Digital by Nature: The Cephalopods and the Algorithms

Abstract

This Abstract presents the realisation of the experimental wooden structure, known as “Ammoniterasz” - (Ammonites+Terrace). During the making of this structure, the authors tried to analyse the practical usage of algorithmic design and the generative method. In the generative design, the 3D shape of the real structure is made using an algorithm with predefined editing rules. With an algorithm, it is possible to carry out a real-time structural analysis, together with different kinds of optimisation calculations and production methods. The compilation of the algorithm is created either with scripts or with a 3D graphic surface, which results in a flow chart, by another name, a visual script. Unlike the traditional shaping methods, with generative design, the result is not a static one, but a process which can offer countless options for the pre-defined design (geometric) program. To use a biological analogy: in this way, the designer is creating the rules of a growing process.