Construction of a Repertoire of Analog Form-Finding Techniques as a Basis for Computational Morphological Exploration in Design and Architecture

SIGraDi 2022. Critical Appropriations

“…Form-finding es el término bajo el cual se agrupan las diferentes técnicas de generación formal basadas en principios biológicos y físicos, dando como resultado formas estéticamente bellas, aparentemente inspiradas en la naturaleza, pero, además, funcional y estructuralmente óptimas (Patiño, 2018).…”

A creative form-finding tool: Deformation of plastic sheets due to the influence of temperature and gravity

“…The greater the self-organization, the greater the possibility of generating forms like geometric patterns found in nature, and the greater the likelihood that they will become a support or additional aid for application in architecture. Now, analog form-finding can help to generate ideas in this phase of the design process, providing cognitive and technical tools to alter the passive state of the designer, 6,7 visualize early on design proposals, 8 generate forms with geometric characteristics similar to those found in living and inert nature, 5 increase the size of the morphological vocabulary of each designer, 9 and check as early as possible technical and structural properties of the project. 10 Furthermore, it is usual for the analog form-finding to precede the computational or digital ones.…”

“…Now, analog form-finding can help to generate ideas in this phase of the design process, providing cognitive and technical tools to alter the passive state of the designer, 6,7 visualize early on design proposals, 8 generate forms with geometric characteristics similar to those found in living and inert nature, 5 increase the size of the morphological vocabulary of each designer, 9 and check as early as possible technical and structural properties of the project. 10…”

“…Different form-finding techniques are present in the scientific literature. For example, Otto and Rasch, 5 Gaß, 15 and Patiño and Maya 8 present the most extensive catalogs in the number of techniques. In addition, there are reviews of specific techniques: the studies on membranes and minimal surfaces by Bletzinger 16 ; tensegrity structures by Tibert and Pellegrino 17 ; bending-active structures by Lienhard et al 18 ; reciprocal structures by Thönnissen 19 ; and folding structures by Lebée.…”