add abstract 2012
DESCRIPTION
Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory (ADD) report 2011/2012TRANSCRIPT
AALTO
UNIVERSITY
DIGITAL
DESIGN
LABORATORY
ABSTRACT
2012
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
02–03
CONTENTS
ADDLAB
10 Background
Statement
Objectives
12 First Year 2012
Coming Year 2013
14 Space
16 Infrastructure
DESIGN RESEARCH
20 Soft Tower
30 Responsive Skin 1.0
40 Projects
48 ADD FORUM
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
52 ADD VARIANCE
DISCOURSE
60 ADD THOUGHT
66 ADD Editorial Projects
74 ADD ARCHIVE
APPENDIX
84 ADD Supported Courses and Events
86 Local Community and International Network
90 ADD Organization
ADD Leadership
96 Colophon
Pages 04–07:
Melting Point Toyota series by Stéphane Couturier.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
STATEMENT
ADD is an organization dedicated to developing the unique ‘Aalto
University approach’ to 21st century research. The laboratory’s
aim is to create innovation-based digital design, manufacturing
and material technology that are commercially viable, culturally
relevant, and valuable to society at large. ADDLAB is a site where
the design fields are in dialogue with other disciplines, such as
mechanical and civil engineering, art and material sciences. It is
a place for exploration, creativity, provocation, and risk-taking, as
well as a site for thought, research and production.
BACKGROUND
Digital design, robotic fabrication and material technologies are
bringing about a paradigm shift in the physical world of our built
environment. We are moving away from serial reproduction
towards serial permutation; from copies towards iterations. At an
unprecedented scale, digital technologies introduce variance,
mutation and flexibility into industrial mass production.
Aalto University is a future-oriented institution which offers a
unique opportunity to combine economics, engineering, design,
architecture and art, and to create a new trans-disciplinary
research platform focused on exploring the potential of the
paradigmatic shif t to digital design, fabrication and material
technologies for a multiplicity of disciplines.
10–11
OBJECTIVES
ADD’s objective is to become a renowned, international design
research laboratory which is networked to a community of world-
class researchers, professionals, Aalto University students, and
professors, as well as local and international companies.
ADD’s public programs, such as lectures and courses, focus on
building a multidisciplinary local and international audience.
ADDLAB is a place for learning and research which expands the
possibilities of existing Aalto programs. It supports a multitude
of educational programs and university departments by serving
undergraduate students, those students working on their thesis
project, researchers and professors.
On the ADD platform, cutting edge digital design, fabrication
and material technology are applied to practice together with
commercial enterprises, and students, researchers, and professors
from various university departments.
ADD is an opportunity for Aalto University to prototype new
organizational and operational models as well as new physical
and digital environments for learning and research. It is a platform
on which new methods of learning enabled by new technologies
will be intensely explored.
ADD establishes international knowledge networks by hosting and
organizing a variety of lectures, seminars and workshops. Some
of the events are organized by physically inviting international
participants and others through means of digital communications.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
FIRST YEAR 2012
During its first year, the principal goal has been to build ADD as
an organization, and ADDLAB as its physical platform. ADD is also
in the process of initiating a number pilot R&D projects aimed at
demonstrating its capabilities and initiating collaborations with
industry.
ADD is developing a multiplicity of publications for the
communication and dissemination of content : ADD information
brochure, ADD FOLDs newsletter, ADD leaflets for all events
and projects, ADD events posters, and ADD METAPHYSICS
publication series. In addition, ADD is developing a website both
for communications and for documenting and making available
educational content such as lectures and courses.
ADD has so far arranged seven lectures and three courses.
Both the lectures and courses have been well attended by a
multidisciplinary audience. ADD has also supported a number of
events and projects which are related to its mission, as well as
events deemed significant for the Aalto University community.
12–13
COMING YEAR 2013
In the coming year 2013, the ADDLAB digital manufacturing
infrastructure will be under construction. The renovation of the
physical space begins in November 2012, and the acquirement
of equipment is currently under way. The purchase of digital
design and manufacturing machinery is proceeding by means
of ongoing negotiations with the major manufactures, such as
Dassault Systems, 3D Systems and Stäubli, aimed at creating
long-lasting collaborative agreements which will guarantee ADD’s
continued access to the latest technology. ADDLAB as a platform
will host the FIMECC Factory group of researchers in 2013 and
execute the first of four phases of the MANU research projects
coordinated by FIMECC.
In the coming year 2013, ADD will offer five courses and arrange
ten public lectures. The courses will be open to students from any
department in Aalto University. The Departments of Design and
Architecture from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture and
the Departments of Engineering, Design and Production and Civil
and Structural Engineering will credit participation in courses and
lectures offered by ADD.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
14–15
SPACE
ADDLAB occupies an existing industrial facility located in the
School of Engineering in Aalto University’s Otaniemi campus.
The design of the spatial identity of ADD was approached as a
reconceptualization of the notion of exhibition space and research
facility, a site which is simultaneously a vitrine for experimentation
and display yet permeable to its intrinsic industrial surroundings.
This primary concept has been developed through an enveloping
whitewash veil and concentrated light interventions which
introduce an environment of suspense between the facility’s
industrial past and future expectations.
As a void with substance, the space is a spectacle, a cultural
venue, institution and social space, as well as a creative studio and
fabrication platform. All white – all colors and no color at the same
time – it is a stage for laboratory life between thought and matter.
Florencia Colombo – ADD Art Direction + Cultural Projects
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
INFRASTRUCTURE
ADDLAB is currently developing a Robotic Laboratory intended
to operate as a cutting edge fabrication facility which will explore
opportunities within the latest digital production technologies.
The Robotic Laboratory will empower researchers, students, and
visiting professionals by providing an infrastructure conceived as
a site for experimentation, prototyping and production. The facility
has been conceived as a combination of the latest software and
prototyping machinery within a unique setting that will enable
the realization of a complete creative process from design to
manufacturing, assembly and testing.
