March 2008
   


classes. Students are given programmatic events that were linked to digital operatives. They study and extract inherent qualities from tectonic components in order to design a morphological sequence into new tectonic elements. The conceptualization of material, form, space, structure, and environmental change simultaneously collapsing temporal morphologies allows for students to explore a sophisticated range of interconnected variant conditions. Flux Architecture, but derived from extraction of evolutionary moments of disparate and connected objects with spatial, organizational, and tectonic ramifications. Analogues to known architectonic systems assemblies and components are always kept in the sites of the students. Here the students discover uncharted types from synthetic and natural structures that implicitly have within themselves organizational implications. The development of their structure combines the “tooling” aspects of digital skill acquisition, with the discovery process. Through the tooling process, students learn how to negotiate from Vector to Raster and back in order to develop an Evolutionary Spatial Typology through a “Morphological Fusion” of temporal events (Figure 6). Objectives included developing a logical Morphological Blur between pre-states, developmental moments, and formed frozen animate proposals (Figure 7). Students leveraged the inherent qualities of each program that they were exposed to, AutoCAD 2007, Photoshop CS2, and form•Z 6.1. The theory is to extract inherited traits from previously studied structures and develop a morphological sequence from ancestor to new type(s) to projected moments. Blurring the distinction between complementary software packages and collapsing ideas,


discoveries, and graphics to convey a fused temporal evolutionary spatial construct is the final outcome of the project. Variability, transformative conditions, and intuitive responses were characteristic of the Morphological Fusion.

References:

[1] Greg Lynn, Architectural Design, “Folding in Architecture,”, Revised Edition, Introduction, Published by Wiley-Academy, a division of Wiley & Sons Ltd. Copyright 2004.


 
Thomas Rusher was born in New York City and has a Master of Architecture: Columbia University GSAPP, NYC, B.SCI. Architecture: University of Texas at Arlington. He is the recipient of the Ronald E. McNair Graduate Research Fellowship in Architectural Design. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Architecture. He worked for Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP, NYC, Columbia University Planning Department, NYC, Polshek & Partners LLP., NYC, B-Five Studio LLP, NYC and is currently the principal of Rusher Studio LLC, a design consulting firm in the DFW area. At Columbia he received the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize for best design thesis in Greg Lynn’s Studio (1996). His works are published in Abstract 1994-1995, Abstract 1995-1996 (cover), Interior Design, Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill: Architecture & Urbanism 1995-2000, Texas Architecture, Tex Files, and AutoDesSys Joint Study Annual Report 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.