After the post where I wrote about flocking algorithms used in a site-specific art/design installation by Todo Design, I ‘d like here to write about another experiment with such algorithms.

While surfing on Vimeo I found this video by Aaron Westre from Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA), where he explains very well his master’s degree thesis on using flocking algorithms in order to design 3D architectures; here’s the video:

Introduction to Complexity Machine 1 from Aaron Westre on Vimeo.

Moving between design, science and computation Aaron Westre developed his his own software (you can download it here), “Complexity Machine 1” using the open source software Processing, where he runs his behavioral simulation describing the rules of the agents.

What is interesting in this project, is that the complexity of a system is not used as just inspiration or decoration, but as whole different way to design a structure, as if it were designed or modeled by a flock of birds.

Compared to the example of the first post, where complexity was adopted as a decoration, here complexity is adopted for its properties of generating new forms, shapes and structures as the outcome of the interactions between multiple agents (although such agents would not shape a building so much in reality).
It is therefore a further step for the relationship between complexity and design, but we can continue in this direction for sure…

WARNING: This software does not produce architecture, it produces the seeds of architecture

Aaron also published his thesis “Complexity Machine 1:Drawing 3D Form with Behavioral Simulation” (May 2008) with the software source code under a Creative Commons license on Lulu.com here, where you can download it for free or buy a paperback edition.

He also starts thinking about a design methodology for complex systems and computational design:

A new breed of designer is emerging, however, that has a kind of hacker mentality; taking the tools produced by the technology industry and modifying them to achieve new performances.
There is an increasing tendency toward toolmaking as an integral part of the design process. In the same way architects have sought to improve their physical and conceptual toolkits for centuries, digital toolkits are becoming fair game for repurposing, extension, and recombination. The result is a proliferation of innovative software bred to assist in specific design inquiries.
What seems to be emerging is a working method that could be called a horticulture of computational design. The process follows a distinct set of steps that define a cycle of exploration and production for the discipline: (fig. 42)

• Step 1: Collection – In the first step concepts, inspiration and software code are collected.
• Step 2: Hybridization – The hybridization phase involves synthesizing the collected elements into a software that provides a new functionality to the community.
• Step 3: Cultivation – Cultivation entails a cycle of refinement of the software based on exploration of capabilities and feedback from users.
• Step 4: Curation – The output of the software is then subjected to curation in which content is selected and interpreted for use in design processes. The results from this curation process can then be shared back with the community, inspiring further exploration.

A horticultural technique such as this could offer the computational design community an organic, yet systematic, way of exploring the vast territory of complex systems and their application to design¹

Aaron Westre’s Design Methodology for Computational Design and Complex Systems

Complexity Machine 1 is an initial investigation into the possibilities of a design methodology based on concepts from complexity theory. Specifically, it is the first in a series of software applications for exploring the design implications of a variety of simulation techniques. This suite of software will become part of an ever growing ecosystem of computational design software that will help designers explore new territory. (fig. 43) This effort is situated within a larger collective project in which computational designers are mapping out unexplored territory by applying new technologies and techniques. The complexity machine project will continue to collect concepts, methods, and inventions from the broader community and introduce insights and tools back into the growing ecology of computational design tools.²

1. pp.37-38 [↸]
2. p.38 [↸]

Tags: Architectural Design, Complex Systems, Design Methodology, Generative system, processing.org, Swarm / Flock / Crowd, USA