Research - Digital Craft Lab @ CCA

Computational Bamboo

Jason Kelly Johnson — Fri, 16 May 2025 14:01:24 +0000

This semester the CCA Digital Craft Lab Advance Architecture Studio explored novel computational design techniques and fabrication methodologies for creating structures made out of bamboo. While we embraced non-standard design processes and experimental techniques, we also examined ways to ensure our construction efforts were efficient, repeatable and sustainable. Bamboo, one the most versatile and extraordinary biomaterials in existence, was our focus.

Phase Two challenged students to work collaboratively in groups of four to design, prototype and build a small “Bamboo Tea Pavilion”. Students were challenged to harvest, process and fabricate their own bamboo canes sourced from a local San Francisco grove. Additionally, experiments in advanced 3d printing, robotic heat bending and AR construction methods were explored. The results are currently exhibited in the Digital Craft Lab and the Perry Family Maker Yard.

Phase One of the semester tasked students with designing a computational “Tea House of 100-Chopsticks” utilizing parametric modeling tools and 3d-printing to construct intricate scaled models. Phase Two explored relevant structural typologies such as domes, vaults and shell structures through computer modeling and physical modeling.

COMPUTATIONAL BAMBOO
SP. 2025 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE STUDIO
Instructor: Prof. Jason Kelly Johnson

The studio was advised by structural engineer Felix Weber (RDH) formerly ARUP.

Rapidly Deployable Pavilion

Negar Kalantar — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:14:30 +0000

The Rapidly Deployable Pavilion project, led by Dr. Negar Kalantar at the California College of the Arts, is part of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studio: Materiality & Space 4. This research-driven studio explores adaptive design, digital fabrication, and deployable architecture, focusing on structures that can be efficiently transported, assembled, and disassembled for various applications, including disaster relief, military operations, and temporary events.

Key Areas of Investigation

Scissor Mechanism Structures: Students explored various scissor-based deployable systems to develop pavilions capable of compact folding and rapid expansion.
Origami-Inspired Cladding: Applying principles of origami and folding, students designed lightweight, collapsible cladding systems to integrate within the deployable framework.
Digital Fabrication & Material Constraints: Utilizing CNC-milled plywood linkages and 3D-printed joints, students engaged in a hands-on fabrication process, considering material tolerances and assembly logistics.
Functional & Aesthetic Considerations: Balancing performance and visual impact, projects investigated how deployable structures can be both efficient and architecturally expressive.

Project Deliverables & Prototypes

Students developed physical models, digital drawings, animations, and fabrication-ready designs, including:

Tessellated Pavilion Models demonstrating collapsibility and deployability.
Transformation & Assembly Diagrams visualizing movement and construction processes.
Rendered Drawings & Posters summarizing the design process and outcomes.
GIF Animations illustrating the dynamic transformation of both the structure and cladding system.

This project equipped students with practical skills in deployable architecture, digital craft, and parametric design, fostering innovative approaches to temporary and mobile structures.

Rapidly Deployed Atmospheric Water Harvesting Pavilion

Negar Kalantar — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 21:04:22 +0000

The Advanced tranSTUDIO 2024 is taught by Negar Kalantar as part of the Advanced Studio: Digital Craft at California College of the Arts. This studio brings together both graduate and undergraduate students to explore digital craft and material experimentation through hands-on research and fabrication. The project investigates how deployable structures can efficiently capture moisture from the atmosphere, utilizing principles of biomimicry, material science, and innovative fabrication techniques.

Key Research Areas:

Passive Water Harvesting Strategies: Examining natural and architectural precedents like fog nets, dew collection surfaces, and biomimetic materials.
Transformable Structures: Implementing scissor mechanisms (parallel, non-parallel, and angulated) to create compact, rapidly deployable pavilions.
Material Science & Fabrication: Engaging with Thomas Schutzius from UC Berkeley to explore advanced materials for water collection and surface interactions.
Digital Fabrication: Utilizing CNC routing and laser cutting to prototype scalable, adaptive structures.
Sustainability & Application: Designing self-sufficient pavilions capable of harvesting water without external energy sources.

Student Explorations & Prototypes

Students developed a range of deployable prototypes, each integrating passive water collection strategies with innovative structural transformations:

LAND SPONGE: Inspired by sea sponges and cacti, this foldable structure captures and channels water efficiently.
VertiFlow: A dynamic, flower-like system using angulated scissor mechanisms to optimize fog harvesting.
S-Curve Eddies: A compact, deployable wall system designed to harvest moisture from fog-heavy environments.
HydroPop: A transformable pavilion extracting water from the air through modular surface adaptations.
NubilaBloom: A biomimetic fog-catching system that opens and closes to enhance water collection.
Hanging Canopy Pavilion: A structural canopy integrating folded topography with passive water harvesting techniques.
The Twirl (\u0627\u0644\u062A\u062F\u0648\u064A\u0631): A kinetic pavilion emphasizing human interaction while facilitating moisture collection.
SAVE: A resource-conscious structure balancing space efficiency and water-harvesting performance.
Active Bending Water Pavilion: Utilizing active bending principles to dynamically adapt for enhanced moisture capture.

Through research, prototyping, and material studies, this project showcases how adaptable architectural solutions can address water scarcity while advancing computational design, fabrication, and environmental resilience.

Parametric Biomimicry: Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication of Spiral Seashells

Negar Kalantar — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 20:40:07 +0000

The DCL is proud to showcase the research of Ali Farajmandi, a recent graduate of the Master of Advanced Architectural Design in Digital Craft program at California College of the Arts (CCA), conducted in collaboration with Professor Negar Kalantar at the Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco. This research is part of the DCL Academic Alliance with the Autodesk Technology Centers and explores the intersection of computational design, biomimicry, and robotic fabrication.

Ali’s project, "Parametric Biomimicry," investigates the geometry of spiral seashells, translating their organic forms into intricate 3D models using parametric design tools in Grasshopper. By studying the unique layering processes of mollusks, Ali leveraged advanced robotic fabrication techniques to bring these natural forms to life.

