POSTDIGITAL NEOBAROQUE }

CLASSIFICATION: Research and Development

LOCATION: Unspecified

SYNOPSIS:

PDNB, or Postdigital Neobaroque, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and led by Professor Marjan Colletti, is a research group based at the Institute for Experimental Architecture, Innsbruck University. It investigates postdigital and neo-baroque traits and trends in contemporary architecture. I was fortunate to be working remotely but closely with Prof. Colletti as a contracted 3D designer on a series of research and development projects. The work spans animation, visual, furniture and 3D-printing designs and experiments.

One of my main responsibilities was to translate high-level concepts, such as sketches and verbal descriptions, into three-dimensional designs. Other responsibilities include animation and rendering. Ultimately, I developed a host of procedural systems that were used for the generative visuals, which contributed to the ongoing research of PDNB.

FEATURED IN:

Postdigital Neobaroque Vol.2

CityX Venice Virtual Pavilion 2023 kennethcai.com/ postdigital-neo-baroque

A procedural system that creates 3.5D to 4.5D objects, which was continually refined for different applications.

Procedural workflows can generate thousands of unique designs difficult to create conventionally, as seen in the NFT furniture collection of 1080 digital Colletti Tables with varying sizes and gestures, displayed as a looped flipbook animation serving as a unique catalogue.

{ KCAI LAB }

CLASSIFICATION: Freelance and Personal Projects

LOCATION: C:\ Drive, Home PC

SYNOPSIS: kennethcai.com/

KCAI LAB is an experimental visual laboratory solely managed by myself, dedicated to conducting a variety of multimedia, multidisciplinary, multidimensional and multifaceted experiments. The laboratory’s portfolio comprises cinematic visualisations, short films, real-time media, and graphic designs.

The ethos centres around exploring the boundaries between the real and the imagined, the machinic and the organic, the observer and the observed, and the art and the architecture. Furthermore, it presents a platform to enhance my technical as well as artistic skillset, nurturing a collection of personal projects, and fostering my growth as a designer.

The captured fragments embody “in-between-ness” by blurring boundaries between digital/physical, artificial/organic, imagined/real, and architecture/art. Planted in physical locations, they represent a tangible digital world, questioning reality and imagination.

Still frames of a short film depicting Hong Kong buildings and a unique perspective on the overlooked chair, aimed to tap into collective memory and a collective dream of breaking free from societal constraints.