We'll have really good sellers.

Embarrass him by going through the whole
thing just getting a little bit I.

Want

to.

Point out a few years ago now it's
thirty years ago now three started his

three years you started to.

Look.

And what I would say correctly.

Structural Engineering degree.

Like that's my own words that I kind of.

Don't know you're talking about.

But the.

Best piece on the whole
CD you know through.

The.

First they said.

OK I guess license international well.

I think that you know it just it does.

So without further ado I guess I would
just say that both of these are.

Probably.

Right.

Will probably.

Start.

Something.

Like.

Art.

Architecture.

That will be this year and
we couldn't have better speakers today so

without I'm going to turn
it over to we'll talk.

Thankyou Tristian welcome everybody is
actually my first time at Georgia Tech Can

you believe after all those years
in the United States I'm honored.

To show up.

My background is structural engineering
but I teach architecture at

Columbia University and at R.P.I. they
gave me that Bedford professorship So I'm

a little bit in between those worlds where
they overlap engineering and architecture.

And so despite my my background as
Tristian said I was handling quite some

very large projects like I lived in
Thailand Bangkok and I helped on the Bank

of International Airport with fabric
structures and large steel arches I'm

more bringing projects that I feel are bit
more within reach medium small scale and

are in the overlap where engineering
can support architectural design.

So again I did work for
the king of Bahrain in the Middle East and

we built him a nice floating bank building
together with S. So I am at the time.

And that is my structure background but
I want to talk about more something

maybe a little bit more visionary
a little bit more provocative today and

there's a very nice saying I put that
right on the front page of our website

from George Bernard Shaw and he says the
reasonable man adopts himself to the world

the unreasonable one persists in
trying to the world to Himself and

then you start giggling but
there comes another sentence there for

all progress depends on
the unreasonable man.

So I brought biomimicry skins

very close friend of mine Mark forints is
now a celebrity artist all over the world

we are building metal skins that
are free form and that follow the.

Nature or non dimensional shape.

I want to show how these crazy little
University things can become mainstream

right now we did pavilions in the L.A.X.
Airport for Pinkberry for Starbucks.

I brought a new material
Dark Tower which is a fiber.

Concrete where I'm actually working with
Dex industries right here in Atlanta my

friend Craig and I do a lot of projects
which are very beautiful using a new

concrete that no longer has rebar and
finally I brought some cool stuff we're

working on the culture shed in New York
and a few other things at the end.

Of the pitch on this first thing we're not
the only ones talking about biomimicry is

that biology biology
inspires technology towards

intelligent adaptive system design.

And if we think about the time scale of
millions of years nature has been around

only at some level pink
the homers options are show up.

And if you look at nature you don't really
find any ninety degree angles at all so

all we build right now seems to be manmade
seems to be a geometry Clee driven and

what we're trying to say is with
the modern software the Tristian also is

an expert and we're now no longer have to
be hesitant about crazy shapes because we

can handle digital fabrication we can
handle in regular forms and if that is so

and we also have modern technology like
three D. printing and I get to the second

maybe we can shift away from geometrical
ninety degree angle architecture and

can learn from nature this is how and
to make a bridge for example or

this is the elegant wing of an insect.

And so actually when you look at our
company logo it is really based on the sun

flower and I chose it purposely as
a non rectangular shape there is

some feeble Nucky series in
there anything but rectangular.

Some words about us as I said
I left the corporate world and

I found a rundown place where we created
lead left and we were across from the U.N.

East Side of Manhattan actually
in Long Island City and

we've been grand to really laugh is
probably we were no longer a star there

were about sixteen people
from ten different countries.

So this is our office room this
is the gas pipe to my neighbor's

Murakami the famous artist and
on the other side we have a brewery so

twice a week it smells like
fresh beer where we are.

So what we did last year is the two D.
try out crazy little test on

that sun floor model as a terrace and
we just felt like let's keep all these old

chimneys in the roughness and
just build something around it

what I'm interested in is seeing if
structures can maintain what is there and

kind of grow into it rather than taking
everything down and being rectangular.

