Michal Piasecki worked for WWAA on Polish Pavilion for ITU telecom 2011 fair in Geneva. WWAA design team is Marcin Mostafa, Natalia Paszkowska, Boris Kudlicka and Maciej Burdalski. Michal was responsible for parametric modeling. The design was commissioned by Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and 7 Polish telecommunication companies. The three-dimensional structure hanged above the pavilion imitates cloud bringing the connotations with the technology of cloud computing. Its goal is to bring attention of the visitors to the pavilion and encourage them to watch the presentations on the touch screens. Cloud consists of polycarbonate boards CNC routed. The cut-outs seen from specific positions form the inscription “Poland” in four different languages. The shape of the boards was designed using the parametric model, which generated the cutting lines in reference to the location of the observation points. Parametric model allowed also for the approximation of the length of the cut line which was base for the optimization of the effect in the given budget.

Michał Piasecki pracował dla WWAA przy Polskim Pawilonie na targi telekomunikacyjne ITU 2011 w Genewie. Zespół projektowy WWAA to Marcin Mostafa, Natalia Paszkowska, Boris Kudlicka i Maciej Burdalski. Michał był odpowiedzialny za modelowanie parametryczne. Projekt powstał na zlecenie Ministerstwa Infrastruktury i 7 polskich firm z branży telekomunikacyjnej. Nad Pawilonem zawieszona jest przestrzenna struktura imitująca chmurę nawiązująca do technologi “cloud computing”. Ma ona za zadanie budzić zainteresowanie stoiskiem i zachęcać odwiedzających targi do zapoznania się z treściami prezetowanymi na stoisku. Chmura składa się z płyt z poliwęglanu komorowego wyciętych CNC. Wycięcia płyt widziane z okreslonych punktów układaja sie w napisy Polska w 4 językach. Kształt płyt został zaprojektowany używając modelu parametrycznego, który generował linie cięcia w zależności od lokalizacji punktów widzenia oraz treści napisów. Model pozwalał również na oszacowanie ilość poliwęglanu potrzebnej do wykonania stoiska i długość ścieżki CNC umożliwiając optymalizację efektu w założonym budżecie.

Michal Piasecki is working for WWAA on a private gallery interior in Warsaw. A 5-axis CNC milled mock-up recently arrived in the office at Minska 25.

Michał Piasecki pracuje dla WWAA nad projektem wnętrz prywatnej galerii w Warszawie. Frezowany 5-osiowo prototyp niedawno pojawił się w pracowni na Mińskiej 25.

Michal Piasecki recently worked for NEX Architecture on Times Eureka Pavilion. The project, commissioned by Times newspaper and Kew Gardens, was undertaken in collaboration with landscape architects Marcus Barnett. It is about to be opened during RHS Chelsea Flower Show on 25th of May 2011 in London. Detailed description is available from NEX.

Michal’s responsibility was to develop a series of scripts and parametric models for all design stages. Early concepts used an implementation of L-systems – algorithms simulating the growth of trees – in Processing. Grasshopper was put to work on later stages when the form became controlled by a Voronoi diagram. It was also used to develop final fabrication data, including layout and labeling, for two technologies: 5 axis CNC milling for timber structure and laser cutting for plastic infill.

Michał Piasecki pracował niedawno dla NEX Architecture nad projektem Times Eureka Pavilion. Projekt, opracowany na zlecenie gazety Times i Kew Gardens, powstał we współpracy z architektami krajobrazu Marcus Barnett. Otwarcie nastąpi na RHS Chelsea Flower Show 25 maja 2011 w Londynie. Szczegółowy opis jest dostępny na stronie NEX.

Zadaniem Michała było opracowanie szeregu skryptów i modeli parametrycznych , których używano na wszystkich etapach pracy nad projektem. Na etapie koncepcji użyto L-systemów – algorytmów symulujących proces wzrastania drzew – zaimplementowanych w Processing. Grasshopper został użyty na późniejszym etapie, gdy forma zaczęła być kontrolowana przez diagram Voronoi. Wykorzystano go również do przygotowania końcowych danych do cyfrowego wspomagania wytwarzania. W projekcie zastosowano dwie technologie CNC: frezowanie 5-osiowe do wytworzenia konstrukcji drewnianej oraz cięcie laserowe przy plastikowym wypełnieniu.

Agata Guzik and Michal Piasecki will tutor a digital fabrication seminar and laboratory at Architecture for Society of Knowledge (ASK), a new masters programme at Warsaw School of Architecture.

Agata Guzik i Michał Piasecki poprowadzą seminarium i laboratorium z cyfrowego wspomagania wytwarzania na nowych studiach magisterkich: Architektura dla Społeczeństwa Wiedzy (ASK) na Wydziale Architektury w Warszawie.