ADDLAB attempts to develop an environment of exceptional
standards which will support flexible manufacturing and digital
prototyping by integrating CAD software, additive manufacturing,
computer controlled fabrication machines and robots,
accompanied by powerful computing hardware.
Because there is a need to tap the full potential of digital design
and fabrication tools, ADDLAB is establishing partnerships
with companies that provide the latest technologies. The aim
of partnership is to create mutually beneficial scenarios where
companies, researchers, professionals and students are welcome
to participate in ADDLAB’s workshops and public program, and
make use of the facilities to showcase their research, production
and technology.
Sergei Chekurov – ADD Technical Development
Heikki Sjöman – ADD Infrastructure Development
Wycliffe Raduma – ADD Research + Education Development
Meng Wang – ADD Technical Design
16–17
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
SOFT TOWER
– A Research Project on Advanced High-Rise Building
High-rise is a device for spatial optimization, creating peaks of
density. It is perhaps the most powerful device for sustainable
building due to the optimization of the urban infrastructure. Most
tall buildings, however, have a bad image caused by the serial
reproduction and technocratic atmosphere that conceived them.
Is it possible to develop better, more exciting, ecological and
humane high-rise typologies? Is there a potential for a friendly,
soft skyscraper? How could change and responsiveness be
incorporated in high-rises? How could we create more exciting
sequences of experiences in vertical buildings?
Can towers become material constellations where form, program,
pattern, color and ornament are co-coordinated to produce new,
more ecological sensations when people flow through them?
We believe that ecologically motivated and digitally powered
designs can take on existing clichés and create a new Soft Tower,
beautiful enough to seduce us into exploring more sustainable
ways of being and feeling in the world.
Parasitic Aggregation. Gabriel Huerta – UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Student.
This project is coordinated by ADD and executed in collaboration with UCLA
Architecture and Urban Design, USA, and Aalto University Department of Architecture.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
22–23
SOFT TOWER WORKSHOP
– Aalto University, UCLA and World Design Capital Helsinki 2012
The initial phase of the SOFT TOWER research project was
developed through a joint collaboration between the architecture
students from Aalto University and UCLA in the USA. During
this process, the visiting students from UCLA developed a site
specific research and conceptual design based on a set of
locations selected by Aalto University students throughout the
city of Helsinki.
The resulting proposals were first presented in the context of the
UCLA 2012 RUMBLE session, an exhibition where the “program
installations redefine the provocative opportunities confronting
the next generation of architects.”
A second presentation took place in the end of 2012 as part of
the WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL HELSINKI 2012 program through a
series of site specific interventions positioned throughout the city.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
Above:
Metamorphose. Cody Campbell – UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Student.
Right:
Parasitic Aggregation. Gabriel Huerta – UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Student.
24–25
26–27
Left :
(Metro)City. Leonard Ma – Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture,
Department of Architecture.
Above:
City Rejuvenated. Alexander Adkins – Aalto University School of Arts, Design and
Architecture, Department of Architecture.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
Soft Tower construction boards positioned across Helsinki as part of the World Design
Capital Helsinki 2012.
28–29
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
RESPONSIVE SKIN 1.0
A Research Project on the use of simulation as a part of an
algorithmic design process in the design of advanced, modular
building skins.
Status: Design phase executed 2011–2012. Realization 2013.
The Responsive Skin project focuses on a design process
which enables the scripted panelization of a building form,
instrumentalizing analytical data, such as solar gain analysis. We
will work to uncover the technical and artistic potential of a design
process which involves an ‘intelligent feedback loop’ from digital
analysis or simulation with the aim of creating new, ‘responsive
building skins’.
The designs of the paneling systems are done within the constraints
of a digital fabrication process called incremental sheet forming,
in which an industrial robot presses a sheet of metal against a
computer guided piston ‘field’ in order to form a mould which can
be used for injection molding.
The last step, before the assembly of the manufactured components
on site, is a parametric BIM model. The BIM model needs to be
constructed with software such as the Digital Project or Tekla in
order to control the process of assembly. Subject to time and
progress, the project will attempt the creation of a parametric
building model from each of the designs.
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Direction
Robbie Eleazer – Algorithmic design
ADD, UCLA, Aalto University Department of Material Technology and Aalto University
Business Information Technology BIT.
Project 1. Wael Batal, Cheng Ha, Chris Harris.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
Above:
Unit connection and pin connection detail.
Pages 34–35:
Unit variations.
32–33
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
34–35
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
Pages 36–37:
Project 2. Brian James Cadiz, Gabriel Huerta, Joseph Mathias.
Above:
Primitive geometry.
Right:
Shingle to shingle unit interface and sample orientations.
38–39
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
PROJECTS
ADDLAB is initiating and executing a number of pilot projects in
the present academic year, 2012–2013, aimed and launching its
design research activity:
Convolute work in progress.
40–41
RESPONSIVE SKIN 2.0
A research and development project on robotically operated,
environmentally responsive building skins.
Status: Commencing October 2012
The Responsive Skin 2.0 project builds on its predecessor
by adding real-t ime interactive, mechanical and chemical
transformations to the building skin for the purposes of superior
performativity – both technically and theatrically speaking.
CONVOLUTE
A research and development project on additively manufactured
non-standard series LED light fixtures.
Status: In process
The convolute project explores the combination of animation
software, additive manufacturing, metalised surface treatment and
VTT’s direct write/draw technology for the creation of unique,
highly articulated LED light fixtures.
