6. Computational Couture¶

Research & Ideation¶

Parametric design: refers to the use of algorithms to repeat or shape design elements in which complex geometries are created by manipulating the parameters . It is commonly used in engineering and architecture.

Zaha Hadid is one of the most renowed architects who uses this technique. With a background in mathematics from the American University of Beirut, she developed a vision on how to go beyond the orthogonal grid (a grid with intersections at 90 degrees). By bending and distorting it, she gave way to fluidity, dynamism and emotion. She was a pioneer in adopting parametric software in the industry and later collaborated with key providers in the development of new tools.

Zaha Hadid - Getty Images

In the fashion world, Iris Van Herpen is a pioneer in using paramertric design combined with 3D printing, laser cutting and materials research to create her garments. In the book ‘Sculpting the Senses’ the maison shares their processes that blend innovation and classic craftsmanship.

From their FB post:

‘Escapism’ (upper left) dress 2011, white polyamide powder is 3D printed into organic line-pleats, in collaboration with Daniel Widrig.
‘Labyrinthine’ (upper right) gown 2019, metallic lasercut dendrites are heatbonded onto tulle, after which white organza petals are hand-stitched onto the lasercut, creating a vibrating exoskeleton.
‘Holobiont’ (lower left)dress detail 2021, upcycled fabric made with Parley for the Oceans, is digitally printed and parametrically lasercut into fine triangles that create an illusory pattern of movement onto the skin.
‘Galactic Glitch’ (lower right) dress, red cloud-printed silk is bonded to mylar and laser cut into the finest lace of thousands of 1 mm harmonica-waves. In collaboration with @Philip.Beesley

@sewprinted is a US based architect who specializes in 3D printing experimentation. She has built a community by sharing her process and tutorials. STLs of her masks, shoes, glasses, wallets are also available for download.

@sewprinted
One of my favorite prints yet.
♬ original sound - Sew Printed

@aby3d3d - a London based 3D Printing services company offering 3D Modeling, animation, fashion 3D Printing, 3D prototyping. It's a good resource to understand how to operate 3D fashion as a business. On instagram they share samples of their work and experimentation.

@abi3d3d
3D printing on fabric for fashion and design
♬ original sound - ABI3D3D

References & Inspiration¶

I started by looking at micro and macro photography of organisms. It's interesting to see the patters that can be found in nature, even though not all of them are visible to the naked eye. For this assignment I went underwater and took inspiration form sea animals. In particular starfish.

@foliepictorial diving into the mycelial network...one photo at a time #experimentalart #macrophotography #fungi #mushroom ♬ original sound - Folie

by @foliepictorial

Left - Digital diatoms #7 by Jan Rosenboom @nature.inspiring

Right - by Chris Perani

In the end I decided to go with a close up of a star fish for this assignment

Photo by Joaquín Gutierrez Fernandez

Tools¶

Blender
Ultimaker
Inkscape
ZMaker Printer

Process and workflow¶

I started by creating an SVG in Inkscape from the photo.

Path > Trace Bitmap > Invert Image adjust sliders to get a cleaner image.
Path > Simplify to simplify the number of nodes on the path.
File > Export > Simple SVG to export in SVG that can be imported into blender.

I noticed I did not think this through when I realized that I was trying to repeat the image above in a grid format and I wanted to get to the image above as a final result while using parametric design. This is because we are using instancing which refers to the process of distributing clones of any geometric shape on the interesction points of a mesh. I plan to look for a way to do it, it seems similar to the result by @aby3d3d mentioned before but for now I changed my shape.