Context Free - Grammar Evolver

Starting with genetic algorithms, its was interesting to see that a few variables could influence the design so much. Using less complex geometry and more variables that changed small things in the design lead to a much greater degree of diversity in the choices than many of the objects that we were making before. Whereas randomness and chance lead to interesting shapes before, it was decisions about what variables to alter that gave the greatest control over design. At first this provoked me to change all of the numbers in my design to variables, but this lead to wild inconsistency within the design, and after many rounds of options I was no closer to an interesting shape than I was at the beginning. Thus, after experimentation I found that only altering a few critical variables that I was able to create a process that would allow me to choose and design predictably.

Romare Bearden Park

In these new set of variations, I continued with the idea of allowing the "emerging" shapes to become the programatic aspects of the park.  The boxes represent public gathering spaces and circles become pavilions (or beer gardens).  In an attempt to = define the circulation within the park, paths become restricted to the negative space between the boxes and circles.  These paths are represented by an organic pixillation of green foliage created by the density of trees.  This foliage acts as the connector between spaces and creates a sense of ambiguity/randomness to the design.

In this particular variation, I found the conversation between the built and natural environment to be in balance.  The three large circles that represent the built environment are dissected by two perpendicual paths and create a gestalt central square.

-Dylan

Romare Bearden Park Context Free Design

Romare Bearden Park Context Free Design

Due to the collage influence from Bearden, I decided that some simple layering could bring out a parti that could describe a similar process to which collage artists work.  The background is a grid of layered circles, squares and triangles.  Each of these figures is rotated randomly and then overlaid with copies of that same grid.  The grid is then scaled, copied, and rotated to create a variety of densities and engaging boundary for the park.  For the walls of the park, I was thinking along the lines of Mies' Brick  Country House.  The lines are randomly rotated and translated away from the original line to fill the park space.  Here, the walls/paths are collected inside of the more densely packed middle section of park.

startshape PARK
background { b -.1 sat 0.25 hue 44 }


rule PARK{
PLANTS[]
WALLS[]
}

rule WALLS {
50* {y 3 x 4 r 0..90} SQUARE{s .25 5 z 10}
}

rule PLANTS {
2 * {r 0..360}PLANTS2 {}
}


rule PLANTS2 {
4 * {s .65 .65 r 0..360} PLANTS1 {}

4* {f 45 s .65 .65 r 0..360} PLANTS1{}
}


rule PLANTS1 {
1 * {y -3} PLANTS_SHIFT1{}
}

rule PLANTS_SHIFT1 {
1 * {x 3} PLANTS_GRID {}
}


rule PLANTS_GRID {
20 * {y -1.05} PLANTS_ROWS{}
}


rule PLANTS_ROWS {
20 * {x 1.05 } FOLIAGE{}
}

rule FOLIAGE .33 {
SQUARE[a -.5 b .5  .. .75 hue 120..150 saturation .5 r 90..270]
}

rule FOLIAGE .33 {
CIRCLE[a -.5 b .5  .. .75 hue 120..150 saturation .5]
}

rule FOLIAGE .33 {
TRIANGLE[alpha -.5 b .5  .. .75 hue 120..150 saturation .5 r 90..270]
}

ContextFree + GrammarEvolver

Using the square shapes in Context Free, I revisited the quilt-like patterning but with a twist. The rudimentary shape of the square is run through the recursion sequence, becoming fractal-like in it's placement & sizing.

From the Romare Bearden collages, a multitude of colors are used. In the context-free code, a Hue variable is inserted so that each recursion of the square may change color. This results in a number of colors within each variation, rather than only one color per. 

Now that the constraints are set to 'squares only, colors changing within', the Grammar Evolver of 'Processing' app provides the various random possibilities:

 From each choice, a new set of evolved variations based upon the 'fittest' is passed on into the next generation. Eventually, a final version is evolved into that which has the traits most likely to result in a nice design for the Romare Bearden park:

Context Free

The nice thing about Context Free is that can be shared, reused across diverse way and created pattern easily as much as we want with only a few lines. I generated grid street pattern for Romare Bearden Park design which streets run at right angles to each other.

Rectangular spaces indicate open spaces for informal play as well as an area for event gathering. And small rectangular space inside is space for exhibition to offer a variety of ways to have fun at the park. Grid lines mark the trails linking around the part including bike and pedestrian path. Around the path and rectangular spaces, I created natural features to generate relax spaces. And Medium and large trees provide boundaries at the corners and streets.  

startshape SHAPE

tile {s 54}

background {h 91.6 b .5 sat .7}

rule R{

SQUARE{}2*{f 45}R{s.6 1r-90x 2y 1}

}

rule SHAPE{

    2 * {s .5 x 9 y 9 b .2}

    {4*{r 90 x 36}

    R{}

    SQUARE {s 17.2 x 18 y 18 b .6 z -1}}

    2*{s .5 x -4.5 y -4.5 z 1 b 1}

    SQUARE {s 16.7 x -9 y -9 z -1 b .5}

}

 

