4.173 Design Fabrication Workshop Design Fabrication Systems in Studio & Practice Prof. Larry Sass Department of Architecture and Planning MIT

what is design research? 1) Develop new ideas and topics in design 2) We study a problem in detail 3) Opportunity to present, test ideas and evaluate 4) We learn by experience

what are we going to study? Systems in Design Development of an algorithmic approach to Design Complex Geometries in Design and Construction

why are design systems important Working with Computational & Mechanical Devices Take advantage of Generative Systems in Computation The first step is to design a system

Reconstructing Palladio (1)Overview & History (2) Construction Rules (3) Modeled Examples

(1) Project Overview

Palladio MIT 1991 – Palladio Virtual Museum (Bill Mitchell & Howard Burns) 1995 – Website (Dan Tsai) – Printing Villa Models (Larry Sass)

Palladio Palladio was a stone mason Palladio Designed over 30 villas throughout the Veneto – 1570 Drawings in the Four Books were written after the buildings were constructed

Four Books of Architecture The first book contained the rules Second Book contained drawings of the villas

Computational Motivation? Relationship between Design and Computational Systems Create new villas (Unbuilt) from rules outlined in this paper To prove or disprove rule based approaches in design

Background – Palladio Palladio, Andrea1570The Four Books of Architecture Wittkower, Rudolph1949Architecture in the age of humanism Burns, Howard1975Portico and the Farmyard Stiny, G., WJ. Mitchell1978The Palladian Grammar Carpo, Mario2001Architecture in the Age of Printing

Project Problems Design Incomplete Drawings – Palladio Relationship of the Built to the Unbuilt Model Generation Time Consuming Evaluation Fabrication Voids Physical Size of Models

Claim: Any villa model can be generated computationally from a floor plan and construction rules Project Goal Build 24 Villa Models

Claim: Any villa model can be generated computationally from a floor plan and construction rules Project Goal Build 24 Villa Models Digital Fabrication

Claim: Any villa model can be generated computationally from a floor plan and construction rules Project Goal Build 24 Villa Models Digital Fabrication Create a Shape Grammar of Construction Rules Define Plan Plan Drawing Villa Model Construction Rules (Construction)