Andrew Kudless

(California College of the Arts / Matsys)

Cellular Morphologies

Cellular Morphologies Summary: This paper describes a series of projects developed over the last 4 years by Matsys exploring cellular morphologies. The research began as an investigation into cellular solids, a trans-material grouping of materials that share certain impressive performative qualities based on their cellular geometry.

Using this fundamental research, a number of projects were initiated that developed new digital tools to generate honeycomb structures. Through the use of custom-designed scripts and digital fabrication techniques, the research grew into a larger and more complex series of projects exploring the use of the voronoi algorithm to develop aperiodic cellular structures. This design strategy was then tested through both architectural competitions and built installations.

The paper concludes with a broader discussion of the role of the architect in relation to the development of new digital tools and the recent emergence of the design-technologist.

Andrew Kudless

(California College of the Arts / Matsys)

Andrew Kudless is an architect based in San Francisco where he is an assistant professor at the California College of the Arts. He is the founder of Matsys (materialsystems.org), a design studio exploring the emergent relationships between architecture, engineering, biology, and computation.

Andrew has taught at The Ohio State University, the Architectural Association, and Yale University. In 2005 Andrew was the Howard E. LeFevre Fellow for Emerging Practitioners at OSU. He has a MA in Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association and a M.Arch from Tulane University. He is the recipient of a 2004 FEIDAD Design Merit Award and a 1998 Fulbright Fellowship in Japan. He has worked as a designer for Allied Works Architecture in Portland and New York and as a digital design consultant for Expedition Engineering in London.

The work of Matsys has recently been published in the journal Praxis and the book Digital Diagrams.