an algorithmic design lexicon (or why intent & craft are more important than ever)

7/29/2019 An algorithmic design lexicon (or why intent & craft are more important than ever)

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An algorithmic design lexicon(or why intent & crat are more important than ever)

Greg J. Smith | http://serialconsign.com | @gr3gjsmith
http://serialconsign.com/http://serialconsign.com/


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Random Walk(s)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZSogMt9hM(raytracing simulation)

http://www.robotiklubi.ee/_media/kursused/roomba_sumo/ailid/hacking_roomba.pd(algorithm 411)

Te Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner is a physical em-bodiment o Brooks subsumption architecture. Roombahas no room map or route plan. It has no overall view

o what it is doing. Instead it unctions much more likean insect: going toward things it likes (dirt, power) andaway rom things it dislikes (walls, stairs), moving inpredened movement routines while occasionally andrandomly jumping out o a predened routine.

Tis random walk eature o the Roomba algorithm isperhaps what conuses people the most at rst. It willseem to be going along doing the right thing when itsuddenly takes o in a dierent direction to do some-thing else. But or every time it moves rom the rightplace to the wrong place, it has moved rom the wrongplace to the right place. On average (and i le or a longenough time), Roomba covers the entire area. In termso time eciency, Roomba is not the most eective, asit takes several times longer or it to ully cover a re-gion than it would or a person with a normal vacuum

cleaner. But whose time is more valuable? Roomba canwork while the person does something else. HackingRoomba
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZSogMt9hMhttp://www.robotiklubi.ee/_media/kursused/roomba_sumo/failid/hacking_roomba.pdfhttp://www.robotiklubi.ee/_media/kursused/roomba_sumo/failid/hacking_roomba.pdfhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZSogMt9hM


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Animate FormGreg Lynn Embryological House (1997-2001)http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/collection/6-greg-lynn-embryological-house
http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/collectionhttp://www.cca.qc.ca/en/collection


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Drawing Board VertigoDaniel Libeskind Micromegas (1979)http://daniel-libeskind.com
http://daniel-libeskind.com/http://daniel-libeskind.com/


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Moving Beyond the ScreenMarius Watz: Electroplastique #1 (2005) & Probability Lattice (2012)

http://mariuswatz.com

Moving Beyond the ScreenMarius Watz Electroplastique #1 (2005) & Probability Lattice (2012)http://mariuswatz.com
http://mariuswatz.com/http://mariuswatz.com/http://mariuswatz.com/http://mariuswatz.com/http://mariuswatz.com/


7/23

Animate Form RevisitedDev Harlan Parmenides (2011)

http://www.devharlan.com
http://www.devharlan.com/http://www.devharlan.com/


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Anticipatory DesignBlack Mirror Fiteen Million Merits

I technology is a drug and it does eellike a drug then what, precisely, are the

side-eects? Charlie Brooker


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Perception MachinesJulian Bleeker Apparatus or Capturing Other Points o View (2009)

http://digitalurbanis.ms/post/1417195431/thoughts-on-william-h-whyte-julian-bleekers
http://digitalurbanis.ms/post/1417195431/thoughtshttp://digitalurbanis.ms/post/1417195431/thoughts


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Moving BrandsThe Green Eyl & E Roon Kang MIT Media Lab Identity (2011)

http://www.thegreeneyl.com/mit-media-lab-identity-1
http://www.thegreeneyl.com/mithttp://www.thegreeneyl.com/mit


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Print is Dead, Long Live PrintMartin Fuchs & Peter Bichsel Written Images (2011)

http://writtenimages.net
http://writtenimages.net/http://writtenimages.net/


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Perils: A World o Crapjectshttp://www.openabrication.org

As 3D printing lowers the cost o engaging in a pro-duction run, it will bring both opportunities and perils.For one thing, it is likely to encourage the productiono substandard goodswhat some may see as rivolousproduction. Surely, the world is awash in low-qualitymass-produced goods today. But several aspects o 3D

printing and open abrication could reinorce this trend.

First, the diusion o 3D printing will present a air-ly steep learning curve or both pro-am designers andconsumers. Learning how to 3D print oen involvesmaking many useless, substandard objects. Even imost will eventually move on to more careully select-ed designs or production, the broader perception o3D printing is oen likely to be associated with fawed,

low-quality, disposable outcomes. Much o what comesout o 3D printers will be crapjects (a contraction ocrappy objects)unwanted waste created by unskilleddesigners and abricated using inerior materials withpoor surace resolution.

