WORKSHOPS

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Workshops will run for three full days, 9am–6pm, with online workshops taking place October 21–23, 2023 and in-person workshop taking place October 23–25, 2023.

︎︎︎ Registration link at Eventbrite 

Registration opens July 24, 12:00 EDT, Noon

In collaboration with ︎︎︎CAADRIA

Habitat Formation

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Organizers:
Dr Nic Bao, RMIT University
Dr Xin Yan, Tsinghua University 

In collaboration with CAADRIA

︎︎︎ Registration link
$175

Since the introduction of computational-aided design technology in the late 20th century, form-finding based on structural performance has gained momentum in architecture. This evolution is intertwined with the development of structural morphology, from ancient Greece and Rome's barrel arches and domes to the Byzantine and Gothic periods' pendentives and flying buttresses. Architectural design has evolved from the physical models employed by visionaries like Antonio Gaudi and Frey Otto to the utilization of the topological optimization method proposed by Mark Burry and Mike Xie, reinforcing the relationship between architectural morphology and structural optimization.

This workshop introduces a novel approach to generative architectural design for human habitats. Participants will enhance their skills by applying topological optimization algorithms. The workshop emphasizes structural performance and draws inspiration from Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. It explores building element form-finding, optimization, and ornamental design.

Participants will tackle progressively challenging tasks, working on small and large-scale projects. They will design and optimize buildings or specific segments. The workshop concludes with a collaborative construction of a virtual exhibition space on an online platform. Its aim is to bridge the gap between architectural design and structural optimization, empowering participants to explore new frontiers in generative design and push the boundaries of traditional approaches.

Software: Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper, Ameba, ZBrush and KeyShot

Previous Knowledge Required:
Proficiency in Rhino + Grasshopper & Good Internet environment.

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 21st-23rd
2:00 PM - 8:00 PM MST
(7:00 AM - 1:00 PM Melbourne Time AEDT)

Exploring Building Topology Through Graph Machine Learning

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Organizers:
Wassim Jabi, Cardiff University David Andres Leon, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia
Abdulrahman Alymani, Alfaisal University
Selda Pourali Behzad, Cardiff University
Michelle Salamoun, Cardiff University

︎︎︎ Registration link
$175

Graph theory offers a powerful method for analyzing complex networks and relationships. When combined with machine learning, graph theory can provide valuable insights into the data generated by 3D models. This workshop integrates advanced spatial modelling and analysis and artificial intelligence, highlighting the importance of technological advancements in shaping the future of architecture and design. It introduces participants to novel workflows that link parametric 3D modelling with concepts of topology, graph theory, and graph machine learning. We will use TopologicPy, an advanced spatial modelling and analysis software library designed for Architecture, Engineering, and Construction, paired with DGL, a powerful machine learning library that provides tools for implementing and optimizing graph neural networks. In essence, this process blends cutting-edge technologies and architectural principles that will shape the future of design. Participants will learn how to use these workflows to convert 3D models into graphs, analyze their properties, and perform classification and regression tasks. Participants will also learn how to create synthetic datasets based on generative and parametric workflows and build and optimize graph neural networks for specific tasks.

Software: Topologicpy, DGL, Jupyter Notebook and Google Collab.

Previous Knowledge Required:
Computational Design.
Python programming is helpful, but not required.

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 21st-23rd
8:00 AM - 2:00 PM MST
(3:00 PM - 9:00PM GMT)

Task and Motion Planning for Robotic Assembly

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Held in Hong Kong with online option
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Organizers:
Victor Leung, ETHZ
Dr. Yijiang Huang, ETHZ

In collaboration with ︎︎︎CAADRIA

︎︎︎ Registration link
$175

Delve into the convergence of robotics and architecture at an exclusive three-day workshop at the remote ACADIA workshop event in Hong Kong. This interactive session, steered by leading researchers from ETH, invites you to explore the dimensions of robotic assembly for architecture and construction.

Day one initiates with a lecture on robotics limitations, kinematics, collisions, task planning and motion planning, combined with practical Rhino / Grasshopper exercises. The workshop unfolds with insights into digital workflows for task and motion planning. The subsequent day extends these foundations to real-world applications — you'll be designing a simple assembly and experiencing the intricate negotiation between robotic assembly and creating a design.

On the final day, you'll have the opportunity to refine your design and produce a simulation video of your own robotic assembly. If hardware allows, your planned actions could even become a tangible reality. This workshop aims to empower participants with the knowledge and skills to independently design and plan simple robotic fabrication projects.

Join us for this unique experience that blends technological ingenuity with architectural aesthetics. Be a part of this transformative journey that molds the future of robotics in architecture.

Software: Windows 10 or above (Responsibility of participants), Rhinoceros 3D (version 7), Grasshopper, Anaconda / Python (Specific Python libraries will be installed during workshop), GitHub Desktop for Windows and VSCode.

Previous Knowledge Required:
Basic knowledge in Rhino + Grasshopper and in Python programming (Syntax, Loops, and Conditionals).

Experience with digital fabrication concepts such as fabrication-aware design, fabrication limits, design to production.

