Cultures of Creation. »The Intelligence of Art« in Computational Design

Cluster Professor Karola Dierichs will be giving a lecture on »The Intelligence of Art« in Computational Design at the Cluster of Excellence »Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture« (IntCDC) at the University of Stuttgart.

Abstract

This lecture is a first attempt at arguing for an »intelligence of art« in computational design. It will do so by introducing the notion of design as the creation of novelty and will ask the question how this novelty is produced: is it a result of computational data processing or are there other forces at play?

The term »intelligence of art« has been introduced by art historian Thomas Crow in 1999 and denotes the immeasurably multi-faceted forms of human consciousness expressed in acts of creation. It shows a critical and very timely counterpoint to Herbert A. Simon’s seminal work on artificial intelligence—The Sciences of the Artificial—published around the same time in 1996 as a third revised and expanded edition of the original version of 1969.

Following this argument, artistic-intuitive methods of exploration as well as visionary scenarios and images are introduced as primordial in the design process. Closely linked to this, is the cultural embedding of these visionary images in a historical-theoretical context. Ultimately, we will discuss whether projects conducted in computational design under the paradigm of pure rationale are also following a deeper and inherently culturally embedded agenda.

More Information on the event.

Short Biography

Karola Dierichs is an architect. She is currently employed as a Professor of Material and Code at Weißensee School of Art and Design Berlin within the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity (MoA) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin of which she is also a principal investigator (PI). In addition, she is working as a scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam.

In 2019, she has been conferred her doctoral degree with distinction from the University of Stuttgart. Previously she has studied at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the Technical University of Braunschweig. Teaching engagements included the AA in London, the Städelschule Architecture Class (SAC) in Frankfurt and the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) in Stuttgart.

At MoA Karola Dierichs is an active member of the groups »Material Form Function« and »Weaving«. Here, she has contributed to the two key exhibitions of the first phase of the Cluster and has co-founded the sub-group »Syntopic Architectures«. At the ICD she has conducted research on »Granular Architectures«, where she has developed designed granular materials in architecture.

She has been engaged in transdisciplinary research collaborating nationally and internationally, among others with the Institute for Multiscale Simulation (MSS), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany and the Behringer Lab, Duke University, USA. She has published numerous articles in her field and lectured both within Europe and the USA. Her research on designed granular materials has been recognized with the »Holcim Acknowledgement Award Europe 2014« and the »materialPREIS Acknowledgement Study and Vision 2019«. Selected works have been included in the traveling exhibition »Hello, Robot.« starting 2017 at the Vitra Design Museum, Germany and the opening exhibition »Minding the Digital« of the Design Society in Shenzhen, China.

Key Research Fields: Material aisthesis, materials design, new media and technologies in architectural design, ecological design.