6. Computational Couture¶

What the week looked like¶

I was very excited about this weeks session, since last week i was way out of my comfort zone. Eventhough i really enjoyed it, i struggled a lot. This week felt like i was more well acquinted with the subject, but as the week progressed, i coudn't have been more wrong.

I was also really looking forward to hear from Julia and her award winning Black Panther costumes. I have been teaching about Black Panther to my students through the lens of AfroFuturism and Protopia in my Speculative Fiction & Futures course, and hence was absolutely stoked to hear from someone that had actually designed and created an actual ARTIFACT for the film!

Takeaways from Global Session¶

Julia Koerner began the session by talking about her journey of integrating 'Architecure + Product + Fashion'. With her belief in the movement that 'The Future is NOW', Julia elaborated upon how her works have been at the intersection of inspiration from Nature and different 3D printing techniques. Alongside these, her lens for imagining these works has been Parametric Design; hence why the session is labelled 'Computational Couture'.

In the session, we learnt about the following different types of 3D printing techniques, using Julia's works as examples: 1. Stereolithography (SLA) 2. Polyjet 3. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 4. Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 5. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF)

Following are some of the key takeawys that have stayed with me through the week: - that 3d printing could also behave flexible fabric forms - look at what tech is available before starting the project - optimise designs for the technology you are working with - challenges of printing in 3D vs printing a 3D design mapped on a 2D fabric - innovation and state of current ways of 3d prining and how each device brings along with it diffent challenges as well as waste generation

These are some of my favourite works of Julia that were presented in the sesion:

Checklist for the week¶

Personal thoughts and Ideas¶

After the global session, i was quite ready to jump immediately into the making, but i realised i didn't know where to begin. However, it was over the course of my research that i realised that even though i knew and understood what parametrics could do, i didn't really know HOW to do it.

During my undergrad in Architecture, Parametric architecture had found it's niche and even then i didn't quite understand at the time why people were fascinated by it. I couldn't fathom how these buildings were habitable and responding to the human scale.

I am a believer in the age old 'Form follows Function'. Over the decade since i have graduated, i have realised i find the use of Parametric architecture digestable in only 2 senarios; as facade treatments and as roofing systems for public spaces. This to me is interesting, since architectural Facades are the Outer SKIN of a building, just how clothes are to us. And this usecase of Parametric design is something i can be aligned with.

This week's assignment has led me to now understand the potential parametric design would have in fashion today. It has been quite an insightful journey this week.

Research & Inspiration¶

My research led me to a lot of Architectural examples; the OG Antonio Gaundi, Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava, Kengo Kuma, Frank Gehry,Jean Nouvel, Bjarke Ingels, Philiphs Beasley.

These are some of the buildings i have seen in India: Mumbai International Airport (Zaha Hadid Archietects), Sienna Appartments (sP+a), St. George Orthodox Church (Wallmakers), Pirouette House (Wallmakers), BAD Cafe (Nuru Karim) and Darwin Bucky (andblack studio).

More specifically in Fashion, i have been obsessed with the works of Iris Van Herpen for years; but getting to know how Parametric Design fits into their work process has been extremely eyeopening!

This project on Prosthetics by Alexander McQueen is another stunner that opened my eyes to the possibilities of where all one sees parametric design.

Some extremely intersting works from Bart Hess & Mephew Barney

I have also looked deeper into the work of Neri Oxman, DAniel Widrig, Isaie Bloch, Niccolo Casas, Behnaz Farahi, Noa Raviv, Frances Bitonti, Ganit Goldstein and threeASFOUR.

More specifially, in order to understand the assignemnt, Kae shared with us this amazing tutorial from the past years which delved deeply into understanding how to go about the assignment. This tutorial was godsent and helped massively to understand a possible workflow to follow for this week.

Softwares, Tools & Materials¶

SOFTWARES:¶

Autodesk AutoCAD (for making shapes and patterns)
Autodesk Fusion 360 (using Dimension Parameters)
Blender (using Geometry Nodes)
Adobe Photoshop (for creating test patterns)

TOOLS:¶

Ender 3 V3 KE (3D Printer)

MATERIALS:¶

PLA (for 3D printing)
Viscose Rayon
Tencel Modal
Poly Mesh
Nylon
Elastane
Polyester
Bamboo Fibre
Cotton Denim

Work Flow:¶

Choosing Shape¶

To begin with, i did a LOT of research on figuring out the basic shapes to work with. In this tutorial the concept of Auxetics and Lattice structures was talked about, and these were the types of shapes i looked into. Based on my research, i shortlisted the following shapes and patterns.

Choosing Printing Techiniques¶

I liked the following 4 flexible printing techniques from the tutorial, based on the shapes that i selected:

1.Playing with the printer height: aka regular 3d printing, but with very low height assigned to the shapes, specifically in multipples of the width of extrusion of the 3D printing machine's material in each layer

2.The sandwich method: where you insert the fabric while pausing an ongoing print and then continuing the printing

3.Flexible designs: where the design itself is flexible and doesn't need a fabric to be inserted to make it flexible; these can be planar or 3D geometries

How to 'Parametric'?¶

We had an option of chosing to work in Grasshopper for Rhino or Blender for this week. However, looking at my skillset in AutoCAD, i was inclined to learn and work on Fusion360, after deep conversations and research on what that would entail.

I felt that the learning curve would be less steep with Autodesk softwares for me. Oh but I was WRONG!

The fact of the matter is that making PARAMETRIC designs takes a VERY different skillset than having the ability to imagine and digitally model. Infact, to begin with, it needs a LOT of clarity on WHAT IS IT that you want to make, and the PARAMETERS you want to engage with.

