Pamphlet Architecture 27: Tooling [Paperback]

Benjamin Aranda (Author), Chris Lasch (Author), Sanford Kwinter (Afterword), Cecil Balmond (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Pamphlet Architecture | Publication Date: November 1, 2005

We all know that today's architectural design has moved from the sketchpad to the screenthe era of the Mayline and the drafting board now seems downright Paleolithicbut techniques for using the computer not just as a tool for rendering but as a generative instrument remain woefully unexplored. In Tooling, the latest installment in our renowned Pamphlet Architecture series, the technologically progressive young firm Aranda/Lasch illustrates how advanced computational methods and algorithmic codes can be used to foster architectural design.

Tooling explores patterns generated by computer codes that in turn create an organizational template assembling projects. By openly sharing these codes, the authors seek to foster further investigation into their methods, allowing other architects to model and evolve more critical and insightful geometries and patterns.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Tooling, the pair outlines seven unnaturally occurring geometries--flocking, weaving, and packing, for instance--then unravels the logic behind the patterns and works them into algorithms that can be used to design structures. Though Aranda and Lasche break complexity down into formulas, they use the algorithms to arrive at results that are anything but formulaic." --Seed

About the Author

Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch established their New York-based architecture firm in 2003. Their work has appeared in The LA Times , Metropolis , and Else/Where , and on the PBS program "Reel New York."

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568985479
• ISBN-13: 978-1568985473
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Conceptual Analysis with Little Detail, May 13, 2008

By 

MISA Design - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pamphlet Architecture 27: Tooling (Paperback)

Aranda/Lasch provide a glimpse of what algorithmic techniques in architecture are capable of producing. Spiraling, packing, weaving, blending, cracking, flocking, and tiling are briefly defined, and their conceptual application in architecture is explored.

Although interesting, the discussion is left at a highly conceptual level, and the book could benefit from more detailed exploration and explanation. A website promising programming code to accompany the techniques has yet to be developed (and 2 years from date of publication probably never will) and does not appear to require the purchase of the book in order to access if it ever does go online.

A better discussion of algorithmic architecture can be found in Kostas Terzidis' Algorithmic Architecture, which not only shows better developed architectural projects but provides an analysis of code scripting.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where's the website?, November 24, 2007

By 

C. Sammarco (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pamphlet Architecture 27: Tooling (Paperback)

This book looks at scripting from a conceptual point of view. I enjoyed its form and content. The examples of work were inspiring.

Why do I give this 3 out of 5 stars? I feel slightly miss led. On page 94 the authors write "Scripts from tooling experiments are available at www.arandalasch.com/tooling". Yet the site doesn't exist! The authors have yet to create this accompanying site that could give more tangible insight into the nitty-gritty of scripting. I assume it won't happen as its been more than a year now since the book was published. Too bad, because there are really few books that get into the details of scripting without becoming "programming books". Aranda and Lasch could have been pioneers in this area as they seem to enjoy the hands-on aspects of making stuff. Instead, they have dropped the ball.

The book is full of pseudocode which is fine if you already know how to program. But for DIY beginners like myself, its just not enough...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Insubstantial..., June 3, 2010

By 

Sub-Kontinental (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Pamphlet Architecture 27: Tooling (Paperback)

Sheds some light on the aesthetic potentials of algorithmic design, but it leaves the reader very unsatisfied. Nothing here goes beyond the basic geometric exercise level. Also, it's a short read and even shorter if you already know the logic behind the algorithms.

The "process" that Aranda/Lasch uses is also downright shallow: make an algorithmic form then force-feed program into it. I love exotic geometry if it's done thoughtfully, but the projects in Tooling are neither very exotic nor thoughtful and the end result is mediocre eye candy and so-so form driven architecture. I firmly believe that more enriching applications exist for algorithmic design; applications that are broader in scope and are guided by an intent to advance the discipline well beyond the making of funny shapes.

Philosophical differences aside, there's nothing in Tooling that can't be found on the internet, for free, and with the relevant code (See communities for GC, Processing, RhinoScript, etc). Do not pay money for this. Tooling is too hollow, too sparse, and too undercooked.