FLUX: Architecture in a Parametric Landscape, California College of the Arts, California, 2008- 2009. 

 

The FLUX series of exhibitions was generated as part of the architecture series at the CCA, focusing on the integration of digital practice with design, CCA MEDIAlab’s digital workshop, and the International Smart Geometry conference held in San Francisco in the spring of 2009. It showcased a large number of projects worked on through different parametric modelling platforms. This included the interpretation of the exhibition derived from the generated models. This was an exhibition for a specialist audience that focused on the emerging field of digital design, which has evolved from a mere representational tool to become a complex model that drives the forms for structures and spaces. The FLUX installation, developed by a team of CCA faculty and students, also explores the possibilities of parametric modelling and digital fabrication through the production of the exhibition armature. It was curated by Andrew Kudless with Ila Berman and Marc Fornes. Marc Fornes is one of the faculty members at the CCA. His major works have included curating the European section for the Out there: Architecture beyond building, Architecture Biennale 2008 in Beijing. 

 

‘These tools for design, simulation, and fabrication, have enabled the emergence of new digital diagrams and parametric landscapes- often emulating genetic and iterative dynamic evolutionary processes- that are not only radically changing the ways in which we integrate disparate types of information into the design process, but are also significantly altering the methodology strategies that we use for design, fabrication and construction’.[1]

 

The Content of the exhibition was organised thematically. It explored various types of spatial logics, which were expressed through advanced digital practices. The themes were divided into Stacked Aggregates, Modular Assemblages, Pixelated Fields, Cellular Clusters, Serial Iterations, Woven Meshes, Material Systems, and Emergent Environments. Each of these themes was explained through fifty built works and experimental architectural projects that were further articulated by visuals of the analytical diagrams and 3D models. The exhibition was divided into 8 categories and included work from over 30 offices. Each category contained four to eight projects that represented a particular design approach. The surface of the installation adjacent to each category of work was perforated using a technique related to one of the projects from that category. The installation, which was over 100 feet long, was built over the course of 2 weeks. Every section of the installation was unique and numbered in sequence, allowing the installation to be easily assembled and disassembled in less than 3 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The FLUX installation also explored its intended concepts by designing the exhibition using parametric models and digital fabrication. The curation diagram for the exhibition explains the layout. The undulating structure expands and contracts as it extends down the centre of the exhibition space, and its design becomes part of the interpretation of this exhibition. The components of this exhibition space using parametric modelling, had been designed in such a manner that they could easily be changed to suit a different design criterion. The design takes into consideration the strength of the material, fabrication, reuse, spatial considerations, as well as visual comfort, and the display of material. 

 

 

 

[1] Bieg Kory, ‘FLUX: Architecture in a Parametric landscape’; http://mlab.cca.edu/2009/09/flux-architecture-in-a-parametric-landscape-exhibition/