WeaveX 2.2: HeliX 2.0 is a part of the ongoing design research, The Digital Vernacular, that creates a conversation between natural material, traditional craft, experimental structure, and new technologies in computational design.
Project Name: HeliX 2.0
Studio Name: DesignAware
Location: B4 Barracks, red fort, delhi, INDIA
Year: 2023-24
Photography: Vipul Gupta
Newest in the WeaveX series of mathematical reinterpretations of traditional craft is HeliX 2.0, derived from a helicoid, a minimal, compound-curvature surface and complex geometry. HeliX 2.0 was the first attempt at incorporating generative AI as a collaborative conspirator in the design process.
Cane or rattan furniture in India is known for its complex curved forms and intricate detail. The techniques applied are perfected by craftspersons over decades. When studied closely, the patterns are based on mathematical rules and highly-dependent on material behavior.
In a back-and-forth dialog with ChatGPT, Processing code was generated to refine the precise geometry of HeliX 2.0.
HeliX 2.0 is created using straight rigid individual cane members in compression, rotated at incremental angles between consecutive turns, tracing the curvature of the tensile curved member shaped like a helix, to form near-intersecting and twisting “ghosted” surfaces, giving the illusion of curvature, like string art. Computational tools and generative AI were applied in creative collaboration with skilled craftspersons with an intimate knowledge of the material and its treatment, resulting in a type of reciprocal system in which each member supports the others. The structure exhibits tensegrity, as cane has both excellent compressive and tensile qualities. Without the support of the straight members, the curved helix collapses.
HeliX 2.0 was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for the very first India Art, Architecture & Design Biennale 2023, and installed at the Red Fort. The structure was fabricated in cane by furniture makers in Hyderabad and transported to New Delhi.
