Charles Lee is part of the HOK San Francisco Net Zero Team which has won Special Jury Recognition in the Architecture at Zero Competition
By Charles Lee
Architecture at Zero Entry
HOK recently won the Architecture at Zero Jury Special Recognition Award. Some of the contributions I made to the project should be discussed here. 
I recently came across this website which talks about Bay Common SF Bay marine animals in specific I was interested in the Phylum Porifera which can act like a mini “hotel” or “apartment complex” for other animals. Wikipedia was where I got the inspiration of how Water flow and body structures work in sponges
Syconoid - Water flow
[cid:image001.png@01CCADE4.517395E0]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Porifera_body_structures_01.png>
Porifera<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porifera> body structures[10]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sponge#cite_note-9>
Most sponges work rather like chimneys<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney>: they take in water at the bottom and eject it from the osculum<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osculum> (“little mouth”) at the top. Since ambient currents are faster at the top, the suction effect that they produce does some of the work for free. Sponges can control the water flow by various combinations of wholly or partially closing the osculum and ostia (the intake pores) and varying the beat of the flagella. Also Sponges with photosynthesizing<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis> endosymbionts<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosymbiont> produce up to three times more oxygen<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen> than they consume, as well as more organic matter than they consume. Such contributions to their habitats’ resources This is what I have to say
Using the free energy system principles inherent in the form of the netpositive sponge type “syconoid” a similar digital massing was built in vasari and tested with onsite wind analysis. The results were exciting. Each unit has open pores that allow air to circulate through the shell into an interior atrium and each unit can control the flow of air. The air is then exhausted with the help of the negative pressure at the opening of the building at the leeward top of the mass which creates a suction effect that periodically pulls air through the system. This effect would also be heightened with stack effect but was not tested in the conceptual model. When the air flow is watched in real time animation the effect is similar to a primordial heartbeat causing the flow of air to surge in pulses through the body of the building. The biomimetic process was very stimulating and informing the team in our understanding of the origins of complex systems in life and inversely how complex building systems can begin to perform with the efficiency and beneficial attributes of life. Paired with the BIOS-FIN system = The BIOS-FIN (Functionally Integrated NutraFilters)
Using flat panel photobioreactors would grow algae and be incorporated into a building facade system which also functions as vertical light blades. The system could be even more robust if it not only absorbed CO2 from the building occupants but it could also biofiltrate<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilter> greywater waste. Taking inspiration from local salt flats in the bay that system would change color due to different strains of algae and bacteria colonies at different purification.[cid:image004.jpg@01CCADE5.E8270890]<http://biosarch.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/399px-salt_ponds_sf_bay_drod.jpg> Similar to the tiered cleaning pools of a living bio-filtration ponds structured as artificial wetlands. The end result is a Light Filtering, CO2 absorbing, Greywater Purifying, Bioenergy producing Rainbow Beauty.
Here are also some early program studies 
Fabripod Configurator Mockup is Live!
This is a mockup of the lamp configurator I’m putting together for Fabripod, the company I’m starting that sells lamps. The mockup opens in a new window. Use the sliders on the left to control options like scale and materials. The resulting size and price is shown on the right. You cant buy laps with this configurator yet so the “make it” button doesn’t do anything yet. This is currently tested and working in firefox on both mac and windows. Its working in chrome on windows, but not on mac (at least not on mine).
I’m still working out the kinks in the back end, so the pricing is not accurate yet. Stay tuned for the official release coming up soon! If you absolutely need to buy an Urchin lamp right now, check out the one size available in the Ponoko store!
Cabinet Wall Generator
This is a fun project I did for a friend who wanted to design a wall of cabinets with an integrated work surface. This definition takes lines on the ground as input and helps to compose a wall of individual doors, with sizes that you specify. Then it projects a pattern be CNC cut into the doors. (cut it at Techshop or with 100k garages!)The pattern comes from an image that you add yourself so it could be anything. The example below used a photo of some shadows on the ground.
download the grasshopper file and rhino base file here
Chrysalis update: new reward level on Kickstarter!
Great news!
I’m sure you have all see the previous posts about my Chrysalis project on kickstarter. Well Ponoko has been generous enough to offer $50 making vouchers to backers of Chrysalis who pledge $50 or more. That’s right: you support the Chrysalis project with $50 and you get a making voucher for the full $50 from Ponoko. Making vouchers are redeemable for all of the making services that Ponoko offers: laser cutting, CNC routing and 3D printing! For more information on making vouchers see this link.