Additionally, there is the scenario o physical spam,where people simply use 3D printers with abandon,producing a large number o objects o innitesimal-

ly small value. Tis may be reinorced by uture 3Dprinters that can easily recycle eedstocks, greatly low-ering the perceived ecological or economic impact ooverproduction. Still, the novelty o rapid abricationmay wear o as the high expectations weve developedaround mass-produced objects strength and durability,surace texture, and luster prove hard to leave behind.Te Future o Open Fabrication Report
http://www.openfabrication.org/http://www.openfabrication.org/


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Data OwnershipNike+ FuelBand


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DashboardNicholas Felton 2010 Feltron Annual Report

http://eltron.com
http://feltron.com/http://feltron.com/


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InventoryColin Pinegar Best Friends (2012)

http://colinpinegar.com
http://colinpinegar.com/http://colinpinegar.com/


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TotemRachel Binx & Sha Hwang Me (2012)

http://meshu.io
http://meshu.io/http://meshu.io/


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EmbraceMary Huang Continuum (2011)http://www.rhymeandreasoncreative.com/portolio/index.php?project=continuum
http://www.rhymeandreasoncreative.com/portfolio/index.php?project=continuumhttp://www.rhymeandreasoncreative.com/portfolio/index.php?project=continuum


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Heuristics vs. MindulnessMaya Lin Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982)

Inscribed on the walls with the Optima type-ace are the names o servicemen who were ei-ther conrmed to be KIA (Killed in Action) orremained classied as MIA (Missing in Action)when the walls were constructed in 1982. Teyare listed in chronological order, starting at the

apex on panel 1E in 1959 (although it was laterdiscovered that the rst casualties were mili-tary advisers who were killed by artillery rein 1957), moving day by day to the end o theeastern wall at panel 70E, which ends on May25, 1968, starting again at panel 70W at theend o the western wall which completes thelist or May 25, 1968, and returning to the apexat panel 1W in 1975. Symbolically, this is de-

scribed as a wound that is closed and healing.Inormation about rank, unit, and decorationsare not given. Te wall listed 58,191 nameswhen it was completed in 1983; as o May 2011,there are 58,272 names, including 8 women.Approximately 1,200 o these are listed as miss-ing (MIAs, POWs, and others), denoted witha cross; the conrmed dead are marked with adiamond. I the missing return alive, the cross

is circumscribed by a circle (although this hasnever occurred as o March 2009); i their deathis conrmed, a diamond is superimposed overthe cross Wikipedia


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photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_fag_refexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Filehttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4/US_flag_reflexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPGhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4/US_flag_reflexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPGhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File


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Heuristics vs. MindulnessMaya Lin Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982)photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_fag_refexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPG

Heuristics vs. Mindulness ReduxMichael Arad & Co. 9/11 Memorial (2011)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Filehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Filehttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4/US_flag_reflexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPGhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Filehttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_4/US_flag_reflexion_on_Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_12_2011_000124.JPGhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File


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Computationally-Assisted DesignJer Thorp / Local Projects Name Arrangement Algorithim (2010)http://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/all-the-names
http://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/allhttp://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/all


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Over several years, sta at the 9/11 Memorial Foundation undertook thepainstaking process o collecting adjacency requests rom the next o kino the victims, creating a massive database o requested linkages. Oen,several requests were made or each victim. Tere were more than onethousand adjacency requests in total, a complicated system o connectionsthat all had to be addressed in the nal arrangement. In mathematicalterms, nding a layout that satised as many o these adjacency requestsas possible is an optimization problem a problem o nding the bestsolution among a myriad o possible ones. o solve this problem and toproduce a layout that would give the Memorial Designers a structure tobase their nal arrangement o the names upon, we built a soware tool intwo parts: First, an arrangement algorithm that optimized this adjacencyproblem to nd the best possible solution. And second, an interactive toolthat allowed or human adjustment o the computer-generated layout.

Te solution or producing a solved layout or the names arrangement satat the bottom o a precariously balanced stack o complex requirements.

First, there was the basic spatial problem the names or each pool had tot, evenly, into a set o 76 panels (18 panels per side plus one corner). 12 othese panels were irregularly shaped (the corners and the panels adjacent tothe corners, as seen in the image at the top o this post). Because the nameswere to appear in one continuous fowing group around each pool, somenames had to overlap between panels, crossing a thin, invisible expansion

joint between the metal plates. Tis expansion joint was small enough itwould t in the space between many o the rst and last names (or middleinitials), but with certain combinations o letterorms (or example, a lastname starting with a J, or a rst name ending with a y), names were unableto cross this gap. As a result, the algorithm had to consider the typographyo each name as it was placed into the layout. Jer Torp

an algorithmic design lexicon (or why intent & craft are more important than ever)

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