Posted by Charles Lee

It all started with a rendering that reminded me of my favorite movie Tron. It also reminded me of those cool new age Chakra Images. So I started to try my hand at a few animations that used the effect.  I made a creepy mysterious figure that I likened to Spirtual Technosis and a Phase Changing constantly morphing Master Control Program wich  can generate an endless stream of unique types this animation is just a few instances and its set on Loop with different colors.  So here are a few animations from my explorations into the new BIOS animated feature

Also I showed some other Bios members my old study animations I did in Mara and Steven Skov Holts Biology as Master Metaphor Class last year.  They are really fun and they always make me smile.  There is some interesting and provocative moments Like the Bugati with Flexible Hair like extensions which allow the car exterior to adapt to changing wind and speed conditions as well as provide protection from accidents.   The C-Hair has movement sensors which activate the coated memory wire hairs into a defensive position until disarmed by a Signal from a PDA or something. They are also very silly verging on ridiculous, presenting them is kinda Hairy!

Posted by Charles Lee

Charles Lee has been working with  Moving Color Tile to help develop new thermochromatic tile that helps thermoregulate exterior facades and Thermal Mass.  Check out the latest animation.  

I have also given visual support from the Photobioreactor Sculpture Project for the IGEM 2009 synthetic biology team from Uppsalla Sweden and also Uppsalla Universities International student outreach program. I hope one day to be able to fill my photobioreactors with there biofuel producing wonders.

I would also like to thank Prof Dennis Jardin of SFSU for his consultation on a recent research project looking at the possibility of creating an underground glow in the dark mushroom garden.  Here is the most recent rendering

This project is an exploration of Statics vs. Statistics. That is to say it is a refutation of the ideal “truss” structure, which is statically determinate, in favor of alternatives based on a logic of statistical probability. While the logic of the truss is very efficient, it is not necessarily the most effective for unpredictable load patterns. The statistical approach, in which material is allocated according to where stress is most likely to occur, is closer to the structural logic that has evolved in living systems.

Fiber structures are common in Nature. Monodirectional structures such as bones or tree trunks use oriented fibers to resist axial loads . Multidirectional structures, like those shown below, use fibers in a random pattern to resist multiple loads. They often act as membranes because they can deform without  breaking.  Their resiliency  is due, in part, to the redundancy of their overlapping members.

These structures are called statically indeterminate because it is  impossible to determine the load path using statics: the hand calculations that have been used by structural engineers since the 1800’s. Today we have computers and nonlinear analysis to solve for complex structures, but buildings are still designed and constructed in terms of  the old methods.  In the words of Karl Chu: “Architecture has still yet to incorporate the architecture of computation into the computation of architecture” *

The goal of this project is to create a building method that  relies on redundancy and statistical probablity as a structural  logic instead of efficiency and static determinacy.   I used  Grasshopper to create a randomized fiber membrane on a base surface in the following steps:

First, points are located on the surface using a probability algorithm in which areas of  higher curvature are more likely to be populated (surface is color-coded for gaussian curvature in these screenshots). This should yeild a higher density of material in those areas.

Next, the points are used as origins for randomly oriented strips of material based on “plank line” geometry (see earlier post), which conforms to the curvature of the surface but can be fabricated using perfectly straight strips of  material.

Finally, the length of the strips  is set to achieve the proper overlap. Individual strip lengths adjust to curvature as well: shorter pieces where curvature is more intense. Holes are placed at the intersections for attachment and the strips are unrolled for fabrication.

This project is designed to address structural requirements in a statistical manner rather than a determinant one. That is to say without exhaustive analysis of the stresses in each member. As in many living systems, more material is allocated where more stress is most likely to occur, and where more strength is needed to maintain the surface’s intended shape.

This method could be modified by adding structural analysis of the base surface instead of simple curvature analysis.  Finite element analysis programs like NASTRAN or ANSYS will analyze a simple shell and output a deformation map similar to the curvature map shown here. All that is needed is to apply the bitmap to the surface, then vary point density by color, rather than by the native curvature graph.

*For an insightful analysis of design/construction paradigms in flux,  see Karl Chu’s essay: “The Metaphysics of Genetic Archtecture” in Arquitecturas Geneticas-II

Posted by Charles Lee.

I love optical Illusions.  I often think they can be sustainable.  Its an animated screen without using energy.  They perform from our living experience.  There animation is free energy.  As an architect I am always interested in the use of optical illusions to help emphasize and animate still images.  I feel like there is still deeply profound discoveries that can be made in this field.  My studies are not, but one day I hope they will evolve into something special.  How could this technique inform digital modeling techniques?    Here is a fun study in a series of explorations I have been toying with lately.

