Booklet: The Rise - Alive Exhibition, EDF Foundation 2013, Paris

The Rise

Alive Exhibition, EDF Foundation 2013, Paris CITA: Centre for IT and Architecture Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture

Commissioned by: Espace Fondation EDF 6, rue RĂŠcamier 75007 Paris, France.

2012-2013

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Collaborators & Participants Exhibition Curator: Carole Collet, Carole Collet, Exhibition Curator and catalogue editor, Reader in Textile Collaborators: Martin Tamke, Mette Ramsgaard- Thomsen Participants: Martin Tamke, Mette Ramsgaard- Thomsen, Dave Stasiuk, Hollie Gibbons, Shirin Zeynab Zaghi, Hasti Valipor

Commissioned by: Espace Fondation EDF. 6, rue RĂŠcamier 75007 Paris, France.

The Rise The Rise is a research based installation by CITA (Centre for Information Technology and Architecture) at the The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation http://cita.karch.dk The research-based installation “The Rise” is led by the concept of a growing architecture, able to sense and dynamically adapt to its environment as it grows into form while continuously reacting to its own material performance and behavioural constraints. This process is enabled through the careful integration of digital simulation techniques with multi-hierarchical generative design approaches..

Aggregations of variably sized bundles of rattan core multiply, bend, branch, and recombine into a distributed assembly that manifests an alternative to traditional structural systems. The hybrid approach links a material system with simulation and the iterative generation of geometry through a process of calibration at different stages of design. The project leverages emerging computational strategies for growth in a model for an architectural practice that engages the

complexity and interdependencies that characterise a contemporary design practice.

The role of representation and prototyping is challenged by recent developments wherein material performance operates as a key driver of architectural design. Traditionally, the digital design process focuses on geometrical concerns, and any investigation of the interrelations and behaviour of environment, energy and material – which may be considered through intuition during the initial design process – are generally relegated to a secondary post-generative analysis. In this process, a parameter space is developed into which a generative model is located in pursuit of an appropriate design solution, expressed in a geometrical form. The performance and behaviour of this model is then tested in a physical manifestation or a digital simulation. Repeatedly cycling through this process of parameterization/ generation/ simulation/ analysis enables the designer to optimize for selected effects and characteristics of the model. Often, in fact, the designer will deploy evolutionary algorithms to systematically interrogate this parameter space with the goal of optimizing one or more variables toward a pre-determined value.

Like many plants “The Rise” grows towards a light source

A potential shortcoming in this approach lies within the length of the feedback loop created. Parametric design tools are practical but they effectively rely on the definition of specific base infrastructures that are resistant to change during the design process and over the lifetime of a model. Fixed topologies or rigid initial parameter states become essential to the stability of these loops. Hence attempts to model for the changing state of both model and environment and to find appropriate design solutions face the fundamental limits of the computational models that underlie contemporary practice. How can the rigidity and overly-deterministic behaviour of our models be overcome and a more direct feedback mechanism become an integral part of them?

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Research Question

The installation project examines the research question: Can growth be understood as a means of self parametrisation? Today computation design is reliant on the designers understanding of the guiding design parameters already at the start of the design phase. As design changes or designers learn about the emergent properties of their design proposition they have very few opportunities to incorporate these lessons into the design chain. By using growth as a design parameter we are seeking to understand the creation of design systems that can self-evaluate and respond to emergent characteristics during the designprocess.

Growth cycles showing the circular growth patterns

Using leaf venation and the understanding of the auxin hormones as a particular way of guiding growth we are interested in the heterogeneity of growth parameters. Parametric design tends to be guided by singular or very simply mapped design parameters.

However, architecture is characterised by the interaction of many different design concerns that can not necessarily be optimised into a single solution. The use of the auxin concept in the design process allows us to create a poly culture of different design concerns (light, gravity, structural impact and exhibition environment) to guide the growth pattern. The project asks how these intersections and the often contradictory design parameters can be solved in the design process.