Research Process and Innovations

Geometric Analysis & 3D Modeling: The project began with an in-depth study of spiral seashell structures, generating precise computational models that capture their natural growth patterns.
Robotic Light Visualization: A custom LED spotlight tool was developed for the robotic arm, using long-exposure photography to visualize robotic motion and create luminous spatial patterns.
Collaborative Robotic 3D Printing: The project pioneered a non-planar 3D printing process, utilizing a static printing nozzle with a moving bed controlled by a 6-axis robotic arm. This innovative approach replicates the spiral geometry of seashells, demonstrating scaffold-free fabrication techniques for complex architectural structures.
Interdisciplinary Insights: The research was informed by discussions with Dr.Alain Goriely,, a mathematician from Oxford University, whose work on biological growth patterns provided a theoretical foundation for the project.
Community Engagement & Presentation: The project was presented to the Autodesk and CCA research communities at the Autodesk Technology Center (Pier 9), highlighting its potential applications in architecture and fabrication.

Impact & Future Applications

This research underscores the potential of non-planar 3D printing in architectural design, offering a new approach to fabricating complex geometries without support structures. By drawing inspiration from biological systems, the study demonstrates how computational design and robotic fabrication can lead to more efficient, sustainable, and aesthetically advanced structures.

📸 Image credits: Ali Farajmandi (@ferjii), CCA, Autodesk Technology Center, Negar Kalantar
🔗 #architecturaldesign #digitalcraft #computationaldesign #roboticfabrication #3dprinting #grasshopper3d #parametricarchitecture #designresearch #ccaarchitecture @parametric.architecture @designboom #autodesk

tranSTUDIO 2021

Venessa Davidenko — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 17:58:02 +0000

Core Faculty: Negar Kalantar

Date: Spring 2021

“I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand.” -Confucius

BRIEF

tranSTUDIO | Adaptive Thought, Design, and Fabrication is an interdisciplinary and innovative design laboratory at CCA. tranSTUDIO 2021 is partially funded by Autodesk Technology Center Grant and will be in collaboration with Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco. This studio will focus on Adaptable Design/Space. The Studio pursues (1) methods for interrogating digital platforms within the context of innovative transformable building space that demonstrates morphological changes; (2) an interdisciplinary team approach that encourages students to engage with emerging digital tools for adaptable architecture and design; (3) conversations between advanced fabrication tools and the design assumptions based on such tools; (4) the inherent properties of materials in exploring the development of transformable space; (5) the principles, theories, and applications that govern creative thought, from the formation of motion through the creation of a physical environment.

Course Structure

Project 2: NOMAD :: FUTURE OF LIVING

Expandable/Transformable/Deployable living space that could be relocated with a 25’ Trailer.

Deployable structures are structures that can undergo major changes to their configuration through expansion, unfolding, and other means. In architecture, they can be used to create more flexible spaces or building elements that can adapt to changing functions or requirements.

The term ‘Kinetic Architecture’ has not a clear definition, but it could be described as the design of buildings in which transformable, mechanised structures, are able to change their shape in relation to climate, function or purpose. Kinetic structures consist of transformable objects that dynamically occupy predefined physical space or moving physical objects that can share a common physical space to create adaptable spatial configurations (Kronenburg, 2007). According to Michael Fox (2009), kinetic systems in architectural applications can be categorised into three categories: ‘Embedded’, ‘Deployable’ and ‘Dynamic’. ‘Embedded’ systems are the ones that exist within a larger structural whole in a fixed location to control the larger architectural system or a building in response to change. ‘Deployable’ systems are described as the ones that typically exist in temporary locations and are easily transportable. Finally, ‘Dynamic’ systems exist within a larger architectural whole but act independently with respect to control of the larger context.

DESIGN PROJECT:

In this project, students designed an expandable, transformable and deployable living space that is constructed on a trailer 25’ long. The maximum sizes of the design in a collapsed state are 25’ L X 8.5’ W X 10.5’ H.

Unlike conventional buildings, this portable space is designed to take move-ability into account – when their value at a particular place is to expand and deploy, rather than destruct, becoming the key feature. This gives the owner the possibility of taking the building to a new place and setting it up for another cycle of use. This house is not designed for constant moving or transformation. Therefore, the mechanisms are embedded more in a larger structure and the adaptation and transformation could extend to the interior space and element.

Project 1: Stair +

DESIGN PROJECT: Design a Transformer Stair that transformation is itself the intention of the design.

A Transformer Stair serves more than one function, letting you do more with one. The logically named Stair PLUS offers you to think about what the PLUS can be. This project thinks about a multifunctional architectural element that can offer more than one function. In this project students learned about the idea of flexibility and adaptability in architectural space, the transformable design knowledge, and the required fabrication skills.

The act of transformation is one of the main goals of this project. Here, the state of change from one thing to another thing is a main challenge that opens a new learning opportunity. Therefore, it wasn't about just adding a function to a stair but transforming a stair into something.

Students designed 6-step or 12-step stairs and chose their own indoor/outdoor sites.

Website: https://transtudio2021.wordpress.com/home/

Students: Michelle Boyd, Chang Cao, Esther Chai, Ray Chen, Jennifer Jiminez, Jun Hee Koh, Alejandro Montoya, Natalie Mulyawan, Brenea Palmer, Amalia Puglar, Katie Ren, Xinran Ren, Navya Sharad, Ella Tang, Eve Tobey, Tatiana Watkins, Alexander Wong, Jeff Xu, Fanglin Yao, Suyang Yao, Luna Zhang

STUDENT WORK

Project 2: NOMAD :: FUTURE OF LIVING

Project 1: Stair +

Material- Informed Design: Transformation of 2D to 3D by 3D Printing on Fabric

Venessa Davidenko — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:50:47 +0000

Faculty: Negar Kalantar

Date: Spring 2020

Research conducted under tranSTUDIO 2020 | Adaptive Thought, Design, and Fabrication

INTRO

In the field of sustainable design, transformability is important in actively responding to ambient conditions while also meeting the needs of occupants and addressing issues of building performance. While contemporary architecture is interested in motion, there is a lack of a holistic approach which puts the student designer at a loss. “Adaptive Thought, Design and Fabrication” aims to address a comprehensive transformable design methodology to more effectively educate interior design students on transformability.

