rat[LAB] Computational Design Tour - INDIA // Chandigarh Studio

Agenda // Filling The Void

1 country // 5 cities // 1 agenda // 100+ students // 25+ professionals // 5 exhibitions // 1 publication

Void is typically defined as null, invalid, empty or redundant and has a psychological perception of a ‘negative’. Through years of development in India, there has been an organic urban growth and inorganic architectural growth which has led to formation of voids in a physical and a metaphorical sense. There also exist voids as gaps between architecture, cities, education and technology. ‘Filling The Void’ looks at void as an opportunity, potential and a driver of change for architecture & design education in India.

rat[LAB] EDUCATION launches a new educational model by floating an open design studio that can potentially change the way we conceive spaces within architectural & urban systems and the way architectural education is imparted in the country. We aim to ‘fill the void’ through ‘computation’ and its numerous techniques and methodologies. Voids are interpreted as opportunities of dynamic amalgamation of ideas, spaces and society and to weave the existing disintegrated systems in a city through a series of computational explorations.

// Studio // Workshops // Symposia

The experimental studio will run across 5 cities in India and investigate the agenda of ‘filling the void’ streamed into two categories / scales / typologies: architecture and urban, through the use of computation and parametric methods. The agenda will be tested across 5 distinct urban contexts / settings leading to diverse spatial, programmatic and structural formations.

Studio is designed as a 3-day event in each city comprising of technical tutorials, teaching sessions & presentations culminating in a symposium / round-table conference / open discussion with leading / emerging professionals that demonstrate computation, parametric design or alternative techniques in their work / practice / academia. The month long tour culminates in New Delhi and selected work of 125+ participants from different cities will be showcased in an exhibition in the capital. A compendium / book will be published later in 2015 to highlight the experimental work that will be carried out in this tour. Architecture students and professionals are encouraged to participate in workshops / studio of their desired city and contribute to the larger agenda of ‘filling the void’.

// Teaching Methodology // Tools

//Studio is structured to teach participants the use of computational techniques through Grasshopper® (Generative modeling plug-in for Rhino®) and ways to integrate it with architectural & urban systems.

//No previous knowledge of Grasshopper & Rhinoceros is required for these workshops as basic technical knowledge will be provided on Day01.

//Pre-designed customizable tools will be provided by rat[LAB] on Day02 for design explorations & experimentations.

//The studio is flexible to basic, intermediate & advanced users of computation.

// Technical Sessions

Technical sessions will be provided to give an insight to computation, algorithms and parametric design methodologies to students & professionals. The idea of designing parametrically and use of computational methodologies is new to Indian context and has great potentials at architectural & urban scales. Digital experimentations using computational techniques (primarily Rhino3D + Grasshopper) will initiate the discourse, followed by technical sessions, theoretical discussions and presentations.

// Software & skillsBasic modeling skill in Rhino are preferred (but not obligatory). Participants should bring their own laptop with pre-installed software.

NOTE: Grasshopper does not run on Rhino for MAC. A windows-enabled laptop is necessary.

// Cities & Dates*

Mumbai – 22^nd June to 24^th June 2015 (Monday to Wednesday)

Chennai - 29^th June to 1st July 2015 (Monday to Wednesday)

Bengaluru – 3^rd July to 5^th July 2015 (Friday to Sunday)

Chandigarh - 16^th July to 18^th July 2015 (Thursday to Saturday)

New Delhi – 6th August to 8th August (Thursday to Saturday)

*Venue details will be published soon.

// Registration Dates

// Early-bird Registrations Open: 08 May 2015

// Early-bird registrations End: 26 May 2015

// General Registrations End: 10 June 2015 (Or till seats last)

//Categories & Participation Fee**

// Students & Recent Graduates [Max seats range from 20 to 35, based on city]

(Graduated from B.Arch. or similar Undergraduate Programme in Year 2014/2015)

Early-bird: INR 6000

General Registration: INR 8500

// Young Professionals [Max seats range from 4 to 7, based on city]

(Graduated from B.Arch. or similar Undergraduate Programme between Year 2009 and 2013)

Early-bird: INR 9500

General Registration: INR 12000

// Professionals [Max seats range from 2 to 3, based on city]

(Graduated from B.Arch. or similar Undergraduate Programme before Year 2009)

Early-bird: INR 12000

General Registration: INR 15000

** Payment gateway & ST will be added to the fee.

** Proof of student status or graduation year (scanned copy) has to be e-mailed to education@rat-lab.org after online registration process. (Kindly provide your ticket no. as Subject Line in the e-mail). This will be cross-checked with the original document / proof at the venue of event.

// Note

// If minimum no. of participation is not reached for a city, we may have to cancel the particular city from the tour schedule. Full refunds will be made to all registrants in this unlikely scenario.

//Failure to submit a proof of student status (or graduation certificate) will lead to a non-refundable cancellation.

//The workshop’s prime focus will be on methodologies & processes through software platforms and should not be interpreted as a ‘software tutorial’ merely. A focus is made to run it in the nature of a design studio.

// SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS

//Rhino 5 (90-day evaluation) can be downloaded for free here.

//Grasshopper free-version can be downloaded here.

// About rat[LAB] EDUCATION

rat[LAB] EDUCATION is an initiative by rat[LAB]-Research in Architecture & Technology (www.rat-lab.org) to start a new discourse in architecture & parallel design disciplines with the use of ‘computational design’ & it’s various subsets. Spread across various cities / countries, we are establishing a global dialogue in the domain of computational design by actively organizing and participating in workshops, lectures, presentations & symposia. While rat[LAB] has taken a top-down approach of exploring computational design through industry, a parallel, bottom-up approach is also in-line to involve students of all levels, from design & related backgrounds.