WHERE: MILANO (ITALY) – 21 > 25 June 2017
OBJECTIVES: generation and control of complex shapes
SOFTWARE: Rhinoceros, Grasshopper
PLUG-INS: Lunchbox, Mesh Edit, Weaverbird
REQUIREMENTS: previous experience in CAD drawing
LANGUAGE: English
LENGTH OF COURSE: 5 days (35 hours)
FEES: 600€ (students) – 700€ (professionals)
MAX NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 22
TEACHING TEAM: Arturo Tedeschi (Authorized Rhino Trainer), Maurizio Degni

IMPORTANT NOTE:  the course will be activated with a minimum of 12 students. The confirmation of workshop’s start will be send via mail by the 30th April 2017. Before that date the workshop activation is not guaranteed. We recommend to book flights and accommodation only after the confirmation email. We don’t cover or reimburse travel or accommodation costs. Such costs cannot be claimed in any case. Participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing visa required, and are advised to contact their home embassy early.   

> Plug it² is the most popular course on algorithmic modelling in Italy, directed by Arturo Tedeschi, now for the first time also in english. Plug it² will provide to attendees a strong competence on the use of modelling tools (RHINO) and algorithms-based techniques (GRASSHOPPER) exploring relations between creativity and control of complex geometries. The course is intended for students and professionals with a basic knowledge on CAD drawing and it will explore current theories and practice through frontal lessons and guided tutorials. Design strategies – rather than software’s commands – will be explained in order to setup the skills a designer need to face the emergent complexity of architecture and product design. <

The course, lasting five days, is ideally split in four parts:

– Part I: The introduction provides to participants an intensive session of NURBS modelling in which they will deal with the principal techniques available in Rhinoceros. Those techniques will be showed and learnt by frontal lessons and working on exemplary case studies.

– Part II:  The second part is a learning-path that goes from the introduction of Grasshopper’s interface to a basic control of algorithms-based geometries. Lessons will cover topics such as mathematical sequences, data structures and conditional statements.

– Part III: The third part of Plug it² will cover topics such as NURBS curves and surfaces. This study aims to give students the ability to generate complex geometries through an accurate control of mathematical and geometrical parameters. Besides, the manipulation of data (Data Tree) will be introduced, giving attendees new skills and techniques to structure grids, patterns, and recursive structures. As final step, students will study geometrical transformations based on morphing, images, mathematical functions and attractors.

– Part IV: The last part of the workshop is focused on algorithmic strategies for digital fabrication (3D Printing, CNC, etc.). Techniques like waffling, labeling and nesting will be introduced through guided exercises and case studies.

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PROGRAM

Lessons will be held from 10.00 to 18.00 (1hour break) .

DAY_01
FRONTAL LESSONS: Freeform design and architecture. Traditional surface classes: translational surfaces, revolution surfaces, ruled surfaces, freeform surfaces, NURBS curves and surfaces, Meshes and SubD.
GUIDED TUTORIALS: Introduction to Rhinoceros. Tridimensional space, curves and surfaces in Rhino. Main techniques for surfaces’ creation, construction planes. Drafting. Guided exercise: Chanel Pavilion by Zaha Hadid Architects.

DAY_02
FRONTAL LESSONS: Parametric modeling and algorithmic modeling (Algorithms-Aided Design). From additive to associative logic. Algorithmic modeling with Grasshopper: user interface, components, connections, basic operations.
GUIDED TUTORIALS: Shape-generation through algorithms, data managing in Grasshopper, lists, numeric sequences, mathematical functions, conditional statements, geometric transformations, attractors. Guided exercises on freeform architecture examples. 

DAY_03
FRONTAL LESSONS: Cartesian and parametric coordinates, advanced control of NURBS curves and surfaces, untrimmed and trimmed surfaces, curvature analysis: Gaussian and Mean curvature. Developable surfaces.
GUIDED TUTORIALS: Guided exercises on freeform architecture examples.

DAY_04
FRONTAL LESSONS: Data tree: advanced data-managing in Grasshopper. Grids and tridimensional patterns. MESH modeling, subdivision surfaces (SubD), smoothing (Weaverbird Plug-in ).
GUIDED TUTORIALS: modeling of a responsive skin for a freeform building. Metaball-skins. 