BRIEF

This studio focused on Adaptable Design/Space with full-scale prototyping. The Studio pursues (1) methods for interrogating digital platforms within the context of innovative transformable building space that demonstrates morphological changes; (2) an interdisciplinary team approach that encourages students to engage with emerging digital tools for adaptable architecture and design; (3) conversations between advanced fabrication tools and the design assumptions based on such tools; (4) the inherent properties of materials in exploring the development of transformable space; (5) the principles, theories, and applications that govern creative thought, from the formation of motion through the creation of a physical environment.

Additive Manufacturing

Over the past several decades, digital fabrication technologies including additive methods (such as 3D printing) have permeated and transformed many aspects of interior design, architecture, fashion, and other design disciplines across the globe. Additive manufacturing, or the deposition of material to form a desired 3D structure through the sequential formation of the structure’s cross-sectional layers, constitutes a historical turning point and illuminates the future of design. Likewise, such technology allows for the enhancement and extension of innovative practices within the related industries in the decades to come. Importantly, additive manufacturing can inspire and support an original voice for designers and engineers seeking to create unique designs and quality products in ways never before possible.

Much more than a means of producing less waste than with reductive fabrication techniques, additive manufacturing allows designers to precisely create “unmakeable” shapes, structures, and geometries that previously were considered impossible. As a result, designers are increasingly taking advantage of the unprecedented development of additive manufacturing in ways that conventional manufacturing techniques are unable to accommodate. In design education, additive manufacturing, as the third industrial revolution, represents a potential change in the way students learn, in the way that they think, and in the way they solve problems. Additionally, the fast-changing world of additive manufacturing opens new design possibilities that did not exist only a few years ago, and as such it makes for an important addition to education in design.

Goal

This research intends to design a surface or volume that interacts with light using a specific method of fabrication. Aggregated geometries, assembly methods, scalar variation, tiling, symmetry, repetition, and differentiation were all methods of exploration. The main parameter driving the design Is how to design a 3-Dimensional structure out of a 2 Dimensional surface.

Approach

Ultimaker 3D printers with print beds limited to 8.8”X10.5”, at the Autodesk Technology Center, were used to explore two different techniques of 3D printing on fabric to add new dimensions to the material.

1- By printing a precise 2-dimensional pattern, a shape can self-transform after being released from the machine. By changing the pattern design and thickness of the 3D printed layer on stretched textiles, then released after printing, students explored how to design pre-programmed shapes out of two-dimensional design and fabrication process. The combination of stretch fabric and printed patterns offers both flexibility and stability.

2- By printing on the flexible materials (Fabric), rigidity is added to specific locations. By distributing flexibility and rigidity on a surface, different pre-designed shapes out of 2d surfaces are explored.

Process

Study Models: A series of physical study models were developed to better understand the logic of transformation.

Final Working Prototype: After the exploration with study models, a final working prototype was developed to express new potentials of three-dimensionality with attention to form and surface qualities that the printed fabric produced.

Flexible Yet Rigid: A 3D- Printed Textile

Venessa Davidenko — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:45:38 +0000

Faculty: Negar Kalantar

Research conducted under tranSTUDIO 2019 | Adaptive Thought, Design, and Fabrication

Sponsor | Grant: Autodesk Technology Center Grant

INTRO: Additive Manufacturing

Over the past several decades, digital fabrication technologies including additive methods (such as 3D printing) have permeated and transformed many aspects of interior design, architecture, fashion, and other design disciplines across the globe. Additive manufacturing, or the deposition of material to form a desired 3D structure through the sequential formation of the structure’s cross-sectional layers, constitutes an historical turning point and illuminates the future of design. Likewise, such technology allows for the enhancement and extension of innovative practices within the related industries in the decades to come. Importantly, additive manufacturing can inspire and support an original voice for designers and engineers seeking to create unique designs and quality products in ways never before possible.

change in the way students learn, in the way that they think, and in the way they solve problems. Additionally, the fast-changing world of additive manufacturing opens new design possibilities that did not exist only a few years ago, and as such it makes for an important addition to education in design.

Challenge

The project is guided by the question, “How to design 3D printed textiles that can be flexible and rigid at the same time?” Therefore, the main design challenge of this project is to change the property of rigid material by design and 3D printing manufacturing.

Geometrically-Informed Material Behavior

The research seeks how the property of the material can change by manipulating the geometry. Therefore, these textiles are created under a material-active system that relies primarily on geometry as a structural and organizational mechanism, rather than depending solely on a material’s properties. When a force is applied, there is a carrying out of elastic deformation. Once the force is removed, the material either returns to its original shape or holds a new changeable configuration.

Design Process

Initial Conceptual Prototypes

The process began with conceptual models and more than 70 concepts were developed before moving on to larger prototypes.

Generalized Approaches

After conceptual explorations, the approaches taken were able to be generalized on how to make a non-flexible material flexible. The result is three main categories: connected pieces, discrete pieces and discrete/connected pieces.

Connected Pieces
- In this category, kerfing and creating continuous wavy surfaces allowed for the material to become flexible. In kerfing, a thin layer of material is removed from rigid surfaces to allow for flexibility. In continuous wavy surfaces, extra material like a zig-zag is used to connect point A to point B rather than a straight line.

Discrete (Separate) Pieces
- In this category, the introduction of O-rings, extended handles, mechanical (universal) joints, wire 3D design/ interlocking, and wire 3D design interlocked by sliding inside each other create flexible material.

Discrete/ Connected Pieces
- In the final category, a combination of using connected pieces and adding extra material creates a flexible product. Adding extra material to make a hinge in XY direction/ Z direction and connecting modules three-dimensionally produces flexibility.

3D Printing Machines

Two specific 3D printing machines were utilized: the Fortus 450 MC and the Objet Connex 500. The Autodesk Technology Center helped prepare students with orientation on both printers prior to modeling so that students could understand the capabilities and inform their designs in that way. The three important factors that were considered were material properties, resolution of the printer via nozzles/ printing matrix and the build envelope of the printer.

Final Working Prototypes

tranSTUDIO 2019

Venessa Davidenko — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 15:29:33 +0000

Core Faculty: Negar Kalantar

Date: Spring 2019

INTRO

BRIEF

Course Structure

Project 1: Flexible Yet Rigid: A 3D Printed Textile

The first project looks at designing a 3D printed textile with an embedded new property; a textile system that could be flexible yet rigid. The 8”x8” prototype textile is 3D printed in such a way that it has the ability to expand a minimum of 3 times.

