Caterina Tiazzoldi | Nuova Ordentra
“In a complex-structured city in which the interactions among parts intensify; in which the number of decision-makers and cultural scenarios overlap, interconnect and sometimes collide; in which the temporal dimensions of the citizens are dissimilar; in which local and global, physical and virtual dimensions coexist, in which the scarcity of resource and population diversity are strongly affecting design practice, it is necessary to identify a set of design tools which could respond to design complexity.° It is necessary to develop design models that have the capacity to quickly respond and adapt to environmental variations and requirements. It is necessary to develop an innovative tool that assists a decision-maker to take into account a number of different parameters. The goal is to enhance architecture’s capacity to respond to specific environmental requirements with an adaptable physicality.”
parametric stalactites
illy bar
building bookshelves
parametric bookshelves
toolbox torino
toolbox extension
digital primitive
downloadable house luanda
un.ghie florida NY
onion pinch
porcupine
napping pod
nw new york project
The Social Cave, 2011 In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the furniture fair, the Salone Satellite chief curator Marva Griffin invited the architecture and design research lab Non-linear Solutions Unit of Columbia university to develop a small pavilion project in response to the question in what direction is design heading. The project Social Cave is an interactive installation developed by 24 international students directed by Caterina Tiazzoldi and in collaboration with interaction designer Mirko Arcese and Luca Biada (BCAA.it). The design engaged the students in the challenge of organizing an assembly of 100% recyclable polystyrene polygons, which could continuously reconfigure its spatial environment according to different user’s behaviors. The digital age has dissolved traditional conceptions of space. Whereas socialization once existed entirely within the physical realm, the virtual world has invited new rules and interaction within a previously unavailable dimension. Growing virtual connectivity has certainly created a network of unlimited communication pathways. Yet while our social reach has extended, relationships spawned by the web often remain confined to the digital space in which they were initiated. The protection of that dematerialization is seductive; intimacy must no longer be defined by physicality. Emboldened by the blanket of physical anonymity, we may assert a redefined sense of privacy and closeness.
By merging physical and virtual space, how can design affect the changing vista of socialization? Can design encourage a new platform for interaction? We were invited to design a small, interactive installation that would be encountered by thousands of people, most of whom are strangers to each other. In response, we have proposed the Social Cave, a typology that returns to the beginnings of our civilization. The Cave will blend the frenzied excitement of virtual connectivity’s power and speed with the calm of its form and materiality, a parametric aggregation of 100% recycled and 100% recyclable foam cubes. The barrier wall separating the two enclosures within the Cave ensure that visitors inhabiting each of those spaces are initially concealed from each other. Thanks to the interactive interface, the presence of a visitor in the space opposite is revealed only through an abstracted projection capturing his movements. The physical anonymity created by the enclosure allows each visitor to feel comfortable engaging in a digital and visual conversation with the projected “shadow” or “ghost” of the visitor opposite him. Gestures and personalities are therefore made familiar to each other before the initial physical meeting. Thus, the Social Cave first hides and then exposes the proximity and identity of its visitors, allowing a conversation to begin that transcends traditional digital physical boundaries. Credits: Concept + Schematic Design: Caterina Tiazzoldi NSU / GSAPP Columbia UniversityInteraction Designer with Mirko Arcese and Luca Biada (BCAA.it) Design Team: B. Suite, D. Cashen, J. Zaratiegui, M. Fassino, V. Roether, A. Robinson, A. Shim, A. Kim, B. Brichta, C. Handal, C. Pope, D. Kaltis, E. Fammartino, E. Kapompasopoulou, E. Iannace, E. Bauer, F. Schmitt , G. Valdes, G. Lalli, H. Lee Oh, J. Choi, J. Dornic, K. Thorn, K. Lents , M. Gonzales, M. Rosso, Y. Kim, S. Ngy Acknowledgments: M. Griffin, Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation GSAPP Columbia University, Associazione Italiana Polistirene Espanso, DIPRADI Politecnico di Torino
scale z dimension
Parametric Stalactites - Adaptation to perception It is easy to understand when a “technique” is applied to manipulate quantitative design parameters (acoustic, lighting and structural), while it is less obvious to apply a system on qualitative and Non Measurable parameters. Nevertheless any time that an architect is transforming a sensation in a build environment he is actualizing a spatial statement. By transforming a feeling in a set of operation that will be realized on the build environment. An idea, an atmosphere in order to become architecture, need to be translated in a set of operations transforming an idea into the organization of the matter (rotations, repetitions, rhythm) that become space and perceptive effect. For this reason the organization of the data becomes a system and eventually an adaptable system. The project Parametric Stalactites derives from a unique parametric digital model developing different configurations. All the surfaces are conceived as an assembly of 45x45 cm ‘smart Parametric tiles’ responding to the different spatial requirements of the various store locations. Each tile can be more or less extruded according to the size of the store. Two parameters (frequency and length of the extrusion) control the saturation level and the perception type of the space.