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Ashish Mohite, Emmy Maruta – Design Development
Aalto University Collaboration:
Aalto Mechatronics with Petri Kuosmanen; Brian Breuer-Harberts, Iñigo Flores Ituarte,
Tatu Kalervo Pollari, Markus Selensky
Professional Consultant:
Robbie Eleazer – Algorithmic Design
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Ashish Mohite, Emmy Maruta – Design Development
Meng Wang – Industrial Engineering
Jukka Helle – Programming
Aalto University Collaboration:
Teemu Rönkkä – Electronics
Companies:
Shapeways, Metallizeit, Oras, SAAS Instruments
Organizations:
VTT
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
TURNING A CORNER
A research and development project on digitally manufactured
and cast joints for complex furniture spaceframe.
Status: In completion. Exhibited at the Shanghai Museum of
Contemporary Art in October 2012 at the Design Colors Life
exhibition of Finnish design.
Turning a Corner was a project in which 3D printing and casting
were combined in order to produce unique aluminum alloy joints
for a freeform furniture spaceframe. The furniture in question was
a glass table where custom images were printed on the underside
of the surface. The printed glass and the sculptural spaceframe
capitalized on the potential of digital printing, 3D and 2D, for
creating customized, formally complex furniture.
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Ashish Mohite – Design Development
Eetu Kejonen – Engineering/Casting
Companies:
Konepaja Mäkelin, Marimekko
42–43
Left :
3D printed angles and table assembly.
Above:
Render of the finalized table.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
Above:
Melting aluminium.
Right:
Casted angles before processing.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
DDSHAPE (DIRECT DIGITAL SHAPE)
A research project on laser-based incremental sheet forming
Status: Commences October 2012
The DDShape project develops a new technology to shape plastic
sheets into 3-dimensional form directly from digital design data.
The 3D shape of the design is converted to elevation contour
curves and these contour curves are transferred to the sheet
material by a laser and an industrial scanner system. The laser
softened contour curves are then shaped with air pressure.
DDShape technology offers potential to quickly make objects
from custom designs and also from 3D scanned shapes. The
3D data can be transferred via the internet for production in a
different location.
ADDMATERIAL – MANU PROJECT
A research project on additive manufacturing
Status: Commences January 2013
ADDLAB as a platform will host the Fimecc Factory group of
researchers (tbc) in 2013 and execute the first phase of four
MANU research projects coordinated by FIMMECC. The focus of
the research is additive manufacturing.
CASE STUDY HOUSES
A research and development project on digitally fabricated
housing and furniture.
Status: In preparation
The Case Study House is a research and development project
which focuses on developing digitally designed and fabricated
housing, accompanying building details and furniture. The end
result of the project will be a collection of products as well as a
community of realized case-study houses.
A group of progressive and technologically savvy young artists,
architects and designers will be selected to head R&D teams.
Each team will produce a visionary concept and demonstrate it
through a varied series of building models and accompanying
products. The most successful designs will be selected for further
development, and finally a few will be chosen for construction and
production. The project will last three years in total; the first year
focusing on concepts, the second on development and the third
on realization.
The Case Study Houses and associated products will be created
from a number of materials, with particular focus of UPM’s wood
and wood related products, including future materials such as
nanocellulose. Wood and wood related products are excellent
from the point of view of sustainability because they are renewable
and have a long lifecycle. Material science related to wood and
cellulose at Aalto University and within the company UPM is at the
cutting edge internationally.
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Ashish Mohite, Emmy Maruta – Design Development
Meng Wang – Industrial Engineering
Aalto University Collaborations:
Principal Scientist Dr. Jouni Partanen – School of Science, Business Innovation Technology
Professor Petri Kuosmanen with students from the Mechatronics Program – Department
of Engineering Design and Production
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Wycliffe Raduma, Sergei Chekurov, Heikki Sjöman – Manufacturing Technology
46–47
INTERACTIVE MATERIAL
A research and development project on the seamless integration
of interactive media in material surfaces such as glass.
Status: In process
An interactive material project combining a 88% clear ‘nanofilm’
laminated on to glass with a Kinect camera, using a standard
6000 lumen projector and custom made particle based software
to create a real-time interactive artwork and information on the
glass façade of a public building in Helsinki.
BIOBOX
Digitally manufactured packaging solutions from biocomposites
Status: In preparation
Biobox combines the latest material innovations related to
biocomposites at VTT with digital design, printing and lasercutting
for the creation of packaging and book covers.
NANOSHELL
A research and development project on additively manufactured
Nanocellulose shell structures.
Status: In preparation
Nanoshell combines algorithmic design, simulation, free-form
additive manufacturing and nanocellulose for the creation of
biomimetic, optimized shell structures.
GLOBAL DESIGN LOCAL PRODUCTION
A research and development project on crowd sourced high-end,
plastic consumer products
Status: In preparation
GDLP is a project exploring the use of crowd sourcing and 3D
printing for transforming the manner in which products are
developed, marketed and distributed.
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Professional Consultants:
Jani Isoranta, Matt Swoboda – Interactive Media
Jorma Saarikko – Projection Technology
Companies:
Stockmann, Pro AV
ADD Design Research Team
Technical Research Center of Finland – VTT Bio Composites Group
ADD Design Research Team:
Kivi Sotamaa – Design Director
Ashish Mohite, Emmy Maruta – Design Development
Aalto University Collaborations:
Academy Professor Olli Ikkala – Department of Applied Physics, Molecular Materials Group
Principal Scientist Dr. Jouni Partanen – School of Science, Business Innovation Technology
ADD Design Research Team in collaboration with international design professionals
Companies (tentative):
Plastex, Slave
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD FORUM
ADD FORUM enables researchers from Aalto University and
its partner universities to meet with interested professionals,
researchers, and possible sponsors. The intention is to get
research away from the limited academic setting and disciplinary
silos and into real-world interdisciplinary applications that serve
society and industry. ADDFORUM welcomes researchers that
want to communicate the significance of their work by sharing it
with a selected group of potential collaborators.
ADD FORUM 1: Collaborative Intelligence – Brought to light the
research of Aalto University’s CAD/CAM/CAE research group from
the Department of Engineering Design and Production. In this
forum GrabCAD and Dassault Systems shared their efforts and
visions for making CAD more collaborative.
