Pablo KobayashiAcademic Portfolio

7 Years Teaching3 Graduate Programmes10 Undergraduate Programmes350+ Students5 Universities

Master in ArtsEmergent Technologies and DesignArchitectural Association School of Architecture

http://www.materia.com.mxpablo@materia.com.mx

+52 1 55 1473 6464

Generative Design ProcessesEmergence, Generation andProduction Diploma graduate programme // Universidad Iberoamericanahttp://generativo.materia.com.mx

19 Students150 Hours8 TutorsLecturer: Manuel DeLandaLecturer-Tutor: Jalal El-Ali/Buro HappoldGuest Teachers:Carlomaria Ciampoli/LaNMariano Arias-Diez/a10studio

01There is an undeniable urgency for deeper under-standing of the implications of the use of digital technologies in the design process, from conceptu-alization to fabrication. This urgency is more evident in a technological and economic context like the Mexican one. Not only do we need to embrace the possibilities these new tools give in terms of process optimization, but we also have to find ways of merging them with traditional, more accesible techniques and materials.

This course originated in this argument, emphasiz-ing two fundamental paradigms:

The first one is the integration of the digital tool not as a merely representative resource but as a generative design tool. Its adoption should even be integrated into the mental visualization process, where computational language should embed-ded to any form imagined. The use of parametric modelling software has opened a new spectrum of possibilities in terms of form generation, questioning the very core of how we define our roles as archi-tects and designers.

The second is the conception of the whole as a result of the interaction between its parts, and not the direct sum of these parts. The concept of emergence gives theoretical and phylosofical foundations towards a design methodology more congruent with the tools it utilizes and the problems it faces.

The programme presents different approaches, fol-lowing them as integral and evolutive, exploring bot-tom-up strategies, emphasizing the significance of interaction between agents rather than the agents themselves. It focuses on process references rather than morphological ones, understanding that the result will be evaluated with the same systemic rigor followed during its generation process, leaving aside subjective aesthetic criteria and seeking a direct information between material expression and the obtained form.

The Materiality Of The VirtualPhysical TestsDigital ExplorationHands–on TutorialsPin–upsLectures

The PavilionForm from RulesRules From MaterialityDigital–Physical Loop

Manuel DeLandaNeo-Materialist ApproachEmergence and DesignMaterial Expression

Design as ResearchThe Construction Of The CityFrom A Single Concept Fourth Year Design Studio // Universidad Iberoamerciana

25 Students per Semester6 Hours per Week2 Tutors per GroupPablo KobayashiHugo Sánchez

02The initial approach of the course was to question the concept of sustainability in or-der to create conceptual awarness and give a firm selection criterion to the students. We discovered that this lack of criterion not only made them prone to shallow interpretations of trendy terms but also affected their capac-ity to structure a coherent design research, turning this stage of their design process into mere information gathering.

We decided to dedicate the whole course to notion of research and how design can be derived from it. As a personal interest, I sug-gested that we used the concept of emer-gence as a departing methodology towards a research structure. The students are asked to choose a single concept; abstract and detached from architecture. A broad, uni-versal, concept but that gives them a single particularity to start making a connection matrix. This concept is related to five oth-ers whichs are related to five others and so forth. The extent and depth of the research is determined only by time. Our task as tutors is to guide them in this conceptual wander, re-minding them to let themselves be guided by the research and avoid any subjective agen-da or value judgement. We become agents of the objectiveness.

This task involves a deep process of unlearn-ing, questioning their inherited principles and knowledge not only regarding research and architecture, but their mind structure itself. Often, complete loss of direction and a cer-tain level of dispair mark the beggining of the research weaving process, where connec-tions become clear and the documentation process is not ruled by a chronological logic, but by a field of intensitys and connections.

The final task is to structure this whole pro-cess as a coherent, solid starting argument for a project directly related to the city and its dynamics.

The Rules:Choose One ConceptLet Research Guide YouHave No AgendaAlways Show Your WorkAlways Give OpinionsThink

The Criteria:Coherent StructureNon-Linear AnalysisClear ExpressionSeek ObjectivismAvoid Common Places

The Tools:Mind MappingBrainstormingUnlearningThe Project asa Consequence

Emergent Design ProcessesDigital Tools in Conceptualizationand FabricationUniversidad IberoamericanaCentro de Diseño, Cine y TelevisionUniversidad de la Salle BajíoUniversidad Cristobal ColónWorkshops

15 Students per Semester1 Group per University4 Hours per Week

03This course is focused not only in teaching a specific parametric modelling tool like Grass-hopper, but in stating the theoretical back-ground of these tools and their implications and limitations.

Students are encouraged to question their own design methodologies and to engage in a ma-terial research process that informs the digital exploration and vice-versa. They are also asked to wonder in a philosophical about the issues related to the virtual vs the real, the construc-tion vs the representation, the form vs the per-formance and the creation vs the generation.

The Rules:Use The ToolsDefy Their LimitationsEngage With The PhysicalEmbrace The AccidentTheorise

The Criteria:The Digital Tool is a De-sign ToolDifferent ImplicationsBottom-up StrategiesEmergent Results

The Tools:Modelling in RhinocerosGenerate with GrasshopperLaser CuttingCNC MillingRapid Protoyping

The Aims:Learn From The MaterialUse Your HandsInform The DigitalUnderstand The ResultsGo Back to Basics

Pablo Kobayashihttp://www.materia.com.mx