AA San Francisco Visiting School

Final Exhibition: 22 July, 2011 from 4-7pm
AA San Francisco Visiting School at the CCA

The Final Show of the San Francisco Visiting School was held on Friday, July 22 at CCA in San Francisco. After two intensive weeks of workshops, 45 students from 16 countries presented their final design projects to a large group of visiting critics and the public. This year the students broke into three unique groups each with their own program and focus. These included: “Luminous Hybrid” (Jason Kelly Johnson and Andy Payne), “China Basin Pedestrian Bridge” (Andrew Kudless with Gil Akos and Ronnie Parsons), and “China Basin Pavilion” with Evan Greenberg and Christina Doumpioti. There was an extraordinary range of experimental drawings, models and animations presented by the students.

Images: A link to a curated Flickr feed slideshow or see all of all the  Flickr “biodynamicstructures” tagged images

Facebook:Biodynamic Structures Facebook Group Page

2011 Core Tutors: Evan Greenberg (AA), Christina Doumpioti (AA), Jason Kelly Johnson (FCL/CCA), Andrew Kudless (Matsys/CCA)
Studio Tutors: Andrew Payne (Harvard/Lift), Ronnie Parsons (Mode/Pratt), Gil Akos (Mode/Pratt)
AA Visiting Tutors: Michael Weinstock (AA), Toni Kotnik (AA/ETH)
Workshop Tutors: Rip DeLeon, Ben Golder, David Shook (SOM), Scott Minneman, Michael Shiloh, Nick Riddle
2011 Guest Lecturers: Thom Faulders (CCA), David Gissen (CCA), Mark Sarkisian and David Shook (SOM), Bill Kreysler

2011 Sponsors: McNeel & Associates (Seattle, WA); SOM (Skidmore Owings and Merrill); Kreysler & Associates Digital Fabrication.
Special Thanks: CCA Fabrication Lab and Workshop Staff and Students; Andrew Sparks

Software Links: Rhino/Grasshopper, Firefly, Arduino, Kangaroo, Karamba

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The latest schedule and design brief have been posted – check the links at the right for more details. More specific design briefs will be presented in further detail at the workshop.

We would like to thank our 2011 Sponsors for AA/CCA Biodynamic Structures in San Francisco: ROBERT McNEEL & ASSOC (Seattle, WA) – the creative and technical force behind Rhino, Grasshopper, etc.; KREYSLER & ASSOC / Digital Fabrication – home of the Bay Area’s largest 6 axis CNC Robot; Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) – Architecture, Engineering and Urban Design.

Biodynamic Structures _ July 2011
San Francisco Visiting School
California College of the Arts
Monday 11 to Friday 22 July, 2011

Biodynamics is the study of the force and energy of dynamic processes on living organisms. Through simple mechanisms embedded within the material logic of natural systems, specific stimuli can activate a particular response. This response occurs in carnivorous plants such as the Venus fly-trap, which uses turgor pressure to trap small insects in order to feed, and worms, which by contracting differently oriented muscles, achieve movement. This ten-day intensive workshop, co-taught by the faculty of the Emergent Technologies and Design Programme at the AA and the faculty of Architecture and MEDIAlab at California College of the Arts, will explore active systems in nature, investigating biomimetic principles in order to analyze, design and fabricate prototypes that respond to electronic and environmental stimuli. Students will work in teams to research specific biological systems, extracting logics of organization, geometry, structure and mathematics. Advanced analysis, simulation, modeling and fabrication tools will be introduced in order to apply this information to the design of both passive and active responsive architectural systems. Investigation and application of robotics, sensors and actuators will be employed for the activation of the material system investigation through the construction of working responsive prototypes.

CCA San Francisco is the hub for design innovation and experimental architecture in the Bay Area. Its downtown campus is located in a 120m long former bus depot and is home to a world-class fabrication and digital design facility adjacent to its design studio spaces. The facility includes a CNC routing lab, industrial lasercutters, 3D Printer, extensive metal and wood shops; as well as labs dedicated to textiles, electronics, visualization and programming.

+ CONTENT TAGS: Biodynamic, Parametric, Scripted, Mimetic, Responsive, Interactive, Digitally Fabricated
+ SOFTWARE: Rhino, Grasshopper, Firefly, Kangaroo, RhinoScript, Arduino

Applications
The deadline for applications is 20 June 2011. A late deadline of 4 July 2011 is also in effect, but this will incur a £50 surcharge. ONLINE APPLICATION

Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £650 per participant, which includes a £50 Visiting Student Membership. Fees do not include flights or accommodation. MORE INFO