Different people have different working style. We can perceive the style through the objects on their working tables. If the table is too messy, it will diminish people’s working efficiency. So let’s manage our life by managing our table first! In our project, computer will no longer be a nonliving tool. He will be given emotions and act as your strict parents or lovely friends.

Our idea is to create a tool in grasshopper that allows objects to automatically form a visual area on the table and furthermore, to help us manage the table or even our life!

To begin with, we categorize objects into 4 kinds — work-related, entertainment, life-related and in-between objects. All kinds are assigned to distinguishing color, which is blue, red, green and yellow. Each object is assigned to a code.

When we do not concentrate on our work or do not treat our health seriously, computer, as a human being, will show an emotional warning to you based on the character they act. The strict parent character will be shown under hard mode. The lovely friend character will be shown under soft mode.

Hard and soft mode are determined by 4 exterior elements like time, weather, surrounding sound and your current feelings. If any one of the condition happens (time before 22:00, weather is sunny, surrounding is too noisy, you are sad), the mode will automatically become hard mode. Beside this, it will be soft mode. But you have the prior right to choose the mode you want. Although as designers, we highly don’t recommend it. So we also set a highest priority which happens when the conditions mentioned above are all meets. In this case, you have to accept hard mode, that means you need to deal with a strict parent!

For the working objects, the codes imported in the computer will be defined as outside points and inside points. The outside points will link together shaping as a polygon which can generate a rectangle box with grid of points. At the same time, the inside points will be hinted about the shortest path to points in the grid system. This grid will be visualized on the table helping people organize objects in order.

For the entertainment objects which are not supposed to be attached during working time, computer will calculate the distance between the points with edge points of the working area. If the minimum distance is larger than 70 cm, then the computer will be in the comfortable viewport. However, if it is smaller than 70 cm, then the computer will switch to angry viewport which will also project on the table as a warning sign.

For the life-related objects, the computer will detect the movement of points within few hours. If no movement is detected, then the table will appear some words to remind people to have a rest and take some nutrients.

Tool In Action

Let’s see how this tool can help you organize your table!

Wanna see your computer act as a strict parent? Check the Gif below to see a situation where you try to play with your phone during working time.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, we consider the people, computer and table as a whole system. People are not just using computer but are working with him. Not only will we direct the computer but also we will receive the feedback and responds from him. Moreover, as table objects are linked with computer, a lot of works can be visualized and spatialized. The change of the reality is also able to trigger activities in computer. Meanwhile, people’s connection with working table become closer which means our lifestyle and working style is more intuitive. Using the program, we have the capability of managing our life better.

For the further development, we would like to keep working on it and completing the whole idea. This kind of change of relationship might bring us more surprises.

Let’s Manage Our Life! was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The intent of this tool is to reconsider authorship (in this instance, of architectural line drawings) as a negotiation between the work’s creator and its eventual audience.

This project is intended as

a) a new tool for the production of perspective line drawings

The script automatically computes lineweight and stroke color (along user-controllable domains) as a function of distance from an established camera location, including variable width and color gradient for lines that approach vanishing points.

b) an opportunity to apply a rapid-prototyping approach to the production of architectural drawings

By enabling simple parametric control of aesthetic choices, the drawings’ creator can quickly produce an expansive catalog of options for the same image, many of which may not have been considered otherwise.

c) an interactive means of engaging the viewer with the drawings produced

By empowering the audience to adjust the drawing based on their physical location in space, the tool establishes a collaborative link between the creator’s intent and the viewer’s experience.

Using the Make2D command in Rhino, the selected geometry is converted to a flat hidden-line drawing, before being remapped to the projection plane of the established camera.

Once the drawing is precisely superimposed over its parent objects, the curves are subdivided to produce a point cloud. These points are projected back onto the original geometry to produce a measurable distance from every point in the projection plane to every to every parent object.

These distances are the fundamental data that drives the tool’s output.