ADD FORUM 2: Engineering Education, Machine Design in Aalto
University – The engineering program at the Aalto University
Schools of Science and Technology are undergoing a major
reformation. In this context, educational developers got together
to discuss the future possibilities and challenges in mechanical
engineering education. Markku Kuuva presented the plans for
reforming the Bachelor’s degree programs, Wycliffe Raduma
presented his master’s thesis titled “Search for Best Practice in
Education: Machine Design in Aalto University”, and the Aaltonaut
Team presented the plans for a new Aalto-wide interdisciplinary
bachelor’s degree program.
Wycliffe Raduma – ADD Research + Education Development
48–49
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
52–53
ADD VARIANCE
ADD VARIANCE is a program created to explore formal
experimentation and materialization methodologies through an
array of digital design and fabrication processes.
This workshop program contemplates the notions of variance,
mutation and flexibil ity which are introduced by digital
technologies in regards to industrial production.
ADD VARIANCE introduces computational design methods,
ranging from generative, animation-based tactics to algorithmic
design and scripting through a series of workshops developed by
international specialists.
The workshops are intended as a supplementary addition to the
academic curricula of the School of Engineering and the School
of Arts, Design and Architecture, with the intention of challenging
the boundaries of each discipline through alternative creative
processes.
2012 PROGRAM:
ADD VARIANCE 1 ANIMATING FORM
Instructor: STEVEN MA
ADD VARIANCE 2 SIMULATION TECTONICS
Instructor: ROBBIE ELEAZER
ADD VARIANCE 3 BEHAVIORAL COMPOSITES
Instructor: ROLAND SNOOKS
2013 PROGRAM:
ADD VARIANCE 4 DIGITAL FABRICATION
Instructor: MARTA MALE ALEMANY
ADD VARIANCE 5 VOLUPTUOUS MASS
Instructor: GEORGINA HULJICH
ADD VARIANCE 6 ESPERANT. O ROBOTICS
Instructors:
JONATHAN PROTO / BRANDON KRUYSMAN
ADD VARIANCE 1 took place on May 7–11, 2012.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD VARIANCE 1: ANIMATING FORM
The first session of the ADD VARIANCE program consisted of
a digital workshop of advanced architectural design, which
introduced participants to contemporary discussions of formal
exploration in architecture, through the technical attainment of
design production and animation.
CONCEPT
Can architecture contaminate animation?
As two polarized practices complete with specific workflows
collide, inevitably new techniques and concepts will emerge.
Through the use of 3D modeling software, editing and special
effects tutorials, the desire for this workshop was to innovate new
processes and possibilities to create “Animated Form”.
By introducing the skills required to animate and model in the way
which more and more architecture and design is adopting first,
and then transitioning into more classical notions of animation,
it is possible to arrive at a new product - animated yet not quite
animation; architectural yet not quite Architecture. The aim of this
workshop was to push architectural animation past the typical
“flat” realm of visualization and to produce a new category of
formal expression.
The workshop was a discourse based on the use of multi-layered
techniques and production processes that allowed for control
over intelligent geometries, calibration of parts, and behavioral
taxonomies, normalizing an innovative field of predictability.
Instructor: STEVEN MA
Steven Ma is a design architect for Coop-himmelb(L)au in Vienna, specialized in digital
visualizations, 3D management and productions. He is also assistant professor in the
“Excessive” post-graduate program at the University for Applied Arts Vienna, Austria.
He worked as a lead designer for Xefirotarch in Los Angeles from 2006-2008. Born
in Hong Kong, he gained a master of architecture degree from Southern California
Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 2008, graduating with distinction, and he was
awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal and the Best Overall Graduated Thesis Award
entitled “Xuberance: Liminal Form & Calligraphical Aesthetics”.
54–55
Xuberance by Steven Ma.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
56–57
Animating Form workshop.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
60–61
ADD THOUGHT
The ADD THOUGHT public lecture series explores the state of
production in the electro-material environment.
The series is defined by select international practitioners and
theorists who are invited to share their experience through
cross-disciplinary practice between the fields of engineering,
mathematics, art, architecture and design.
2011 / 2012 PROGRAM:
ADD THOUGHT 1 CLEMENS WEISSHAAR
Designer
Kram/Weisshaar
ADD THOUGHT 2 ULRIKA KARLSSON
Architect, Designer
Servo
ADD THOUGHT 3 GREG LYNN
Architect, Designer
GLform
ADD THOUGHT 4 ANDREW WITT
Architect, Designer, Mathematician
Director of Research, Gehry Technologies
ADD THOUGHT 5 MICHAEL SPEAKS
Researcher, Writer, Critic
Dean of the College of Design,
University of Kentucky
ADD THOUGHT 6 KLAUS BOLLINGER
Structural Engineer
Bollinger-Grohmann Ingeneure
ADD THOUGHT 7 DAVID ERDMAN
Architect
Studio Davidclovers
ADD THOUGHT 8 HERNAN DIAZ ALONSO
Architect
XEFIROTARCH
ADD THOUGHT 9 PETER TESTA /DEVYN WEISER
Architects
Studio TESTA/WEISER
SCI-Arc Robotics & Simulation Lab
ADD THOUGHT 10 ENRIC RUIZ GELI
Architect, Scenographer
Cloud 9
ADD THOUGHT 11 MARKUS MIESSEN
Writer, Architect, Researcher
Studio Miessen
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD THOUGHT 5 – MICHAEL SPEAKS
– New Values for New Design
Driven by advances in building and information technology
and accelerated by the tumultuous period of global economic
restructuring that commenced in 2008, architecture practice
is today confronted with the necessity of fundamental change.
