Computational Design Culture. Scripting, Simulation, and the Making of Architecture

MECS
Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation
Leuphana University Lüneburg

This 1.5-day conference will bring together architects, engineers, software developers and scholars of architectural theory, philosophy of science, and media studies to explore how and in what particular manner computer simulations and scripting techniques have an epistemic and aesthetic impact on the design and making of architecture. Papers and project presentations will offer an insight into the novel modes of code-controlled design and production by discussing the various methods, approaches, strategies, and translations involved within computational processes and fabrication tools. The conference aims to discuss a series of issues that include (but are not limited to) the following questions:
How and why do architects and engineers integrate computer simulations in their design and planning processes? What are the selection criteria for parameters and algorithms and how do they have an agency within a simulation or script? How do software and scripting contribute as tools and mediums to analysis, design, and fabrication and what are the implications for architects and engineers in becoming programmers and software developers? What is the potential of design computation for the improvement of communication and collaboration between architects, engineers, and programmers? Furthermore, what are the characteristics of a computational design culture and how do algorithmic practices and techniques affect the ways we describe, experience, and discuss architecture?

The conference language is English. The event is free and open to the public but registration is required. To register, please send an email to mecsleuphana.de
For more information and updates, please visit http://mecs.leuphana.de


CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014

09:30 – 10:00
Coffee and Registration

10:00 – 10:15
WELCOME
Claus Pias & Martin Warnke, Directors, MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg

OPENING REMARKS
Nicole Stöcklmayr, MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg

10:15 – 11:00
Achim Menges (Institute for Computational Design, University of Stuttgart / Graduate School of Design, Harvard University):
Computational Design and Material Culture

11:00 – 11:45
Jan Knippers (Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design, University of Stuttgart / Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering, Stuttgart, New York, Berlin):
Integrative Design in a Computational Environment

11:45 – 12:00
Coffee Break

12:00 -12:45
Matias del Campo & Sandra Manninger (Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan / Tongji University, Shanghai / del Campo Manninger Architects, Vienna, Shanghai, Detroit):
Moody Objects

12:45 – 14:15
Lunch Break

14:15 – 15:00
Moritz Heimrath (Institute of Architectural Sciences, Vienna University of Technology / Bollinger + Grohmann Ingenieure, Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Oslo, Melbourne):
tba

15:00 – 15:45
Stefan Rutzinger & Kristina Schinegger (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London / Institute of Architectural Sciences, Vienna University of Technology / soma, Vienna, Salzburg):
Alchemy and Simulation. Approaching the Formless

15:45 – 16:00
Coffee Break

16:00 – 16:45
Barbara Imhof (Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna / LIQUIFER Systems Group, Vienna, Mumbai):
"And The Stars Look Very Different Today." Collaboration, Visualization and Simulation Methodologies in Contemporary Space Architecture Practice

16:45 – 17:00
Coffee Break

17:00 – 18:15
KEYNOTE
Mario Carpo (The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London):
The Style of Big Data


SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014

10:00 – 10:45
Andrea Graser (Studio Okular, Vienna):
Coding Light Density

10:45-11:30
Gabriele Gramelsberger (MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg):
Life/Design/Matter – Towards a Philosophy of Parametric Thinking

11:30 – 11:45
Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:45
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

12:45 – 13:00
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Nicole Stöcklmayr (MECS Institute for Advanced Study on Media Cultures of Computer Simulation, Leuphana University Lüneburg)


Conference venue:
Stadtarchiv Lüneburg
Wallstr. 4
21335 Lüneburg

Concept & organisation: Nicole Stöcklmayr