Subdivided Columns   (2010-)

An abstracted doric column is used as an input form to the subdivision processes. Unlike the minimal input of the Platonic Solids project, the abstracted column conveys significant topographical and topological information about the form to be generated. The input form contains data about the proportions of the column's shaft, capital, and base. It also contains information about its fluting and entasis.

The input form is tagged to allow the subdivision process to distinguish between individual components. This allows a heterogeneous application of the process, with distinct local parameter settings.

The initial subdivided column was fabricated out of greyboard at ETH Zurich in 2010. Subsequently, four CNC-milled ABS columns were produced for the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011. The project was revisited for the Expo 2017 in Astana, making use of a new high-speed serial laser cutter.

Unlike traditional design processes, the single subdivision process generates the form at all its scales: from the overall proportions and curvatures, to smaller local surface formations, down to the formation of a micro-structure. The process adds information at all scales, without resorting to any type of repetition. The result is a series of columns that exhibit both highly specific local conditions as well as an overall coherency and continuity. The ornament is in a continuous flow, yet it consists of very distinct local formations. The complexity of the column contrasts with the simplicity of its generative process.

The calculation of the cutting path for each sheet takes place in several steps. First, the six million faces of the 3D model are intersected with a plane representing the sheet. This step generates individual line segments that are tested for self-intersection and subsequently combined to form polygons. Next, a polygon-in-polygon test deletes interior polygons. A series of filters then ensures that convex polygons with peninsulas maintain a minimum isthmus width. In the final step, an interior offset is calculated with the aim of hollowing out the slice to reduce weight.

While the mean diameter of the column is 50cm, the circumference as measured by the cutting path can reach up to 8 meters due to the complexity of its surface.

For the Gwangju Biennale, a single process was used to generate four individual columns. These four columns have not a single surface or motif in common, yet due to their shared constituent process, they clearly form a coherent group.

When entering the exhibition room, the viewer at first perceives sixteen columns. This effect, created by the use of two floor-to-ceiling mirrors on adjoining walls, is intentionally accentuated by the columns' design. Thus, the columns are symmetrical along only a single axis, and they have a different appearance when seen from the front or the back. In effect, two permutations are united in a single column - with eight virtual models for the four physical objects.

These columns, with three-fold rotational symmetry, are made of 5000 sheets each of 0.6mm greyboard. They are fabricated using a new high-speed serial digital cutting and creasing machine. The extraordinarily thin sheets give the columns a soft and supple texture. The high pliability of these sheets also adds a degree of deformation to the columns, as cantilevered details are pulled downwards.

Standing amidst the Astana Columns, visitors are struck by an unusual richness of detail that is at times disorientating and overwhelming. Although designed entirely autonomously by the computer program, the columns evoke analogies in multiple domains. Yet they resist reductionism and an immediate understanding. Rather, they invite visitors to wander and ponder.

But are these forms imaginable? Can we as designers conceive of such forms from the outset? Even in working with generative algorithms, there are features that cannot be foreseen; there is an element of surprise. Ultimately, this approach redefines the process of design: the designer works in an iterative feedback loop with the machine, moderating processes, and incorporating feedback, surprises and proposals. Knowledge and experience are acquired through search, demanding heuristics that work in the absence of categorization.

What we stand to gain are entirely new spatial and haptic experiences. A playful design that stimulates the senses, elicits curiosity, and invites interaction. A design environment that simultaneously allows control and surprise, and that embraces and celebrates the unforeseen.