Indeed, all sectors of the A/E/C industry will face increasingly
fierce competition that will, of necessity, force practices large
and small to compete less on cost and more on value. In the
very near future architecture will be valued almost entirely based
on performance—economic, cultural, environmental—and only
those firms able to create these and other forms of added value
will survive. Disruptive technologies like building information
modeling and integrated product delivery will enable all firms,
even those competing solely on the basis of cost, to design
better buildings and deliver them more efficiently. But in such a
fiercely competitive global marketplace, efficiency alone will not
be enough to guarantee market viability. The real differentiator will
instead be design, for design not only adds economic value, it is
also one of the most powerful engines of innovation and therefore
among the most productive forces of economic value creation.
One of the unexpected consequences of the 2008 economic
downturn has been that the debate over the value of architecture
and design is now focused less on style and the exquisite,
designed object, and more on the economic and societal value
added by design. And that is because almost everyone now
acknowledges that we need new design values as much as –
perhaps more than – we need new designs. The most promising
development, in this regard, and one that affects architecture
and design practice as well as design education, is the growing
recognition that design is not only a product – a table, building,
plan or landscape – but is also a creative process and a powerful
engine of innovation. This new understanding of design helps
us begin to see what new values of new design practice and
education might look like. Cheap, fast and adaptable, so that
hundreds of iterations can be designed, sorted, and discarded.
Big, bold, and dumb, so that clients, stakeholders, even other
designers, can engage in transparent, productive discussion that
might lead to better problems and better solutions. And finally,
apposite not perfect, so that if the design needs to adapt to
changing conditions, it can do so with minimal effort and cost. If
architecture, in particular, is to thrive during and after the current
economic downturn, it will have to adapt to these and other values
of the “good enough” revolution, where the quick and dirty have
eclipsed the slow and polished and the cheap and simple have
eclipsed the expensive and complicated. But if architecture,
and more importantly, if architecture schools, are unwilling or
unable to innovate, communicate, and adapt, they will soon be
left behind, comforted only by the memories of those expensive,
incomprehensible, perfectly designed things that not too long ago
fascinated us all.
ADD THOUGHT 5 took place on April 23, 2012
62–63
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD THOUGHT 4 – ANDREW WITT
– SuperNumeracy: The New (and Old) Mathematics of Design
Combinatorial and algorithmic approaches to design have a
history that predates contemporary digital and parametric tools.
These approaches are intimately conditioned by architecture’s
relationship with mathematics and machines, which has pervasively
influenced progressive approaches to form-making. Today,
advanced digital models allow the embedding of engineering and
mathematical intelligence into reactive frameworks, encapsulating
sophisticated knowledge transparently in the designer’s tools.
At the same time, architecture is increasingly informed by
mathematical methods and machine technologies of making,
as designers themselves appropriate and invent architectural
algorithms. Through both historical examples and contemporary
projects, this lecture presented the sometimes unexpected, often
complex, and always vital interrelationships between design,
mathematics, and machines.
ADD THOUGHT 4 took place on April 12, 2012
64–65
Left :
Drawings executed by an analog computer, Desmond Paul Henry, 1962.
Below:
Mathematical ruled surface model, late 19th century.
66–67
EDITORIAL PROJECTS
Editorial projects are put forward to create and take part in the
discussion around contemporary design practice in the midst of
digital fabrication technologies, robotics and new materialities.
Kontrollraum / Control Room, 2011, by Thomas Demand.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD METAPHYSICS
– A publishing project for new design sensibilities
The ADD METAPHYSICS publishing project builds on ADDLAB’s
expertise in the fields of digital design, robotic fabrication and
material technologies, while exploring the new roles and methods
of designers in the increasingly flexible and complex electro-
material-cultural environment.
ADD METAPHYSICS takes note from philosopher Manuel De
Landa, who, in a 2011 lecture at the University of Southern
California, suggested that while computers are valuable in
exploring different spaces of possibility, designers must create
the spaces worthy of exploration. Along these lines, the publishing
project invites speculation into digital design beyond technology
and form. Furthermore, it aims to facilitate new modes of material
engagement and shift the focus of the field towards original
sensibilities.
With the first publication and website due in spring 2013,
ADD METAPHYSICS will operate per semester. Borrowing from
a schoolbook format, the forthcoming publications include
contributions by select practitioners and academics who probe
into the interrelations between information and material from
their own idiosyncratic perspectives. The writers are requested
to share their ideas in the form of experimental assignments,
made to encourage activity and debate both within and outside
of ADDLAB. Consider ADD METAPHYSICS as an open-ended
curriculum taking place in the open site of the publication.
addlab.aalto.fi/metaphysics/
Pages 70–71: Excerpts from conversations between Karl-Erik Michelsen and Yrjö
Engeström with the editor for the first issue of ADDMETAPHYSICS, Semester I.
Jenna Sutela – ADD METAPHYSICS Editor
Florencia Colombo – ADD Art Direction + Cultural Projects
Johanna Lundberg – ADD Visual Communications
68–69
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF ENGINEERING
In order to inform the ADD METAPHYSICS project, the Finnish
social scientist Karl-Erik Michelsen was asked to shed light on the
inconspicuous art and science of engineering. Michelsen believes
that engineers should study philosophy. There is a general need,
he says, for a better understanding of what technology is, how it
impacts on society, how society influences technology, and of the
idea of a technological culture.
Michelsen has analyzed the relationship between national culture
and the engineering profession, including the kind of power
that engineers wield in society. Sometimes engineers exercise
power without realizing it, and it is often not obvious. Finland’s
engineers, for example, appear to be silent on the issue of politics.
“It is simply assumed that even such a powerful phenomenon as
technology can be an apolitical intervention,” Michelsen says. He
claims that critical thinking does not form a part of the engineer’s
professional conduct: “The solutions to problems are held always
to be technological.”
“Engineers seek the best possible solution,” Michelsen continues.
“And that best possible solution also becomes the only option,
which can’t be criticized afterwards. This is the technological
fix. Once the problem has been mapped out, the task is to work
out which technology will fix it. The technology that works can
then be tinkered with endlessly. Any discussion about whether
the original question was the right one, however, feels impossible
– the technology and the solution are now one.”
