3(12) 2010

Article	INTEGRAL COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN: SYNTHESIZING COMPUTATION AND MATERIALIZATION IN ARCHITECTURE
Authors	Achim Menges, director of the Institute for Computational Design at Stuttgart University, Germany
Abstract	This paper will present a morphogenetic approach to design computation in architecture that aims at synthesizing computation and materialization in one integral process. Computational design lends itself to such an approach as it is enables employing complex behavior rather than just modeling a particular shape or form. The transition from currently predominant modes of Computer Aided Design (CAD) to Computational Design allows for a significant change of employing the computer’s capacity to instrumentalise material behavior in the design process. CAD is very much based on computerized processes of drawing and modeling stemming from established representational techniques in architectural design. In this regard one of the key differences lies in the fact that CAD internalizes the coexistence of form and information, whereas Computational Design externalizes this relation and thus enables the conceptualization of material behavior and related formative processes. In Computational Design form is not defined through a sequence of drawing or modeling procedures but generated through parametric, rule based processes. The ensuing externalization of the interrelation between algorithmic processing of information and resultant form generation permits the systematic distinction between process, information and form. Hence any specific shape can be understood as resulting from the interaction of system-intrinsic information and external influences within a morphogenetic process Conceiving of computational design processes as morphogenetic enables the systematic integration of material characteristics and constraints. Therefore the complex behavior of material resulting from its internal makeup and structure can constitute an integral aspect of the genotypic datasets from which a specific, phenotypic shape is derived. Obviously this requires both in-depth empirical studies of the microstructure and resultant behavior of the material to be used as well as the development of appropriate computational design techniques. The paper will elaborate the conceptual and technological transition from Computer Aided Design to Computational Design with particular respect to architecture as a material practice. In addition, the paper will present a number of research projects explaining different tasks on developing a morphogenetic approach to computational design.
Keywords:	Computer Aided Design, Computational Design, parametric process, morphogenetic process, genotypic dataset
	Article
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