: A computer with discrete gpu (recommended) with 8GB ram (16 recommended)
Maximum number of participating students: 24
AI In+form is a workshop focusing on building the relationship between rationalizing energy circularity and human-machine interaction. More specifically, it stands at the convergence of artificial intelligence, information feedback, form-finding, and socio-economic inclusivity. In the search for tools that fall between the established fields of expertise, the collective collaborates with professionals across cultural and disciplinary boundaries, from natural to social sciences. This workshop aims to build interrelations between energy problem mapping, bio-inspired form-finding, and human-machine interactions to reflect and rethink the future of design.

The approach of this workshop emphasizes options over optimal solutions, channelling this to diversify solar designs that can be aggregated for diverse building topologies. Instead of generating one design to be used for every solar problem, this workshop focuses on AI informed workflows that generate families of designs that can be fabricated in similar methods using the same mathematical conception. How to enable variational designs that win over diverse solar vectors and environmental conditions by adaptivity without contributing to a competitive light-harvesting model to its surroundings? This frames design as an iterative decision-making strategy that feedback between input/output of human-machine, which demands a studying of tasks within a design process and how they can be distributed between designers/algorithms that are each better different tasks.

This workshop empowers participants with an understanding of readily available digital design tools:

1-Problem identification/mapping (from socio-economic to climatic).
2-Translating bio-inspirations into parametric-enabled visual algorithms.
3-The practice of iterative negotiation between designer intuition and algorithmic generation, specifically, will study AI as rule-based systems (i.e. CA, GA) and Machine Learning (ML), which helps automate the translation between voxel-pixel data input/output.

This workshop hopes to prompt discussions around the relationship between nature/human/machine and the future roles of architects as designers through theoretical and technical means.
Schedule:
Jun 27 - Jul 3
  • Day 1 / Jun 27

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Workshop introduction
  • Day 2 / Jun 28

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Form finding strategies
  • Day 3 / Jun 29

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Form finding modelling and Morphing cage strategies
  • Day 4 / Jun 30

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Solar Radiation evolutionary design and aggregative design
  • Day 5 / Jul 1

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Machine Learning processing
  • Day 6 / Jul 2

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Project Reviews
  • Day 7 / Jul 3

    8:00 - 12:00 (GMT-4:00) Santiago

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    08:00 - 12:00 (EST)

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    14:00 - 18:00 (CET)

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    20:00 - 00:00 (China)

    Final Presentation - VR-Video submissions final projects
Instructors:
  • Alberto Fernandez UCL The Bartlett - UCH - R.E.Ar_,Digital Design Tutor UCL - Professor of Architecture UCH
    Alberto Fernandez is Architect, Academic and Researcher of the University of Chile, Master in Architecture of University College London and RIBA Chartered Architect. His career has been developed between academia and professional practice, exploring the "form" designed from the local perspective as a contribution to Global issues applying BIM, Generative Design and Digital Fabrication in different scales, recognized internationally by the LAFARGE HOLCIM Award Next Generation, Archiprix International, Sunbrella Future of Shade, UIA La Biennale di Venezia and Evolo Skyscrapers among others. He is part of UCH since 2006, in where he leads Design Studio 6 - Digital integration as well as being Tutor for PART 1 Research Seminar unit and PART 2 Graduation Projects design studio. His work has been published nationally and internationally, and now his MPhil/PhD studies are funded by the Chilean Government, UCL and UCH. Now he is Digital Design Tutor at UCL The Bartlett and advisory board member of Prospectives Journal from the same school.
  • Provides Ng UCL The Bartlett - CUHK - R.E.Ar_,Theory Tutor
    Provides Ng was trained as an architect and a researcher, who’s work studies the emergence of digital tools and their impacts on urbanism. Her current research discusses how large-scale computation prompts a computational data market that facilitates peer-to-peer (p2p) network exchanges of not just data, but also computational power to help us in collectively achieving larger, more complex tasks. From an applied perspective, she looks at how readily available distributive technologies like BIM, blockchain, and AI can be amalgamated to form multi-access systems, searching for tools that fall between the established fields of expertise. In her speculative design work, Provides collaborate with talents worldwide to experiment with these technologies of control and communication first hand, established creative practise @current.cam and researcher collective @R.E.Ar_. Provides is currently teaching at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), where she also received her distinction in Master of Research (MRes) on Digital Theory and Architecture.
  • Nikoletta Karastathi UCL The Bartlett,Design Tutor SPGTA
    Nikoletta Karastathi is a practising architect and a PhD candidate at The Bartlett. She has worked in Chapman and Taylor in London and at Napper Architects in Newcastle. She has previously taught in Newcastle and Edinburgh. Currently, she is a part-time tutor at the Bartlett, an Associate Lecturer at Bristol and acts as an external examiner at Cardiff. Part of the work has been exhibited in the London Design Festival, Dutch Design Week and at the Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art. She is also passionate about the benefits of research and teaching in practice which she has promoted by leading the North East RIBA Research and Innovation Group. She has been a Jury member for the 2019 RIBA President’s Awards for Research. Her interests lie in architecture, textiles, biology, and material programmability.
  • David Doria UCL The Bartlett - R.E.Ar_,Digital Skills Tutor
    David Doria is an architect and urbanist interested in the convergence of digital technologies and architecture - and the theoretical and political implications it has in practice. Particularly, he navigates through automation, artificial intelligence applications in architecture, computational design and digital fabrication. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Sergipe and MArch Architectural Design degree from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Currently, he acts as technical skills tutor for the Research Cluster 4 in Bartlett's Architectural Design program.
  • Baha Odaibat R.E.Ar_,independent Architect
    Baha Odaibat has dedicated, for half a decade, from design to production. He worked In the fields of product and interior design at studios DJ and TaSaMeem, in Amman; gaining experience in tooling and surfacing while delivering solutions for the Jordanien market and small manufacturing communities. Then in the field of women’s fashion accessories and shoe design at annis eunis in Italy; getting to know form from the human body and culture perspective while gaining exposure to the marketing and branding aspect of the industry. For another half a decade, he worked in the field of architecture in various scales and typologies at schneider+schumacher Frankfurt, mainly in competitions, investigating mathematical models in the built environments while gaining experience in digital design, planning and fabrication. Now as an independent architect, freelancer and researcher, working on interdisciplinary projects with international teams, Baha achieved his Architecture studies at GJU science in architecture, and Trier university of applied science.