rat[LAB] Computational Design Tour INDIA // Filling The Void

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, in association with Super-Architects(S//A) & all its collaborators, 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. The launch teaser video for this collaborative event can be viewed here: https://instagram.com/p/2hr4xAsvHF/ or https://www.facebook.com/ratlabarchitecture/videos/483643375122359/ Full details of the workshop are available on this page on our website: http://www.rat-lab.org/#!fillingthevoid/cw3g Organizer Website: www.rat-lab.org