Landscape Material Design Practice and Digital Media

The course is aimed at fostering conceptual as well as technical approaches to the integration of digital design and fabrication techniques within the design and construction processes. We will dedicate the semester to develop a project that takes advantage of a number of emerging and established digital techniques and processes in order to develop prototypes for systems that reshape and reorganize our contemporary landscapes. This focused project will be the means through which a wide range of skills and approaches towards the utilization of digital design and fabrication techniques may be introduced and developed to inform and enrich the process from design conception to the development of various application scenarios and finally prototype fabrication of construction and material systems. Students will be guided to follow a process from initial concept design right through to physical fabrication of scaled prototypes or models. The course will cover and develop digital design skills in 3 dimensional modeling, scripting, parametric tools as well as digital fabrication. Existing precedents and practices of construction and material systems will be studied and considered during the course in order to inform and inspire the development of the projects that are encouraged to address novel expression as well as performance. Material practices and processes associated with landscape will be used to inform the development of the projects (topography, aggregates, textiles, fields, biology, dynamics, self organizing processes etc). The course will meet once a week and will be conducted in the computer lab to build up both skills and concepts specific to the deployment of digital media for design and will also make use of the fabrication laboratory to test and actualize these techniques in material form. It is encouraged that applicants to the course have some basic to intermediate level skills in digital tools. Enrollments will be limited.