And so the logo when you look at it
is based on Sunflower growth and

the flower grows in this very interesting
pattern that you see on the screen.

Yes you're better than I in this we have
grasshopper now we still need to get

a technical handle in this so the initial
idea from the Nature will shape still

has to be transformed to some
degree into something technically

because we want to manufacture and
produce it later on and

in that sense we are working right now and
I do this on my personal R. and D.

time how to get a handle on these
different shapes and form the two D.

which we built after work hours and
weekends you see here that that two D.

terrorist which is based on
a conventional deck structure.

Was already based on a digital fabrication
this is a marine plywood where we

made the shape and then directly gave the
CD to my friend across the street where we

have a would make her teeth bacon and
they just printed it and then every piece

has a number on the back side and
off you go very low tech that's a two D.

adaptive structure it's quite nice in
the wintertime because the joints show up

when the snow hits or our terrace.

This year I'm a bit more ambitious
I want to make a three D.

step I want to try and
see how we can use these

shapes that maybe have advantages
over conventional parallel grids.

By building a quarter of
a sphere a dome a grid shell

as you see on the on the screen.

And so what we need is obviously
one day this could be eighty

if you know magic pillows because I don't
have quadrangles at all in one surface but

for now I'm just interested in the initial
notes yes I engineer all this I've done

this for years but in this case I'm
interested in what are the connections

about how can we make these
shapes economic incredible.

And so the number of we shifted we move
it around purposely I take the center of

the sun flow offset
because it looks better

you also see you get really wide on
the outside really narrow on the inside so

there are some compromises on
the parametric that we need to figure out.

And then MIT recently developed laser
printer that's not the first one but

this one has fiber in it so this is
nylon and fiber and we print both at

the same time and that gets a strength
to almost close to the nominal So

the reason I buy this one is not because
it's the fastest it's actually slow but

we reach strength levels
that can really build with.

And you can imagine and I maybe I show
round some of these prototypes what I'm

after is to say the disadvantage of
the Sunflower is that I have millions of

different or thousands of different
geometrical connections to solve.

But because the printer couldn't care less
what they print I'm using a matter in

twenty first century technology which
is this one then I'm using our modern

software tool and then I'm using
primes that are informed by nature and

a few together hopefully will
get us to an interesting result

now first types very ugly but also we
quickly figured out if you do a male or

female connection you cannot just put
them together there comes a point

where you have no more room
to put the next piece on so

what we're doing now is we're making a
connection where we come off from the top.

The forty five degree
cut lumen on pipe and

the grill is all the complexity
goes in here and

everything else is very conventional could
be wood could be steel could be aluminum

piping we can build hooks we can number
this we can integrate lighting so

what I'm saying is why not let the twenty
first century technology print this.

And have everything else conventional and
I purposely brought you some where we had

some burning issues you can see
some of the bridging here so

maybe even just take those around and
show to class I just need them back so

those are three pieces.

So where we are now according to
the geometry I can always come down from

above and then I build through that
means whenever I need to replace a piece

I can just unbolted and this is
engineered with finite elements and

again all the geometrical irregularity is
only taken in here these are just very

conventional cut through pieces
as we know them from the past.

Yes.

We can one day even vary the amount
of fiber according to the stress in

the piece currently we're at the tropics
because the fiber the strength like

the rebar is going to directions so
we have one we could our action and

also as you know if you feel laser
printed you need the scaffolding so

when you have a hole you
have to work around it.

But this will be open it already is so
water can flow through

lighting could go through we could
add hoax for like later finishes and

so forth not that complex I'm
just interested in the steps and

my plan is to Revis out on a larger scale
and this is what we are going to do

we've already marked up the welds so
he'll to hit anchors will be the start and

then we come forward and
we just touching at two points and

this will be then my my personal research
on the three D. adaptation of a name.

Shape into a quick chill dawn.