Project 2: An Architectural Mediator for the dynamic control of air, light and sight

Project 2 required each team to design and fabricate a fully operational dynamic shading system. This mechanism controls light penetration and quality and view (sight). The system could be installed on the interior space of a south facing curtain wall. The intent is that these systems are able to open and close based on the user's need to control light and sight. Students worked in teams of 3-4 to design and fabricate an innovative dynamic shading system that is 1:1 scale and 3’x3’. “Waterjet” and metal bending tools were used to fabricate the prototypes.

Studio Book: https://www.blurb.com/books/9676112-transtudio-2019_print2

Website: https://transtudio2019.wordpress.com/category/home/

Students: Saieesha Adlakha, Bobby Bracelin, Ryane Chen, Ya Hsin Chung, Conor Daly, Jinyong Gao, Qingju Ha, Ranger Li, Yue Lou, Erica Luo, Sally Lyu, Yiran Ran, Xiya Shao, Ruiquan Xu, Scarlett Zhang, Yuhan Zhao

Sponsorship: Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco

STUDENT WORK

Project 2: An Architectural Mediator for the dynamic control of air, light, and sight

Project 1: Flexible Yet Rigid: A 3D Printed Textile

MAAD DCL STUDENT RESEARCH: Casting on a Dump

Venessa Davidenko — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 20:44:03 +0000

Student: Jiries Alali

Faculty: Negar Kalantar + Alireza Borhani

ABSTRACT

"Casting on a Dump" focuses on finding accessible, low-tech fabrication methodologies that allow for the construction of parametrically designed non-standard modular cast panels. Such an approach adopts a computational design framework using a single low-tech and low-energy fabrication device to create non-repetitive volumetric panels cast in situ. The design input for these panels is derived from design preferences and environmental control data. The technique expands upon easy to fabricate and cast techniques, targeting less-developed logistical settings worldwide, and thus responding to imminent needs related to climate, available resources, and the economy.

Casting on a Dump: Using Sand as a Form-Generating Formwork

INTRO

There is currently a disconnect between the progression of construction techniques relative to freeform architecture. The formwork used to create freeform concrete designs involves an expensive process. The introduction of sand, which has been formerly researched as a zero-waste and abundant material, can address accessibility in methods of construction for underprivileged contexts. “Casting on a Dump” is proposed as a computational design framework that uses low-tech fabrication tools to construct non-repetitive volumetric panels cast in situ.

CASTING TECHNIQUES

The first stage of research identifies a casting technique that clones the dumped sand’s surface geometry. A wooden box with multiple fixed drains in its base is used for experimenting prototypes using a gradual layering technique to cast material while retaining a distinction between the two mediums of sand and cement.

PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT

In this fabrication method, sand controlled by an adjustable device serves as a form-generating medium to achieve a set of cast panels. These non-standard panels are then computationally simulated. This approach produces volumetric panels by inputting two-dimensional parameters and relying on the sand’s physical properties to find the volumetric panel geometry.

The second stage explores three prototype options: rotational boundary, free edges, and tessellation.

The initial prototype is a raised box with a fixed opening in its base and rotating boundaries where the rotation changes the positioning of the sand drain cutout in relation to its outer edge. After being positioned and stabilized with water, the device is overflowed with sand, before draining. The results are cast panels with multiple parabolic profile edges.

A second prototype is then designed and tested where the sand particles receiving platform edges are freed to keep the panel edges flat, creating sealed joinery in the paneling process.

Tessellated Paneling

Additional prototypes with multiple openings and different movement types are produced to create tessellated paneling, demonstrating the accuracy of the panel edges.

COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH

The third stage includes computational design approaches using Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper 3D that allows for visualization of the sand dump’s geometry and the design of additional iterations. The processes of shipping and assembly are also taken into account with this prototype, ensuring that the device is able to reach the construction site for casting in situ. The precision of this research is also evaluated with Cloudcompare software and minimal deviation between digital and physical outcomes were found.

RESULTS

This research’s findings propose a set of digital and physical tools for designing and executing non-standard paneling facades with one formwork device. This experiment is a potential avenue for constructing parametrically designed facade systems, where the input parameters include quantitative environmental information such as light. This research’s outcomes are two-fold: a) a visual programming design for envisaging complex shell surfaces from different outlines and cutouts, and b) prototyping devices for panel fabrication. This method offers a high-tech/low-tech process that ensures production consistency because the morphing process depends mainly on gravity.

Besides minimizing the waste of formwork material, the research presents a time-efficient design process and allows users with limited design and construction expertise to create customized objects.

CONCLUSION

This research describes a threefold fast-track experiment involving materials, computation, and fabrication. Intuitively, the findings of one field shape the others. The findings for each were tested through digital simulation and physical prototyping, indicating that the developed system is ready for full-scale upgrading. The ultimate goal is easy fabrication and casting techniques, targeting less-developed settings worldwide and hopefully responding to imminent needs related to climate, available resources, and the economy.

Credit: Jiries Alali, Dr. Negar Kalantar, Alireza Borhani

https://2020.acadia.org/

ADVANCED STUDIO: Embedded Intelligence

Venessa Davidenko — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 17:34:58 +0000

Core Faculty: Negar Kalantar + Alireza Borhani

Date: Fall 2020

INTRO

During the last several decades, we have experienced two major digital revolutions in computation and communication. We are currently going through the third revolution that is connecting bits and atoms, bringing the digital world to the realm of the physical.

In architecture, the relationship between conception and production has evolved considerably. Despite the advances in digital fabrication, there is still a considerable gap between what we can draw and what we can make. At this point, the process of making a complex form is relatively expensive, time-consuming, and more importantly, often wasteful.

Embedded Intelligence:

Embedded Intelligence is based on the notion of intelligence embedded in tools and materials. The design system is founded on the intrinsic capabilities embedded in tools that relies upon the inherent properties of materials. The design strategy explored ways of exploiting these characteristics through nested fabrication.

Nested Fabrication:

The studio challenges students to expand their tectonic proficiencies in developing the design principles for nested fabrication. The main parameters of dividing a global geometry of a complex volume into stackable components are explored. By converting different formal, material, and technical restrictions into geometric constraints, the stacked components are divided in a way that the first component gives shape to the second.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The studio explores three methods of nested fabrication through three different projects:

Project 1

A Fluid Architectural Element: from 2D surfaces to 3D volumes

2D nesting

This project explores creating a fluid architectural element by going from 2D surfaces to 3D volumes. By using CNC milling the final elements contain doubly curved surfaces and have zero waste. By using 2D nesting, the front side of each strip is the exact same as the backside of the previous one.