scale z dimension
Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce
Adaptable Components
Material and geometrical modulation create new type of space and interaction It is easy to understand when a “technique� is applied to manipulate quantitative design parameters (acoustic, lighting and structural). It is less obvious to apply a system on qualitative and Non Measurable parameters. Nevertheless any time that an architect is transforming a sensation in a build environment he is actualizing a spatial statement. By transforming a feeling in a set of operation that will be realized on the build environment. An idea, an atmosphere in order to become architecture, need to be translated in a set of operations transforming an idea into the organization of the matter (rotations, repetitions, rhythm) that become space and perceptive effect. For this reason the organization of the data becomes a system and eventually an adaptable system. The project Parametric Stalactites derives from a unique parametric digital model developing different configurations. All the surfaces are conceived as an assembly of tiles responding to the different spatial requirements of the various store locations. Each tile can be more or less extruded according to the size of the store. Two parameters (frequency and length of the extrusion) control the saturation level and the perception type of the space.
Illy Reconfigurable Shop, 2008 - now Illy Shop is a temporary store, realized in Milan, at Galleria San Carlo. The concept is conceived for a reconfigurable store, characterized by different modulations of a single element, a “cube” which is 45x45cm-squared base. Using a parametric device, it becomes possible to manipulate the cube physical properties by editing depth, thickness, opacity, length and explosions. The combinatory logic – inspired by genetic algorithms process - permits to perform over 3000 configurations of the same object. The shop is created by 200 cubes and specifically designed to adapt to different dimensional composition of Illy Café products. The same unit is used for the table, desk counter, storage, lighting system, video frames, communication, and recycling bins. By reconfiguring the different modules according to the performances required, (accessibility of the products from the outside, number of item to display, level of transparency desired, product size) it becomes feasible to represent different characteristics of the Illy products, while the solution also allows fitting it into different locations. The system engender from the walls and the ceiling, creating a disoriented expansion. The differentiated space dimensions appears to become one, transforming it into a game where user’s sight shifts from an object to another discovering the inside.
Credits: Design: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce, Federico Rizzo, Roberta Musso, Alessio Primavera, Monica Pianosi, Mauro Fassino, Zsofia Ujhelyi, Mukesh Rosso with Illy Art Direction Photos: Luca Campigotto, Federico Rizzo
// Info-Point for an Exposition , 2008
Illy Art
Toolbox Torino Office Lab & Co-working, 2008-2010 Toolbox was commissioned in 2009. The project was based on the request for a study about a possible use of an industrial building in a city which was in a phase of deep transformation, in which professional reality was increasingly represented by freelance workers whose professional future was not yet well known. The aim was to define such new use for a 50,000 sf, 3 storey office buildings located in a transformation area of 220,000 sf, in close proximity to downtown Turin and to the railroad station. For this reason, Toolbox was conceived of as a professional incubator, as a space in which the users actively (even if indirectly) contribute to the definition of a new professional identity for Turin. From a functional standpoint, the intervention consisted of transforming a traditional office (divided into rooms) into a vast open space with 44 individual workstations, interspersed with communal areas including meeting rooms, printer rooms and informal meeting spaces. The goal of this transformation was to keep the original industrial concrete structure as intact and visible as possible. The industrial block’s main building is divided into two parts: the side along the windows is used for co-working workstations, while on the opposite side, a corridor connects 5 enclosed boxes
The service areas have been conceived of as “working tools.” The secondary industrial building houses the lounge, bar, and a relaxation area. In this newly developed area the double concrete beams were left exposed while the service is different because is conceived to change in accord with zoning and the landmark requirements.
Credits: Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi Concept with A. Balestra and G. Milanese Graphic with V. Montresor Design Team: A. Balzano, H. Cany, C. Caramassi, L. Croce, M. Fassino, M. Pianosi
Office space mostly needed for three reasons: socializing, professionalism (in the eyes of other people but mostly in our own eyes), and the distinction between relaxed and professional environments. The Toolbox design targets a new generation of professional architects, web designers, artists, lawyers, accountants and independent contractors. It is derived from a hybridization of traditional European work space (organized in small offices) and the post-war American open space model. Toolbox attempts to invent a new approach to work. The concept of Toolbox is built on two main ideas: the coexistence of a plurality of users and a coherent architectural concept. How is it possible to create a rational structure with a multitude of users, needs, expectations and ways of working? What is the right level of severity, formality and solemnity for a workspace designed for independent workers, creative teams and dislocated corporate branches? The Toolbox project addresses these issues by modulating private and social levels, work and leisure gradients, and formality and informality ranges. In the last decade, most professionals have come to appreciate some of the positive aspects of working at home. The possibility of performing repetitive tasks on a couch with the computer on one’s knee, leafing through a document in an armchair, etc. ‌ Some of the working-at-home habits naturally became part of our working lives. For this reason, the project was developed by taking into account various kinds of settings and different ranges of intensity in the way we approach work. The spaces and their language reflect this concept - strict, almost austere for the co-working area, bright and colorful for the sofas and micro-meeting rooms and areas where work and meetings are conducted in a more relaxed mode. The telephone pods are located some distance from the co-working areas to allow private phone calls or conference calls. In this way everyone can follow his or her particular inclination or variation during the work day.
