The Historicist and the Algorithm

The Historicist and the Algorithm is a practice-based research project undertaken to explore how ‘digital architecture’ can formally respond to historic architectural context. A 3D printed clay column was designed as an experimental architectural object for the Glyptotek art museum in Copenhagen in order to directly assess how the expression of the piece can informed by both context, material and fabrication technique. 

The aim of this project was to pivot on a historicist ambition of being sensitive to cultural condition and working with artistic forms and motifs, while engaging with and exploring the post digital notion of direct engagement with fabrication and the act of construction. 

The research paper generated from this project is a critical reflection of the experimental design process and is supported by tectonic theory from the field of architecture to make the claim that through the motif, a more nuanced reading of a tectonic element, we find a place to mediate between artistic expression, structure and context in the digital age.  

Dissemination

Research Publications

Pain, S 2021, The Historicist and the Algorithm: An exploration of 3D printed columns based on the architectural languages of Glyptotek in Copenhagen. i S Carta & E An (red), AMPS Proceedings Series 25. Urban Assemblage: The City as Architecture, Media, AI and Big Data. AMPS, AMPS Proceedings Series, bind 25, s. 222-233. <http://architecturemps.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Amps-Proceedings-…;

Research Exhibitions

Pain S, Textile Columns, 2022, ICSA2022: 5th International Conference on Structures and Architecture - CREATE, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Danmark https://adk.elsevierpure.com/ws/portalfiles/portal/69510031/ICSA2022_Critical_Practices_Booklet.pdf

Pain, S, Ornamented 3D Printed Ceramic Column, 2022, Fokus: Ornament, Vienna Design Week, Vienna, Austria. https://www.viennadesignweek.at/en/archive/2022/fokus-ornament/

Pain, S. Textile Columns: Drawing and weaving with 3D printed clay, 2022, BE-AM 2022 Symposium and Exhibition - Formnext, Frankfurt, Tyskland https://be-am.de/symposium/