Sjoberg Context Free RB Park

              This solution for the design of Romare Bearden Park was generated from a programatic overlapping of different spaces. I picked this composition because it created a density of circulation between the major green spaces as well as a buildup of smaller compositional elements (red) which were imagined as a market area. The variety of relationships between these green spaces also serves to create a dynamic park. Some spaces bleed to the street, some exist in isolation, and some either overlap or contain others.
This was accomplished with a variety of scaling and movement functions as well as alterations to visual  differences in color and density.


startshape DOUBLE
background {hue 100 sat 0.5 b .5 }

rule DOUBLE {
A {}
A {x .5 y -.2 a -.89 z -1}
}

rule A {

SHAPES {s 3 x 2 y 3 sat 0 b -1 a -.5}
A {s 1 .9 x .5 y -.5 r 90  hue -4 b -.05}
}

rule A {
SHAPES {s 5 .2}
A {s .8 1.07 x -.2 y .5 r 90 sat -.1 b -.05 a -.03}
}

rule SHAPES {
SQUARE {hue 100 sat 1 b 1}
SQUARE {s  -1 .93 hue 100  b -1}
SQUARE {b .8 hue 100 a -.2 }
}

SEED: FJX Original

Illustrator edited park

Context Free

When I started to think through the logic of context free, I began to realize that it would be easier to program the park and its geometry through a series of interrelated sketches, that would all act in a different geometric logic. This way, the park elements, elevation, trees and walkway could each have their own logic, and not be dependent on the geometry that came before it. Thus, the final park design is shown by overlapping the different images that came out of each [ground, tree and walkway] script.

Before constructing any of the scripts, I decided on fractal logic, where each square of the park was divided into sections. Given that the original park was a 2:1 rectangle, this act of subdivision allows me to keep the existing geometry of the park constant. From there it was a matter of modifying a subdivision script, consisting of a 2:1 outline shape, and a 1:1 4-square, or 9-square fractal shape. This is derived from the quad city example script that uses a whole and quads to make city fractals.

To design each layer, I modified the chance that each QUAD shape rule would be selected. By doing so, I could affect the chance of subdivisions in the design. By doing this, I could make a park with fewer subdivisions, or one with more subdivisions depending what the aesthetics of the park element called for. For the landscape element, I made sure that none of the squares were white and tried to represent a pixel-like map of the topology. This resulted in a number of larger fields, and then many smaller fields that could represent a rapid change in elevation.

For the trees I utilized a rotated 9-square subdivision. The reason for the 9-square subdivision is that in a non-rotated configuration, the center square could be empty, and could approximate the organization of trees around a field. By rotating the subdivided square I could achieve a pseudo-random organization that approximated the organization of trees better than a non-rotated square could.

Finally, for the walkways script, I changed the chance of subdivision to be very low, so that the park would be subdivided into larger shapes. Each square was colored to represent a specific quadrant of a circle. This in effect generates a programmed pathway that is determined by adjacent squares. In theory this works, but in practice the represented quadrant had to be fudged a little bit, since the individual subdivisions did not have an awareness of the colors around them.

Davis_ContextFree_RBPark

The script made generates a random iteration of tentacles stretching across the extents of the window.  These curves are made from random assortment of orange circles and black squares.  I specifically chose this variation due to the unique placement of the red and blue triangles in the center of the window.  These triangles are the "emergence" that I wanted in my final artifact that will become a celebrated social space in the program for the redesign of the Romare Bearden Park.

After playing with the forms created by the Context Free program, I assigned each of the shapes a programatic element of the park.  The orange circles became plots of grass, the black squares formed into kiosks and a sheltered beer garden, and the triangles became a double-level cafe that overlooks the entire park.  This final product still expresses the flow of circulation within the park, and by using the Context Free program, created a hierarchy of geometries based off arbitrary design.

RecursiveFormRomareBeardenPark

Starting with columns and then adding rows in ContextFree, a series of squares combines to form an 80'X50' rectangular patchwork. Seeing some of Romare Bearden's collages inspired this configuration of quilt-like patterning; visual distinctions made with the tonal lightness or darkness of the squares.

In order to break up the orthogonal nature of simple column & row squares, angles of 45 are applied to the last set of the right-angle-ruled Squares. Using angles other than 0,45,90,135,180,etc. creates forms "spun" atop each other resulting in a kaleidoscopic effect. 

From this basic plan, I exported the SVG into AI, saved as DWG, then opened in RHINO. From within Rhino, extrusions to certain squares provided barriers and areas to sit for the park. Basing the intensity of extruded curves to correlate to tonal patterns from the original context free image, the park has a defined passive area in contrast to an active area. Similar to the way the park is now, with an open swath of land progressing towards an active, busy area, the design from context free is more patterned.

 

Starting with ContextFree &

Using the Variation "YIF":

startshape column

rule column {

5 * {y 1} row {} // grid spacing

}

rule row {

8 * {x 1} rightangle {} 

}

rule rightangle  {

SQUARE {hue 0 sat 0 b 0}

rightangle {s 1 r 90}

}

rule rightangle {

SQUARE {sat 1 b 0.5}

rightangle {s 0.99 r 90 a -0.3}

}

rule rightangle {

SQUARE {b 1}

rightangle {s 0.7 r 45}

}

The basic pattern is formed:

By emulating the color schemes of Romare Bearden's collages in Illustrator, selective toning results in:

In Rhino, extruding curves brings the squares into the Z-axis, providing planes, frames, & places for repose: