Prototype

Prototype introduced second-year students to architecture as a process of rule-making, iteration, material translation, and the design of generative systems.

The semester paired two complementary projects: Bytescape and Foldscape. Together, they introduced opposing but related design logics - tectonic assembly and stereotomic continuity - while asking students to construct the rules and procedures that generated their work.

Bytescape used cellular automata, LLM-assisted Python scripting, parametric variation, and modular fabrication to move from part-to-whole systems toward inhabitable exhibition towers. Students tested how simple local rules could produce complex spatial organization, circulation, structure, and assembly.

Foldscape began with analog folding systems including Miura-ori, V-fold, herringbone, Yoshimura, Kresling, hypar, spiral, and waterbomb patterns. Students translated continuous surfaces into artist pavilions integrating structure, enclosure, circulation, program, and atmosphere.

Across both projects, students worked through physical models, digital modeling, scripts, prompts, drawings, diagrams, and collaborative fabrication. The final work was exhibited during the Archetype Symposium at UNC Charlotte.