omnispace

innerSpace

Architecture as Human Prothesis: The InnerSpace project aims to explore architecture as a model for adaptation and modification through the reciprocal exchange of information within surrounding environmental forces.

Fusing architecture with the mechanics of the body, wireless prosthetic sensors track biorhythmic variability and skin conductance, empowering the inhabitant to take mind-body wellness into their own hands, literally, triggering environmental change through fluctuating waves of mood, thought and body temperature.

iT House

TK Architecture has created the eco designer prefab, the iT House. This unique glass house has tailored "outfits" designed in a variety of styles by a select group of graphic designers, fine artists and architects which are applied to the glass walls to create a public/private dynamic that's personalized for the individual.

LightWorks

An intelligent double skin facade changes colour according to weather conditions. The dichroic inner skin reacts to a matrix of LEDS within the interstitial space subtley altering the colour temperature of the envelope. Lightplay is controlled via roof-mounted weather sensors which react to external temperatures, wind and rain. Visitors can be 'cooled' with blue/violet in summer and 'warmed' with orange/magenta in winter. Wind speeds can alter the rate of oscillation across the surface. Summer rain can create kinetic arrays of falling light.

Delerium

Delerium is created and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon. A multifaceted event of unprecedented proportion, it features the Cirque du Soleil music remixed.  Driven by an urban tribal beat and awe-inspiring visuals, musicians, singers and dancers transform the arena into joyous frenzy.

Vague Terrain

still from image producing machine by Jeremy Rotzstain
The online digital art journal Vague Terrain have launched Vague Terrain 03: Generative Art featuring work by 11 artists and musicians. Edited by Greg Smith and Neil Wiernik, Vague Terrain asks contributing artists not just for works (images, videos, mp3s), but also to articulate the context those works exist in. The final result is both artistically challenging and theoretically weighty. The most important theoretical contribution is a new paper from Philip Galanter, in which he traces a genealogy of generative art, presenting a number of historical works that are generative without being computer-based. Specifically, he looks at two exhibitions (Logical Conclusions: 40 years of rule-based art at Pace Wildenstein, New York and Beyond Geometry at Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Using these as a reference point, he clarifies some often-misunderstood terms and analyzes how the works in these shows can be understood in relation to a generative tradition.

BibliOdyssey

Starry Night by Tom Harper
BibliOdyssey is a blog that deals in archive images from obscure sources (usually old books). Typically, it presents old scientific diagrams, pattern samples, anatomical studies, ancient maps or just anything that has a strong visual attraction combined with a sense of the obscure and arcane. All told, it is a delightful image resource for anyone with even a slight sense of the magical.

theverymany

theverymany is refreshingly focused on sketches and code, but there is documentation of one interesting recent project: “From DIN to DIM”, a “series of experimentations looking at transitions between the German Standard of design to self-similar objects controled by declared variables…”. Done with Vincent Nowak and Claudia Corcilius, it consists of generative formal studies, using nested loops to generate structure. As with much computational architecture, the results are visually very compelling. The techno-organic tower structures recall fashions in blobby architecture, while simultaneously reminding one of 70s sci-fi book covers. The translation of simple code structures into complex and appealing form seems effortless, it would certainly be interesting to see the slides shown in higher detail. Marc Fornes is a graduate of the AA’s Digital Research Labotary class, and is currently working as an architect for Zaha Hadid Ltd. He indicates in the sidebar of his blog that his rhinoscript library might be available as open source.

Datatecture

Romanian artist Alex Dragulescu turns data sets into raw materials for the generation of tantalizing 2D and 3D forms. Rather than scientific visualization intent on clarifying the content of the data, Dragulescu creates graphic and temporal compositions notable for their strong graphic qualities.

Spam Architecture is one project that has garnered much attention recently. Here spam is translated into three-dimensional form by analysing keywords and patterns in the text. Like its sibling project Spam Plants, it explores the mapping of textual data into spatial configurations.

Kulture Flash

KultureFlash is a free, weekly newsletter covering contemporary culture in and around London. Each week they track down some of the more unusual and interesting events taking place in the capital and deliver them straight to your inbox. Featuring art, gigs, films, talks, clubs and more, they are committed to bringing you an eclectic mix of the most stimulating events in London.

Catalytic Formations

Catalytic Formations by Ali Rahim
Ali Rahim teaches at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and is the Design Director of Contemporary Architecture Practice which has established an award winning profile in futuristic work using cutting edge digital design and production techniques. Above is taken from his designs for the Reebok Flagship store in Shanghai.

His work has a seamless 'ethereal' quality, as seen here in a recent London residential project. He has been published extensively in the press and most recently selected into 10x10_2 and for the Architectural Record Design Vanguard 2004, as one of eleven architectural practices worldwide "building the future of architecture". His books include Catalytic Formations: Architecture and Digital Design 2005 and two Architecture Design [AD] volumes; Contemporary Techniques in Architecture, 2002 and Contemporary Processes in Architecture, 2000.