The design process aims to find ways of simulating the material performance in the structure. The computational design will be interfaced with material and structural simulations that allow us to assess the structural performance of the growing structure.

gravity [geo-]

embedded [seed]

energy photosynthetic light [photo-]

accretion

tropisms branching

growth

environment sensing [thigmo-]

climbing grafting

flowering

simulation [material behaviour]

self-sensing [thigmo-]

Design Concep t

The installation is a site specific, architectural scale structure.

The design is intended for the entry space of the EDF Foundation, Paris, reaching from the ground to the balcony and further up.

The concept is the idea of a growing architecture. Like a bush the installation has its owninternal growth patterns that guide the material in a highly distributed aggregation of small members that keep branching off and multiplying. The installation looks at distributed systems as an alternative to traditional structural systems. Rather than optimising a few members we grow a multitude of intersecting members that all together create a structural network system. In this vision architectureis not a static formalist proposition but instead continuously adapting to the dynamics of its surroundings while growing into form.

The concept of growth learns from leaf venation systems and the Leaf venation and phototropism in nature allows plants to grow way that growing is guided in nature. Here, the auxin – a hormone in the direction of a light stimulus. that guides the growth of the venation system in the leaf - is a central concept. By developing our own computational growth algorithms we Unlike a bush the installation develops means for self-grafting. are creating a self-propagating structure. Here, the location of the auxin Branches can meet and grow together in new circular relationships are guided by the specific environment of the EDF Foundation gallery. creating structural strength. The installation learns from nature and Like the phototropism of plants the installation grows in response to its mimics its ways of creating structural performance but also expands environment, thickening or extending with the variations of light in the this into new hybrid growths that lie outside the natural environment. space, the gravity and self-weight of the structure and its contact to the surroundings.

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natural growth systems geotropism

phototropism

additional growth stimulated along edge saturated with gravity-drawn auxin, bending it away from the earth

thigmotropism growth slowed along edge saturated with light-drawn auxin, allowing opposite edge to “bend” towards light

growth heavily restricted by touch-drawn auxin, elongating the outer edge and causing shoot to wrap around obstruction

Growth accretion

branching

climbing

initial direction determined by both geotropism and phototropism, accretion afforded by acquistion of light energy

branch direction and shoot-type coded by baseline orientation, geotropism, phototropism and environmental sensing

branch growth tips sense the physical environment and fix themselves by touch

Plant formation is accretive, and successive growth iterations depend on the physical properties of previously accumulated matter, in relation to both itself and its environment. The mechanisms that describe the motivators and geometric principles of plant morphogenesis are known as tropisms, which is Greek for a “turning”, used generally to describe the continuous change and transformation expressed during growth. A tropism is then any event or environmental condition that might trigger growth or the internallydriven physical modification of a plant. Examples of tropisms include those reacting to light inputs (Fig. 2), gravity, electrical, chemical or hydrological environments, or touch. In plants, the operating mechanism for differentiation during formation is auxin – a hormone that directs new cellular growth and coordinates the emergence of the plant’s geometry.

coded growth systems Within the plant’s metabolism the presence or absence of auxin triggers the distribution of those available resources required for growth. The research-based installation “The Rise” investigates how this diagram of growth exhibited by living vegetative systems can inform computational models in the creation of a self-propagating structure. We ask whether strategies for growth can operate as drivers of a generative system that is aware of both its environment as a driver of algorithmic form generation and itself as a driver of material constraint and behavioural characteristics.

grafting branch growth tips sense other branches in the model and fuse into them

Rattan core comes in a variety of different thickness. Colour and size varies according to the species and where it is grown

Alvin Tjitrowirjo’s Linger Outdoor Bench

Rattan Core

Rattan core wood is a vine-like palm that grows up host trees in constant search for light in the dense jungles of Southeast Asia. The material used for the installation is sustainably harvested in Malaysia, where the wood is knife-extruded into round sections (the installation relies on thicknesses of 5, 10 and 19mm). The woody material is soft and is comprised almost entirely of a collection of continuous, tightly packed hollow fibres. These can be differentiated from other long woody plants like bamboo, which instead are regularly broken into linear segments by a series of bracing nodes that enable self-support.

