Siphonophore – Physical Computing + Architecture

It’s been a while since my last post. I have been involved with a lot of projects lately so I didn’t have enough time to update my blog. There will be more interesting stuff in the future, like shading optimizations and populating facades with openings, but first I am going to post a last years project that I really enjoyed.

Siphonophore is an interactive installation designed as a method and alternative perspective on spatial properties. the project was developed along with my dear friends and colleagues Ermis Adamantidis and Madhav Kidao and has gained recognition through nominations and exhibitions across Europe. The project is a collaboration of Design through Making, Physical Computing (Arduino), Artificial Intelligence ( Processing, ANN) and biomimisis as an inspirational force.

Siphonophore is a floating installation made up from untethered, transparent helium balloons that can exist independently or connected to each other forming clusters of  collective behaviours. The entities of the installation have the ability to perceive space, receive and process data  and transmit the data to one to another using light signals. the project is inspired both in functional and formal terms from the homonymous aquatic organism, and explores the notion of self in a system of highly integrated  individuals as well as the emergence of behaviours through the interaction of the individuals with each other and with the contextual environment.

Useful links: – Siphonophore in Europrix

– Siphonophore in Archode

Hubris Nemesis Catharsis Rehabilitation Skyscraper Entry for the Evolo Skyscraper Competiton

 

The results from Evolo Skyscraper 2011 competition just came out yesterday. I participated in this competition along with the architect Silena Patsalidou by our entry Hubris Nemesis Catharsis , defining our notion and perspective of a contemporary urban skyscraper. Although the project didn’t achieve an distinction I am really satisfied with the outcome as well as with the winning project and the overall level of the competition. Indeed some of the best projects I have seen the past months were amongst the winning entries. I really encourage anyone thinking of trying this experience to go for it. More on the Evolo Website.

The project is inspired by the triplet of emotions occurring in the ancient Greek Tragedy. The building reflects by its organization and morphology the processes that are essential for the urban revitalization of certain socially problematic groups of people and their entranceway to the normal life. The project was modeled in Grasshopper and the major  research procedures such as structure and flows were computed using Processing . Specifically a revised version of the Adaptive Materiality algorithm. Comments and inquiries are more than welcome.

[Ar]Plant Component in Ax4 Architectural Competition

I recently submitted a proposal for an urban planning competition along with architects Aristea Theoharakou and Irini Mantessi regarding the unification of 4 different urban blocks into a greater one, by exploring the spatial qualities of the crossing roads. the main module of this proposal was a parametrically designed multi-functional component that could adapt on the contextual environment of the urban environment of the urban fabric.

This component was developed in grasshopper and consisted of four different entities,the body, the planted space, the lights and the solar panel web. The positions of the components were calculated through a Processing script which examined data from the context and the weather data from Ecotect.

I will be posting parts of the code and the definition shortly..