Sustainable Flexibility Honor Mention the Automation Contech Award by Biticino the project explored the idea of a sustainable flexibility. To provide different organizational structures for different users with their specific needs and profiles, Toolbox utilizes an automated centralized system controlling access, the lighting system and services (printers, telephones). Each user is provided with a badge and can define her/his own profile in accordance with her/his needs. The management of the space is therefore related to an automated system that allows or denies access to the various functions in accordance with the user’s choices. By varying the accessibility and use of the functions hosted in the space, such as co-working areas, meeting rooms, kitchen, patio and parking, it is possible to achieve an endless modality of use of the same space. As project transformation and evolution are fundamental for the success of the project, it was mandatory to define a strategy permitting constant adaptation to different users’ needs, without impacting the physical configuration of the structure. Toolbox promotes the idea of a sustainable adaptation to this strategy, one without involving any physical transformation and material wastes. In this case, the idea of adaptation is not only limited to a spatial response to the user’s profile but depends also on how the user uses the space itself. Here, Architectural Adaptation assumes a double profile, where space has the capacity to encase different users’ configurations, spaces (e.g. the bar) were enclosed in functional boxes. Adaptation to users’ needs and profiles. Initially, the need for workspace itself was questioned as one can nowadays work remotely from anywhere by using a laptop and Wi-Fi network. Why then should people need a workspace? In effect, after the first stage in which working at home appeared as a real alternative to the traditional working environment, people rediscovered the need for spaces dedicated to work.
relax area
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kitchen patio
phone box
meeting room
coworking area
PARAMETERS
Parametric design for the lobby wall The concept of obtaining a plurality by the modulation of a single rule drove every design choice. For example, the walls of the entrance have been designed with 500 variations of one single white 10�x 10� box. The overall layout of the entry lobby was designed with parametric software generating endless configurations from a single digital model. Here, the idea of the physical adaptation of the space was conceptually expanded to the definition of an adaptive design model - a model having the robustness to respond to environmental variations and to the evolution of the project constraints.
PARAMETERS 0 cm
depht
6.5 cm
0 cm
depht
0.5 cm
2.5 cm
10.5 cm
13.5 cm
0.5 cm
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position
change of the coordinates of the cubes on the X and Y axes
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6.5 cm
10.5 cm
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Logic of the system that manages the depth of the various polygons. Logic of the system that manages the depth of the various polygons
in accord with doors and openings position
position
change of the coordinates of the cubes on the X and Y axes
depht
Logic of the system that manages the depth of the various polygons
in accord with doors and ope
Adaptation applied to the design process From the perspective of the design process, the goal was to mediate between the plurality of users’ needs and the coherence of the design. The variety of solutions obtained demonstrates the use of a unique design rule inspired by genetic algorithms. By combining the attributes and building blocks of a population, it is possible to achieve a bigger variety of solutions responding to different fitness requirements. In the Toolbox project, the method consisted of specializing a set of initially identical volumes by using different materials (cork, rubber, polished paint). Differentiation occurred according to the different programmatic functions hosted in each box, and in accordance with their sound, thermal, and visual requirements. Furthermore, since the goal was to convey a harmonious coexistence of different worlds and cultural references, the principle of variation and transformation of a unique element was also pursued in other parts of the project by differentiating the colors of natural rubber floors in the meeting rooms, the type of cork coating and the color of the pyramidal panels of the small telephone pods. Finally, this was done by varying the sizes, colors and levels of transparency of the bubbles that form the external texture of the box-bar. The overall concept uses a few elements in endless variations, a single system developing an infinite range of possibilities to respond to the plurality of workers.
Toolbox extension OSI Area, 2010 - now OSI Area, is a property located in an industrial area in Torino and is the site where Toolbox office space is located. The positive response of the neighborhood to the Toolbox intervention engendered the request to define a scenario permitting to envision the possible transformations and uses of the 100.000 square feet OSI Area. The project was based on the definition of various scenarios of what people would look for in an industrial space for and desire and how interaction could happen between the city and the block, between the people and the block. We started to implement a multi criteria design process deriving from the combinatorial methodology. We don’t know what the area is going to look like and which type of urban transformation is going to happen. We decided to create a centripetal space. We decided to avoid classical green needing maintance. Instead we chose to plant a forest on the top of the industrial slab using the 5 feet thickness of the industrial structure and host the terrain necessary to host oaks and other type of greenery.