To me, Parametric Designs are similar to Responsive Websites; they can change based on the variables being fed; and both being beyond my comprehension to program!

Learning 'Dimension Parameters' in Fusion360¶

Since i wanted to work with Fusion360, Rico gave me step-by-step instructions and got me to follow the instructions under his guidance. This was a relif, because that is when i started to understand the ACTUAL workflow of HOW to convert the shapes that i had chosen into PARAMETRIC.

Lession 1: In Fusion360, one needs to use Dimension Parameters to create Parametric Designs.

Lession 2: Go slow and steady. Keep labelling the parameters on the sheet. Keep experimenting.

Lession 3: While being explorative, it is not a complex as i imagined. However, it requires a lot more clarity and planning to create an exactly imagined design.

Lession 4: Keep mental space for new things to emerge in your planned design.

Learning 'Geometry Nodes' in Fusion360¶

And since Blender is Rico's current favourtite software to play with, we also attempted a step-by-step-follow instructions strategy for me to try. As unexpected as it was, i really enjoyed understanding the process one needs to follow to arrive at attempting to create parametric designs on Blender.

Takeaway 1: In Blender, one uses Geometric Nodes to create Parametric Designs.

Takeawya 2: With the vast scope of possible commands tha Blender offers, it would be easier if there was an available list of these, that one could choose from.

Takeaway 3: To begin experimenting, I can always explore within the small list of commands that have been introduced to me.

Takeway 4: As much as i see the potential of what all can be done on Blender, I feel extremely unprepared to use it, since the possibilities of doing anything are so vast, that it has become a hinderance for me to even understand where to begin.

Takeaway 5: I will definitely try to learn Blender when i am not on such a short timeline for assignment delivery. For now, i will work on Fusion360.

Making Final Shape Swatches¶

Post my tutorials with Rico, i immediately attempted to work on the simplest first shape that i had selected. Everything was going good, till i tried to convert it into a Pattern and started seeing issues with the planning for the shape.

I realsied, that for creating a Pattern to be repeated, i need to create the PERFECT module that can keep repeating. The module however, is not the entire shape, but a part of it.

So i moved to AutoCAD and created the chart for myself of all the modules, shapes and patterns that i could use to create parametric designs for this week.

Learning 'Creality' 3D Printer Handling¶

Printing Swatches¶

Testing Swatches¶

Learnings¶

People to thank for this week¶

Rico: hands down, would not have been able to attempt the 'parametric' side of the assignemnt without his one-on-one handholding tutorial with Fusion and Blender

Kae: for sharing the Tutorial that mattered, and set me off on my research journey on where to begin the assignment

This week in emojis:¶

🤩😍👀🥲😓🧗😮‍💨🤲😅

Research & Ideation¶

describe what you see in this image

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

weekly assignment

Check out the weekly assignment here or login to your NuEval progress and evaluation page.

about your images..delete the tip!!

Remember to credit/reference all your images to their authors. Open source helps us create change faster together, but we all deserve recognition for what we make, design, think, develop.
remember to resize and optimize all your images. You will run out of space and the more data, the more servers, the more cooling systems and energy wasted :) make a choice at every image :)

This image is optimised in size with resolution 72 and passed through tinypng for final optimisation. Remove tips when you don't need them anymore!

get inspired!

Check out and research alumni pages to betetr understand how to document and get inspired

Dual filament 3d print research - Stephanie Johnson - TextileLab Amsterdam
3d print on fabric - Zahia Albakri - CPF Makerspace
3d print on fabric - Aslı Aydın Aksan - TextileLab Amsterdam
Visaulisations & Ideation - Dinesh Kumar - FabLab Bcn

Add your fav alumni's pages as references

References & Inspiration¶

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

Two images side-by-side

describe what you see in this image

Image reference

Download reference

Links to reference files, PDF, booklets,

about your images..

Remember to credit/reference all your images to their authors. Open source helps us create change faster together, but we all deserve recognition for what we make, design, think, develop.
remember to resize and optimize all your images. You will run out of space and the more data, the more servers, the more cooling systems and energy wasted :) make a choice at every image :) This image is optimised in size with resolution 72 and passed through tinypng for final optimisation.

Tools¶

Process and workflow¶

Rhino and Grasshopper ... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

describe what you see in this image

Step¶

This model ¹ was obtained by..

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."

Step¶

The paramteric model ² was created using.. it allows the user to follow, shape, adapt, increase, mimic..

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Step¶

...

My final model for printing is ...

The STL model ³ was obtained by..

Print with file [^4] was created using..

footnote fabrication files

Fabrication files are a necessary element for evaluation. You can add the fabrication files at the bottom of the page and simply link them as a footnote. This was your work stays organised and files will be all together at the bottom of the page. Footnotes are created using [ ^ 1 ] (without spaces, and referenced as you see at the last chapter of this page) You can reference the fabrication files to multiple places on your page as you see for footnote nr. 2 also present in the Gallery.

3D Models¶

upload the 3d models of MakeHuman, Final 3d modelled body, 3D Scans, etc use the fabrication files at the bottom of the page to link and upload models, referencing them with a footnote

Dita's Gown by Francis Bitonti Studio on Sketchfab

Videos¶

learn how to add video tutorials, inspirational videos and movies etc

From Vimeo¶

Sound Waves from George Gally (Radarboy) on Vimeo.

From Youtube¶

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Fabrication files¶

File: 3d modelling of mannequin ↩
File: Laser cut sheets ↩
File: additional models ↩