Introduction
Architecture stands at an inflection point. The confluence of advances in both computation and fabrication technologies lets us create an architecture of hitherto unimaginable forms, with an unseen level of detail, producing entirely new spatial sensations.
Architecture must surprise, excite, and provoke. As both an intellectual and a phenomenological endeavor, it should address not only the mind, but all the senses - viscerally. It must be judged by the experiences it evokes.
Today, complexity and specificity are no longer an impediment to design and fabrication. Rather, they are opportunities that are waiting to be explored. But to fully embrace this potential, we must move beyond mouse-driven CAD and rigid parametric systems. What we need is an abstract and open-ended method: a computational approach.
What is needed is a new type of design instrument. We need tools for search and exploration, rather than simply control and execution. These tools must ultimately redefine the process of design: the designer will work in an iterative feedback loop with the machine, moderating processes, and incorporating feedback, surprises and proposals. Knowledge and experience are acquired through search, demanding heuristics that work in the absence of categorization.
As of yet, we have countless tools to increase our efficiency and precision. Why not create tools that serve as our muse, that inspire us and help us to be creative? Tools to draw the undrawable, and to imagine the unimaginable.
What we stand to gain are entirely new spatial and haptic experiences. A playful design that stimulates the senses, elicits curiosity, and invites interaction. A design environment that simultaneously allows control and surprise, and that embraces and celebrates the unforeseen.
Biography
Michael Hansmeyer is an architect and programmer who explores the use of algorithms to generate and fabricate architectural form.
His recent projects include two full-scale 3D-printed sandstone grottos, the production of an intricate Muqarna for Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the installation of a hall of columns at Grand Palais in Paris, and the design of the 3D-printed Tor Alva aka White Tower in the Swiss Alps. His work has been exhibited at museums and venues such as the Museum of Arts and Design New York, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Martin Gropius Bau Berlin, Design Miami / Basel, and the Gwangju Design Biennale. His designs are featured in the permanent collections of the FRAC Centre and Centre Pompidou.
Michael has taught architecture as a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and at Southeast University in Nanjing, and as a lecturer at the CAAD group of ETH Zurich. He previously worked for Herzog & de Meuron architects, as well as in the financial and consulting industries. Michael holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University.
Contact
Michael Hansmeyer
Computational Architecture
email: contact (at) michael-hansmeyer.com