Credits: Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team; J. Zaratiegui, A.
S parcheggi=2685 mq
Tot=2685 mq
S parcheggi=2172 X 2 =4344 mq S commercio=513 mq (possibile utilizzo di soppalchi con eventuale raddoppio della superficie).
S parcheggi=420 X 3=1260 mq S uffici=420 X 5=2100 mq S residenza=420 X 8=3360 mq Tot=6720 mq
Tot=4857 mq
S parcheggi=2172 mq S commercio=513 mq (possibile utilizzo di soppalchi con eventuale raddoppio della superficie). S sport e benessere=2172 mq Tot=4857 mq
S parcheggi=1360 X 2=2720 mq S commercio=513 mq (possibile utilizzo di soppalchi con eventuale raddoppio della superficie). S sport e benessere=812 X 2=1360 mq
S uffici=420 X 8=3360 mq S residenza=420 X 8=3360 mq Tot=6720 mq
S parcheggi=420 X 6=2520 mq S residenza=420 X 10=4200 mq Tot=6720 mq
Tot=4857 mq
S parcheggi=1360 X 2=2720 mq S commercio=513 mq (possibile utilizzo di soppalchi con eventuale raddoppio della superficie). S uffici=812 X 2=1360 mq Tot=4857 mq
S parcheggi=2172 mq S commercio=513 mq (possibile utilizzo di soppalchi con eventuale raddoppio della superficie). S uffici=2172 mq Tot=4857 mq
S residenza=653X3=1959 mq S uffici=653 mq
Tot=2612 mq
Parcheggi totali=3432 mq Commercio totale=513 mq Sport=2172 mq Uffici=2100+1154+380=3634 Residenza=3360+1026=4386 Totale=513+2172+3634+4386=10705 mq
S uffici= 380 mq
S commercio=513 mq S uffici=380 mq S residenza=513 X 2=1026 mq Tot=1919 mq
S uffici= 577 X 2=1154 mq
S commercio=513 mq S uffici=380 mq S residenza=513 X 2=1026 mq Tot=1919 mq
S uffici= 830 X 2=1660 mq
LEGENDA Residenza Parcheggio Commercio Sport Uffici
Digital Primitive Event curatorial project commissioned by Giulio Capellini for the Young Talent Selection at the temporary museum for New Design Milan, 2009 Temporary Museum for New Design “They are Digital, because they are the first generation of New York designers and architects formed in a context characterized by digital modeling techniques and computer numeric control fabrication (CNC). They are Primitive because they have to respond to the limitations deriving from a city like New York.
Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce
They work in a condition in which materials are difficult to find and workers are relatively host tile to new methods. They work with very few materials (Corian, MDF, steel) and tools (laser cutters, pantographs, etc.) which they explore making the best possible use of the potentials of technology. They are engaged in various levels of the project: from academic research to running true production shops able to construct models of the most radical ideas thought up by world-level stars, up to projects for institutional practices. They use extremely sophisticated techniques with rough materials handled with an immediate, almost instinctive gestural expressiveness based on repetition. Repeatability and modulation become the key to obtaining projects that are at once complex and elaborate albeit immediately understandable to respond to a society in which it is necessary to know how to use just a few words to explain them to a public that is increasingly less inclined to listening.� Caterina Tiazzoldi 2009
Formal Modulation for Light Device, 2007
building - formal modulation for light device, new jersey The project Formal Modulation for Light for Performance in a Women’s in HosThe project Formal Modulation Light Performance a pital Façade can be considered as an example in which the of a Women’s Hospital Façade can be considered asapplication an example limited number variables permits development of solutions producing in which theofapplication of athe limited number of variables pera combinatorial innovation facing environmental diversities. Each solution mits the development of solutions, producing a combinatorial is innovation focused on thefacing qualitative, and quantitative, understanding algorithmic environmental diversities. Eachofsolution is adaptable devices as applied to the constructed reality of a women’s hospital focused on the qualitative and quantitative, understanding the façade system. The goal of this research was to develop a project responding algorithmic adaptable devices, as applied to the constructed simultaneously to interior programmatic shifts, the perceptive requirements reality of a women’s hospital facade system.by implementing an and external site information. This task was achieved algorithm to connect the pattern of the window façade framing to the funcThesensorial goal of and thistechnical research was to develop a project respondtional, requirements of the building programme. ing simultaneously to interior programmatic shifts, the The idea of design performance did not refer not only to a criterionpercepof techtive requirements external information. taskanwas nological optimization, and but above all tosite the client’s requestThis to obtain inedited formal by result. achieved implementing an algorithm to connect the pattern
of the window facade framing to the functional, sensorial and One of the project proposals consisted of a number of diamond-shaped window elements. Each technical requirements of the building programme. component had a solar panel placed in the front. The size and placement of the front panels
indirect light mediation
component 80% closed
sun
angle of incidence
60% closed normal
40% closed adaptation of component
were related to the modulation of the direct light penetrating the different programmatic spaces andThe responding curvilinear shape of the building. The algorithm was developed to fit idea toofthedesign performance did not refer only to a criteany type of surface. rion of technological optimization, but above all to the client’s Figure Rotation of façade frames based on programmatic input, GSAPP Columbia University, request, to obtain anGraig, inedited formal result. Principal Investigator, with Will Client Impresa Rosso.