Posted by Charles Lee

I am really excited about my latest research into large format 3d printing.  I have been doing a research oriented project with Ideate Inc in San Francisco.  Using there Z-corp Zprinter 650 we have been printing a tower study I created a few months ago. The trouble shooting has been incredible helpful on both sides and I believe it is my most productive 3d printing exercise I have done to date.  If we can get it into the curing fluid in one piece it will be a tremendous success.  I have attached the latest build photos as well as a few past projects I have completed. 

This Grasshopper definition is proof of concept for a VB component that unrolls developable surfaces to the XY plane. To make the component, I’ve adapted a rhinoscript by Andrew Kudless (of Matsys) to run in VB, enlisting the help of CCA student Ripon DeLeon to write the code.This example uses the VB component to create unrolled surfaces from 4 curves that I have distorted using the cage edit command in rhino. To use the definition on your own projects, simply choose any 4 curves to loft between in sequential order.

The blocks of components are grouped somewhat clearly (I hope) so you can add more curves by copy-pasting more blocks and making the few required re-connections to make it work.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

download the definition here:unroll3.ghx
and the rhino base file here: unroll test.3dm

For the above definition, I’ve added tabs along the edges of the unrolled surfaces for ease of attachment. The benefit of using a WYSIWYG tool like Grasshopper for fabrication planning is that you can make quick decisions about parameters like tab spacing or sheet layout visually, as you design. If you use this definition for your own projects, send me a short description. I’d love to see what you make out of it!

The unrolled shape is about 96% accurate (judged by difference in surface area between unrolled and original surfaces). This seems to be fine for simple paper models, but would cause serious problems in more complex structures. I would appreciate feedback from any of you who care to take a look at the VB component and offer suggestions on how to make it more accurate.

Posted by Charles Lee.

Transfigure:  The definition of which is to give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to : transform outwardly and usually for the better.  It is part of a series of works that were inspired by my healing time spent in the Monarch Groves of Santa Cruz while physically and spiritually struggling with surgeries and chemotherapy for aggressive testicular cancer. Attached are a few examples of work that came from the series including a painting that was recently auctioned at a fundraiser for breast cancer.  Thank you for the generous support.

see more photos at our flickr site!

the cable mesh was designed using a grasshopper definition that Chris wrote to calculate resultant vectors for all the backstays, and output cable lengths to an excel spreadsheet.

volunteers used these laminated cards to arrange the cups on the canopy in an algorithmic pattern…

which actually worked out pretty well!

Join BIOS Design Collective at our happy hour installation party, 4-8pm this Friday at the Stable Cafe, 2128 Folsom St. San Francisco

BIOS needs volunteers to help put the finishing touches on our parametric canopy,  installed at the Stable Cafe near 17th & Folsom St. in San Francisco (map). The canopy is part of the annual Architecture and the City festival being put on this fall by the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter (SFAIA).    

We will be attaching over 2000 plastic cups to the canopy in Stable’s back courtyard (Cups were sustainably harvested from the SF Outside Lands Concert). The SFAIA’s  festival theme Everyday Design “celebrates the many smart, ingenious and unexpected ways design impacts our daily lives, unveiling the unseen hand of the designer in everything from civic and institutional works to landscaping and residential design.” It’s going to be a fun evening where our collective labor and celebration of architecture and design can earn beer, tapas, and prizes!

Please RSVP with Chris Chalmers
chris@biosarch.com

First off,  her are some photos of plant patterns. They have a clear logic of cellular aggregation that can be recognized in a lot of contemporary digital design. Whether surface subdivision or incremental accretion, the logic seems to be that each element repeats at a slight angle, scale and displacement from the last. Living forms are often thought to be the result of  a “bottom-up” process (each piece created according to local rules) but these examples still yield a regular pattern that could easily have been “top down” in the sense that each piece was arranged according to an over-arching plan or grid.  (not to suggest “intelligent design”! This a blog about architecture, not theology).

Next, the following are photos of rocks found along the bay shore in San Francisco. They are an example of  a pattern created by the  nonlinear process of sedimentation and erosion. Their pattern is free of the gridlike organization shown in the living patterns above, yet suggests a decipherable logic that could prove applicable to an algorithmic process. Notice the heirarchy of cells:  groups of similar size and shape organized by the layers of harder rock.