Thread by @LukaPiskorec

Structura is dropping on @verse_works on June 14th.

A 🧵 on how it came to be.
#generativeart #generativearchitecture

@verse_works First thing's first: you can already try out the generator on Verse's site 👉 verse.works/artworks/f1059…

Press keys (1-5) to capture a high-res image and (g) to export a gif animation (you might want to increase the number of frames with (n) key). For more controls, press (i)

Structura is a product of collaboration between office ca @office__ca led by Galo Canizares @GaloAndStuff and Stephanie Sang Delgado, and {protocell:labs} founded by Luka Piskorec @LukaPiskorec and Kane Borg @00000Kane00000 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Structura is a part of "Generative Architecture. The Making of a Room" digital exhibition on @verse_works curated by fellow generative artists / architects Alejandro Campos @ratchitect and Ismahelio @ismahelios

verse.works/exhibitions/ge…

As a long form generative collection, it explores the tension between the tectonic and the amorphous through a three-dimensional digital composition. It is written in JavaScript and GLSL using THREE.js and is generated really fast inside your browser because... magic 🧙‍♂️

Inspiration 1 - Konrad Wachsmann

In the 1960s, German-born American architect Konrad Wachsmann created a series of designs for USAF aircraft hangars. His plans from 1963 (below) were displayed in @MuseumModernArt and show the apex of the structuralist movement in architecture.

Inspiration 1 - Konrad Wachsmann

His designs used flat space truss system composed of tetrahedra and semi-octahedra fabricated out of modular steel elements to create a lightweight structure with a large span, a triumph of mathematics and geometry applied to construction.

Inspiration 2 - Peter Eisenman

The basic stable units of a space frame are triangles, which retain stability even when deformed. Architect Peter Eisenman explored structural deformations of this kind through his projects for decades (below, Church of the Year 2000, from 1996)

Inspiration 3 - Lebbeus Woods

Imagination of some architects goes beyond of what can be built at the time. Lebbeus Woods' work, bordering architectural speculation and sci-fi, always exhibited detailed structural thinking.

Below, "Geomagnetic Flying Machines” from 1989

Inspiration 4 - Bernd and Hilla Becher

German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher photographed disappearing industrial architecture around Europe and North America. Their methodical work shows structural and constructive variation of industrial architecture archetypes.

Inspiration 5 - François Schuiten

"Les Cités obscures" are BD series created by Belgian artist François Schuiten and French writer Benoît Peeters. Schuiten's illustration style incorporates fantastical architectural elements and strong geometry with sublime atmospheres.

@jamiegourlay asked artists participating in the Generative Architecture exhibition to share our buildings alongside our artworks. Here are mine 👇

Structura, 2023
Remote Material Deposition, 2014
Iridescence Print, 2015
House 4178, 2016

#digitalfabrication

Reference 1 - Space frames

As a researcher at Gramazio Kohler Research at @ETH between 2011 and 2017, I lead teams of students in fabrication of complex space frames using robots. We also built some through TEN Studio, our architecture office based in Zürich and Belgrade.

Reference 2 - Amorphs

We also built some weird, amorphous constructions using industrial robots, spatial 3D printers and even clay cannons. Our goal was to push architectural construction using digital means into new territories and towards a more sustainable future 🤖🏗️🌲

In Structura, shape of the space frame is determined both by parametric archetype and the deconstruction level. The former is derived from traditional construction rules, the latter from generated spatial noise with smooth areas as well as discontinuities.
#generativearchitecture twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Early Structura prototype (left) shows the effect of applying noise field with discontinuities (right) on the position of space frame cells. If the frame gets too stretched, cell links "snap" and gaps appear. Here the frame is not triangulated for clarity.
#generativearchitecture

Test compositions for Structura (wips without the amorph and with more saturated colors). There are five composition types: detail, wall, hall, crossing and narthex.

Coding and testing outputs goes hand in hand 🤝
#generativeart