This organization strategy is tied to rattan’s reliance on other plants for structure, and it allows the rattan to more efficiently transport water and nutrients from the ground along winding branches for rapid growth and it the ability to bend in extreme angles towards the sun. This flexibility also affords the material improved resistance to breaking, and its long fibres endow it with high tensile performance.

These characteristics – resilience to breaking, ease in bending, and tensile strength – are all maintained post-harvest and make rattan a preferred material for furniture and basket making in South Asia, and popular throughout the world.

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Dimensional overview

EDF Foundation, Paris.

The installation is commissioned by the Fondation EDF and is especially fabricated for the exhibition “Alive – Designing with Living Systems” that takes place from April – September 2013 in Paris. The installation operates on an architectural scale and is site specific to the gallery atrium at the Fondation EDF’s ”Espace”, reaching from the ground to the ceiling.

In its natural habitat rattan is structurally dependent on the structures of other trees, and it grows through a process of closely hugging its hosts. “The Rise” instead utilizes its environment for structural support through a process of redundant triangulation, which enables it to both manifest a more dynamic geometry as well as play a significant role in its self-support. In its built instantiation, it grows from two seed points at the columns of the gallery and bends under its own weight.

The installation, “The Rise” displayed at the Alive exhibition at the EDF Foundation, Paris, France 2013.

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Tightly packed bundles spanning between branching nodes in finished installation

Bundling Investigations

As branches in nature have different dimension, the bundles within The Rise installation are of different sizes. Where there is more rattan there is more strength in the structure.

Early investigations into bundling and design assembly

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Bundle

Early bundle detail

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Diagram explaining overlaying system of star connections

Bundling, A system of growth

Not unlike structures in nature stresses that come through the expansion of the systems are encountered by radial growth. The addition of rings creates positions for additional layers of rattan that give the needed strength when the structure is built up. Early nodes from ABS Plastic hold the bundles of Rattan Core in place. The developed node system uses the plastics material properties and ability to be CNC machined.

The materials flexibility and durability allows to construct joints that are holding the rattan simply through friction. Plates with precisely cut openings are stacked. Their precisely cut openings close around the rattan and grab faster the closer the plates are pushed together. A snap in principle is combined with natural material.

Growth 1

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Branching diagram inspired by Dr. Alex Shigo.

Branching

Branching is used in vegetative systems to maximize coverage for solar gain. For this biomimetic installation it is then essential that “The Rise� to grow towards the sun. Branching moments also define weak points within the structure of a vegetative system. To combat this, plants develop highly-tensile and elastic joints between the branch and the trunk. Where a crotch might seem to be a simple split, woody plant growth patterns create interwoven fibres that provide stiffness and elasticity in multiple directions.

Early investigations of active bending in branch geometry.

symmetrical: single element straightening

symmetrical: dual element straightening

asymmetrical configurations

sample triangular / 2D geometric configurations through variable sections in oppositional active bending http://cita.karch.dk

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symmetrical: single element straightening

symmetrical: dual element straightening

asymmetrical configurations

sample tetrahedral / 3D geometric configurations through variable sections in oppositional active bending

Handcraft: Man weaving rattan into furniture

Flowering

Early investigations of terminating growth.

Like many plants in nature, the end of the growth is indentified with a bloom in flowers reaching for the sun.The Rise does similarly.

Flower detail of finished installation http://cita.karch.dk

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Identification of minimum bending radius by rattan section.

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Material Performance Test I

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10 mm rattan 5 mm rattan

The first material performance test identifies the minimum bending radius by rattan section thickness. The test was carried out on a variety of thickness including; 4mm, 5mm, 10mm and 18mm.

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Early bending test of rattan bundle.