Project 2

From a 3D Volume to 2.5D Nested Components

2.5D nesting

In Project 2, phase 1 explored the potentials of 2.5D nesting, going from 3D volumes to nested components. Volumes are either concave or convex and divided into stacks that can be printed within one another, known as the “Print in Print” method. This method of 2.5D nesting works because the inner surface of the bottom piece is congruent to the outer surface of the upper one. Pieces are able to slide vertically in and out of each other. This exploration helped lead the way for Phase 2.

In Phase 2, the principles of 2.5D nesting, paired with additive clay manufacturing, are used to create an engineered biome called city TREE. City TREE addresses air pollution by providing spaces for plants to grow on the structure. The project site is in the heart of San Francisco, located in the Salesforce Tower Plaza.

Project 3

A Nested Transportable Expo Pavilion

3D nesting

Project 3 explores 3D nesting in creating a nested transportable expo pavilion for the American Institute of Architects, for the 2023 Expo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The process of 3D nesting will have its benefits in creating a temporary shell structure that can be assembled and disassembled for transportation and occupies minimal storage. Throughout the fabrication process, pieces can be 3D printed with clay, concrete, or any other paste, in stacks so that the lower components will act as support for the upper ones.

LECTURES + WORKSHOPS

A series of lectures and workshops supplemented course materials by introducing research on the course topics, expanding on material properties and diving deeper into the fabrication methods.

Presented by: Steve Thompson, Ed Coe, Nathan King (DDES), Hooman Koliji, Mehdi Farahbakhsh, Dr. Arash Adel, Powell Draper

Students: Venessa Davidenko, Londie Delgado, Sergio Esquinca, Maro Han, Hsiao Chun Hou, Woohyung Kim, Hsuan Fu Liu, Daniel Ramirez, David Rege, Ashley Rodriguez, Adrian Salinas, Mahshid Tabatabaei

Final Review: December 6, 2020, 3pm-6pm, ZOOM

https://embeddedintelligence2020.wordpress.com/

Project 3: A Nested Transportable Expo Pavilion

Project 2: From a 3D Volume to 2.5D Nested Components

Project 1: A Fluid Architectural Element: from 2D surfaces to 3D volumes

ADVANCED STUDIO: SANCTUARY

Venessa Davidenko — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 15:38:45 +0000

Core Faculty: Jason Kelly Johnson + Carlos Sabogal

Date: Spring 2021

“The dream recedes, but leaves a residue.” ― William Gibson, Virtual Light (The Bridge Trilogy) “The whole value of solitude depends upon oneself; it may be a sanctuary or a prison, a haven of repose or a place of punishment, a heaven or a hell, as we ourselves make it.” ― John Lubbock, Peace and Happiness

BRIEF

The studio explores speculative futures for the western section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Similar to the recently replaced eastern section, the western bridge will soon become obsolete. Instead of tearing it down, the studio explores the reuse of the bridge’s superstructure as a social, cultural, and ecological catalyst for the region.

PRECEDENT

Bridges have a long history in civilization. The Inca culture constructed long-span rope suspension bridges that could be installed in a matter of days. They considered bridges more important than building massive stone structures, in some cases, could take decades to build. Their long-span fiber suspension bridges connected 25,000 miles of road (The Inca road system - Qhapaq Ñan “beautiful road”) and were longer than those of the Roman Empire. Although these bridges had to be regularly maintained, the practice became an essential ritual to their civilization.

INCENTIVE

The Sanctuary studio radically rethinks how the Bay Bridge could be re-utilized in the future.

Could the bridge become more than an elevated highway? Could it be a sanctuary or refuge for people, plants or animals? Could it become a public space, a place that bridges communities, inspires awe, ritual or meaning?

STRUCTURE

The studio will begin by exploring the introduction of hybrid public programs to the bridge’s superstructure: parks, museums, community spaces, edible gardens, shared spaces for living, working, farming, collaborating and playing. Second, the studio will develop ways for the bridge to harness energy from the sun and wind, collect water, utilize a renewable material palette, and systems that will work in cadence with natural ecosystems. Third, the studio will explore how the bridge might continue to weave the Bay Area together through emerging modes of public transportation and personal mobility.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

How can a shift in thinking about transportation infrastructure, from mono-functional corridors to diverse, layered, heterogeneous spaces, help make the city more liveable and active? What are the new possibilities for integrating non-traditional urban design, art, technology, ecology, architecture, landscape, experimental modes of participation and collaboration, inclusion and public discourse? What emerges if we expand the definition of what public space is, where it can be, and who it might serve? After surviving a year marked by social isolation, division and inequality, how can visions for the new Bay Bridge suggest a way forward for the city, region and civilization itself?

APPROACH

The studio will utilize advanced computation design, visualization and representation tools. As a method of exploring and iterating through many possible futures, we will emphasize the use of parametric modeling and simulation softwares, alongside emerging augmented reality tools. A hybrid studio component will allow students to physically engage CCA’s digital fabrication tools.

“Empires of the future will be empires of the mind.” ― Winston Churchill

“The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.” ― William Gibson

Event: Architecture Division Pop-Up Exhibition

Space 37 at San Francisco Ferry Building, May 24- June 3, 2021

Students: Mason Denton, RJ Hafiz, Hsiao Chun Hou, Jung Yung Kim, Maryam Liaghatjoo, Hsuan Fu Liu, Leonel Miranda, David Rico-Gomez, Ashley Rodriguez, Eve Tobey

ADVANCED STUDIO: Underworlds

Jason Kelly Johnson — Wed, 01 May 2019 21:51:18 +0000

Core Faculty: Associate Professor Jason Kelly Johnson (CCA + FUTUREFORMS, with Robin Abad (SF Planning, Senior Planner)

Date: Spring 2019

“A photograph is a universe of dots. The grain, the halide, the little silver things clumped in the emulsion. Once you get inside a dot, you gain access to hidden information, you slide into the smallest event. This is what technology does. It peels back the shadows and redeems the dazed and rumbling past. It makes reality come true.” ― Don DeLillo, Underworld

