Design intentions
Algorithmic body is an experimentation on growing processes in an architectural context. It aims on one hand to develop an abstract architectural algorithmic process where the initial generative principle is internal to the process itself, without having to rely on aspects of the program or the site. On the other hand tries to test that process with specific examples. A cellular automaton algorithm is used in order to `grow` an invisible organization of space, while the result is visualized through a, second, voronoi algorithm. The process already described is employed in the design of a specific project: a transportation node + shopping mall downtown St. Louis. The ‘node’ connects two metro stations and the train station and at the same time hosts a shopping mall. The building is developed in analogy to the human body: organs/bones/skin. The organs become the enclosed spaces, the bones the structural system and the skin an outer membrane that wraps the other two. The project is employing the latest building technology with a fiber-carbon structure and ETFE pillows for the outer skin.