And.

Just because I'm not giving
this to my R.P.I. students and

other students there's beautiful examples
of shapes in nature for a long time you

all know these gave sunflower we have
shapes that are breathtakingly amazing and

so I have the students take these
nature forms and patterns and

have them converted into
shapes of structural design.

One of my favorites is the fractal cabbage
so if you look at this we can just

cut it through and
look at it again it's quite interesting.

So even Einstein said
look deep into nature and

then you understand everything better
this is a little city Eunice it simply

starts growing from the middle and
then the leaves find a way.

And not that I'm against geometrical
bathhouse architecture but

we should wonder why nature is never
using the ninety degree angle and

we should maybe step back and
say maybe our technology is now ready.

To copy nature a bit more with three
hundred million years of experience.

So.

I'm claiming there might be structures
are there that are more efficient than

rectangular column buildings coming
from nature I'm saying we might be ready

that we have to do the fabrication tools
which is grasshopper Rhino you name it.

We are ready with a parametric approach so
we no longer have to shy away from

a design that has five thousand different
pieces because we simply give it a number.

And finally.

Maybe there is given courtyards for
example in New York City with all the auto

buildings where an adaptive backwards
approach into a given urban footprint.

Is asking for
something other than just a grid.

I don't know yet.

And if you see here the disadvantage of
my sunflower is that you get very wide on

the outside so there might be other
shapes we looked at the Louis here and

there the God of where we do not get so

wide with the base the further we get
away from the center off of the geometry

we'll see don't know yet.

Or in other words historically
nineteenth century.

I love these early steel structures right
because we put all the money in saving

material the material was where the money
was so labor was less important so

we were building according to force flow
that's why a lot of these systems are so

delicate twentieth century My criticism
is yes we made very fast progress but

the labor was all in the building and
the cost was in the labor so

we stopped optimizing material and
we ended up with very repetitive sometimes

rare systems so perhaps we're
now ready to go back and combine

the two where we have an intelligence
approach to how we make things and

at the same time allow ourselves to be
free form follow archers shells and domes.

And the example as I said earlier one
more craftsmanship some elegance stuff in

the nineteenth Century Limited
twentieth century very repetitive very

unitized maybe twenty first century
something I'm doing with you Tristan

in the Miami Design District which is
based on some more organic architectural

vision.

We're just starting but this is reality
this is about thirty foot tall This

is an Edmonton Canada these
are self carrying skins and

the Skins are made out of clip and
aluminum or

steel thin plates that we program and
then rivet them together.

It starts this is Mark France
my friend in Brooklyn.

It starts with small scale models maybe
this big it starts with a with a reveled

Ryan or a grasshopper program and
then every piece is as arbitrary

as it looks actually is exactly defined.

And the power of the experience is
the light as it goes through the color and

the thinness So there is not a single beam
I beam call a member everything is one

eighth of an inch plate which is Shindle
than riveted on top of each other.

The room of the engineer here is
especially stability you may have heard of

plate buckling lateral buckling column
buckling because it's sort of thin and

it gets compression from wind and snow
we need to make the curvature sufficient

that it doesn't pop away doesn't buckle
out and that is what our contribution

from the engineering side is so when Mark
sends a something I tell him this is where

it would buckle this is where it would
go we go back we change the shape so

I'm not the designer but I am the support
in terms of creating that shape so

it doesn't fail when it's a windy day or
it's snowing.

We've evolved to an hour building longer
strips to reduce labor it's still fairly

labor intensive but we don't need
any scaffolding he just comes up off

the ground that we build
everything ourselves.

He wins all over the world right now and

we did one in France we did one in Texas
this one is in Rhode Island based on the.

Double curve type of
balik parable to eat and

all of these things are about
twenty to thirty feet tall.

This one is the one in San Antonio it's
now being built we're a very being we're

trying to kink a bit more he does
not allow me to ever close the leg

I always back him for close change
because they have a higher capacity and

at a higher load but because of
this being skinny isn't being open

we can only kink it so we're introducing.

