BID Lab Opening, May 14, 2004

Design, Technology, and the Human Experience (the positive side) Carlo H. Séquin Computer Science Division

Technical Designs … CCD Camera, Bell Labs, 1973 Soda Hall, Berkeley, 1994 RISC chip, Berkeley, 1981 “Octa-Gear”, Berkeley, 2000

Aesthetic Designs … What is the role of the computer in: u aesthetic optimization, u the creative process ?

Collaboration with Brent Collins “Hyperbolic Hexagon II”

Brent Collins: Stacked Saddles

Scherk’s 2nd Minimal Surface Normal “biped” saddles Generalization to higher-order saddles (monkey saddle)

“Hyperbolic Hexagon” by B. Collins u 6 saddles in a ring u 6 holes passing through symmetry plane at ±45º u = “wound up” 6-story Scherk tower u Discussion: What if … l we added more stories ? l or introduced a twist before closing the ring ?

Closing the Loop straight or twisted

Brent Collins’ Prototyping Process Armature for the "Hyperbolic Heptagon" Mockup for the "Saddle Trefoil" Time-consuming ! (1-3 weeks)

“Sculpture Generator I”, GUI

V-art Virtual Glass Scherk Tower with Monkey Saddles (Radiance 40 hours) Jane Yen

Collins’ Fabrication Process Example: “Vox Solis” Layered laminated main shape Wood master pattern for sculpture

Slices through “Minimal Trefoil” 50%10%23%30% 45%5%20%27% 35%2%15%25%

u One thick slice thru sculpture, from which Brent can cut boards and assemble a rough shape. u Traces represent: top and bottom, as well as cuts at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 of one board. Profiled Slice through “Heptoroid”

Emergence of the “Heptoroid” (1) Assembly of the precut boards

Emergence of the “Heptoroid” (2) Forming a continuous smooth edge

Emergence of the “Heptoroid” (3) Smoothing the whole surface

The Finished “Heptoroid” u at Fermi Lab Art Gallery (1998).

Various “Scherk-Collins” Sculptures

Rapid Prototyping by FDM

Hyper-Sculpture: “Family of 12 Trefoils” W=2 W=1 B=1 B=2 B=3 B=4

“Cohesion” SIGGRAPH’2003 Art Gallery

Snow-Sculpture, 12 Feet Tall

International Snow-Sculpting Championships Breckenridge, Colorado, January 2003

“Whirled White Web” Silver Medal Winner, Breckenridge 2003

“Whirled White Web” The Design Component: u Find a shape that has some aesthetic qualities as an abstract sculpture. u The shape should (roughly) fit the given snow block dimensions: 10  10  12 feet tall. u The shape must be strong enough to hold up as a snow sculpture. u The sculpture has to be constructible by a team of five during a 4-day period. u Also need a good title and a good story…

The Role of the Computer (1) Exploring different possibilities.

The Role of the Computer (2) Fine-tuning the most promising design

The Role of the Computer (3) Making a detailed 3D model

The Role of the Computer (4) Preparing construction drawings

Plenty of manual steps too … Making templates from computer prints, ( magnified with the classical grid method)

Removing lots of snow … Day 1

Day 2: Making a Torus

Day 3, pm: Flanges, Holes

Day 4: Geometry Refinement

Day 5, am: Surface Refinement

“House Cleaning”

“Whirled White Web”

Conclusions (1) u The computer plays an important role also for “Esthetic Engineering.” u Virtual Prototyping can save time and can tackle sculptures of a complexity that manual techniques could not conquer.

Conclusions (2) u The computer is not only a great visualization and prototyping tool, u It also is a generator for new ideas and u an amplifier for an artist’s inspiration.

Inspiration: Brent Collins’ “Pax Mundi”

UI for “Viae Globi” Shapes

Many Related Sculptures May Emerge

Discussion Topic What can we do in BID to help bridge the gap between Art and Engineering ?