Material Matters Workshop

Material Matters is a two-day intensive design and prototyping workshop (with an optional third day) to be held in New York City during the weekend of May 14-15/16.

Description:

Material Matters will examine the procedural distinctions between two modes of design production: the first relying primarily on cerebral processing (a conceptual domain isolated from the wildness of matter and energy) and the second motivated by material’s capacity to act as an agent in the discovery of form. The workshop will operate through a framework of computational, parametric, and fabrication strategies that hinge on the peculiarities of material and the emergent set of knowledge associated with the work of the hand. Participants will develop multiple instances of parametric prototypes to be represented in digital as well as fabricated output.

The format of the workshop includes daily instructional, design, and fabrication sessions and will be conducted in a fast-paced and hands-on studio environment. Technical content will be delivered via the plug-ins Grasshopper and Rhinocam for Rhino3D. Participants will have direct access to digital fabrication equipment including: an industrial CNC 3-axis Mill and CNC High-Force Cutter. An optional third workshop day is offered to those participants desiring further time to develop and prototype individual projects.

As part of a larger online infrastructure, modeLab, this workshop provides participants with continued support and knowledge to draw upon for future learning.

Attendance will be limited to provide each participant maximum dedicated time with instructors. Participants are encouraged to be familiar with the basic concepts of modeling and navigation in Rhino3D prior to the workshop.