A certain amount of kink and

then again this is my engineering
support these are so called Shell finite

elements to help him figure
out how to exactly built it.

So the process is we do the footing
then we come up with these prefab

elements they come off the truck they have
a number they have a color this is and

dice or
pull us to powder coated finish and

then it fits together quite magically Of
course we're using principles like true

arches shell structures
the physics of nature is still

valid so
you can't be gravity is pointing down.

And so.

The ship industry now starts to get
interested and we're building the entrance

of the largest cruise ship in the world
to come and as I said it's so

powerful the language and now we're
test elating into making openings in it

that a lot of people in the world
like to have one of those.

And again here the basic idea is
to try new shapes try new forms.

And then be not nine hundred centuries but
be twenty first century at the at the same

time.

The very many is the website if
you're interested Marc four and

there's all the other sculptures online.

And since I'm in Georgia Tech I also work
with one of your own with Farrakhan I

cannot be right or know if he's still
here but I do all his sculpture

work as a supportive engineer I picked
one he recently did in Denver Colorado

called the supernova.

A person who lives here or used to live
you're a teacher in your studio school.

And then it gets funny and
surprising then it gets all of

a sudden I'm good I'm not saying
mainstream but the L A X airport.

On the west coast felt that their
airports were too boring and

they have no good retail concept and so
Starbucks says to friends of mine from our

tour they do metal work give me something
with a bit of identity give me something

different and I call this the return of
the rivet because riveting words aren't

old fashioned everybody wants to weld and
build but since these plates are so thin.

Welding would distort the piece and
voting would be overkill so

we're actually riveting these pieces
out of flat very thin aluminum bars and

then do the engineering to create things
like canopies where people are drawn

to buy the coffee for
Starbucks not that because it's so

slender again that's why we save a lot
of money we don't need all we need is we

need punched flat metal and
a computer that tells you C.N.C.

where to cut it then we engineer how
many rivets we need we shoot them and

everything else I mean there's more to
it but is relatively straightforward.

There aren't any engineers here but what
we still do is we validate deflections

stresses stability frequencies and
connections so the system in itself still

needs to be verified to code this one even
had Earth Craig loading to California

standards.

Stability.

The problem is when you have cantilevers
with negative moments you you pop over

it's always to the load cases that.

You don't reach the stress limit but you
prefer in so-called stability modes and

that is what we help and
then go back and change the system so

these failures happen well above the mood
level that you get even in an earthquake.

And again this is this funny return of
the river the old fashioned pistol and

you just tell the fabricator how many
rivets you need in certain areas

of the canopy and
then you verify shear intention.

And so forth to code.

And then when your good guy like didn't
he says would you have Starbucks I want

something to do so we gave papery another
pavilion this one is more shell like but

nevertheless it's basically except that
one column it's all out of flat plate

material which is very non expensive.

And we do prefabrication approach as much
as possible is fabricated in the shop and

only a few rivets then are done.

On site and now they're starting to
work with artists in the next day we're

trying is facades like rain screen systems
where we can adapt that as a next step and

also can a piece we're not yet
where are tight obviously but

we'll see where that where that leads us.

Now back to Atlanta Georgia there's
a very innovative maker and.

Dr fabricator called Tex industries.

And this gentleman here is the brain
behind a lot of the complex molds

it's a new type of concrete that normal
Reed needs rebar it is very dense and

it has fibers in it and because it's dense
architects know that the haptic feeling of

this is like a Korean Very smooth
very fine and so the challenge

was Louis the town in Florida I want
to sue over clad retail store and

give it their unique identity with the
flowers of their of their fashion paddles.

And this was very much produced
all here in Atlanta you see

the negative molds these are silicon molds
we actually did the corner piece and

run open more piece that's why
there's no misalignment and

my rule is to make clever substructures
that I just believe engineer everything so

it can work this is the cross-section
the fibers you can't really see them but

there is a four to five percent fiber mix
Evie a fibers in that special concrete and

that's why you can may.

