11-Storey Mass Timber Building
3 November 2020

Doing a quick search on the web with the words "parametric design" and "computational design" you often see rendered images or simulations of "Parametric Wall".

This wall decoration technique clearly shows the characteristics of this new computational aesthetic:
fluid forms generated by mathematical functions
discretization with non-standard repetitive elements
customized compositions (mass-customization)
– use of digital manufacturing techniques for production.

In most cases these representations remain pure style exercises and are not realized. We, at Ergodomus, have decided to finalize the creative process by creating two modules to be included in our studio.

STEP 1: Algorithm definition

We start by explaining what the constraints and parameters to be taken into consideration will be, such as the size of the installation, the type of material, the thickness and how the profiles will be assembled. Subsequently, during the definition of the algorithm, the variables are made explicit to change the number of profiles and the shape they will have to compose.

Once the algorithm has been written, proceed with the modification of the parameters, immediately displaying the updated model until the desired configuration is chosen.

STEP 2: Production of CNC cutting files

To produce the cutting file for a 3-axis CNC milling machine, we added another piece of code to the algorithm to extract the 2D curves of the profiles, index them (tagging) and orient them on the xy plane. In this way, making changes to the 3D model, the 2D profiles for cutting will update automatically.

STEP 3: CNC cutting

We are working and will update the project soon…

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