Karl-Erik Michelsen is a Professor of Business Economics and Law at the Lappeenranta
University of Technology and the Director of the South Karelian Institute. His research
focuses on technology as a social and cultural phenomenon, with a particular
interest in the professional culture of engineers. Michelsen’s book, ‘Viides sääty:
Insinöörit suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa’ (Tekniikan akateemisten liitto & Suomen
historiallinen yhdistys 1999) explores the social and political power of engineers and
their reluctance to engage in public debate on technology or the consequences of
technological change.
70–71
CO-CONFIGURATION FOR A NEW MATERIALITY
Another lesson to learn from the study of technology and society
was pointed out by professor Yrjö Engeström from the Center
for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research at the
University of Helsinki, who stressed how the material world is
made up of not only particles but of relations, or the ceaseless
exchange of information next to that of energy and things.
Today, the digital and the material worlds appear to be merging.
According to Engeström, the digital production of materiality
remains, however, still largely at the level of visions. “The most
interesting possibilities seem, for the time being, to lie in how the
digital can be inserted into the already existing material world,”
he says. Early examples that are already familiar include various
positioning systems and ways of making objects traceable or
identifiable online.
Engeström sees these kinds of technologies as a basis for
community-centred design – or co-configuration as he calls it. For
him they are tools for producing plural realities or for understanding
and developing different kinds of working cultures:
“Whilst a new leading hybrid conceptualization of work is still
emerging, I feel the most acute task is to examine how material
activity itself might change. The concrete problems of real groups
of people generate precisely the kind of basis on which the new
materiality should be built.”
Yrjö Engeström is a Professor of Adult Education and Director of the Center for Activity
Theory and Developmental Work Research at the University of Helsinki as well as
a Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. He works
within the framework of cultural-historical activity theory. Currently, Engeström focuses
especially on co-configuration as a new way of organizing work as well as expansive
learning in multi-activity settings.
74–75
ADD ARCHIVE
– A collection of thoughts on the digital context
By means of the interview method, implemented systematically
within this program as research-knowledge production, ADD seeks
to collect testimonies on the experimental past and contemporary
production of the electro-material context.
This collection builds on ADD’s cross-disciplinary program,
with the objective of developing an archive of interviews which
addresses the diverging trajectories of contemporary discourse
on digital design methodologies, new material technologies and
production processes and its relevant implications within the
industrial, cultural and societal contexts.
The interviews are created around a systematic pattern of questions
which contemplates the complex and variable parameters of
contemporary practice.
Pages 72–73:
Space Simulator, 2003, by Thomas Demand.
Left :
Archiv / Archive, 1995, by Thomas Demand.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD ARCHIVE – ANDREW WITT
WHAT DOES A DIGITAL PARADIGM REPRESENT FOR YOU IN
THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN AND CULTURAL
PRACTICE?
(...) “I think ‘digital design’ is really just an extension of techniques,
methodologies and approaches to form that have emerged from
the current computational condition – over the past 30 years or
so. However, the paradigm builds on a conceptual approach that
is hundreds of years old and embedded in the very nature of
design itself: the analytical way in which it approaches formal
problems. I believe one of the keys to producing new design
knowledge is in realizing that the technical culture of design has,
in fact, a distinct epistemological history, and that in order to
really embrace the possibilities of contemporary techniques we
also need to know the past of those techniques.
What I find, perhaps, the most urgent topic to tackle in relation
to the digital paradigm in design is the reconfiguration of work.
When computers have the capacity to accelerate processes,
or to replace some of the most labor-intensive activities, what
we should be looking at are the kinds of productions that have
traditionally been problematic or challenging because of the
amount of labor that they would have required before. All in all,
the biggest changes brought about by the digitization of design
are actually organizational ones and design practice should adapt
to this condition.” (...)
ADD THOUGHT 4 took place on April 12, 2012
Andrew Witt is Director of Research at Gehry Technologies (GT). Currently based in
Los Angeles, California, Witt was previously a director at GT’s Paris, France office,
where he consulted on parametric design, geometric approaches, new technologies,
and integrated practice for clients including Gehry Partners, Ateliers Jean Nouvel,
UNStudio, and Coop Himmelb(l)au. Trained as both an architect and mathematician,
Witt has a particular interest in a technically synthetic and logically rigorous
approach to form. He has taught courses on digital design at Harvard, Ecole Speciale
d’Architecture, and SCI-Arc, and has lectured at MIT, ETH, EPFL, and Angewandte,
among other schools.
76–77
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
78–79
ADD ARCHIVE – MICHAEL SPEAKS
DO YOU THINK THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN MODES OF
EXPRESSION INVOLVED IN ‘DIGITAL DESIGN’?
(...) “For me, digital design doesn’t come in any particular shape,
form, or language. In fact, I consider such an idea extremely
problematic and like to talk about digital thinking instead. In my
view, the specialty of the field lies in parametric thought and
prototype thinking – and these don’t look like anything. Rather,
they can produce results ranging from orthogonal to biomorphic
to unimaginable forms.
If we look at what happened in, for example, American schools in
the early 1990s, we can see the growing use of software and the
emergence of paperless studios. What is particularly interesting
about this period is that when all these digital technologies
arrived, students stopped working with physical, three-dimensional
models. So, this naturally created some dif ficulties in the
relationship between thinking and action. However, ever since 3D
printers and CNC cutters have started to appear in schools, a new
connection between thought and action seems to have become
possible again. Still, I’m not convinced that many teachers, so far,
have learned to use the digital fabrication equipment for anything
else except completing processes. The real challenge when it
comes to developing new modes of designing lies in how to use
these tools for digital thinking instead of just producing products
that are digitally designed.” (...)