If you’re already a backer, its easy to upgrade your pledge and add this reward: just log in to kickstarter, go to the Chrysalis project page, and click on “manage my pledge”. If you’re not a backer yet, this is a great opportunity to support a great tool for makers, and do some making yourself as well!
and here’s what I made…. see more at www.fabripod.com
Chrysalis – Maker Stories #1
What would you use Chrysalis for?
That’s the question I have been asking each person who has backed my project on kickstarter . Listed below are the best answers so far, in no particular order. I will continue to post the really outstanding ones on this blog and onBIOS in the weeks to come, so stay tuned!
Quoted directly from kickstarter backers’ comments:
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Cat in the Bag table by Filson Rohrbacher
“My partner and I have designed a series of customizable furniture objects (http://www.filson-rohrbacher.com/atfab.html). We designed the furniture to be parametrically transformed, exported into 2D cut files, downloaded for local CNC fabrication, and finished and assembled by a user. We’ve managed to design transformations in Grasshopper, and are in the process of (slowly) making it happen with Processing. But, really, Chrysalis is our holy grail that would help us more immediately realize the co-design process that’s really important to us and the project.”
Anne Filson - Filson and Rohrbacher Architecture- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
“I want to be able to visualize data sets in 3D to create data embodied objects. “
-David Bellona, Brooklyn, NY- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
“Community involvement in public architecture, is another purpose that comes to my mind. So say the city of SF was going to contract the construction of a new sculpture in the park, The designer could create the basic forms, materials, construction methods, etc., and allow the citizens to manipulate a few variables to taylor it more to their liking. The designer could then consider the possibilities from public input, and create a hybrid product from their considerations. A more democratic form of public works can be achieved this way. I would definitely pitch it to the city… once it exists.
-Slate Werner, Santa Barbara, CA- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Check out the Chrysalis project on kickstarter here
ColoniaTecne Approved for Design Development-Invited To Group Exhibition in Seattle Gallery
BIOS Design Collective was invited to present some recent work and we thought this would be a great opportunity to share our latest design of ColoniaTecne our project that will be in the San Jose 2012 Biennial. This is one of the boards created for the group show at The Art On The Ridge Gallery in Seattle Washington. The project is an interactive pavilion that will engage the public through site and sound. The person experiencing the project will move through a “net” of sensors that interpret movement, sound and proximity and re-interpret that information as a display of light and sound. ColoniaTecne will react to its environment and create a new environment through interpretation, there by changing the paradigm of a typical structure from environmental control to environmental responsiveness. This project takes systemic cues from the cooperative nature of corral reefs. In corral reefs many individuals work in unison (coral polyps) to create the overall reef. Each individual responds to environmental factors that affect the final reef structure. Environmental factors include heat, light, food etc.
Latest renderings of the the project showing a more detailed understanding of connections and construction.
Two scaled models were also made for the exhibition. These models show our latest idea about structural bracing throughout the form. The waffle system is doubled with one on top of the other creating a triangulation between the two systems. This allows us visual complexity through simple design principles.
Chrysalis Update!
Posted by Chris Chalmers
In response to overwhelming request to offer something more suited for the designer/maker, I’ve added the new “Collaborator” reward to my kickstarter project for $75.
Take this opportunity to show the world what you will make with Chrysalis, and drive more traffic to your site by linking to it from ours!
I’ve also reduced the price of my largest reward to $2500 from $5000! The “True Believer” includes implementation of a fully operational mass customization web app, hosted on the Fabripod site or on your own, and includes incorporation of one of the online maker APIs like Shapeways or Ponoko! It’s a pretty amazing deal!
Please spread the word about this new reward!
Link to project: http://t.co/aikHgFnz
Parking Day – with Studios Architecture and Holmes-Culley Engineers
Chris Chalmers was recently approached by Studios Architecture to give a short grasshopper tutorial and offer digital fabrication consulting for their highly acclaimed installation for Parking Day 2011. This project used over 250 cardboard tubes from architectural plotter rolls, and 160 CNC-cut MDF connectors. We used Grasshopper to preview what the design would look like with a number of different car-shaped outlines. Grasshopper also output the number and size of each type of piece we would need, so we had an accurate prediction of cost and CNC time for each variation.
here are some screen shots from the various designs we explored:
the Prius
the Hummer:
the compact SUV
and a screen shot of the connector pieces, laid out for CNC cutting at Techshop from a 4′x8′ sheet of MDF.