Michał PIasecki pracował ze 137kilo nad projektem koncepcyjnym holu wejściowego w Green Corner – nowym biurowcu w Warszawie. Parametryczny model mebli znajdujących się w holu jest zestawieniem przekrojów powstałych w wyniku studiów ergonomii różnych pozycji przybieranych podczas siedzenia. Model został opracowany w Grasshopper a modele dwóch siedzisk zostały wyfrezowane w skali 1:10 z użyciem 2,5 osiowej CNC. 137kilo opisuje projekt na swoim blogu offtherecord.

Michal tutored a 5 day Processing workshop for a master programme at Lund University’s School of Industrial Design. The workshop took place between 25th and 29th of October 2010. Many thanks to Andreas Hopf and Axel Nordin for the invitation. Below is the synopsis:

Processing for Mass Customization

Parametric modeling gains a significant influence on the workflow of product designers and architects alike. Packages such as Rhino plug-in Grasshopper allow for a definition of a product through associations between it’s parts. These relations embed a range of features: starting from how the product looks, through it’s ergonomic qualities, up to material effectiveness and ease of manufacturing. Designers are not developing a single instance of a form through continuous iterations any more. Instead they constantly refine a spectrum of potential solutions, so allowing the end user to have a look at this spectrum seems like a natural step forward. If the design is produced with digital manufacturing, on-demand production appears to be a natural consequence of this move.

Mass customization in it’s full takes place when customers are allowed to browse through a significantly large spectra of solutions. Yet non-designers can not access parametric definitions developed in plug-ins such a Grasshopper, since they are not familiar with CAD packages which host them. Thus the knowledge of programming becomes an important skill for the designer, since it allows them to create configurators: tools for mass customization of products, which open up a new channel of communication with the clients.

The workshop will be an intensive 5-days introduction to Processing, an open-source programming language initiated by Casey Reas and Ben Fry at MIT. First two days will be devoted to an introduction of the syntax and basic functionalities. Students will learn how to use Processing for generation of 2d and 3d models as well as how to program interaction with their software. Later, students will be provided with a sample code used for mass customization of a 3-dimensional form. This will serve as a basis to develop their own designs and softwares for their customization.

PROJECT: To + Fro Table

LOCATION: London, UK

KEY DATES: Competition June 2010
Completion of prototype: September 2010
Production: January 2011

PROTOTYPE MANUFACTURER: Metropolitan Works

PRICE: Price on application

DESIGNER: NEX – Alan Dempsey, Paul Loh, Michal Piasecki

COLLABORATORS: Engineering consultation: Buro Happold

DESIGN STATEMENT:

The to-and-fro table is designed to expand the range of communication between users through a sophisticated arrangement of material and structure. As verbal communication accounts for only a small part of how we interact, the to-and-fro table facilitates more open full body communication with certain individuals while remaining discreetly hidden to others.

Like the reciprocating back and forth of a good conversation, the table is made up of a field of delicate wooden fins that vary to-and-fro in relation to each other and interlock to form an intricate lattice that appears most transparent in the vicinity of the person sitting diagonally opposite the viewer and increasingly opaque elsewhere. While the variation of the transparency of the table leads to a more engaging interaction, it is also intended to produce a piece of furniture that actively contributes to the atmosphere of the space it is placed within by creating complex patterns of light and shadow.

The table is designed from individual components that are precisely machined on computer controlled routers, which are then hand assembled by skilled craftsmen. The table is made from solid walnut with an iron free glass top.

“Parametric Modeling and CAM Technologies” was a seminar tutored by WF (Agata Kycia, Dorota Kabala, Krzysztof Gornicki, Krystian Kwiecinski and Michal Piasecki) at the WAPW (Warsaw University of Technology, School of Architecture). The seminar took place from October 2009 till February 2010 and was an elective course for master of architecture level students.

The aim of the seminar was to make students familiar with the notion of a CAD/CAM continuum. Students developed group projects using parametric modeler Generative Components. The projects where intended to be manufactured using a subtractive computer aided manufacturing technology of choice. The project above (by group 1: Joanna Bartos, Malgorzata Piotrowska, Jerzy Soltyk and Andrzej Zajkowski) was CNC milled and the one below (by group 4: Marcin Brzeski, Damian Pedrakowski, Patrycja Michalak, Agnieszka Rokicka and Maciej Rudnicki) was laser cut.

More information is available on workshops factory blog.

I have just learned through Fluid Forms blog that Gramazio’s and Kohler’s mTABLE is available for purchase. All you need to do is to download the customization software to your cell phone, give it a go and send the data to the fabricators. The table will then be CNC milled. Is it the first example of a truly portable customization tool?