ADD THOUGHT 5 took place on April 23, 2012
Michael Speaks, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Design and Professor of Architecture
at the University of Kentucky. Former Director of the Graduate Program at the Southern
California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles, Speaks has also taught
in the graphic design department at the Yale School of Art, and in the architecture
schools at Harvard University, Columbia University, The University of Michigan, UCLA,
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and the Berlage Institute and TU Delft
in the Netherlands. Speaks has published and lectured internationally on contemporary
art, architecture, urban design, and scenario planning.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
80–81
ADD ARCHIVE – PETER TESTA AND DEVYN WEISER
WHAT DOES A DIGITAL PARADIGM REPRESENT IN THE CONTEXT
OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN AND CULTURAL PRACTICE?
(...) “The digital paradigm is shifting from the flat Euclidean
space of computer modeling tools to a post-medium condition
characterized by the layering of processes and technologies.
In our work beginning with the Emergent Design Group at
MIT, we have continuously created new interfaces including
software and hardware as part of the design environment and
in relation to aesthetic interests and design goals. This platform
at the convergence of computation, computational materials,
and synchronous robotics breaks down outmoded distinctions
between digital and analog or virtual and real.
Machines (including computers and robots) of ten take us
by surprise as we cannot predict or foresee what is going to
happen in the actual event. Even though the elements are fully
constructed, the system actualizes virtualities that overcome or
override initial expectations. This condition is connected to the
earlier point that today the more processes and transformations
there are the better, as we cannot fully calculate or predict
outcomes and this makes working with machines and matter part
of a creative and collaborative enterprise.
Contrary to popular assumptions and preconceptions about
computers, the inputs do not strictly define the outputs as the
objects we work with hold more secrets than one can imagine. This
metaphysical perspective is particularly poignant when working
in environments where code, matter, motion, and geometry are
negotiating, producing, and capturing images in real time.” (...)
ADD THOUGHT 9 took place on October 11, 2012
TESTA/WEISER is a Los Angeles based studio that invents, designs and prototypes
innovative architecture, products, and systems for a diverse client roster that includes
some of the world’s most innovative companies. Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser are
partners in charge of design at Testa/Weiser Inc. and founding members of the MIT
Emergent Design Group EDG). In 2012, they have initiated within SCI-Arc the Robotics
and Simulation Lab with Stäubli Robotics.
Painting with robots at the SCI-Arc Robotic House.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD SUPPORTED COURSES AND EVENTS
The ADD SUPPORTED program consists of events and projects
which relate to existing Aalto University structures and which
enter in dialogue with the mission and objectives of ADD.
These events and projects are held at ADDLAB and coordinated by
means of a collaborative process aimed at the further intertwining
of the subject of digital design and fabrication technologies with
the various academic fields within the university.
ADD SUPPORTED EVENTS:
– Aalto Symposium: Soundings for Architecture
– KTH – Konstfack – Aalto
– Konergia Festival
– WDC Helsinki Open Doors Weekend
– The Mechatronics Circus
– The Dean’s Donors Event
ADD SUPPORTED COURSES:
– Critical Studio
– Future Foundries Workshop
– Urban Systems: Smart City and Human Centered Design
– Additive Manufacturing Workshop Insco Project Bit Research
Center
84–85
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
86–87
LOCAL COMMUNITY AND INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
ADD itself is a prototype of the new Aalto University environment,
functioning as a hub of activity that fosters social interaction and
cultural inspiration.
ADD aims to provide a valuable forum for scientists, engineers,
designers, and architects as well as institutional and corporate
partners which facilitates cross-disciplinary exchange and
networking.
During its first year, ADD has also developed an extensive global
network through its international public program, exchange
students and researchers in developing academic and corporate
collaborations.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
88–89
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
ADD ORGANIZATION
KIVI SOTAMAA – Director
Kivi Sotamaa is principal of Sotamaa Design, an award-winning design studio based in
Helsinki. He is an Associate Professor at UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban
Design. Previously he held positions at the Ohio State University and the Universität
für Angewandte Kunst, Institut für Architektur in Vienna. He holds a master’s degree
from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki [UIAH] and in addition has studied at
Helsinki University of Technology and the Royal College of Art in London.
FLORENCIA COLOMBO – Art Direction + Cultural Projects
Florencia Colombo works within the field of contemporary art. Through her professional
practice she has collaborated with international artists and designers developing
cultural projects within a cross-disciplinary platform. From 2004 to 2010, she worked
with German artist Tobias Rehberger on an extensive portfolio of architectural projects
focused on the concept of sculptural space. She holds degrees in architecture and
the visual arts from the University of Buenos Aires, and Städelschule, Staatliche
Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt, Germany.
JENNA SUTELA – Editorial Projects
Jenna Sutela is a writer and curator working in the fields of design and art with
a special interest in digital media. At ADDLAB, she is currently editor of the ADD
METAPHYSICS publishing program. Her background includes a master’s degree in
media and design research from the Media Lab at the University of Art and Design
Helsinki as well as the founding of a critical design/art practice OK Do with projects
ranging from publications to installations.
WYCLIFFE RADUMA – Research + Education Development
Wycliffe Raduma is a graduate from Aalto University’s School of Engineering with a
master’s degree in engineering education. From 2006 to 2011 he collaborated in the
development of the Aalto University Design Factory. In this context, he has created
and coordinated the Product Development Project, a student program focused on
collaborative corporate-academic research elaborated through industrial design
product development.
ASHISH MOHITE – Design Research
Ashish Mohite is an architect with extensive experience in projects ranging from
product design to urban planning. He has worked with various international offices
in projects with a research focus in digital design. His study background includes a
bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Mumbai , India, and a master of
arts degree in advanced architecture design from Städelschule, Staatliche Hochschule
für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt.
EMMY MARUTA – Design Research
Emmy Maruta is a graduate from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-
Arc) with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. She has worked with various award-
winning Los Angeles based architecture offices in the development of projects ranging
from residential to urban designs.
