Arch. Des Fagan, Lancaster University (UK)
Abstract: A comprehensive analysis / review of key case studies relating to Authorship in the context of generative or computer automated architectural design, structured as narrative, setting the historical, contemporary and future context of ownership and intellectual property. The work will feature as a central focus the importance that pattern identification has had in the development of the architect’s skillset including medieval, gothic and modernist styles (Salingros, 1999); and compare these to the evolution of computing in methods of the same (Harding and Shepard, 2004). The talk will go on to refer to modern and developing areas of research interest in the areas of machine learning and GAN methods for automated design.
The talk references a series of existing case studies to provoke debate on authenticity and intellectual property in design, including:
• Bernard Cache’s Table Objectile — An experiment into mass customisation by computing to incrementally iterate table design to provide multiple ‘originals’;
• Greg Lynn’s series of 99 teapots for Alessi, a reflection on cost and numerical rarity;
• Rubin and Riehl’s musical algorithm software, capable of generating 300,000 melodies each second, creating a catalogue of 68 billion 8-note melodies then copyrighted and released into the public domain in the hope of stifling litigious musicians;
• Stanislas Chaillou’s work on generative floor plans and the impact of intellectual property on the dataset.
Short CV: Des Fegan is Head of Architecture at Lancaster University. He has lectured extensively on optimisation in architecture and on inter-disciplinary approaches to community and business engagement. He has worked with multiple special interest groups in diverse communities of people, on projects that focus on the means of improving people’s lives through human-centered automated projects. He has achieved this by directing his career towards the critical engagement between academia, practice and community groups. He is the UK Lead for academic processes of prescription in his position as the Advisor to the Architects Registration Board. In this role, he is the authority on academic procedures and policies for all institutions of Architecture, and the main link in the UK between industry and education. He has grown a valued network of academic and business partners throughout his career. Des was the lead architect for international award-winning practices prior to working in academia; most recently as the Project Architect for the Olympic Village Scheme for London 2012 at Glenn Howells Architects, and as Lead Architect at Zaha Hadid Architects for the Glasgow Transport Museum – winner of the 2013 European Museum of the Year.