“If objects are viewed as nothing but blank screens on to which linguistic fantasies are projected, we miss the tension in objects between their identity as one thing and their swirling manifold of spots and stripes where the connoisseur finds points of entry.” ― Graham Harman

LOTTERY PRESENTATION
PDF version of Jason’s Lottery Presentation

BRIEF
The UNDERWORLDS studio will focus on exploring strategies to activate the I-280 corridor “underworlds” and adjacent viaduct properties in the San Francisco Central waterfront neighborhoods (Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Islais Creek). Our primary medium will be to use light installations and projection prototyping in experimental ways to illuminate and energize these challenging spaces in new and innovative ways. Students will construct a series of large lightweight geometric objects (“transformers”) that will be temporarily installed at various underpass sites. Student fabricated mobile high-lumen projection units will then animate these objects with light and sound in a series of both guerilla and public performances.

CONTEXT
In the 1950’s and 60’s there was a surge in building super highways through the hearts of America’s cities. From Richmond, Virginia, to San Francisco and Oakland, California, mostly low-income neighborhoods were cleared to make way for transportation infrastructure. Today, many cities continue to struggle with the negative impact of these constructions. In contrast to what was constructed in these cities, Jane Jacobs fought and won against the city official Robert Moses - the mastermind of the so-called LOMEX highway mega project that was to be built through her lower Manhattan neighborhood. Jacob’s famously wrote in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “The more successfully a city mingles everyday diversity of uses and users in its everyday streets, the more successfully, casually (and economically) its people thereby enliven and support well-located parks …” and “...frequent streets and short blocks are valuable because of the fabric of intricate cross-use that they permit among the users of a city neighbourhood.”

PROVOCATION
Today there is a growing interest in experimenting with ways to inject Jacob’s ideas, and the ideas of a new generation of citizens, back into these sites: to hybridize and weave a diversity of uses into the city - to cultivate intricate places with social, cultural, political and ecological impact.

How can a shift in thinking about transportation infrastructure, from mono-functional corridors to diverse, layered, heterogeneous spaces, help make the city more liveable and active? What are the new possibilities for integrating non-traditional urban design, art, technology, architecture, landscape, experimental modes of participation and collaboration, inclusion and public discourse? What are the possibilities if we expand the definition of what public space is, where it can be, and who it might serve?

PRECEDENTS
While Seattle just began the process of tearing down its central viaduct, there are some excellent examples of cities that have transformed transportation infrastructure into cultural and/or ecological assets. In Manhattan the most famous examples are the extraordinary Highline and the Lowline, in New Orleans there is the acoustic paradise of Claiborne Avenue, while in Philadelphia the Reading Viaduct has been transformed into an urban oasis. Seoul Korea recently transformed a 1970’s era highway into an elevated park called the Skygarden featuring over 24,000 trees, flowers, koi ponds and cultural programming. In Tokyo, near the Yurakucho Station, the spaces under the elevated train tracks are packed with bars and sushi restaurants, and in Paris the so-called La Promenade Plantee transformed a former urban railway into an elevated park and bustling commercial ribbon. San Francisco’s viaducts remain virtually intact from the day they were constructed: mostly barren, wind-swept spaces, more associated with crime than culture. How could these spaces be woven back into the pedestrian life of the city? Could they be illuminated, safe and active spaces for creative production and discussion?

SITES
The studio will initially explore a roughly one-mile long viaduct corridor along the underside of San Francisco’s I-280 from Mission Bay (immediately behind CCA), through the Potrero and Dogpatch neighborhoods, to Islais Creek (near Cesar Chavez St). We will map key intersections and opportunities, examine possible programmatic hybrids and strategic transformations, and propose new visions for creative intervention.

INTERVENTIONS
Secondly, we will zoom into 3 key sites midway along the viaduct corridor in the Dogpatch neighborhood. During this phase we will consider specific ideas for short, medium and long-term activation and transformation. Lastly, one underpass site will be utilized for an end-of-semester pop-up activation evening event. The studio will design, plan, install and host the event with local community partners. This event will allow us to study our ideas though constructing in situ live projection mapped interventions with real clients (neighbors, friends, folks just passing by) in a real place.

KEY DELIVERABLES
1. PROPOSALS TO CREATE A NETWORK OF ACTIVATED UNDERPASSES
2. PHYSICAL INSTALLATIONS TO TEST IDEAS AND ITERATE IN SITU
3. STAGE A POP-EVENT TO EXHIBIT IDEAS AND GET FEEDBACK

STRUCTURE & SPRING 2019 SCHEDULE
Phase 1: Mapping the Underworld (+ technical workshops using TouchDesigner)
Phase 2a: Underworld Activation Proposals (+ projection experiments)
Phase 2b: March 12, 20, 21 - Community Engagement in Dogpatch
Phase 3: Immersive Installation Prototyping (+ event planning)

April 25: 7:30-9:30pm Pop-up Evening Event @ 20th St & Minnesota St Underpass
May 4: 2-4pm Final Review Exhibition and Discussion @ CCA Nave Alcove

TAGS
#ccaunderworlds #sfplanning #CCA #dogpatchsf

Sponsorship: SF Planning (see: Central Waterfront / Dogpatch Public Realm Plan)
Supporting Partners: CCA Digital Craft Lab, NW Potrero / Dogpatch Green Benefits District (GBD), SF Department of Public Works (DPW)
Support: FUTUREFORMS staff including Emily Saunders

Sp 2019 Students: Laksh Agrawal, Marina Rosolem, Yuchen Li, Al Hakam Alasedh, Daisy Deng, Mohamed Dirbas, Varun Agarwal, Carlos Mranda, Daniela Granillo, Levan Maghlakelidze, Shweta Pingale

ADVANCED STUDIO: Component / Assembly: Prototyping Domestic Space

Adam Marcus — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 17:18:33 +0000

Core Faculty: Associate Professor Adam Marcus, Adjunct Professor Matt Hutchinson

Date: Fall 2017, Spring 2019

This advanced architecture studio explores the architectural detail as a locus for reconsidering contemporary domesticity in the context of new technologies of design, fabrication, and assembly. The studio positions architecture as a process rather than a product, and the architect as a designer rather than a specifier. The work explores how new fabrication technologies like rotary laser cutting, waterjet cutting, and CNC routing can be leveraged to produce customized components and new spatial and experiential possibilities for architecture.

