Scripting, Simulation, and the Making of Architecture
January 16 – 17, 2015
Symposium concept & organization by Nicole Stöcklmayr
Speakers included Mario Carpo, Achim Menges, Jan Knippers, Matias del Campo & Sandra Manninger, Barbara Imhof, Stefan Rutzinger & Kristina Schinegger, Andrea Graser, Moritz Heimrath, and Gabriele Gramelsberger.
This 1.5-day symposium brought together architects, engineers, software developers and scholars of architectural theory, philosophy of science, and media studies to explore how and in what particular manner computer simulations and scripting techniques have an epistemic and aesthetic impact on the design and making of architecture. Papers and project presentations offered an insight into the novel modes of code-controlled design and production by discussing the various methods, approaches, strategies, and translations involved within computational processes and fabrication tools. The conference discussed a series of issues that included (but were not limited to) the following questions:
How and why do architects and engineers integrate computer simulations in their design and planning processes? What are the selection criteria for parameters and algorithms and how do they have an agency within a simulation or script? How do software and scripting contribute as tools and mediums to analysis, design, and fabrication and what are the implications for architects and engineers in becoming programmers and software developers? What is the potential of design computation for the improvement of communication and collaboration between architects, engineers, and programmers? Furthermore, what are the characteristics of a computational design culture and how do algorithmic practices and techniques affect the ways we describe, experience, and discuss architecture?
Visit the symposium website for details and schedule.
Find photos of the symposium here.
Read the review by Franziska Reichenbecher.
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SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
Friday, January 16, 2015
09:30 – 10:00
Coffee and Registration
10:00 – 10:15
WELCOME
Claus Pias & Martin Warnke, Directors, MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg
OPENING REMARKS
Nicole Stöcklmayr, MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg
10:15 – 11:00
Achim Menges (Institute for Computational Design, University of Stuttgart / Graduate School of Design, Harvard University):
Computational Design and Material Culture
11:00 – 11:45
Jan Knippers (Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design, University of Stuttgart / Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering, Stuttgart, New York, Berlin):
Integrative Design in a Computational Environment
11:45 – 12:00
Coffee Break
12:00 -12:45
Matias del Campo & Sandra Manninger (Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan / Tongji University, Shanghai / del Campo Manninger Architects, Vienna, Shanghai, Detroit):
Moody Objects
12:45 – 14:15
Lunch Break
14:15 – 15:00
Moritz Heimrath (Institute for Structural Design, University of Applied Arts, Vienna / Bollinger + Grohmann Ingenieure, Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Oslo, Melbourne / Karamba3d, parametric engineering):
Evolutionary Structures
15:00 – 15:45
Stefan Rutzinger & Kristina Schinegger (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London / Institute of Architectural Sciences, Vienna University of Technology / soma, Vienna, Salzburg):
Alchemy and Simulation, an Approach towards the Formless
15:45 – 16:00
Coffee Break
16:00 – 16:45
Barbara Imhof (Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna / LIQUIFER Systems Group, Vienna, Mumbai):
“And The Stars Look Very Different Today.” Collaboration, Visualization and Simulation Methodologies in Contemporary Space Architecture Practice
16:45 – 17:00
Coffee Break
17:00 – 18:15
KEYNOTE
Mario Carpo (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London):
The Style of Big Data
Saturday, January 17, 2015
10:00 – 10:45
Andrea Graser (Studio Okular, Vienna):
Coding Light Density
10:45-11:30
Gabriele Gramelsberger (MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg):
Life/Design/Matter – Towards a Philosophy of Parametric Thinking
11:30 – 11:45
Coffee Break
11:45 – 12:45
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
12:45 – 13:00
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Nicole Stöcklmayr (MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg)
Nicole Stoecklmayr 