Graph recording displacement

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Material Performance Test II

The second material tests determined the bending capabilities of rattan bundles as weight was increased by increments of 0.5kg at a time. Each test was repeated a total of three times and the displacement recorded. The information gained was fed back to inform the digital model.

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Variable loads were applied to individual sections of rattan and the displacement was recorded over a number of weeks. The longer and heavier the load is applied the more the rattan bends.

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Bending analysis by section and variable loading conditions

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Minimally triangulated modular accretion and branching logics for management of spring-based system and growth/branching topologies

Simulation and initial digital calibration

The use of a centralised geometry system for the navigation of multiple design priorities proves crucial for the installation model: careful management of model topology is instrumental not only to its continuous physical simulation, but for all other aspects of the recursive growth algorithm, and for later use in the production of detailing and fabrication models. Importantly, it also provides a clear means for integrating observations of physical experiments performed outside the digital environment. To achieve these goals, the model exhibits its growth through the accretion of minimal triangulated truss-like modules which are managed in a mesh whose point, edge and face topology is registered and deployed in a custom-written particle-based spring and gravity simulation system for the exhibition of bending and torsional rotation during growth .

The parameterisation of spring stiffness, particle mass, strength of gravity, and the radius and length of each growth module is informed by a series of observational tests, both within the digital and physical environments of detailing and fabrication systems.

The model exhibits its growth through the accretion of minimal triangulated truss-like modules which are managed in a mesh, whose point, edge and face topology is registered and deployed in a customwritten particle-based spring and gravity simulation system which simulates bending and torsional rotation during growth.

Bending and torsional rotation behaviours embedded in simulation

Bending under self-weight as a function of growth over time, captured as a gradient from white to red

Analysis of bending behavior in particle system examining initial growth angle, final length, and spring stiffness http://cita.karch.dk

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Synthesis I

The parameter space that drives the algorithm for the digital model is developed in tandem with a series of material studies that provide direct physical feedback for directing growth geometries, managing branching and grafting processes, and the registration of material behaviour. The early speculative models that explore global configurations are informed by the generative processes already established at the time of their creation and in turn perpetuate the design feedback loop by providing a formal and conceptual scaffold upon which to continue to re-develop, re-inform and re-calibrate the installation’s digital parameter space.

Speculative physical model investigating tropisms; branch, grafting and flowering

2mm acrylic

4mm ABS

6mm HDPE

2mm acrylic

4mm PP

2mm acrylic

8mm LDPE

12mm LDPE

Stars & Branching 12mm HDPE 12mm HDPE

Early prototypes of star nodes.

The parameter space that drives the algorithm for the digital model is developed in tandem with a series of material studies that provide direct physical feedback for directing growth geometries, managing branching and grafting processes, and the registration of material behaviour. The early speculative models that explore global configurations are informed by the generative processes already established at the time of their creation and in turn perpetuate the design feedback loop by providing a formal and conceptual scaffold upon which to continue to re-develop, re-inform and re-calibrate the installation’s digital parameter space.

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Corresponding branching configuration for the generated star nodes simulated in the same Grasshopper definition

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Early Double star node profiles generated by the Grasshopper definition above.

Stars & Branching

The parameter space that drives the algorithm for the digital model is developed in tandem with a series of material studies that provide direct physical feedback for directing growth geometries, managing branching and grafting processes, and the registration of material behaviour. The early speculative models that explore global configurations are informed by the generative processes already established at the time of their creation and in turn perpetuate the design feedback loop by providing a formal and conceptual scaffold upon which to continue to re-develop, re-inform and re-calibrate the installation’s digital parameter space.

Early Grasshopper definition for automating star nodes for CNC fabrication and physical testing

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Early prototypes of LDPE 8mm double star nodes.

Early prototypes of HDPE 12mm double star nodes with white guide posts.

The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablysized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node is formed using the active bending properties of its composite rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived from the digital growth and simulation model (Fig. 9). As such the material’s systematized elastic deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s architecture (Lienhard 2012), and is used actively both in the creation of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and

distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically size members at each node and along each strut.