Such fine elegant molds with it.

You see that on the left you could never
do this with conventional concrete it

would it would crack off.

And again this is now getting
traction by other architects who

have very nice ideas this is
a Jordan Brown furniture store we can do

different recess this is all here in
Atlanta and we can do best we can do

perforations to create new type of facade
panels that we couldn't have done without

that material some ten fifteen years ago.

And we use a so-called undercut
technology where we fix in certain points

we put the hurricane window on it and make
sure that everything is adjustable and

then you can see results like this very
pleasing architects very happy with

the design freedom you have because from
a simple panel all of a sudden you have

different depth and layers.

This is my engineering headache because
I still have to convince the authorities

that it is safe and
that it's not falling down so

we use so-called small scale tests and
find out elements and

we have reference projects to convince
the code people that we can do it.

It needs to be drawn and a lot of my work
is facade engineering this is an example

of that So how do you fix it where
you see hidden under cut this

would be the cross section of the piece
but you don't constrains in the panel so

there's an adjustability
like a clip in a railing

in a setscrew there's wind load only
supports there's dead load supports and

that type of stuff needs to be
fixed into concrete into brick so

all the specifications of how you actually
put something like that on a building

is called facade engineering and again I'm
not the designer I'm the supporting role

to push that architecture through and
help make it help make it happen.

Nike likes it now so

these are early examples in South Beach
we're going to make a screen again

they're going to make the swish sign
out of Ducktown two of them and

this entire thing is made out of doctored
to be produced right here in Atlanta.

One of my favorites is hope you like that
too is a is a little retail store where

we're using big ductile panels to create
an outer screen and have three metal doors

in it to attract customers into the store
again that will be docked over a metal

substructure.

And you see the horizontal section if it
doesn't get value engineer it will be

probably the first of its
kind in New York City.

And finally culture shed.

Elizabeth deliver She runs the dealers
cafe you run for has designed a very

interesting public art space on the Hudson
yard in the West Side of New York City

where it's meant for the public
to do performances fashion shows.

Cinema even ings and the entire
outer skin moves on rollers back and

forth so it will be like a flea
market in to because the wait was so

limited it has a few pillars on
the outside a bit like the Arctic

in San Francisco and then we're doing
all the cable worlds and glass and

canopies on the outside of that building.

We get certain wind loads we look at cable
deflections that the compatibility of

the glasses and violated and did a lot
of work in the background to make this

happen and we know also that we can twist
glass to a certain limit this is double

glazed laminated glass so there's a lot
of modern technology that you never see

these are the cable tie
downs that later hold up.

The thin facade but nevertheless we're
very proud as New Yorkers to get a really

new hyper space I know it will be
a success just the identity of that

moving mega frame coming in and out it
sits in between the new Boeing highrises

the commercial side of things but this is
right by the north end of the High Line

on thirty second Street and it's also for
everybody it is not a private space but

the public of New York is
allowed to to come in there and.

And perform.

Thank you very much that was

it.

Was that too fast

yes.

When my story was I started
engineering I was pretty fast and

was miserable because I was it was just
math and it was very theoretical and

then I also did some
architecture years but

I realized I don't I'm not
super talented as a designer.

So we're good in seeing a design getting
something and then making that happen and

then we're very strong and
very stringent in a way very rigorous.

So I would almost argue you probably
want to do a little bit of both so

maybe if you an architect do maybe
a couple of classes that you teach I just

learned that you teach that or if you're
an engineer do a few classes on the.

On architecture I mean
we know historically

you know that right
the disciplines when did we split.

See fifteenth sixteenth century if you
believe the cathedral we've read run

we were even the builder at the same time
we split in the Industrial Revolution when

did that take place roughly.

Eight hundred century right why
because we what did we discover

steel concrete and then the architect
became the artsy person then

the engineer became the math nerd and
really but

we're getting a man well now but
really it's for me it's in the overlap.