Inputs + outputs

Findings + next steps

In its current state, the project is extremely resource-intensive, to the point that it is not usable for any practical application. However, if the script was rewritten more elegantly (and perhaps with other input devices), it could be a powerful tool for uniting the creator with their audience.

Future iterations of this tool will include a) increasing levels of detail for the viewer in the fore/aft direction; ideally the drawing would be understood as a mostly typical perspective from a distance, but closer inspection would reveal more information, including construction details, furniture, entourage, and even interaction between a project’s inhabitants, and b) more aesthetic parameters like opacity, fill options, and dashed/offset paths.

Thank you!
Many thanks to Dan and Adam for being so enthusiastic about the course (and available to help), and to all the members of this semester’s class for their exceptional and inspiring work.

field of depth was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Motivation

Designers, often work with others, we are continuously aware of and inspired by things or people them. As we believe that ‘1+1>2’ in the design process, this toolkit intends to visualize the collaboration process and the unanticipated output when two roles collide. They may once represent an independent system and speak in separate languages, but what the new language would be like?

The Park

Inspired by rock climbing park, the project invites players to explore the possibility of combining two formal languages: one to generate and the other to subtract. Do you consider yourself more as an architect to generate cool forms and master-level grades? Or you would like to be a landscape architect placing and sizing the open space? The excitement came when you try to be both.

The Tool

The projection enhances reality and helps bring the decision-making process from the screen to the table. While the tool generates conceptual form, the output is a simple dashboard showing the number of bouldering grades at each difficulty level. We hope that by setting such a threshold, the tool has practical implication and eventually contribute to a more thoughtful yet playful design approach.

1+1>2 was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Utilizing sound as a device to alter or generate an environment.

Teaching grasshopper to recognize particular instruments and how those tones may or may not affect the surrounding environment.

The idea that different types of instruments can generate a variety of building forms.

This tool can be understood as an exploratory exercise of processing sound into a physical manifestation. Detection is broken down into understanding the sounds of various instruments each having it’s own characteristics in relationship to a particular building element.

In a hypothetical project, each instrument could produce or form a specific building quality. In one instance, an acoustic guitar, could be used to generate columns of a building with set parameters and intervals relating to the tone, pitch, or progression of the musical piece. While a piano track could develop a floor plate in relationship to a defined set of tone range parameters within grasshopper.

The video shows how specific audio tracks generate building elements. The Metallica song is generating floor plates by analyzing the song and at certain frequencies enlarging in both the X & Y directions while also moving along the Z axis. Rasputin generates columns again by analyzing the frequencies of the song. Humans speaking is analyzed and converted into a series of multiple circulation paths and remains constant. If the crowd noise increases the diameter of the circulation path increases thus creating the need for more volume.

In conclusion

The transposition of music into Architecture can be achieved via capturing and translating audio frequencies into physical or digital objects. Building components such as floor slabs, columns, fenestration, and facade panels.

Soundscape was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Making the right architecture decisions, understanding their rationale and interpreting them correctly during development is essential to building a system that satisfies stakeholder expectations. As the design evolves, making new architecture decisions and removing obsolete ones to satisfy changing requirements while maintaining harmony with the existing decisions are crucial to teamwork.

Architecture decision making is considered one of the most challenging cognitive tasks in group work. Most of the time when we are trying to make design decisions, we speak up about our opinions, talk about pros and cons and try to read teammates’ facial expressions of whether they want to make some changes to the design or not.

The objective of this tool is to explore a new way of communicating with your teammates. With a concept of “hide and seek” in mind, the illustration of a circle (or any geometry) represents different design choices. When one is interested in one particular object or idea, he/she can take a step closer to the object, and then the circle will slowly grow bigger as more people approach it. However, if we assume the total interest in these different options laid on the table remains the same, then as one circle grows bigger, the rest will shrink. Eventually, a circle where no one is interested in looking anymore, it will disappear. What differentiates this method from a traditional way of communicating ideas is that the users can easily see the physical movement of their teammate’s thinking progress on the table. With the illustration of growing and shrinking circles, this tool also hopes to engage people to interactively taking the opinions of the team members into consideration, encouraging teams to make architecture decisions collaboratively and efficiently.