Along the struts, the efficiency of the bundling behaves like a textile in that it relies on friction between fibres. In “The Rise” the necessary cohesion between fibres is created through a series of locally customized compression rings – or “packing nodes” – made from CNC milled HDPE. Although a matrix material, such as in wood or composite fibre products (Nicholas 2012) would afford a higher degree of structural efficiency, the taken approach considers the constraints of on site installation and the continuity of fibres through

Early prototypes of HDPE 12mm double star with black guide posts

the connection nodes.

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Kangaroo Simulation

Star node to packing node via Kangaroo simulation

Packing Nodes & Bundling

The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablysized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node is formed using the active bending properties of its composite rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived from the digital growth and simulation model As such the material’s systematized elastic deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s architecture, and is used actively both in the creation of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically size members at each node and along each strut.

Along the struts, the efficiency of the bundling behaves like a textile in that it relies on friction between fibres. In “The Rise” the necessary cohesion between fibres is created through a series of locally customized compression rings – or “packing nodes” – made from CNC milled HDPE. Although a matrix material, such as in wood or composite fibre products (Nicholas 2012) would afford a higher degree of structural efficiency, the taken approach considers the constraints of on site installation and the continuity of fibres through the connection nodes.

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Early Grasshopper definition for automating individual star nodes and their matching packing node.

Two part CNC milled packing node, cinched together with cable binder

Two part CNC milled packing node with teeth.

Packing node in finished installation http://cita.karch.dk

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Acrylic details for flower embellishment

Flower assembly kit.

Handcraft; weaving flowers in CITA’s studio space.

Flower Assembly

The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablysized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node is formed using the active bending properties of its composite rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived from the digital growth and simulation model As such the material’s systematized elastic deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s architecture, and is used actively both in the creation of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically size members at each node and along each strut.

Along the struts, the efficiency of the bundling behaves like a textile in that it relies on friction between fibres. In “The Rise” the necessary cohesion between fibres is created through a series of locally customized compression rings – or “packing nodes” – made from CNC milled HDPE. Although a matrix material, such as in wood or composite fibre products (Nicholas 2012) would afford a higher degree of structural efficiency, the taken approach considers the constraints of on site installation and the continuity of fibres through the connection nodes.

Step by step flower assembly.

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Packing-node and star connection system in the finished installation “The Rise”

Development of 3d digital array for integrated packing-node/star connection system

Assembly System Development The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablysized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node is formed using the active bending properties of its composite rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived from the digital growth and simulation model. As such the material’s systematized elastic deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s architecture (Lienhard 2012), and is used actively both in the creation of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically size members at each node and along

each strut. Along the struts, the efficiency of the bundling behaves like a textile in that it relies on friction between fibres. In “The Rise” the necessary cohesion between fibres is created through a series of locally customized compression rings – or “packing nodes” – made from CNC milled HDPE. Although a matrix material, such as in wood or composite fibre products (Nicholas 2012) would afford a higher degree of structural efficiency, the taken approach considers the constraints of on site installation and the continuity of fibres through the connection nodes.

Generated detailed model showing bespoke variation of material thicknesses in nodes and struts, star and packing node distribution system, numbering processes and dynamic continuity of fibres throughout the model.

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node total sectional area: 26.5 cm²

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3 Digital Representation of node

Automating star generation The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablysized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node is formed using the active bending properties of its composite rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived from the digital growth and simulation model. As such the material’s systematized elastic deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s architecture (Lienhard 2012), and is used actively both in the creation of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically size members at each node and along

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indexed relative star orientations

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sectional sizing and star generation configuration example: connection node #6

section area distribution

Example of node sectional material distribution scheme and star configuration array

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Combs 13-0 and 6-1 overlayed

Bundling system

Rattan sections expanded from centre via Kangaroo simulation

Strut connections between nodes are designed to maximize the continuity of single rattan members. After each connection has been configured, a comparative analysis is performed between stars that share a strut. The section of each member for each star is mapped to an average plane between connecting stars. Member of identical size from adjacent stars that falls within a set radius of each other on this plane are fused into a continuous member. All remaining members are set to overlap with terminating members from the other node within the strut and cut . Finally, a loose packing simulation using the Grasshopper plug-in Kangaroo is performed to bundle the rattan along the struts and reinforce their active bending performance. The profiles of these packed members are captured and deployed during fabrication.

