My research is focused on building software tools for architectural design that employ the methodology of simulation. In science, simulation is used to test the validity of models of the world as it exists. In contrast, this this research investigates a reversal of this role; it seeks to use simulation to explore worlds as they could exist. It is a speculative endeavor that attempts to describe not Nature, but artificial natures - future, as yet unmapped, territories of potential. At a basic level, the software employs the logics of existing emergent systems such as movements in large groups of organisms, cellular differentiation, and molecular bonding. These processes are modified in an iterative fashion to arrive at a simulation that behaves less like the original system than a generator of novel architectures - less a scientific instrument, more an engine of alternative futures. The products of the simulations are fabricated two and three dimensionally, and at various scales. These physical artifacts are then subjected to interpretation, which further informs the use of the software. Once an instrumental, productive range of potential architectures is identified they are packaged and disseminated to the discipline and the public. This line of inquiry is situated in a space which assumes a role for the architect as actively producing possible futures that can inform decisions in the present.
About
Aaron Westre
westr015@umn.edu
Education
2008
Master of Architecture. University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1998
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. St. Cloud State University. St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Teaching
2009
Design Games: Rethinking Architectural Design Software. Undergraduate Workshop. School of Architecture, University of Minnesota.
Design Games: Programming Creative Interfaces. Undergraduate Workshop. School of Architecture, University of Minnesota.
Introduction to Parametric Modeling with Grasshopper. Workshop for Students and Faculty. School of Architecture, University of Minnesota.
Professional Experience
2009 - Present
Researcher. Minneapolis Art on Wheels, Department of Art, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.
Adjunct Instructor. School of Architecture, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.
Principal. Artificial Natures, A software consultancy serving architects and designers. Minneapolis, MN.
2005 - 2009
Technology Coordinator. Institute for New Media Studies, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.
2001 - 2005 Web Developer. The Graduate School, University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, MN.
Publications
2010
"TensileDraw" (Software Review) Fabric Architecture. Jan/Feb. Industrial Fabrics Association International.
2009
"ForTen 3000" (Software Review) Fabric Architecture. Jan/Feb. Industrial Fabrics Association International.
2008
"Complexity Machine 1: A 3D Modeling Application Implementing Behavioral Simulation" (Paper) in Proceedings of the 2008 ACADIA Conference. Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture.
Complexity Machine 1: Drawing 3D Form with Behavioral Simulation (Masters Thesis). University of Minnesota.
Volume 4: Design+Freedom, Co-editor. THERE: Journal of Design. University of Minnesota.
2007
"Design Hackers" (Article) in THERE: Journal of Design, v. 3. University of Minnesota.
2006
"Techno-green" (Article) in THERE: Journal of Design, v. 2. University of Minnesota.
Presentations
2008
Complexity Machine 1: A 3D Modeling Application Implementing Behavioral Simulation (Paper Presentation) 2008 ACADIA Conference. University of Minnesota.
2007
"Design Code" (Presentation). Emerging Digerati. University of Minnesota.
"A Digital Rocaille" (Paper Presentation). Minnesota Society of Architectural Historians Student Symposium. University of St. Thomas. St. Paul, Minnesota.
Exhibitions
2008
Co-curator. Emerging Digerati Showcase. University of Minnesota.
2006
Packaging as Object of Desire. 9th Annual CALA Student Exhibition (Group Show). University of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Awards
2008
Saul Parness Scholarship. Department of Architecture, University of Minnesota.