Finally, this project has gotten a lot of press! Congatulations to the Studios Team:
Anna deAnguera, Justin Glover, Brian Nee, Matthew Covall, Tanya Retherford and Andrew Clemenza (apologies if I’ve missed anybody)
and to Paul Roberts and Bill Tremayne from Holmes-Culley Engineers
http://www.i4u.com/related_articles/07hA44D8XP7bZ
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2011/09/16/snapped_sf_parking_day_2011.php
http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/09/16/parking-day-2011in-san-francisco-time
-to-reclaim-the-streets/
CNC friendly numbers in Rhino
UPDATE:
I have updated the script in this post to automatically replace any two digit text objects in a rhino file with custom blocks (two digits for numbers up to 99). Simply copy the blocks in the example file (numbers-function.rvb) into yours and run the script. If your digits are too far away from each other or overlapping, adjust the “dblKern” variable in the script. here are the updated files: numbers.3dm numbers-function.rvb (remember to right-click and save-as) Modify the blocks using the in-place block editorfrom rhino-Labs. Let me know what you make with this I’d love to see it! -ChrisSingle-line fonts are the standard for laser cutting and CNC milling because they are more eficient to cut. Somebody correct me if I’m missing something here, but it seems impossible to get a single-line font to appear in Rhino using the typical text tools. I’ve been doing quite a bit of CNC milling lately, so I used this technique to create single-line labels for my cut files by using pre-defined blocks instead of text.
The script is set up as a function so you can incorporate it into your scripts easily. To use it, you have to first import the rhino file with the text blocks into your file. Then run the script and it will simply turn the text you want to use into the appropriate block and place it.
The beauty of this system is that you can make your own custom fonts! Just draw any shapes you want to represent your letters and numbers. Make them into blocks with the appropriate names (letterA, number 2 etc..), and the script will place them instead. Make sure they are 1 unit high in the current unit system (ie: 1 foot, 1 inch, 1 meter etc..) for the sizing bit to work properly.
I’ve always thought that a system based on geometry like latin numerals or braile might wok better than text for labeling parts. I’d love to see your experiments, please send them to me!
(remember to right-click and save-as)
New Parametric lamp prototype
This is the first of a series of lamps I plan to make available through mass-customization fabricator ponoko.com
The pattern can be laser-cut from a variety of materials on the ponoko site and shipped to the customer as a kit to be assembled at home.
See this lamp and others on the ponoko store as they become available.
Here is an example of a translucent wood veneer I am experimenting with as a possible material.
BIOS Net Positive Spirits – Algae based sustainable drinkable alcohol
I want to market and sell an algae based sustainable drinkable alcohol. The name I was thinking of is BIOS net positive spirits. I have my first label idea and bottle for you to view. The problem I see right now in the algae to ethanol business is that hydrocarbon based fuel is still to cheap to make it feasible. But drinkable alcohol has a much higher price point. I have yet to taste drinkable ethanol from algae but I imagine that even if it is not the best we could mix it with flavors that might make it taste like scotch or mix it with nori, herbs etc. I imagine Asian markets would accept it because of their affinity for many algae based foods. In western markets the sustainable minded consumer would be excited at the opportunity to drink non grain alcohol nobody wants to deplete our fertile food growing land to have a good time when there is a much better source. I even thought we could make the label a certificate that represents the carbon credits that were generated from the making of the spirit and you could redeem them for other sustainable products etc and then the credits could be sold on the open market in Europe. What I have been trying to find is a source of drinkable algae ethanol. The problem is the mix is different for drinkable grade ethanol and nobody has yet expressed interest in shifting their research. If anybody is interested in partnering please feel free to contact me.
Charles Lee
BIOS-FIN system = Algae Biofiltration to Biofuel Building Facade System
Posted by Charles Lee . I have recently been sharing research with a few talented individuals over at Scottish Bioenergy. I also like some of the research I have recently seen coming from ASU from David Cardello . Their photobioreactor style started me thinking about ways it could be incorporated into a building facade system. 
I thought they would make excellent vertical light blades. The all green image shows this concept if applied to the Federal building in San Francisco.
Then I thought this system could be even more robust if it not only absorbed CO2 from the building occupants but it could also biofiltrate greywater waste. I think the salt flats in the bay that change color due to different strains of algae and bacteria colonies at different salinity periods is inspiring.