As rattan sections retract back toward centre, some rattan sections fuse, creating a continuous length

Digital representation of strut topology for connection between node #6 to node #13, exhibiting member continuity and solved packing node

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013 nodenumb Start length N00 0‐1 499 N00 0‐2 493 N00 0‐3 504 N00 1‐2 374 N00 1‐3 325 N00 2‐3 325 N03 0‐1 464 N03 0‐2 435 N03 0‐3 477 N03 1‐2 355 N03 1‐3 315 N03 2‐3 322 N06 0‐1 383 N06 0‐2 396 N06 0‐3 290 N06 1‐2 279 N06 1‐3 336 N06 2‐3 355 N08 0‐1 425 N08 0‐2 415 N08 0‐3 305 N08 1‐2 297 N08 1‐3 408 N08 2‐3 339 Early nodes, engraved/ ball point pen Star node assembly diagram labelled with numbered rattan elements.

N10 Sheet 0‐1 322 Excel N10 0‐2 427 N10 0‐3 415 N10 1‐2 335 N10 1‐3 377 N10 2‐3 295 N12 0‐1 311 N12 0‐2 431 N12 0‐3 431 N12 1‐2 357 The assembly logic is expressed as a series of struts and connection size members at each node and along each strut.

N12 1‐3 414 nodes. Each strut is comprised of a tightly packed bundle of variablyAlong the struts, the efficiency of the bundling N12 behaves 2‐3like a 300 N13 In “The 0‐1 Rise” the 371 sized rattan elements that behave as primary structural members textile in that it relies on friction between fibres. and tie related connection nodes together. Each connection node necessary cohesion between fibres is createdN13 through a0‐2series of 347 N13 0‐3 307 is formed using the active bending properties of its composite locally customized compression rings – or “packing nodes” – made N13 1‐2 274 rattan members. Variable sizing in each member, according to their from CNC milled HDPE. Although a matrix N13 material, such wood 1‐3 as in 353 topological arrangement, is a registration of the orientation derived or composite fibre products (Nicholas 2012)N13 would afford 2‐3 a higher 347 N16 0‐1 from the digital growth and degree of structural efficiency, the taken approach considers the395 N16 0‐2 456 simulation model (Fig. 9). As such the material’s systematized elastic constraints of on site installation and the continuity of fibres through N16 0‐3 445 deformation (active bending) is an integral part of the system’s the connection nodes.

N16 1‐2 332 architecture (Lienhard 2012), and is used actively both in the creation N16 1‐3 343 N16 2‐3 313 of branching points and as a calculated part of the member sizing and N17 0‐1 308

Labelling system

distribution. Embedded information about the material’s minimum allowable radius and bending behaviours couples with orientation and deformation information provided by the simulation to dynamically

Final star node labelled by hacking CNC mill using marker pen as drill bit.

Each individual piece of rattan is labelled, identifying its corresponding node, location and strand length.

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Synthesis II Pr ototype

The installation uses digital fabrication techniques for its detailing.

The digital model informs the growth of the structure, its structural and spatial performance and interfaces its detailing and manufacture.

We are still prototyping this part of the project but expect the individual elements to be CNC milled for assembly.

Prototypical tie back detail to the wall

Prototypical packing node and column brace

Prototypical splayed roots become a tightly packed bundle.

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Synthesis III The Growth Model Overall generation with registration of compressive (blue) and tensile (red) stresses derived during formation in the spring-based simulation engine.