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 21st-23rd
8:00 PM - 4:00 AM MST 
(10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Hong Kong time)

Today Once More: Filmmaking with photogrammetry and NeRF

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Held at University of Hong Kong and Online
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Organizers:
Haotian Zhang, The University of Hong Kong

In collaboration with CAADRIA

︎︎︎ Registration link
$175

Photogrammetry and Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) are methods of volumetric capture that allow for high-fidelity documentation of spatial and chromatic details of an existing environment. These methods, alternative to canonical architectural drawing as characterized by the abundance of textural data, open up uncharted space for representation that may alter our perception of the city. The workshop searches for their medium specificities. Out of their various representational attributes, it particularly tackles the gap between the faithful reference to the real world and speculation in the digital realm and harnesses the tension in between.

This workshop will introduce the two techniques and relevant tools in the context of filmmaking, deliver tutorials of NVidia Instant-ngp (NeRF), COLMAP (photogrammetry), and Blender geometry node (point cloud manipulation). It will unpack the tools to understand their mechanism and room for action and work toward a collective film that features Hong Kong and other cities that online participants are joining from.

Software: Blender, COLMAP, Instant-ngp, Polycam and Luma AI

Previous Knowledge Required:
No specific skills are required, but participants are recommended to learn Blender basics on their own. 

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 21st-23rd
8:00 PM - 5:00 AM MST
(10:00 AM - 7:00 PM Hong Kong time HKT)

Immersive Realities: Transforming Architectural Design Workspaces for the age of XR

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Organizers:
Abdullah Sheikh, University of Hong Kong
Kristof Crolla, University of Hong Kong

In collaboration with CAADRIA

︎︎︎ Registration link
$465

This workshop, aims to provide participants with an introduction to the potential of extended reality (XR) made possible with a virtual design review environment. By immersing themselves in an immersive virtual workspace, architects and designers can gain valuable insights into their parametric designs and explore the spatial relationships, scale, and overall experience within their creations. This virtual review tool enables a more comprehensive understanding of the design, ultimately leading to more informed decisions and refined outcomes. The integration of XR offers the possibility to visualize projects in real-time, navigate designs as if they were fully constructed, and adjust details effortlessly. The workshop will demonstrate the tool's functionality and guide attendees through its basic usage and potential applications. This workshop is suitable for any advanced Rhinoceros and Grasshopper 3D designers who are interested in exploring the potential of XR technology in their work. The workshop presents an opportunity for attendees to explore the potential of integrating XR extended workflows into their design processes, using a tool with a familiar interface that simplifies the transition into the world of virtual design in the coming age of spatial computing.

Software: Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper, Unity, and Visual Studio

Previous Knowledge Required:
Proficiency in Rhino + Grasshopper.
Familiarity with Unity and Visual Studio is recommended but not required.

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 23rd-25th
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM MST

Hybrid Making: Physical Explorations with Computational Matter

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Organizers:
Dr. Aileen Iverson-Radtke, ai-r architecture
Dr. Augusto Gandía, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Andrew Payne, LIFT architects, Robert McNeel and Associates

︎︎︎ Registration link
$465

This workshop explores the concept of the Anthropocene, viewing it as an opportunity for empathy with the external world through physical engagement. The workshop highlights how advancements in technology, particularly in the field of architecture, are leading to the automation of design processes and the marginalization of human intelligence. To counter this trend, in this workshop we will use simple electronics and microsensors to construct hybrid analogue-digital models, physical models embedded with microsensors electronically linked to digital models. 

Transferring real-time environmental conditions and manual manipulations the microsensors create a ‘live’ digital media responding based on its material properties. Handling and tooling this dynamic digital media through its analogue counterpart moves towards handcrafted digital objects. Hybrid modeling requires fine-tuning both analogue and digital modalities until they merge as one modeling behavior, aligning digital and physical worlds. Participants will learn to adjust parametric code and integrate electronics into architectural materials, disrupting digital making by replacing mouse with model.

IMPORTANT NOTE: a PC laptop is required (Firefly is not supported on Apple Mac)

Software: Rhinoceros 3D (version 7), Grasshopper, Arduino IDE, Firefly and Fritzing

Previous Knowledge Required:
Familiarity with Rhino 3D and Grasshopper.
Familiarity with microsensors and Arduino microcontrollers are beneficial but not required.

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 23rd-25th
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM MST

Encoding Living Bits

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Organizers:
Farahbod Heidari, Tarbiat Modares University
Katia Zolotovsky, Northeastern University 
Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad, Tarbiat Modares University

︎︎︎ Registration link
$175

Living materials derived from microscopic bioactive cells have remarkable mechanical and biological properties that can sense and respond to their environment by embedded complex computation. These materials can use as a programmable agent based on desired tasks in building construction and broadly applicable engineering. Over the last decade, significant integrated material-based design strategies have been made to recapitulate the remarkable properties of biological systems for developing novel living building materials with optimized structural features, including synthetic biology-driven strategies, morphogenetic design, material computation in design, and bioinspired design. However, to introduce biological materials to architecture and construction as a design strategy, this progress needs radical evolution to redefine the role of driven biological cells as a robust functional design strategy beyond static vitro culturing and the most recent logic material-based design approaches. This workshop is part of ongoing research to set up a biocomputational assisted-design platform at the intersection of architectural design, material science, and biological computation for the next generation of designers called bio designers to reprogram living material based on user-input functions as a design strategy. This vision can shift existing design paradigms towards unique boundaries based on living bits with programmable functionalities.

Software: PyCharm Integrated Development Environment

Previous Knowledge Required:
Python syntax. 
Designing with living cells

Tentative Workshop Schedule:
Oct 21st-23rd
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM MST