transforming shapes

transforming shapes

6. June 2006 Off By abs

Seminarreader transforming shapes 1

Seminarreader transforming shapes 2

Evolutionary processes, based on the basic
parameters change and repetition of complex
structures were taking centre stage at our design
seminar at Stuttgart University. How can these
principles be conveyed to architecture? Which
possibilities of design are resulting from them in
formal as well as constructive respects?
Within the framework of the seminar the students
had the chance of getting to know the program
“Catia”, or more precisely “Digital Project”, and
its application in architecture. The software is
originally coming out of the field of mechanical
engineering and is presently the standard in the
areas of shipbuilding, automotive and airplane
engineering. The specialty of the program consists
in its ability of being able to describe even
very arbitrary free shapes with high geometric
precision. It is especially suited for handling
“families” of different, but geometrically similar
objects.
In a workshop during the design seminar the
participants got themselves acquainted with
those functions of Catia needed for their task.
These skills were to be consolidated by preliminary
exercises and then, in the second part of
the design seminar, to be used in the work on a
design exercise. The emphasis was put on the
transformation into material and the constructive
realisation of the developed shapes. In parallel
to the seminar presentations were held helping in
acquiring the necessary geometric and manufacturing
basics. As a prerequisite we were expecting
the students to be interested in working with
spatially challenging geometries. The following
book is the in parts unedited reproduction of the
study theses.

A. Benjamin Spaeth

Klaus Schwägerl

Isolde Stamm