#digital-design

Here is a phrase from Deleuze’s famous article “Difference and Repetition”. It clarifies my mind while thinking about patterns, boundaries, rules, and most importantly, the idea and techniques of deformation in contemporary architectural geometry. … On the other hand, generality belongs to the order of laws. However, law determines only the resemblance of the subjects ruled by it, along with their equivalence to terms which it designates. Far from grounding repetition, law shows, rather, how repetition would remain impossible for…

Below is another cult article written by Robert Aish in 2005; Design has been described as making inspire decisions with incomplete information. True, we may use prior knowledge, we may even think we understand the causalites involved, but what really matters is exploration: of new forms, of new materials, and speculation about the response to the resulting effects. Essentially, this exploration has its own dynamics, involving intuition and spontaneity, and without which there is no design. But of course we…

Here is my 2004 Turkish translation of the popular article “Deleuze and the Use of the Genetic Algorithm in Architecture” by Manuel DeLanda in 2001. The computer simulation of evolutionary processes is already a well established technique for the study of biological dynamics. One can unleash within a digital environment a population of virtual plants or animals and keep track of the way in which these creatures change as they mate and pass their virtual genetic materials to their offspring. The hard work goes…

The exploration of the concept of “patronus – pattern” in architecture is presented in a captivating and insightful manner. This issue of AD, although older, continues to hold relevance in the contemporary realm of architectural design, covering various aspects of the conception and utilization of patterns. It’s comprehensive analysis and thought-provoking discourse shed light on the intricate relationship between patterns and architectural form, unveiling the potential for pattern-based design approaches to shape and enhance built environments. This is why this…

This is an old research paper, prepared with Birgül Çolakoğlu. It is in Turkish and includes our first results in some of the Rhinoscript exercises. Here is the abstract of the paper; Recent research in architecture have focused on to understand computational methods of formal exploration and expression. Computational mechanisms have been used to readdress formal issues using new techniques and methods. Computational tools that operate on algorithmic logic are central in these explorations. Despite the proliferation of computers in architecture today, use…

After explaining the beautiful parquet deformations of William Huff, Douglas Hofstadter states his opinions about the algorithmic potentials of those patterns. Although it was 30 years ago, Hofstadter points out a fundamental discussion related to today’s parametric design tools; …for a machine to make simple variants of a given design, it must possess an algorithm for making that design which has explicit parameters; those parameters are then modifiable, as with the pseudo-Mondrian paintings. But the way people make variations is…

In 2007, we conducted a computational design studio in YTU / CADU with Birgül Çolakoğlu. Below is the brief of the paper published at METU JFA Vol24 issue 2 titled “An Innovative Design Education Approach: Computational Design Teaching For Architecture”. We were dealing with how new technologies are affecting the design cycle. Rhinoscript is used as an educational tool, and various short exercises are conducted with it. After 6 years, I still think of ways how to construct a proper…

Architectural education in its relation to computational technologies is both becoming a part of these studies and having the potential of renovating itself with the knowledge of emerging technologies. This paper, in this framework, will be presenting a design research studio that aims at developing relational thinking capabilities in the computational design process. In this studio, topics of parametric design, parametric modeling, and relationality were questioned through the design process. In the 2006-2007 spring semester in the Graduate Studio II…

From the 2009 eCAADe paper presented with Birgül Çolakoğlu titled; “Designer as Casual Coder: Overview of an Experimental Design Studio”; In recent years, computational approaches in architecture started to change the scope of the architect’s work. He/she is not any more a passive tool user instead, became a casual tool developer. Conventional CAD systems that focus on geometric representation of a designed artifact, are transforming into systems in which the design is represented as a parametric process. By increasing utilization…

Studio exercises are short-term and open-ended design activities that represent a constructivist learning approach by limiting design domains. They are student-centered, model and process-oriented educational tools. These qualities make studio exercises potential tools for integrating contemporary Digital Design thinking into architectural education. This research aims to reveal these potentials by defining an analytical perspective and logical connections between the pedagogical intentions of studio exercises and the theory of Digital Design. The first chapter of this research includes a definition of…