DAY_05
FRONTAL LESSONS: Digital fabrication: theory and examples. Digital fabrication techniques. 3D printing: main characteristics of a printable digital model.
GUIDED TUTORIALS: Algorithmic techniques for digital fabrication: sectioning, unrolling, orient, nesting. 

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LENGTH OF COURSE

The course will last 5 days (wednesday to sunday) for a total of 35 hours of lessons.

CERTIFICATION

At the end of the workshop attendees will receive an official McNeel certificate signed by Arturo Tedeschi as an Authorized Rhino Trainer.

REQUISITES

To take part in the course it is enough to have a basic experience with any CAD package. Trial versions of the softwares used during the workshop will be provided. Participants have to bring with them their own laptop.
To MAC Users: we highly suggest to use Grasshopper on a Windows partition created using Bootcamp. Grasshopper for MAC or Virtual machines (e.g. VM Ware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, Virtual Box) could reduce the performances of your laptop and/or present compatibility problems.

LOCATION

> MILANO
To be defined. Our location are always in the center of Milano, close to Metro stops and easily accessible. Our usual venues:
– Meeting room at NH GRAND HOTEL VERDI (Via Melchiorre Gioia 6, close to Gioia subway station)
– Meeting room at NH PRESIDENT (Largo Augusto 10, close to San Babila subway station)
– e-Network (Corso di Porta Romana 46 – close to Missori subway station)

FEES

ORGANIZATION AND REGISTRATION

The organization and registration procedure is managed by Le Penseur (Authorized Rhino Training Center).
To apply please submit the following details to info@lepenseur.it using “Plugit2 English” as email subject:
– Name and surname

LE PENSEUR (Authorized Rhino Training Center)
tel/fax: 0975 381775
mobile: 347 548 71 78
info@lepenseur.it

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TUTORS

Arturo Tedeschi (1979), architect, independent researcher and computational designer, since 2004 complemented professional practice in Italy with a personal research on parametric design, focusing on relationships between architecture and new design tools. In 2010 he published “Architettura Parametrica”, a bestseller book on parametric design, translated into english as “Parametric Architecture with Grasshopper” in 2011. In the same year he worked at Zaha Hadid Architects in London. In 2011 he founded A > T a cloud based office which provides computational design services for architects, designers and artists. He’s currently director and teacher of a series of workshops on parametric design (as an Authorized Rhino Trainer) and he has been an invited lecturer at universities and conferences. From 2012 he is co-director, with Lorenzo Vianello, of the AA Rome Visiting School for the Architectural Association School (London). In 2012 he designed, with Maurizio Degni, a parametric installation within the Cloister of Bramante, in Rome, for the NU:S project by Double agency. Within the same event has been involved in the computational design of the celebrated NU:S Parametric Shoes (shoe design by Alessio Spinelli), a project that pushed-up the boundaries of 3D printing applied to fashion design. His projects have been exhibited in Rome (MACRO museum), Milan, London, Paris (Carrousel du Louvre) and Venice (Off event at Biennale 2014). In 2014 he published AAD_Algorithms-Aided Design the worldwide reference book on algorithmic modeling, based on the Grasshopper platform. From 2014 he is digital consultant at Politecnico di Milano (Architectural Design Studio2). In 2015 he collaborated with Ross Lovegrove on the project ILABO for United Nude.

Maurizio Degni (1984), computational designer, is a specialist in the field of energy and environmental analysis related to complex systems with a particular focus on parametric and optimization strategies. He worked for several offices in Italy such as Studio Kami and J.M. Schivo where he collaborated on many international competitions, projects and research activities. With Arturo Tedeschi he designed the NU:S Installation within the Cloister of Bramante (Rome) and he had a main role in the computational design of the NU:S Parametric Shoes (shoe design by Alessio Spinelli) an avant-garde project that matched advanced design techniques and prototyping technologies. Currently he’s involved in a series of workshops and courses in Italy directed by Arturo Tedeschi and focused on parametric design. From 2012 he is a tutors assistant for the AA Rome Visiting School.

INFO:

LE PENSEUR (Authorized Rhino Training Center)
tel/fax: 0975 381775
mobile: 347 548 71 78
info@lepenseur.it