Swarmology: Light Ecology

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: 'Swarmology: Light Ecology' was a video installation by Biothing (the computational design studio of Alisa Andrasek with Jose Sanchez) designed for Ross Lovegrove's Lasvit Liquidkristal Pavilion. It was presented at the Milan Design Week 2012 at La Triennale di Milano to showcase the 'liquidkristal' technology as an architectural glass wall. Biothing's digital design was projected onto Lovegrove's curved, fluid and clear glass pavilion to highlight its mobile, changing surface. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: Embedding physics of matter into design-search space enables designer to work with the levels of material intricacy found in complex systems in nature. 'Swarmology' is Biothing's evolving library of Multi-Agent based behaviours, designed for different patterns of organisation and expression. For the Liquidkristal pavilion, Biothing designed agents as carriers of light, enriching the pavilion's lightscape. This work demonstrates Andrasek's ongoing research into the generative potential of computational design systems, in a search for the materialisation of the phenomenal, and in relation to the constraints of materials, structure, fabrication and assembly. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: Biothing's digital video work was a critical component of Lovegrove's exhibit. La Triennale di Milano is an important institution for design and art exhibitions, and the Milan Design Week is a significant global event. Lovegrove is a renowned pioneer of industrial design, and his pavilion received extensive media attention. This collaborative work with Biothing was further exhibited in 2017 at Lovegrove's solo exhibition 'Convergence' at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.