One of the project proposals consisted a number of diamondshaped window elements. Each component had a solar panel placed in the front. The size and placement of the front panels were related to the modulation of the direct light penetrating the different programmatic spaces and responding to the cur- Credits: vilinear shape of the building. The algorithm was developed to Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce fit any type of surface.
adaptable component
direct light mediation
product - parametric furniture
change thickness
component
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2 3 change color saturation
scale z dimension adaptation of component
Parametric Bookshelves Adaptation to clients requirements, 2009 Parametric Bookshelves is an adaptable piece of furniture. A unique digital model produces infinite configurations on the bases of the differents customers requirements. When introduced as input in the parametric digital model, differenciation becomes a design input. The system creates endless new configuration by changing tickness color saturation and depth when costumers introduce the size they require. Parametric bookshelves receive the different input and react in accord to determined diversities.It becomes and inAdaptable Components finite extensible grid respond to the different conditions to clients diversity.
Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce, Dora Keller
Building Bookshelves 2010 The Building Bookshelves is a framework having the capacity to change and transform in accord with the surrounding environment. It can adapt to different urban contexts by matching with the surrounding buildings height and modulation. It can fit adapt to different types of landmark requirement and to the number of units. The collapse between geometries permits to create areas that usually are extracted from pure volumes: kitchen bathrooms derives from the volumetric intersection.
Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce, Y.Lazovskaya
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1 public interior space 2 dining room 3 living room 4 bedroom 5 roof garden 6 studio 7 terrace 8 kitchen 9 A/C system 10 semi-public terrace connecting with the adjacent building 11 public stairs
Prototyping the city, 2008 “Playgrounds and public spaces need room, fields to play and act in, and objects to play with, identify with and react against. This is architecture, the rest is city life” CHORA, Raoul Bunschoten,
The experiment of Prototyping the city was based on the criteria that a product of urban design must operate at different levels contemporarily. The brief of the project, entitled “biodegrading pavilion”, indicates a typological reference: the pavilion, hybridized with the programmatic function of info-point for Torino 2008 World Design Capital, and its biological condition as a temporary “ coagulation of matter” designed to disintegrate back into nature at the end of its life cycle.
The workshop structure was instead defined as a “matrix” which coordinated the activities of the group in parallel co-evolving layers. The result was a parametrically controlled diagram organizing the basic construction units [wooden sticks] into a coherent structural assemblage while generating small cocoon spaces which branched out of the main “tunnel”. These spaces became the niches which housed the informational layer that constituted the first point of contact between the visitors and the summer school events. This platform was then expanded in a web based blog capable of reaching out to world. Credits: Project leaders: C. Tiazzoldi (NSU - GSAPP), C. Griffa (Politechnico di Torino), C. Pasquero, M. Poletto
Onion Pinch, 2009 Project featured at in the show Minimaouss 4, at the Paris Museum Cite’ de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, at the Experimenta Design Lisbon and at the Made Expo Milano. Onion Pinch engages the idea of geometrical and material manipulation and explores the concept of atmosphere refers to a gaseous envelope or to a surrounding influence or environment. The French idea of ambiance refers to the qualities of a place that are capable of affecting the behavior of a person. As director of the Non Linear Solution Unit (NSU) at GSAPP Columbia University in NY, my research agenda consists in developing advanced digital models for architectural design and investigation. Algorithms, scripts and codes do not seem to be very close to the idea of atmosphere but nevertheless the manipulation of a few variables in the modelling process can be a powerful design and investigation tool. Inspired by the work of the cognitive scientist John Henry Holland, the method developed consists of moralization through the digital manipulation of numerical data. In the most radical experimentations, design problems are deconstructed and represented exclusively by numerical data. By identifying a set of properties or attributes that can be manipulated through a computer model, it is possible to explore the relation between a digital
manipulation and a spatial, material or sound acoustic effects. The experience of Onion Pinch, de can be considered as a testing platform for the research developed by NSU in the modelling field and in material construction systems. Realized in the context of the Digital Primitive Event as a parallel event of the Lisbon Biennial Experimenta Design, the project Onion Pinch hosted the show Digital Primitive Extended. The show featured the work of several New York-based architects, designers, academic researchers and manufacturers. As a design rule we established that the project had actively to respond to the material we would work with. We wanted to construct a space, a real place that people would recognise as such, that would affect the behavior of the persons visiting. We wanted to create an atmosphere. In order to achieve our goal, we started to study, to dissect the cork conceptually – material that we did not know very well. We wanted to isolate a design concept and a very simple construction technique. We applied a simplified version of the process used at NSU when setting up a parametric model. We were looking for how we could manipulate the material with very few variables. Cork was reduced to a list of properties and attributes
