If we want [architecture] to be inscribed with economic reality - raised above the level of mere technological prowess - then we need to firmly integrate conception and production. What is the point of developing highly sophisticated software unless the people who use it are interested in how it works and exploiting its potential to the full? What use is it, either, to develop an associateveness between conception and fabrication if in practice manufacturers and clients fail to establish relationships enabling them to make the most of the continuity of the flow of information? Now, more than ever, we need to progressively and patiently construct a genuine culture of digital production if architecture is to benefit from the opportunities offered by the nonstandard. - Bernhard Cache
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Minimal Fabrications Chicago, IL // 2016 // Built 10” x 15” x 10” This novel collaboration saw computational design and generative form-finding processes applied to the design and fabrication of a fabric structure acting entirely in tension. The installation is at once light, room, and furniture. It responds to the orientation of exterior windows and the needs of the interior spaces - receptacles, switches, and lighting - through its unique geometry. Various “arms” of the form branch out to meet these existing conditions - framing views out the windows, creating dramatic lighting effects, and maintaining access to existing functional elements. With over 200 unique pieces and 1500 feet of seams, the fabrication of this piece could only be resolved through a rigorous and analytic process where the number of individual pieces, seam configuration, and panel orientation were optimized to achieve the desired form (itself generated by the inherent geometric optimization of minimal surfaces and soap bubbles) in a recursive and self-reinforcing feedback loop. Design, Documentation, Fabrication
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