The Cut & Fold & Craft exercise is the mid-term project for last year’s Computation-based Basic Design Studio at İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture. I really enjoyed the technique called Kirigami. Most of the projects are not flat-foldable but they are all cut from a single sheet of paper. This technique seemed a little bit limiting at the beginning, but the students managed to design very interesting compositions in the end. Below are some of the student works. I…

Here is a short series of videos showing the basic usage of Ladybug tools in a canopy design. So, I prepared this for my Parametric Design Systems elective course. Then, I encouraged my students to design their own canopies utilizing a similar Ladybug workflow in Grasshopper. In this first video, I am building a test surface in Grasshopper. I use the Graph Mapper component to derive 3D points and Interpolated curves. Finally, the EdgeSrf component is used to model the…

Here is the abstract of my last publication in the International Journal of Architectural Computing. Parquet Deformations is an architectural studio exercise of William Huff in the 1960s. It aims to improve students’ reasoning of spatiotemporal variation by utilizing sequential shape-shifting of patterns. This article examines the outcomes of this educational research from the perspective of design computing. A multilayered reading about the exercise will reveal its historical, theoretical, and artistic backgrounds. Then we explain the common structural elements and different construction approaches…

In 2017, during the 4th International Architecture Biennial of Antalya, we constructed the Common-action Wall in Karaalioğlu Park. We designed this architectural prototype as a wall that enables the growth and harvesting of edible plants for park users. To facilitate plant growth and ensure sunlight access, as well as to direct rainwater toward the plants, we conducted extensive studies on minimal surfaces. Ultimately, we found that the gyroid form met all the requirements. It proved advantageous during the production process,…

This year’s Computation-based Basic Design Studio finals were very successful. Below are some of our student’s design works, and lanterns that light the campus area at İstanbul Bilgi University. It was a great experience for them to seek a design system between the domains of material computation and architectural geometry. 28 first-year students of architecture, interior design, and industrial design completed their projects in groups of 4. Students: Aleyna Demirkök, Aleyna Yıldız, Ali Hayder Ali Al Obaidi, Ara Yerlikaya, Aybike Sarıgül, Ayşe…

Scientific publications are expected to relate to all areas of science they sprawl. For this, the scientific publication is associated with several keywords that are thought to be related. For proper access to scientific publications in literature research, keyword assignment is as important as the publication title. This study aimed to map the usage patterns of the concepts related to the field of digital design research through keyword analysis. The questions that motivate the research, focus on which concepts are…

It has been nearly 2 years since we designed and produced this garden. Similar to the first version, Common-action Gardens #2 is injected in formal park layouts. We build it for recreation as garden structures with an aim to support the “preserve, sustain, and share” idea. Thus, we expect to bring people together while producing. These gardens organize sustainable models for communal living by integrating raised beds, planting holes, water bowls, compost holes, seedboxes, tool pots, niches for animals, and…

Introducing the new YouTube channel for designcoding! The architectural Geometry playlist will contain video tutorials on several topics of basic geometry exercises for designers. Below are the introductory exercises of polyline drawing and some planar transformations such as scale and rotation. It is also an interesting plane-filling fractal you know I like it very much. I studied this particula fractal (Gosper-Peano) earlier here, and here. I find it very inspiring and educational.

Here is one of the exercises I tested with a few students in Architectural Geometry. The exercise is about creating Escher-like patterns. It is an introductory topic on the designerly utilization of regular tessellations. We use square, hexagonal, or triangular tessellations as underlying structures of complex patterns. Below are some of the student works from this exercise. I think the black-and-white coloring helps in terms of reducing the requirements. Although the patterns designed in this exercise are not Escher patterns,…

This exercise was a popular one in the 2015 and 2016 Architectural Geometry classes. Recently, I found these images of student works. However, some of the students’ names are missing (please e-mail me if one of them is yours). I love this exercise because it is a quick and efficient way of explaining and experimenting with the workflow of digital to physical production. In this particular exercise, students created Rhino Macro codes to develop these 3d pattern deformations. It is…