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SmartGeometry: Material Intensities Once a year, the SmartGeometry group holds a symposium on new design technologies, from design through to production. The event also holds a number of workshops with the best design students from around the world. by Martyn Day
1 Wake up call: Enric Ruiz-Geli grabs the audience’s attention 2 Mary O’Mahony and group discuss nanomaterials
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ut of all the architectural events held around the globe each year, SmartGeometry is by far the most mind-expanding. Originally conceived in 2001 as a partnership between ‘Practice, Research and Academia’, it was formed by members of the world’s leading architectural and engineering practices and educational institutions. With the introduction of Bentley’s algorithmic design environment, Generative Components (GC), key players in the design industry felt that students needed focused education in advanced mathematics, geometry and programming. Using this new breed of design tool, it is felt that the next generation of designers, engineers and architects will use algorithms to define and optimise building form and function, as natural as pen, pencil or today’s Computer Aided Design. SmartGeometry promotes digital designers, people who do not use computers, to document buildings but use the power of the computer to amplify their design talent. SmartGeometry roves around the planet and this year’s event was held on the campus
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May / June 2012
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of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which is located in the city of Troy, 150 miles north of New York City on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Built at the intersection of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and Eerie Canal, the town was an industrial and shipping powerhouse in the early 20th century. Rensselaer’s 220,000 sq ft, multi-tiered EMPAC building designed by Grimshaw was the perfect environment for the event. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is also renowned for its research into Nanotechnology, Information Technology and Material Science, which was very fitting given the main topic for this year’s SG was ‘Material Intensities’. The concept was to examine ‘spaces and boundaries’ which are abundant with ‘vibration, fluctuating intensities, shifting gradients, and flows’. The materials that define them are in a continual state of becoming. SG speakers showcased major projects and research from around the globe and specifically addressed materials and how digital design prototypes can incorporate characteristics of material behaviour.
Symposiums This year the majority of topics were discussed by groups of experts gathered around a table. This conversational style, mixed with short presentations from each expert was a great way to dig deep into the topics and be a witness to peers discuss a wide range of technologies. There were sessions on particle architecture, composite technology, micro synergetics, materials science, bioresponsive building environments, material conflicts, gridshell tectonicsm beyond mechanics, ceramics, Generative Components and form finding. The two talkshop sessions that particularly caught my imagination were Energy, Environments and Conflicts and a Matter of Scale. In Energy, Environments and Conflicts, Sal Craig from Foster+Partners, Dru Crawley from Bentley Systems and Kiel Moe of M O E discussed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the general feeling was that it was not to be trusted! The joke was that CFD stood for ‘Colour For Designers’, as CFD was pretty much a very rough guess but made pretty pictures. www.AECmag.com
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