So for me the separation makes you
incomplete that's why I like your

question.

Yes.

I see when you are young engineer
in the architect tells you I

would like I'm thinking of well.

I now understand the language means I have
a calm surface I have an expression to

a well when I hear A Well I'm
thinking it's a diaphragm so I don't

even understand the language initially so
even the language doesn't match so

there's many things you
can learn over over time.

Another thing is ALSO do you like each
other sometimes I don't like somebody but

like.

This guy he had fired all the previous
engineers including and fire everybody but

he has not fired us yet
so we like each other and

also I of course make zero
money on this I lose money but

I don't care because it's exciting and
I know this is going somewhere you know so

you don't have to work against your
instinct and that's I think on a good Corp

which can be which can be helpful
when you generally like it.

Other.

Yes.

Yes.

We have I have two things in
mind one is I noticed for

years all these shady courtyard excuse
my English in New York City and

you all know that where these
awkward building volumes are there.

And I'm trying to define that
as a given boundary condition in

go backwards with the structure a bit like
the British Museum you know that in London

where they birds the beautiful Groucho
they had a given awkward situation so

that's run and secondly I'm
dreaming a little bit too good

to some retail store or because I do a lot
of like Mark Jacobson Valentino we do

store fashion stores where I'm
trying to sell them an identity so

I'm thinking maybe following something
like this or this that we can maybe

come up with exhibition pavilions
which are based on nature growth.

Maybe an organic men's
cream a woman scream or

something where somebody
likes the idea and

then really it out as a parametric
product I don't have the ambition yet

for permanent structures because we
don't have enough testing yet but

generally I think we're ready to try that.

And then.

I hear you very much and I and I told my
students I'm going to be very Aristocles

stealing their ideas because currently
I just gave them these shapes and said

if you're interested ran with it because
we are really this is clearly a radial

structure this is clearly feeble Nucky
structure there's all different types and

we're trying to figure that out right
now it's a bit it's a bit gimmick but

I'm sure that we will come up with some
shapes that are beautiful and make sense.

We'll see.

Don't really know yet.

But what I do know is the filler
material if you if you think of the.

Something like this this
will definitely be E.T.F.

the pillows for me nor Maddox because
these surfaces aren't in one plane so

I wouldn't go in with flat glass it
would be too much bending into shape so

this is just a trial is but the next
step we will make it without a proof.

If we have longer spans I
need wider Malya ins and

then I can hide the per file what
you saw the culture shed and

put more magic pillows in it because
the air balloon can form into any

cell and then will be watertight as well.

As that So yes any triangular
ization were already done this for

a long time but
the goal here is not to use triangles and

also the girl is again actually this
is wrong it shouldn't be square but

the girl has to leave yourself
into some given footprint.

That that's.

The goal.

And this is quite fun too because you
learn tricks there's more to it than just

say you print something worse.

It's nylon based fiber.

It's very lightweight.

We are thinking to maybe painted
to make it long term but

on a temporary structure it's definitely
good I would say up to five years

I wouldn't have any any problem with it.

Very slow one piece takes is
twelve hours crazy slow but

I bought it because it's the stronger one
if I take a normal one without fibers then

I don't have that engineering claim
that I can really build with it.

Yes yes

yes.

Well we have petitioners here but

we also faces the cost problem you have
to it's a big thing to get this built

because you have to convince somebody
first you have to have a client so

the old days you were told Well if you
need two hundred molds castings or

expensive machine pieces
the cost is through the roof.

So a lot of what we do is
not just to be crazy but

actually use what we can now that
we couldn't do twenty years ago.

It's

not.

Really.

I like the fact that this is a birth that
because birthing you can always unbowed

everything good well that is very bad for
recycling but

once everything's belted you just unburden
you have your basic material back.

Yes.

The Truth or so my rent expires in five
years we might be torn down earlier.

So I get everything for
five years lifetime.

Really.

OK well.

Thank you.