Digital Manufacturing for Algorithmic Architecture

Image: LaN_Luis | Flickr

The notion of manufacturing algorithmic pieces like panels, structural systems and other elements and components that go into making a building, pose some interesting questions and ideas for you, as an architect, to consider.

In fact, trying to turn algorithmic architecture into a reality is quite a challenge today. It requires the manufacturing of materials that can move about, shift location and morph — all aspects that make digital manufacturing a little ways off.

I read an article recently that describes how people often think that algorithmic architecture does not relate to the context of a place. That by simply pushing a button, the designer does not really…well, design. So when an algorithmic building is built within a real-world site, how does it acquire the context? How does it relate to unique surroundings when, it seems to some, merely “pushing a button” will make a design that only comes up with new variations upon itself — without truly addressing what surrounds it. (see article here.)

So How Does Algorithmic Architecture Context and Digital Manufacturing Tie Together?

Just because an algorithmic architecture uses computation to greatly speed up, and to hopefully enhance its design output, does not mean that it has less context. Yes, it may look different from those buildings which surround it. But how different? In which ways? And is it better or worse?

I think that the notion of “boundary” will take new precedence as algorithmic architecture becomes more of a reality. And I think that the way in which materials are digitally manufactured and assembled will play a large role in the way algorithmic architecture is received.

Often, the language of boundary between a building and its context manifests through its materials and their construction. It will be up to the architect to make sure all of these variables are in balance; for, what they put in, will grow into a result. And the way this result is constructed will rest in the hands of the architect, the materials they designate, the construction of those materials and their overall sensitivity to the building’s surroundings throughout.

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