that could be manipulated almost like numerical data. Texture – fibre code and diameter Granularity – length of the fibre Porosity – spacing of the fibre Acoustic insulation – decibel reduction Terminal insulation – temperature variation Density – kg per square metre Thickness – millimeters Flexibility – centimeter per metre Cork is very flexible. Flexibility means elasticity and vibration.Thanks to its flexibility, it was possible to shape the cork. The project was achieved by literally folding fifteen strips of cork to obtain an onion ring effect. The onion rings were realized with different cork types and thicknesses. The installation was articulated in a series of internal paths in which people could walk. The shape transformation and connection between parts describe the topic of the show: the transformation and the contamination existing in the New York ground between research, education, practice, manufacturing and corporate world. The tracks were articulated by the opening or closing of the profiles. Shape and profile transformations were obtained by literally pinching the cork with a bolt. When placed on the higher positions of the profile, the onion configuration would open up. Moving the bolt toward the ground made the shape close down.
The unique parameter, ‘position on the Z axis of the
bolt’, affected another condition of the rings: the flexibility or level of vibration. Therefore with the form transformation the rigidity of the shape also changed. For the more open type of profile the flexibility was higher. A simple touch could activate the ring vibration. For the more rigid shapes the vibration was limited. Similarly to the most rigid digital model, all formal and performable modulation was controlled by one single parameter, the bolt position. Beside the apparent rigidity of the design approach, when installed in the subway the onion installation immediately became an urban toy. People slowed down from their everyday rhythm and looked at the installation, touched it, pushed it and tested the different reactions of the onion to body pressure. The displacement created by the presence of an extremely alive object, with its texture, with the oscillation of the onion rings, transformed an unfamiliar, cold space like the subway station into a lively oasis. Children entered the space and started to inhabit it. A group of children literally created a village. Each child inhabited its own onion, lying in its new rocking shell, and made a unique atmosphere in the subway station. Credits Design: Caterina Tiazzoldi, Eduardo Benamor Duarte Team: M.Pianosi, T. Branquino, M.Fassino, L.Croce, K.Seaman Photos: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano
Material and geometrical modulation create new type of spaces and interaction
Combinatorial manipulation of attribute and building blocks to obtain different variations of a systems. How to achieve endless solutions?
Attributes 3 contact points moving along a curve (onion perimeter) Attributes Variables: Relative position to the onion external - internal Different type of position classified on the base of the position of the contact points: Points can inhabit different sector of the onion can change their relative position by achieving different type of configurations, leonardesque, leonardesque inverted and so on. The relative position of dancers can be obtained with an array, a mirror, a trow dancer along Onions,the movement derive from different condtions of couterpoise between the body and the structure Points can inhabit different sector of the onion can change their relative position by achieving different type of configurations, leonardesque, inverted and so on. The relative position of dancers can be obtained with an array, a mirror, a trow dancer along Onions, the movement derive from different condtions of couterpoise between the body and the structure
+ leonardesque
inversed mimetic
mix contact points position and array persons
Selection of static condition types 1. Mimetic 3 contact points of in the same line 2. Reversed mimetic 2 contact point in a single line the third point has the reversed x position of the line in the same Y position 3. Leonardesque - contact point are equally distributed in the space 4. Inverted Leonardesque contact point are equally distributed in the space the figure is reversed
il Circolo dei lettori, 2011 Circolo dei Lettori, located in the building of the 16th century Palazzo Graneri della Roccia, established in 2006 by the support of the Cultural Department of the Piedmont Region. The Circolo dei Lettori was the first public space dedicated to Italian readers and reading, both individually and in groups, while also hosting presentations and conferences organized by City of Torino. The renovation of the Circolo dei Lettori, as part of the landmark building was completed in September 2011. The goal was to keep integral its timeless atmosphere -preserving most of the historical heritage- while improving usability of the space by providing the citizens a place to meet, to work informally and to eat. The intervention required improving the technical equipment for the bar, restaurant conference rooms and the conditioning system. The mediation has been conceived by developing an adaptive texture that derives from the logo of the Circolo dei Lettori. As a DNA, the texture had the capacity to adapt and change function on various objects: as main logo, as chandelier, coffee table, as reception desk graphics and conditioning grid, becoming a vortex of arabesque that recalls the world of dreams where the reader lives. The c texture moves, adapts and transforms in the different rooms, becoming the leading motive narrating about the relation between the institutions of the Circolo dei Lettori: the baroque palace and Torino citizens.
