Explode BREPS @ UVA

Representational Research at the University of Virginia School of Architecture

Explode_BReps is the class blog for ARCH 6710, a graphic representation workshop at the University of Virginia School of Architecture:  Robin Dripps, professor

FIELDWORK

Fields describe  a context of relationships within which action is possible. Understanding this network of connectivity, it’s parts and how these interact with one another as well as to external systems, is a basis for understanding the world and ultimately for making intelligent interventions. The ability to model these relationships iteratively to see the outcome of any changes, whether this is due to the internal operations of the field itself or external influences, allows for a far greater number of ideas to be tested so that decisions are more reliable.

Parametric or generative software is a powerful way to analyze, design, and evaluate contexts at all scales. It offers the ability to represent relationships explicitly, to think of and describe how things go together in terms of  the actual parameters that make up the physical or even intellectual structure of a system and then to make rapid, iterative design decisions efficiently and effectively.

As the world is increasingly understood in terms of the interactions of natural flows and human desires, it is necessary to have a means to represent the dynamics of these interactions  in order to react to the resultant complexity of possibilities.  Grasshopper is interesting in this regard because of it’s powerful means to manipulate data.  Data is neutral and not inherently tied to any particular discipline and therefore can act as a synthetic agent revealing underlying relationships among pieces of the world not necessarily understood as being connected.  As the several disciplines that make up the  School of Architecture share modes of representation, a more substantial response to the world is possible.

The examples here describe various relationships. It should be possible to imagine these as applying to widely differing scales and contexts from a buildings surface to complex landform or urban settlement. These examples are a starting point for your own explorations and should be examined for possibilities of creative hacking.