Minimal Complexity

Houston, TX, United States

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Minimal Complexity

Houston, TX, United States

Firm

YEAR

2011

The project is the winner of the TEX-FAB REPEAT Digital Fabrication Competition, which drew 95 teams of 1-4 designers from 19 states in the US, 18 countries and 5 continents. The jury of internationally recognized academics and practitioners that included Patrick Schumacher, Marc Fornes, Chris Lash, Lisa Iwamoto and Blair Satterfield reviewed all the entries and conferred their choice in November 2010. The final piece was commissioned and built in January 2011 by TEX-FAB.
Minimal Complexity is the product of an architectural research focused
on both the form-finding and the fabrication of minimal surface structures. The
process was defined by an alternative algorithmic method based
on the computational simulation of virtual soap films. The question that
emerged was how the translation from the computational space to the build
artifact could be embodied into this dual process.

The algorithm is materialized
through a concept derived from the principle behind the state of equilibrium of
natural organisms - in strict correlation with the conservation of energy. Each
iteration is programmed to update the relationships between the components of
the system, reapply the defined rules and minimize the energy, in our case the
tensional energy, in order to achieve a state of equilibrium. Accordingly, the system reaches an emergent
quality of self-organization similar to one found in nature.

Based on the properties of the triply periodic minimal surfaces, the
fabrication side of the project is focused on efficiency through modularity and
repetition of the components, as parameters embedded in a dynamic growth
process. Following several prototypes at different scales, various material
tests and structural configurations, the final piece is generated by only 16
different components, an optimum level of tessellation chosen in relation to
the geometrical level of detail and considered feasible in fabrication terms.
Minimal
Complexity is composed of 148 identical reflected regions of 16 different
pieces each, cumulating 2368 laser-cut aluminium components. Following a detailed
structural analysis provided by Buro Happold, the
assembly process commissioned and led by TEX-FAB was very interesting in experiencing
the fact that the minimal surfaces have extraordinary structural properties,
uniform distribution of loads and their stiffness increases with the level of
complexity they reach.