For centuries artists and designers have been used custom tools to produce unique and intricate designs that would be impossible to do by hand. These machines can range from simple mechanisms that assist in drawing straight lines or circles to more complex devices that are capable of producing intricate patterns and shapes.

The use of custom tools in design and production has had a profound impact for achieving unique and innovative designs, as well as for creating functional and affordable products.

The process of generate shapes from the traces of the machine motion in space and time, has inbuilt properties that resides in both the analogue and digital world. Drawing and fabrication are movements.

In this course students will develop their own digital “Drawing Machine”, exploring new spatial shapes in their relation to time.

We will explore how motion in space could define geometry, developing custom algorithmic tools to push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of form, function, and materiality.

Through practical exercises, participants will analyse the anatomy of a movement, starting from simple particles moving in space and time and adding, step by step, multiple layers of complexity towards the design of virtual volumes.

You will also learn basic and advanced representation and animation methods through a practice- based approach, both producing digital drawings and building custom algorithmic tools aimed at creating, analysing and modify complex geometries.

Basic knowledge of Rhino and Grasshopper is required.