The studio looks to the recent past as a way to project forward into the future. In particular, the Case Study House Program spearheaded by John Entenza of Arts & Architecture magazine (1945-1966) provides a model for how architects can re-conceptualize and re-materialize domestic space through an understanding of contemporary, innovative fabrication and construction processes. Just as the architects of the Case Study House Program crafted new prototypes for domestic living inspired by the postwar (modernist) logics of mass production, this work speculates how contemporary (postmodernist) logics of mass customization can inform new models of domestic space appropriate for today.

The architectural detail serves as the primary site of research and experimentation. Rather than accepting the architectural detail as a predetermined assemblage of standardized parts or products, these projects speculate on the spatial, programmatic, and social possibilities of customizable, parametric, and bespoke details—and how such a paradigm can relate to contemporary domesticity. The work focuses on the domestic component: the guardrails, jambs, sills, stairs, moldings, doors, cabinets, coves, reveals, partitions, wall bases, and other parts that, when assembled together, constitute “architecture.” In the context of new technologies of design and production, the projects reconsider the component’s definition, its construction, and its assembly into larger configurations of structure and space. The ambition is to develop new understandings of part/whole relationships that derive their formal, compositional, and spatial principles from logics of material, fabrication, and assembly.

Sponsorship: Autodesk Pier 9 Workshop
Fabrication Support: Autodesk Pier 9 Workshop, Tube Service Co., Seaport Stainless

Students, Fall 2017: Ania Burlinska, Marlene Cacho, Jinda Guo, Viviani Isnata, Haonan Jia, Tianran Li, Yue Hector Liu, Levan Maghlakelidze, Shunta Moriuchi, Lilliam Navarro, Pete Pham, Leon Trinh

Students, Spring 2019: Vishnu Balunsat, Mia Candelaria, Jiaqi Freya Cao, Samuel Kilpatrick, Thomas Krulevitch, Yue Hector Liu, Zixuan Lodge Liu, Jingyi Emma Luo, Ronak Patel, Jae Hyun Seo, JJ Tan, Joshua Van Heidrich, Chuan Charles Zhu

RESEARCH SEMINAR: Performative Ornament

Adam Marcus — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 17:02:29 +0000

Core Faculty: Associate Professor Adam Marcus

Date: Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2017

The advent of computational design and digital fabrication has helped to revitalize ornament as a prime site for architectural research and innovation. Yet this resurgence of ornament has done little to quell longstanding debates regarding its necessity, superficiality, criminality, or any of the other myriad qualities ascribed to it throughout architectural history. Is ornament a secondary, independent layer, merely applied to architecture? Is it integral and embedded within the expression of a building’s structure and material logic? Or is it, as critic Robert Levit has written, “the condition of architecture itself”?

This seminar explores these questions by developing new strategies of contemporary ornamentation, particularly in the context of emerging technologies of computational design and digital fabrication. Emphasis will be placed on exploring potential overlaps between ornamental systems and logics of performance-driven optimization. How can material assemblies produce innovative visual effects while also addressing specific performance criteria? What kinds of new aesthetic, figural, representational, expressive, and spatial qualities can emerge from such a synthetic approach? How can the relationship between repetition and difference (or, standardization and variation) be designed in a way that supports an argument about performance and ornament? Students in the course will formulate their own critical agendas vis-à-vis ornament through historical precedent studies, readings and seminar discussions, experimental drawings, and physical prototypes that explore the intersection of computation and craft.

Students, Spring 2014: Jason An, Alan Cation, Jojit Diaz, Ivonne Gomez, Prairna Gupta, Tim Henshaw-Plath, Logan Kelley, Sanna Lee, Jeffrey Maeshiro, Mark Nicholson, Melissa Perkinson, Oscar Ramirez, Darshini Shah, Dustin Tisdale, Herbert Watts

Students, Spring 2016: Antonio Carlos De Quadros Goncalves Neto, Carlos Sabogal, De Huynh, Eva Lai, Frederico Leite Goncalves, Gina Bugiada, Jigao Wu, Joshua Olivas, Keith Edwards, Mrnalini Mills-Raghavan, Myrna Ehrlich, Nicolas Cilloniz Tanji, Priyanka Bendre, Sean Gentry, Sitou Akolly, Talitha D’Couto

Students, Spring 2017: Justine Humble, Bhavin Nagda, Daofu Lu, Denita Irsjad, Eric Soifer, Haonan Jia, Jae Hyun Seo, Jinda Guo, Justin Smith, Leon Trinh, Roshan Britto, Sasank Reddy, Sofia Anastasi, Stephen Sanford, Yumeng Wang, Taskin Yener

ADVANCED STUDIO: Autonomous Architectures

Guest User — Fri, 13 May 2016 22:30:12 +0000

Vertical Neighborhoods from Digital Craft Lab on Vimeo.

ycity from Digital Craft Lab on Vimeo.

Landing Cliffs from Digital Craft Lab on Vimeo.

Autonomy of Form from Digital Craft Lab on Vimeo.

Contingent Terraces from Digital Craft Lab on Vimeo.

Core Faculty: Associate Professor Andrew Kudless

Date: Spring 2016

Technology is increasingly moving toward more autonomous modes of operation. Every day we hear of more tasks or entire professions that have become automated by either virtual or actual robots. From self-driving cars to delivery drones, the way that humans work, play, and move is rapidly changing.

Many sectors of the economy have already undergone rapid shifts towards automation. Automotive manufacturing, agriculture, and banking are three of countless sectors that have radically transformed due to the rise of robots and artificial intelligence. There have been modest innovations in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, but much of the way we work remains unchanged from previous decades. With recent increases in computing power, new design softwares that not only automate repetitive tasks but actually find solutions to complex design problems, and robotic fabrication equipment, the AEC industry is at a tipping point and is set to experience profound changes.

This studio will investigate the future of autonomous design and fabrication through the production of large-scale physical prototypes using a combination of CNC prefabrication and robotic assembly. Through the design of these prototypes, we will rigorously examine the agency and efficacy of computational processes to autonomously generate potential design solutions. Specifically, we will investigate and propose new roles for architects, engineers, and construction workers as many of their current tasks are superseded by autonomous machines.

