Calligraphy morphology diagram [1/65]

Autocatalytic Mutations is a research project exploring the possibilities of prefabricated systems with the birth of mass customization. The research and design was conducted through the lens of an emerging world super power, China. As a unit the design studio took a trip to Beijing, where we conducted a 3 week generative design workshop with the Central Academy of Fine Arts(CAFA),collaborating with Chinese students using the design software Generative Components. There was an interest in exploring the relationship between the unit and its’ subsequent field condition.

As a point of departure we began creating interactive field drawings using the Processing programming environment. Through computer code we developed 2-dimensional dynamic drawing units, which were replicated to produce dynamic field conditions. By analyzing the results we began to extract behaviors which would begin to influence the creation of 3-dimensional dynamic modular components. Components were designed to be morphologically robust, capable of a high degree of dynamic change. This capacity would yield richness in diversity once examined as a field condition, much like the 2-dimensional Processing experiments conducted prior. While digital experiments were being carried out we were simultaneously examining the physical cultural morphology of China itself. The focus was on the morphology of Chinese Calligraphy, attempting to understand dynamic change through the evolution of written art.

A significant analog to the digital development of the mass customized modular system was a thorough analysis of the morphology of a single mandarin character. The mandarin character for the term 'attract' was documented and analyzed through the chronology of Chinese dynasties. In this process I began to examine within the characters’ 3 stroke structure how each move within the series changed over time. During particular periods there were extensions of the first or last stroke in the series changing the reading of the character. With this information there were 3 layers to be superimposed onto one another in the project: the 2-dimensional layer derived from computational drawings, the physical layer developed through the morphological component, and the etymological/cultural layer developed through the calligraphy analysis.

The proposed system was a cross bracing structural unit, which sinuously linked to its’ neighbors. The surfaces of the unit contain subtle reveals, which at varying moments within the system expand to operate as shading devices. Thus structure and light modulation become fused into the behavior of a single dynamic component.