Credits Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi with Gianluigi Favero Design team: Alessio Primavera, Mukesh Rosso,Roberta Musso, Federico Rizzo, Mapi Turninetti, G端rkan Ata, Morena Caredda Fiore Book Crossing: Brady Gunnell
Flower Book Crossing made by Brady Gunnel
reception - registration collecting iPad
waiting & workin
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changing room & wall
seminar room conference room
semina
slow path quick path conference path
ng area bar
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working & lunch room
UN
meeting room working room
interview room
Fabulesque Tables, 2011 Inspired from Alice in Wonderland, Fabulesque is a series of Table developed for the Circolo dei Lettori located in a Baroque Palace in Torino. Realized in laminated wood and MDF, each table has its own color and profile. A parametric device permit to adapt all the profile to the different function. (smaller for the coffee table, square for the dining table ecc..)
Credits: Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi Design Team: M. Rosso, F. Rizzo, A. Primavera, R. Musso
WHIRLERS
an exilarating energy system
CONCEPT
+
WIND RESOURCES % of wind power generated in the USA
Global installed power in 2010
GW
140
2005
120
2006
100 80
32%
0.0
0.5
2010 2.0
08
10
06
04
02
98 00
2009
of new installed wind capacity in 2010
20
1.0
40
2008
1.5
60
96
2007
the USA accounts for
Where are the largest wind farm? measured by normal maximum output in megawatt (MW)
Roscoe wind farm (USA)
Horse Hollw Center (USA)
Theachapi Pass farm (USA)
Capricorn Ridge farm (USA)
San Gorgonio pass farm (USA)
782
736
705
633
615
Sources: Clean Energy Ideas and AWEA
Land Art Generator Initiative Renewable Energy can be beautiful - Freshkills Park 2012 Caterina Tiazzoldi + Eduardo Benamor Duarte Team: Marta Bariolo, Caterina Aurora Francisca, Lian Serrano
Porcupine, 2009 Co-author Eduardo Benamor Duarte Project commissioned by the design Biennial Experimenta Design. Porcupine is an adaptable chair. Inspired from the fractal growth of a shell, it is realized in felt an fiber glass. Its design has been generated with a parametric logic that allows to reconfigure in accord with the location and user’s inputs. Customers can control the form, the level of proximity between the different seat and the hight modulation. By glimpsing to the typical Rhino tool Throw Curve along Curve, Porcupine transforms abstraction into design. It is realized with 40 sheets of felt by Pastofo, supported by a fiber glass skeleton by POLITROFA. The sheets’s height varies from 68 to 30 cm while their spacing shifts according to the pressure of the body’s weight or the proximity of a group of sheets. The design for the porcupine seat is processed through the iteration and trans-
formation of a same component. In response the warmth and malleability of the felt produces a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. These fibers are produced by recycled residual waste processed in a sustainable manner into felt. Credits: Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi and Eduardo Benamor Duarte Team: M. Fassino, T. Branquinho, K. Seaman
Napping pod, 2010 Project featured at Minimaousse 4 Architecture Extra Small, Paris Museum Cite’de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine.
“Imagine a branching tree. A babies’ tree Babies growing in the space like flowers and fruits.”
Napping pod is proposal for boarding schools and collective spaces napping spaces, where a branching tubular structure supports the pods where babies are having a nap. Each pod is realized with a double shell. Each baby has a mattress. Curved on the bottom part, flat on the top. Personal mattresses/pillows can be easily removed and cleaned. Napping pod has been designed as a sunflower in the orientation vary from pod to pod: in the higher levels, for smaller children, the opening are oriented toward the ceiling. Babies can only enter or exit with the help of an adult. In the lower levels the pods are slightly rotated. In this way babies can enter and exit as they wish. Pods are dens, nest where hide where develop a secret personal universe. Napping pod is a vision of an universe of protection, amusement, complicity and secrets words.
Credits: Project: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: A. Balzano, M. Pianosi
Guillaume Apollinaire
Sustainability and self construction as accessible information Project developed for Architects without Borders from Angola and Burkina Faso, 2009 Our idea is to develop an information tool to be used by the general population, local and international technicians and researchers. Our idea of self construction is not only to reduce the construction costs by allowing citizen to construct their own houses. We also see self construction as an integrated platform to access and provide information to the general population and to researchers. The platform will permit us to define a coherent development of urbanity by using Google Earth application as a design tool. Each user can obtain a customized design for their own house configured to their land properties. By using the Google Adaptable and Downloadable House application, users will have the capacity to drag the generic parametric model on to their property and to obtain a specialized design appropriate to their needs and land. The parametric model that will be imported from Google Earth will be in the form of an Excel file informing them about the qualities of a specific site (presence of river: construction danger, proximity to road, topography, etc…). Users will input how many recycled materials they can find. The parametric model will adapt itself based on the site input and the resource input. The application will “specialize” the generic digital model on the basis of the site’s specificity. Specialized models can be downloaded and plotted as a list of hexagonal units (number and length). The goal of this method is also to have a record of the “downloaded models”.
