WEB FRAME (SUBWAY STATION／IIDABASHI
by Makoto Sei Watanabe

Beyond the use of computers as a mere drawing tool, innovations in computational design processes are emerging worldwide. The paradigm of architecture and urban design has shifted from designing imagined ideal forms to generating intelligent formations. One of the main reasons for this new approach towards architectural design processes is due to the progress in mathematical programming developed in computer science and information technologies. The computational practice in science not only advanced the information based research - particularly in the field of digital simulation techniques used to analyze dynamic behaviors such as structural performances and traffic controlling systems - but also influenced the way in which spaces and forms are theorized, conceptualized and generated in architecture. The very foundation of those design projects is archived through the implementation of algorithms in the design processes.

The definition of algorithm is a procedure of calculations through the process of iterations, allowing a large number of elements to be integrated into a coherent whole through a series of local interactions. Similar to the logic found in biological organisms, the principle of self-organizing systems is generated by simple recursive calculations. Due to the advancement in computer technology, where a vast number of calculations are achieved in no time, it now became possible to solve highly complex problems and use those computational processes for practical applications. The development of computations not only helped scientists to understand the generative logic found in nature, such as growth patterns of plants and the crowd behavior observed in animals, but also offered ways to analyze humans?Esocial behaviors and urban structures.

WING (SUBWAY STATION／IIDABASHI)
by Makoto Sei Watanabe

This is the reason why it has been a massive paradigm shift in architecture where the 20th century's modern rationality is now being replaced by new ordering principle. Computational generative systems as design tools for architecture, the algorithmic design could help architects to setup a design process to achieve forms and spaces which are more sustainable and adaptive to the ever-changing environment. Algorithmic design now gains interests among architects around the world for its capacity to generate rule-based and developable geometries which can be linked directly to a digital fabrication process, seamlessly connecting digital models to construction processes using Building Information Modeling software.

With those background information on where we stand in an intersection between the practice of architecture and the discourse of computation, our ambition to hold an international symposium and a workshop for students in Tokyo is to create an opportunity for those who have been working, researching and developing on the concept of algorithmic design. Through discussions and sharing knowledge, this event aims to further advance theoretical research as well as potential practical applications of algorithmic design in architecture.

* Concepts and potentials of algorithmic design procedures were recently documented in the publication titled, Algorithmic design - The new design methods in architecture and urban planning, edited and published, written in Japanese, by AIJ (Architectural Institute of Japan).