Towards an efficacious architecture through generative design and digital fabrication

Historically, pavilions have been a profitable territory for research and innovation in architecture. “Cellular Tessellation” is a research pavilion developed and implemented for a site at Sydney Harbor in 2014. This paper documents and critically reflects upon the design, development, fabrication, and experiential outcomes of the work. The core investigation embodied by this work is the refinement of techniques to computationally design and fabricate integrated structure and skin envelopes through a file-to-fabrication process, culminating in the production of doubly curved project geometry via panelized construction. The project attempts to address multiple concerns (gravity, bracing, affect, etc) with a minimum of assembly. This work is invested in extending the possibilities of architectural practice, extrapolating the workflow from this project to the speculative impact of the work upon emerging practice techniques, ultimately leading to augmented spatial experience for the end user.