Such a tracking device will be extremely useful for the administrators in terms of recording the development in different areas by the Google Earth interface as a tool for the local and international research community. By creating a Google Earth Platform permitting the administrators to collect and to access information easily, it will be possible to create a collaborative network of local and international researchers, architects, and technicians. Researchers and technicians will have the capacity to insert information about the land, to report hydro geological risks and the presence of recyclable materials on specific sites, non registered construction, etc‌
Recycled local resources combinational use
An Ushaidi interface permits to update collectivity and Architects Without Borders platform
EMERGENCY 1:
In the last fifteen year we have assisted to the emergency of advanced digital tools, permitting us to enhance new forms of design embedding evolutionary parametric techniques and computer numeric control fabrication processes. Such a technology has allowed architects to explore new type of spaces, and the production of new fabrication systems and assembly techniques. Nevertheless the extreme amount of the intelligence ‘..the high degree of sophistication..’ of the design tools, of the construction processes and of the machinery employed, as opposed to the limited accessibility and transportability of the material used, severely limits the use of these new design techniques. In this way the optimism in terms of freedom and democratic accessibility which is embedded in the fluidity between design and construction, means that the results have been compromised or have been limited to a small portion of the architectural community.
EMERGENCY 2: A large proportion of construction on our planet is based on self-construction and spontaneous assemblies. Local materials and resources, low cost production systems, recycled materials are embedded in such construction processes. Conditions derive from a natural necessity in terms of optimization of available resources and local skills. In self-construction practice, often program technologies and assembly types relate to the nature of the materials available, and emphasize a formality derived from material behaviors (mud, plastic bottles, mud bricks, corrugated metal). Such local expertise permits builders to develop forms and finishing that would be very expensive to obtain using standard or highly technological design procedures. On the other hand, self-construction processes developed in the complete absence of planning, leads to risk filled situations (construction in dangerous areas; absence of a proper illumination and aeration; potential destruction of entire villages (e.g. Ischia Italy).
The device will be developed as an open data collecting tool based on a “Wikipedia like� evolutionary device permitting contributors to correct the information on the basis of their experience in the field. The use of portable devices such as smart phones and small computers will markedly decrease the cost of the tools required to realize every infrastructural tool.
Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce
The ultimate adaptability - Toward a new Polis, 2007-2009 “A polis is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. When used to describe Classical Athens and its contemporaries, polis is often translated as “city-state.”
Adaptable components can be conceived as an adaptable infrastructure acting on different scales (component, product, building, urban), the question is: who is designing the system? The rigidity of formal code is transformed in a collective decision making tool. The search engages a device based on a selective process, collecting and aggregating citizens preferences. By analyzing the case studies of the The New York Project and the Poll Game it will be questioned the way in which design should be conceived. Inspired from Pierre Levy concept of collective intelligence, the Poll Game is an infrastructure leading to a vision of aGame new political collectivity. The Poll
user group
The New Polis will be based on a flexible decision-making process based on a continuous updating of the criteria and parameters list deriving from the citizens decision. This flexible grid is designed by the collectivity itself by the mean of a genetic algorithm regulating the emergency of dominant parameters. The ultimate design process will collect and use human intelligence. Credits: Project leader: Caterina Tiazzoldi Team: Lorenza Croce
parameters
criteria
response
criteria x
response 1
criteria y
response 2
criteria z
response 3
result
parameter a
parameter b
output
parameter c
parameter d
feedback
what makes new york city “new york city”? citizens
parameters
criteria
which one will be new new york?
winner
The ultimate adaptability - Toward a new Polis densitya city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. When used to describe Classical Athens and its contemporaries, polis A polis -- is a city,
February 2008 Which one will be the new new york? Voracious, vital, exiting, dense, dangerous, fashionable, dirty, clean, local, rach, poor. What makes New York to be New York? The number of different types of sneakers in a subway? Number of vendors in the street? The New New York Project1 uses citizens collectivity and the New New York. The New New York Project uses the criteria selective process developped in their Beta version in the Poll Game2, to develop and evoultionary device aiming to constately update the list of the selective parameters and of the other 1 The New New York Project has been developped by the author with Eduardo Benamor Duarte, in collaboration with the NSU Advanced Research Lab at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservationan at Columbia University. 2 Poll Game page
creating infrastructure page 77
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