Move Around Your Mind was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Our tool intend to introduce body movement to designing, modeling and presenting process, transforming architects’ tedious workflow.

Our tool is mainly composed of three types of body movements — moving right or left, moving up or down, moving close or far. Architects can use body movements to change perspectives, freeing them from mouse-addicted workflow. An innovative workflow with vigorous interaction between physical interfaces and computational design can be expected.

Based on the three prototype, we go further with the last one to use it change our design process. The turning on and off of layers will be automatically triggered with the changing of the distance between face and computer to simplify workflow. To be specific, there will be three levels — urban level with layer ‘context’ and ‘massing’ turning on, building level with layer ‘massing’ and ‘facade’ turning on, interior level with layer ‘structure’ and ‘furniture’ turning on. Architects can design in different levels flexibly with moving close or far to the computer screen.

With same order of point, different elements can be created. In urban level, architects can create context massing ; in building level, architects can create windows on the walls; in interior level, architects can create furniture.

To make it more fun, we connect the window opening rate to the expression of the face on screen. When the rate is high, there will be a happy face; when the rate is low, you will see a sad face.

Tool in Action

In Conclusion

Hopefully, our tool will bring a brand new working environment to architects to embrace this interaction — larger individual working space for the body movements and innovation of flexible furniture for architects. Besides, our tool creates possibilities for a much more vivid presentation which can provide an immersed experience for the clients.

Credits and Thank yous!

Great thanks to Dan Taeyoung’s help and support.

Control Rhino with Body! was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

About Metatool — arranging myself from self-reference.

Universe of Medium was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It is up to you and 3 other friends to work together (or not) to put these elements together to make a neighborhood.

You will be given 3 different cards to help make this all possible:

Make a Neighborhood was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS

Our tool seeks to help break the creative block that is inherent when working in Rhino continuously. It allows you to pick fortunes that relate to modeling functions that help you shake off the creative block. Rather than continuing to work in a rut we hope this tool will help you meditate on your project, and let the negative thoughts go.

We used a series fortune tags to create a physical tool that would occupy your desk, in the same way a pen would be always nearby. It would be there when your project seems utterly frustrating to you and all you want to do is stop working.

Each tool is colored depending on the severity of the command it will produce. The tags also have inspirational messages on them to help break you of your frustration and to allow you to think a bit before you get back to work.

In conclusion, we found this tool to be quite exciting. Every time it is used something different occurs. There is an element of the unknown and an element of introspection as you ponder what the tag says. Its goal is to make you think critically about how “stuck” you really are and to have a helpful yet “random” hand in facilitating a push beyond the creative block. We feel that there are endless new commands for the tool that can be programmed but also many ways to integrate the tool into further incorporate the tool into your desk space.

Group members: Adina Bauman and Yixuan Cheng  METATOOL Columbia GSAPP Fall 2019 was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Professor Dan Taeyoung, TA Adam Vosburgh,
METATOOL Columbia GSAPP Fall 2019

This tool allows to visualize your digital performance, as a result, it helps your teammates support you work better.

Everything you do on your computer has a meaning, in this case with our tool we evaluate your work performance through taking the applications memory use that you are using, and we display it in your environment work with tones and graphics.

The user can setup this tool in 4 different moods, Thinking, Hurry, Happy and Exciting mood. For this the users has to answers two simple questions at the beginning.

The tones generated for this tool depends of the combination of different application, with this estrateghy it helps to the users be focus on their work and don’t waste time in applications that are not compatible with the current work.

If this tool is used in a office it helps the team work in different activities together, as a result the productivity is increased. For example, if the team have to be creative, the tool is setup to Thinking mood and everybody should work in the same way. Through the shape that it is displayed the team can know if someone need help for his task; or if the team have a deadline close the tool could be setup to Hurry mood.

DEMO

REVIEW

Other Work

Listen Your Apps was originally published in METATOOL-fall2019 on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.