FORMATIONS WORKSHOP

SAN FRANCISCO, CA | PARAMETRIC URBANISM WITH GRASSHOPPER | FEB 13-14, 2010

I am really excited to be participating in the upcoming Formations 2010 workshop series being held at the California College of the Arts campus in San Francisco.  There is a really great lineup of instructors teaching a wide array of topics:

• Mapping Urban Information with ESRI ArcGIS by Mona El-Khafif (CCA URBANlab) and Richard Kos (CCSF GIS Education Center/ San Jose State University)
• Neocartography - an Introduction to Interactive Mapping with Flash by Sha Hwang (Stamen Design)
• Parametric Urbanism with Grasshopper by Andy Payne (Lift Architects) and Andrew Kudless (Matsys/CCA MEDIAlab)
• Sensing the City with Arduino and Processing by Jason Kelly Johnson (Future Cities Lab/CCA MEDIAlab) and TBA instructor
• Parametric Design Modeling with Revit by David Fano (Case, inc./ DesignReForm.net/Columbia GSAPP)
• ECOlogics with Ecotect by Nataly Gattegno (Future Cities Lab / CCA ECOlab) and Olivier Pennetier (Symphysis)

Below is a synopsis of the Parametric Urbanism workshop I will co-teaching with Andrew Kudless.
Instructor: Andy Payne (Lift Architects) and Andrew Kudless (Matsys/CCA MEDIAlab)

This workshop will focus on the generative modeling of urban design logics using the Grasshopper plugin for Rhino 4.0. From the early work of firms such as MVRDV to the more recent investigations by Zaha Hadid, a parametric approach to urban design has allowed designers to condense complex hierarchies of design data into solutions that exhibit highly differentiated patterns of urban form. The workshop will cover several techniques that attempt to integrate common urban design parameters dealing with massing, program, and density into one associative model allowing the designer to quickly and accurately test multiple design scenarios. The first day of the workshop will introduce many of the central topics and techniques of parametric urbanism while the second day will focus on the implementation of these techniques in a large, complex urban masterplan.

Eligibility: Open to all design students and professionals.
Cost: $100 for students, $200 for professionals.

Click here to register for this event

TEX-FAB WORKSHOP

ARLINGTON, TX | INTRO/INTERMEDIATE GRASSHOPPER WORKSHOP | FEBRUARY 6th, 2010

I would like to thank Andrew Vrana, Brad Bell, and Kevin Patrick McClellan for inviting me to teach two sessions at the first ever TEX-FAB event being held at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Architecture from February 4th-6th, 2010.  The weekend event promises to be an exciting one with key note speakers, workshops, and an exhibition planned to highlight the growing interest in digital fabrication and design. 

TEX-FAB is a new resource for designers, academics, fabricators, and students seeking out the innovative application of digital technology to the physical environment. Within Texas there is an emerging network of companies, institutions, and individuals focusing on the exploration of parametric design and the digital production of building components. Specifically, there is a growing opportunity for collaborative exchange between the academic, technical, and professional communities by leveraging the immense resources found in some of the largest metropolitan centers across the United States. TEX-FAB seeks to create a forum for the exchanges of these ideas and techniques through workshops, lectures, and exhibitions. 

UNIV. OF TORONTO GRASSHOPPER WORKSHOP

I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching a 3-day fabrication workshop at the University of Toronto from July 17th-19th.  The first two days of the course will be set up to teach the fundamentals of the software plugin and we will work through a diverse range of topics.  However, the third day will be focused on the construction of a full scale urban intervention where we will be using Grasshopper to facilitate the fabrication of a full scale prototype.  We will examine Toronto's existing urban infrastructure, namely it's post and ring bicycle lock system, and develop a parasitic design that can be modified for each site's unique characteristics (such as volumetric dimensions (length, width, height), bike lock spacing, screening systems and solar orientation, and acoustical response.  We will also be using a 5-axis CNC Mill (PADE Spin-W) capable of machining 1.2m in the z-axis and roughly a 2.5m x 2.5m x-y bed-size. 

I'd like to thank Matthew Spremulli and Valentina Mele for helping organize the event.  The workshop is open to University of Toronto students only and is currently sold out.  I will be posting more about the workshop and some fabrication shots very soon.  Stay tuned!

Update 21 July: Above are a few screenshots from the workshop hosted at the University of Toronto this past weekend.  We really covered a lot of ground and the images below display an amazing amount of progress made for students who were completely new to the software system (after just 2 days). 

FLUX WORKSHOPS

I will be teaching a two day workshop focusing on an Introduction to Grasshopper Modeling in Rhino for the FLUX event being held at the California College of the Arts on March 28-29.  I'm honored to be invited as there are some really good designers teaching the other workshops as well.  Here's a list of the other workshops being offered that weekend:

Associative Modeling and Formula Driven Geometry using Revit Architecture with Nancy Clark Brown

Beyond Parametric Modeling with solidThinking with Darren Chilton

Knowledge Patterns in Digital Project with Dr. David Jason Gerber

Introduction to Rhino Modeling with Pascal Golay

Advanced Grasshopper Modeling and VB.Net Scripting with Rajaa Issa and Gil Akos

Rhinoscripting with Marc Fornes

Costs are $50 for students, $100 for professionals and includes lunch on both days.  Some of the workshops are already sold out, so sign up quickly.  I am also helping out on the exhibition that will coincide with the event, but I'll release more information on that soon.