Course Introdution

Design tools are traditionally oriented to the creation of representational models, some are further integrated with fabrication methods but in most cases including a level of post rationalisation between design and production stage. The exponential increased of the use of open source applications have facilitated the encapsulation of very specific functions into plugins able to connect to multiple software packages, this allows not only the incorporation of both generative design methods and fabrication logics through the process but also the flexibility to create different workflows by altering the way these plugins connect to each other. Workshop participants will acquire the basic knowledge to submerge themselves into the open source community, they will become part of a collective where new tools emerge as a collaboration between designers, engineers, coders and artists. They will not only learn how to create their own tools but also how to hack those that are commonly used in the design and construction industry, how to absorb part of their DNAs for assembling new personal workflows sensible to different design and fabrication methods.