The role of craft is essential to this exploration. Thus far, the automation of design, engineering, and construction has generally led to an erosion of quality for the sake of speed and quantity. From the homogenization of architectural detailing and drawings resulting from the increased use of BIM to the banal aesthetics of many prefabricated constructions, automation and craft are often mutually exclusive. The studio will explore the development of a digital craft that finds new and innovative methods to embed material logic, integrative performance, and experimental representation into the algorithms, processes, and machines used to design and fabricate the future.

To be clear, this is not a utopian endeavor and the studio will critically engage the role of technology in design, construction and urban life. Historically, the San Francisco Bay Area has been the site of both technological optimism (the often frivolous cyberculture of Silicon Valley) as well as technological pessimism (the retrograde counterculture of Berkeley). However, the studio will explore a third path that uses technological innovations to produce cities and buildings that meaningfully address the role of technology in the profession as well in the larger social, cultural, and economic context of the Bay Area.

This investigation will be informed by the disciplinary arguments of autonomy within architecture. That is, although we will often use the word “autonomous” to describe processes of design and fabrication that are performed with little or no human control, the word “autonomy” also recalls long-standing tensions within the discipline between the formal independence of the object and its status as a product of cultural and material production. As the studio explores the nature of forms that are autonomously designed and fabricated, the issue of Autonomy is central. Who or what is informing these forms if it is not architects as we now understand them? What is Architecture without architects? Does it become completely responsive and optimized to local programmatic, climatic, and material contingencies or does the nature of the code behind these operations offer opportunities for Architecture to offer critical resistance to techno-determinism.

The locus of this investigation will be the design and fabrication of a prototypical district of a new city on the abandoned Alameda Point Naval Air Station. Despite the site being the largest patch of undeveloped land within the epicenter the Bay Area, it has remained vacant for nearly 20 years. Working in teams, the studio will develop a framework for several high-rise buildings within this new city that will be autonomously designed and fabricated. These teams will shift and overlap throughout the term to allow students to both try new roles as well as build emerging personal and technical strengths.
The studio will make heavy use of the Kuka robot to build prototypes and will develop parametric workflows that fluidly move between digital and analog space. The primary output of the studio will be physical prototypes robotically assembled from prefabricated modules. Students will work together to design frameworks for how the modules are digitally generated, physically made, and robotically assembled. These frameworks will be simulated, tested, and refined throughout the term and result in large final prototypes that perform as both scaled architectural speculations of high-rise buildings as well as detailed analogs exploring robotic construction.

ADVANCED STUDIO: Creative Architecture Machines

Guest User — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 16:10:00 +0000

This studio will embrace a more radical approach to the design and fabrication of architecture. The main ambition of the studio is to explore the efficacy of digital processes and their potential to contribute to a wider conversation about architecture, technology and culture. Through the production of experimental and speculative fabrication machines we will endeavor to contribute to a wider debate within architecture about the role architects might play in a coming world where the lines between the digital and the physical are rapidly being blurred beyond recognition. Core Faculty: Jason Kelly Johnson with Michael Shiloh

*** Visit the Creative Architecture Machines website

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ADVANCED STUDIO: Buoyant Ecologies

Guest User — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 16:05:00 +0000

Core Faculty: Adam Marcus, Margaret Ikeda, Evan Jones

Date: Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016

This studio continues the work of the Buoyant Ecologies research project, which explores the design of ecologically-optimized envelopes for waterfront structures that promote habitats for diverse marine species. The research initiative began as a collaboration with Autodesk Workshop at Pier 9, Benthic Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and Kreysler & Associates. A primary focus of the project is to develop customized fiber-reinforced polymer substrates that vary to provide marine habitats for a range of species, thereby enhancing the surrounding ecology. For more information on the broader research project, see the Architectural Ecologies Lab website.

Buoyant Ecologies Studio, Fall 2016: Fernanda Bernardes, Gina Bugiada, Bryany Burke, Madeline Cunningham, Taylor Metcalf, Mrnalini Mills-Raghavan, Georine Pierre, Stephany Rattner, Carlos Sabogal, Arash Sedaghatkamal, Nicole Van Malder

Buoyant Ecologies Studio, Fall 2015: Rafael Berges, Trishala Umesh Chandra, Kuan-Lun Ryan Chen, Jared Clifton, Keith Edwards, Kenneth Hu, Vaama Joshi, Susan Lopez, Shirin Monshipouri, Betty Nip, Min Joo Noh, Omar Soliman, Susan Wing, Ka Ki Yam

Buoyant Ecologies Studio, Fall 2014: Tyler Jones-Powell, Melissa Perkinson, Behnaz Banishahabadi, Maryam Nassajian, Jill Chin-Han Chao, Harrison Hong-Yi Chou, Sanna Lee, Hayfa Al-Gwaiz, Mikaela Leo, Jude Simon, Welbert Bonilla, Yasmine Orozco, Blake Stevenson, Dustin Tisdale

RESEARCH SEMINAR: Interactive Surfaces

Guest User — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000

This seminar course will research, design, prototype and test interactive surfaces. These surfaces will be live, dynamic, sensing, kinetic and programmable. Using electronics, sensors, actuators and material investigations, seminar participants will invent new ways to create interactive floors, walls, ceilings, screens, tabletop and more. We will also explore and write software to visualize, code and control these surfaces.In Part One of the seminar, students will explore interactive strategies and surface typologies from various sources including the design and technical disciplines. In Part Two participants will learn cutting-edge hardware and software tools like Arduino, Firefly, Processing and more. In Part Three, students will develop full scale working prototypes of their designs. Core Faculty: Jason Kelly Johnson

RESEARCH SEMINAR: Kinematic Code

Guest User — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000

This course focuses on the use of procedural techniques in the physical and digital generation of art, design, and architecture. Students will explore the development of scripted actions in the works of several minimalist, conceptual, and computational artists since the 1950s. Central to this investigation will be the inexact relationship between code and its implementation as a site for creative opportunity. Students will learn to write parametric definitions describing a set of actions and then perform these actions using robotic motion control and a variety of custom tools for drawing, painting, and fabrication. The class will be using Grasshopper and the Kuka robotic arm. Core Faculty: Andrew Kudless