This course is part of the practice orientated teaching trajectory ‘Constructing’, Path 5: Digital Fabrication and Construction. The course is situated in the ‘Beginner Level’ in the CoDe student specialisation journey and therefore available for enrolment as an elective for all other UNSW undergrad students.
Students are introduced to developments in digital fabrications through lecture and Grasshopper scripting. Students will produce small artefacts via digital fabrication 3D printers and Laser Cutters. In this course students will produce innovative geometries that will shape the form, space and detail of architectural environments. To achieve this they will engage with cutting edge and developing digital modelling applications, techniques and cultures. The course will aim to develop your skills in using digital technology to experiment and generate creative architectonic geometries.
A weekly lecture will develop themes relating to the culture and application of complex geometries within the digital context, and propose conceptual challenges that drive the edges of our current understanding. Within the context of this course, modelling applications will be used as a medium for testing and manipulating digital forms. We will review the nature and scope of modelling concepts in a more general context, looking at its history, evolution, applications and potentiality as a design tool.
Theoretical knowledge will be presented under some broad concepts: Topological Architectures, Influenced Architectures, Dynamics and Motion, Generative Forms, Parametric Design, Evolving Architectures, Digital Fabrication, Digital Manipulation, Digital Optimization and Performance. You will engage in weekly lab classes to experiment and develop with complex geometries.
Assessment will be based on your progressive performance in the lab class and a number of assessable tasks that will demonstrate the evolution of your explorations.