JOHANNA LUNDBERG – Visual Communications
Johanna Lundberg is a graphic designer for print and digital, working on a variety of
projects from books and magazines to identities and websites. With a background in
international collaborations and commissions, Johanna co-founded the award-winning
creative studio Åh in 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the
London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.
HEIKKI SJÖMAN – Infrastructure Development
Heikki Sjöman is a graduate from Aalto University’s School of Engineering. He is
currently working towards a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and business
management.
SERGEI CHEKUROV – Technical Development
Sergei Chekurov is a graduate from Aalto University’s School of Engineering. He
is currently completing a master’s degree in production technology and industrial
management, with a professional focus on additive manufacturing technologies.
MENG WANG – Technical Design
Meng Wang holds a B.E. in industrial design from Xidian University, China, as well as
a M.Sc. in human ecology from Vrije Universiteit, Belgium, and a M.Sc. in renewable
energy from Jyväskylä University, Finland. In his professional practice he has been
engaged with various international projects and businesses regarding product design,
research and sourcing.
JUKKA HELLE – Software + Programming
Jukka Helle has a background as a professional software engineer with experience in
projects utilizing GIS and mobile connectivity. He has collaborated in establishing the
Aalto Fablab at the Aalto Media Factory as the Electronics Studio Master. He is also
studying automation and systems technology in Aalto University’s School of Electrical
Engineering.
EETU KEJONEN – Logistics
Eetu Kejonen is a graduate from Aalto University’s School of Engineering. He is
currently completing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on
product development and foundry technologies.
90–91
ADD LEADERSHIP
Academic Board of Directors:
Petri Varsta – Chairman – Dean, School of Engineering
Soile Koukkari – Secretary – Administrative Manager, School of Engineering
Board members:
Antti Ahlava – Head of Department, Architecture
Matti Juhala – Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering
Gary Marquis – Professor, Mechanics of Materials
Eero Miettinen – Professor, Industrial Design
Jouko Pakanen – Professor, Building Services Technology
Preparation and agenda:
Kivi Sotamaa – Director
Academic Advisory Commitee:
Juhani Orkas – Professor, Foundry Technology
Pekka Mård – Controller, School of Engineering
Hannu Hirsi – Laboratory Manager, Building Services Technology
Pages 92–95:
Melting Point Toyota series by Stéphane Couturier.
ADD ABSTRACT 2012
PUBLICATION
The ADD ABSTRACT 2012 has been developed by:
Florencia Colombo – ADD Art Direction + Cultural Projects
Johanna Lundberg – ADD Visual Communications
…together with the contribution of ADDLAB’s organization and guests
Proofreading by Gareth Griffiths
Printed by Lönnberg Painot Oy, Finland
© 2012 ADD
All rights reserved
IMAGE CREDITS
Pages 04–07:
Courtesy of Stéphane Couturier
Pages 16–17:
Courtesy of TESTA/WEISER
Page 55:
Courtesy of Steven Ma
Page 66:
Kontrollraum / Control Room, 2011, C-Print / Diasec, 200 x 300 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / KUVASTO ry, Helsinki
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin
Pages 72–73:
Space Simulator, 2003, C-Print/ Diasec, 300 x 429,4 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / KUVASTO ry, Helsinki
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin
Page 74:
Archiv / Archive, 1995, C-Print/ Diasec, 183,5 x 233 cm
© Thomas Demand, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn / KUVASTO ry, Helsinki
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin
Pages 80–81:
Courtesy of TESTA/WEISER
Pages 92–95:
Courtesy of Stéphane Couturier
ARTISTS BIOS
STÉPHANE COUTURIER
Stéphane Couturier, born 1957, lives and works in Paris.
The project Melting Point is a series of large-scale time-exposure photographs depicting
a high-tech Toyota assembly plant in Valenciennes, France. In the project, Couturier
is documenting the perpetual movement of industry – rationalized, disembodied,
automated and more and more subject to the silent logic of profit. Using a large-
format camera, he delineates both disorder and harmony from the highly abstract
photographs, capturing layers of machines, car parts, workers and equipment in a
visually complex manner. At once wildly energetic and industrial in feel, the images
utilize a hyperbolic palette that further injects a unique vitality to the turbulent series.
Couturier’s photographs are in major museum collections, including Centre Georges
Pompidou, Los Angeles County Museum, National Gallery of Canada, Grand-Duc Jean
Museum in Luxembourg and the Art Institute of Chicago.
THOMAS DEMAND
Thomas Demand, born 1964, lives and works in Berlin and Los Angeles.
Demand describes himself not as a photographer, but as a conceptual artist for whom
photography is an intrinsic part of his creative process. He often culls his subjects
from reports in the mass media, using them as the starting point to create expansive
sculptures out of paper and cardboard which transpose the two-dimensional original
into three-dimensional form. Demand then photographs these spatial (re)constructions
made out of paper with a large-format camera, before ultimately destroying them. Direct
human activity, finer details and figures captured on film are not transferred from the
original photographs into the life-size sculptures. What remains are phantom images
of ‘crime scenes’ of missing events which often appear just as familiar to us as they
are impalpable. Demand’s work is in numerous collections worldwide, including the
Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the National
Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and the Tate Collection, London.
CONTACT
Aalto University
Digital Design Laboratory
P.O. BOX 14400
Sähkömiehentie 4G, Espoo
FI–00076 Aalto
Finland
Aalto University Digital Design Laborator y (ADD) is a research
organizat ion joint ly ini t iated by the universi t y’s School of
Engineering and the School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
ADD explores the potential of digital design and manufacturing
technologies for changing our material environment by forming
mult idisciplinar y, design-dr iven research and development
projects together with Aalto University’s researchers and
the indust r y. This project -driven, applied research act ivit y is
supported by lectures and courses, as well as a state of the ar t
technical infrastructure for digital design and manufacturing.