Unlike the classical Pattern Deformations assignment discussed here and here, this time we asked Design Geometry students in 2014 to explore deformations by using referential systems as a secondary space. We wanted them to create variations on a regular pattern only by deforming its underpinning lattice. Below are three examples of this alternative assignment. I’m thinking about improving this exercise to three dimensions, seems possible to implement by using the cage […]

Basic Design I exercise called “Cut and Fold: Deviation” explores diversity within relationships and material behavior. It is initially introduced by Salih Küçüktuna as a simple but effective exercise platform. Below are some students’ works on this one-week exercise. The term “deviation” has many uses in a range of fields from medicine to sociology. However, it is frequently used in statistics with an interesting evocation to design computing: In mathematics […]

Below is some student works from this year’s Architectural Geometry / Pattern Deformations assignment. Students developed their own pattern deformation sequences mostly on regular tessellations. Based on the classical Parquet Deformation exercise, we tried to implement a rule-based approach in order to explore emergent patterns. The exercise seems to reveal endless improvisation potential. The exercise requires students to design a pattern deformation on a 28cm by 28cm area. It should […]

Below are some of the student works from the 4th-week exercise Bits and Pieces of this semester’s Basic Design studio. The gestalt notion of “figure-ground phenomenon” refers to the characteristic organization of perception into a figure that ‘stands out’ against an undifferentiated background. What is figural at any one moment depends on patterns of sensory stimulation. And on the momentary interests of the perceiver. Thus, the figure-ground relationship is an […]

This is our eCAADe paper with Fulya Akipek, explaining our 2013 Workshop series called “Infections”. Contemporary trend of the computational design education is grounded on an integration of domains such as fabrication technologies, material studies, and generative techniques. This requires not only an intuitive handling on digital tools and methods, but also an experience on material and production constraints simultaneously. Patterning emphasizes a material shift in the generative side of […]

This paper presents the beginnings of my journey into architectural education, presented at Yıldız Technical University Architectural Education Symposium 2007, together with YTU/CADU staff; Ela Çil, Birgül Çolakoğlu, Meral Erdoğan, Fulya Akipek, Oya Pakdil, and Şebnem Yalınay. It includes different exercises from various studio instructors,  all motivated by contemporary computational design theory. This was one of the milestones in the first year of education of a computation-based studio in Turkey, […]

This was my first parametric patterning study we conducted together with Birgül Çolakoğlu at Yıldız Technical University in 2008. It was based on the pattern exercises we’ve experienced with BOT Graduate Students as a preliminary study within a Computational Design Studio. Later, the CNC fabrications were exhibited at İstanbul Bilgi University Digital Design Symposium. The exercise was about analyzing and reconstructing regular İslamic Patterns via MaxScript. After fundamental instructions about the […]

ARCH 362 COURSE BRIEF (2013) Design computing reflects a focal shift from the singular construction of objects into the relational nature of revealing diversity. Algorithms are mainstream interfaces for the explication of geometric relationships, extending techniques required for such revealing. This course introduces some ways of managing diversity while reasoning about sequential and concurrent; absolute and relational; ordered and chaotic. Students are expected to be familiar with fundamentals of Rhino3D, […]

This is another brave group of students. They studied one of the most interesting materials in this year’s Basic Design studio. They tested the structural capacities and nearly all possibilities of thin Bamboo sticks. Unfortunately, they lost most of the prototypes, and one of them was a beautiful structural tripod. In the final assembly, they managed to span the required distance by attaching bamboo sticks using plastic fasteners. Below are […]

Here is the “hose” group of the İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture Basic Design project. Although they were challenged with a nearly impossible mission, trying to make a structural system out of hoses, they simply did it well. After a tremendous effort on the possible combinations of hoses and wooden sticks, they found sophisticated components, utilizing the positive potentials of both materials. This year, we allowed them to develop […]

This group used aluminum expanded mesh in order to test its balance between structural capacity and weight. They folded different-sized sheets to create components, then assembled them creating a span of 2,5 meters approx. They managed to control the macro form by manipulating the component precisely. This year, the dominant discussion among the studio instructors was the context; how to include (or not include), manage, and think about the context, […]

The material system of group 2 at İBU Basic Design project was based on a component developed using tensegrity forces on aluminum bands. Although it was hard to maintain structural solidity with the heavy material, they proved that letting aluminum fly over a predefined distance (at least for a limited time) is possible. *Students: Büşra Kavuk, Büşra Pamuk, Mustafa Sert, Ahmet Evci, Safa Bayam, Sibel Küçükcoşkun, Gizem Işıkalp, Serenay Erbektaş, […]

A newly established student club, “E3 Architecture and Design” is organizing a two-day workshop at İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture between June 10-11, 2013. The Grasshopper Workshop will be the first one in the faculty. The event will be conducted at our computer lab. so the seats are limited to 28. I’ll try to explain the basic concepts of dataflow management in computer-aided design. Also, I plan to test […]

In 2007, we conducted a computational design studio in YTU / CADU with Birgül Çolakoğlu. Below is the brief of the paper published at METU JFA Vol24 issue 2 titled “An Innovative Design Education Approach: Computational Design Teaching For Architecture”. We were dealing with how new technologies are affecting the design cycle. Rhinoscript is used as an educational tool, and various short exercises are conducted with it. After 6 years, […]

Architectural education in its relation to computational technologies is both becoming a part of these studies and having the potential of renovating itself with the knowledge of emerging technologies. This paper, in this framework, will be presenting a design research studio that aims at developing relational thinking capabilities in the computational design process. In this studio, topics of parametric design, parametric modeling, and relationality were questioned through the design process. […]

This simple tool, N-Grid resembles John Hejduk and colleagues’ famous design exercise “The Nine-Square Grid”. I developed the tool in 2009 using MaxScript. The nine-square grid is one of the most common kit-of-parts exercises in design studios for over 50 years. To explain briefly, the nine-square grid exercise is based on transforming a nine-square grid into a series of alternatives. The nine-square grid is an open-ended educational application with a limited but flexible context. It […]

From the 2009 eCAADe paper presented with Birgül Çolakoğlu titled; “Designer as Casual Coder: Overview of an Experimental Design Studio”; In recent years, computational approaches in architecture started to change the scope of the architect’s work. He/she is not any more a passive tool user instead, became a casual tool developer. Conventional CAD systems that focus on geometric representation of a designed artifact, are transforming into systems in which the […]

Studio exercises are short-term and open-ended design activities that represent a constructivist learning approach by limiting design domains. They are student-centered, model and process-oriented educational tools. These qualities make studio exercises potential tools for integrating contemporary Digital Design thinking into architectural education. This research aims to reveal these potentials by defining an analytical perspective and logical connections between the pedagogical intentions of studio exercises and the theory of Digital Design. […]

This is one of the three final projects of the Infections workshop at YTU. The conceptual framework is developed by Begüm Aktaş (YTU) and Merve Özhan (BAU). According to them; the existing host body is a 16×11 unit glass brick wall, which is constructed to separate the corridor of the faculty and to create semi-private spaces for various activities. In this project, the host body is considered the dead tissue […]

In this exercise, we asked students to develop a method to produce custom tessellations. This is based on the analysis of what is called “Islamic patterns”. We have discussed Eric Brough‘s famous book “Islamic Geometric Patterns”, regarding geometric relationships and linear connectivities via underlying tessellations (such as regular square and hexagonal). Thus, this geometry and drawing exercise is called “Seamless Patterns” in the Design Geometry course at İstanbul Bilgi University. […]