It made me think about the tiered cleaning pools of a living bio-filtration ponds structured as artificial wetlands. What if GMO algae strains were color coded to show the different strains of algae in the different phases of filtration? I think it would be beautiful after producing a concept image. So to wrap up this little experiment the resultant is a Light Filtering, CO2 absorbing, Greywater Purifying, Bioenergy producing Rainbow Beauty. The BIOS-FIN (Functionally Integrated NutraFilters)
Reprap 2D G-code writer in Grasshopper
This is a test run for what will ultimately be a Dremel etcher for making circuit boards. I printed the adapter from a file found here: http://blog.arcol.hu/?p=629
The G-code writer is a modification of the one developed for shopbot by Andy Payne of Lift Architects. Stay tuned for the files to be made available.
BIOS shortlisted in Trash-to-Treasure competition
A project designed and built by BIOS has been shortlisted in a competition called trash-to-treasure, put on by a group at RGU in Aberdeen called Tesseract!
http://tesseractcompetitions.com/2011/05/06/trash-to-treasure-shortlist/
Here’s the competition brief:
“We are asking you to design something beautiful and useful that uses material that are otherwise thrown away. How can your design change people’s attitude towards what is rubbish, and what we waste? We are looking for a creative and imaginative response, where new and innovative uses are found for items which are considered worthless. Being able to design using wasted materials can transform communities who have barely anything, so we would love to see your ideas, however crazy they might be.”
This project is described in More detail here: http://biosarch.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/aiasf-parametric-canopy/
Formations Workshop 2011 – Revit Conceptual Tools
California College of the Arts has invited Charles Lee to give a workshop for the yearly set of instructional classes called Formations 2011 . The workshop will be given with Co-Instructors from Autodesk with a focus on Revit Conceptual Tools. For more information and to register go to http://mlab.cca.edu/2011/02/formations-2011/ . Here is a version of the photobioreactor sculpture and an ETFE Panel Study generated in Vasari 2011 
SJ01- New Conceptual Pavillions
This is new iteration for our ongoing study into ColoniaTechne. The project that was selected to be in the SJ01-2012 art exhibition. In this first study I was thinking that the pavilion could be made out of strands of some inexpensive, durable and fully recyclable material. The members would take the compression and tension like a net or membrane structure. This would have the advantage of being light and hopefully strong.
This was made in grasshopper through the blending of a couple of simple definitions. First there is the surface from curves, then Diagrid from surface and the image sampler, and lastly project to surface. The idea being that the circles represent interactive components on the skin of the pavilion, and that skin and component relationship can be adaptive to differing criteria.
the next test is really geared towards a larger project or venue. Last year Charlie and I got to the final round of a competition for Denver International Airport. Although we didn’t win (we lost by 1 point!) it started me thinking about larger scale projects with different criteria for aesthetic evaluation. This is a study of a sculptural installation based on the work of Erwin Hauer. The diffuse light qualities and the structural integrity of the overall piece are something pulled from investigations into Hauer’s work. 
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.
Crunchy numbers
About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 39,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.
In 2010, there were 21 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 76 posts. There were 116 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 112mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was November 10th with 238 views. The most popular post that day was Fiberous Tower Study and Revit Conceptual Mass Testing.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were grasshopper3d.com, biosarch.com, bestofremodeling.com, facebook.com, and softlabnyc.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for photobioreactor, space truss, vertebral, optical illusions, and exploded axonometric.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Fiberous Tower Study and Revit Conceptual Mass Testing July 2009
1 comment
Unrolling Surfaces in Grasshopper September 2009
3 comments
Consulting July 2008
1 comment
PhotoBioreactor Sculpture Design Winner of HatchSpace 2008 October 2008
1 comment
Woven Space Truss and Morphogenetic Structural Flow/Form Models January 2010
2 comments
Custom Parametric Panel Grids with Reporting Parameter Driven Structure on Double Skin Mass
Just some Noodling around to pass the time.
Also a reminder to see the great lecture lineup at the CCA in San Francisco this Fall.
Udesign Custom Wallpaper Competition
Vote for Charles Lee’s Custom Designed Wallpaper at http://mydeco.com/udesign/# . This custom wallpaper is a grouping of pink flowers when looked at correctly reveals a 3d hummingbird which is its name “Hummingbird” here are some better images than the one available on the site. 
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![[cid:image004.jpg@01CCADE5.E8270890]](mailto:[cid:image004.jpg@01CCADE5.E8270890]){kind=link}