The installation’s model emerges from an adaptive growth algorithm that combines the simulation of plant growth logics with an active and continuously running particle-based physics simulation system. These elements work in concert to activate the characteristics of the rattan core as primary contributors to form generation, and to enable an algorithmic procedure that is informed by both self and environmental awareness. The Rise has been developed to operate as a climbing growth organism. It utilizes structural “shoots” and gripping feet that identify and cling to their physical surroundings as vine-like plants do and achieves structural triangulation through a process of self-grafting.

The Rise relies heavily on emulating a system of plant-like tropisms as a series of diagrammatic drivers in form generation and performance.

For our modelling process, we focused on only three types of tropisms: phototropism (light-driven response), geotropism (gravity-driven

response) and thigmotropism (touch-driven response). In plant formation, these responses are registered through the triggering of a hormone such as auxin. These hormones will often suppress (or activate) growth in certain cells or locations by restricting (or promoting) energy-based resources in order to allow for an uneven and ultimately directed cellular growth. This then orients the plant according to an internalized rule system and produces goaloriented growth and organizational emergence. In our model we interpret tropisms through the algorithmic deployment of directional orientation and task assignment during branching and those further topological transformations introduced in the form of the self-grafting and climbing behaviours described above.

In addition to this application of tropism-like characteristics, our model also relies heavily on the diagrammatic simulation of light providing energy for growth activation, both in terms of orientation

and substance. Our model then utilizes a series of energy variables that are distributed according to a local branch’s proximity to a light source: the closer a branch is to the light, the more energy it is given for the three distinct growth processes of lengthening, further branching and flowering. Most crucially, the modelling of tropisms and simulation of energy is tightly coupled with an on-going physicsbased simulation of geometric bending and twisting under self-weight.

This endows the growth model with the highly pliable rattan material characteristics during its formation. As a result, the form is as much a non-deterministic material response to its own geometry as it is to the integral formation algorithms that dictate the properties of its modular accretion.

Fig. 6: Minimally triangulated modular accretion and branching logics for management of spring-based system and growth/branching topologies

Stills captured from animation

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Production CNC milled HDPE packing nodes with teeth and perimeter channel for cable binder

The installation uses digital fabrication techniques for its detailing.

The digital model informs the growth of the structure, its structural and spatial performance and interfaces its detailing and manufacture.

Some 500 individual bespoke elements are CNC milled from 12mm HDPE plastic and 4mm laser cut acrylic for assembly. Additional solid bar steel details were produced on the metal lathe and finished by hand. Rattan flowers were pre-assembled, packed and shipped ready for installation.

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Rattan core cut to length with indicative labels marking placement of HDPE nodes

Fabrication Information and Construction

The installation was built on site in Paris, France at the EDF Foundation over the course of 6days.

Member index Length (mm) Diameter (mm) 000 2034 5 000 2034 5 000 2034 5 000 2034 5 001 2038 10 001 2038 10 001 2038 10 001 2038 10 002 2040 10 002 2040 10 002 2040 10 002 2040 10 003 2048 5 003 2048 5 003 2048 5 003 2048 5 004 2199 3 004 2199 3 004 2199 3 004 2199 3 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 005 3378 10 006 3015 10 006 3015 10 006 3015 10 006 3015 10 006 3015 10 006 3015 10 007 2191 5 007 2191 5 007 2191 5 007 2191 5 Labelling system for individual Rattan elements generated 2041 5 from digital model 008 008 2041 5

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Zoom in, generated detailed model overlaid with 3D scan of built installation

3D Scan

Overlay of initial specification geometry and as-built structure.

3D scan of built installation

Design Documentation

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Detail of water jet cut Aluminium column brace with primary packing node

Origin of growth

Detail of water jet cut Aluminium column brace with HDPE root plate

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Star node with branching rattan

Star and packing node detail

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

“The Rise� climbs and attaches to the nearby wall for stuctural support

“The Rise” roots itself into the floor

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TH E R I S E A p ril . 2013

Detail of flowering

Detail of strut connection between two branching nodes

for further information and projects please see http://cita.karch.dk and the exhibition website http://thisisalive.com/

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