Object-based learning and computational geometry

When I was learning hand drawing while preparing for my undergraduate architecture school entry exams, I was taught to disseminate buildings and everyday objects into simple geometric shapes through endless repetitions of visual analysis and sketching. It would happen based either during plain-air drawing sessions, where we could walk around an analyse our surroundings in 3d, or based on 2d visual references.

During the PGCert, I learnt that the practice of analysing and learning about real-world forms through drawing that had been long established in art, architecture and nature studies, can be linked to a counterpart in pedagogical context under the name of object-based learning.

Chatterjee (2009) notes that objects “can be used to acquire subject specific knowledge as well as more generic transferable skills”. In an arts and design context, enquiry into objects can help understand the geometric shapes and transformations that can be used to replicate these forms, as well as create new ones. This skill proves really useful in both teaching and learning subjects such as 3d modelling, including algorithmic modelling, or computational geometry, allowing for transferring objects from physical or imaginative into the digital realm, with the potential of being physically reproduced.

By looking at objects through a mathematical lens, objects can be abstracted from their cultural and historical context. For example, a pottery wheel could be an excellent physical example of rotational geometry, and a spring could demonstrate the operation of extrusion, frequently used in computer-aided 3d modelling.

This abstraction comes with its own dangers, as may lead to knowing the context does not justify extractivist and colonial behaviours. Math may seem impartial but the use of cultural heritage for bettering one’s computational skills is not. Objects should always be analysed with respect to the individual and collective work they represent, as well as the power relationships they’re involved in. In the London craft scene, I have seen white(-passing) algorithmic artists appropriating and profiting from formerly colonised countries under educational pretences. I still find it difficult to balance this stance while providing my students with more inclusive and representative examples.

Scientific, cultural and historical knowledge can help us understand objects mathematically, as well as give them meaning. In a Polish architectural context, the spatial composition of traditional rural housing is highly rule-based, or, one could say, algorithmic, to the point where researchers attempt digital reconstructive tasks based on parametric models (Kowal et al., 2015). However, it requires contextual knowledge to differentiate between know that the orientation of the house (typically of a rectangular plan) often depends on the local building code under different periods of foreign occupation (Raszeja et al., 2022). In the work of computational artist Sage Jenson, coding simulations allow for a more in-depth understanding of natural organisms such as slime moulds (Jenson, 2022).

A still from a video by Sage Jenson featuring a simulation of a Hornet’s nest

With a good understanding of geometry, digital modelling can help bring to life forms that we may not be able to produce otherwise. In design for physical outcomes, digital and particularly algorithmic modelling can help visualise the results, create multiple versions, or allow for customisation of the final product. It can also allow for bringing to life forms that possibly could not be manufactured otherwise. The design of Sydney Opera house triggered a whole new epoch for CAD software, and the construction had to wait for the technology to catch up (Victoria and Albert Museum, no date; ARUP, no date). Pushing the technology forward, digital modelling tools expand the library of possible outcomes rather than replace manual craft.

Sydney Opera House. Design by Jørn Utzon and Peter Hall with structural engineering by ARUP. Design 1957, Opened 1973.

Below – examples of contemporary work created using algorithmic modelling

Copper chair by Joris Laarman Lab

Dresses by Iris van Herpen

References

ARUP (no date). Designing the Sydney Opera House. Available at: https://www.arup.com/projects/designing-the-sydney-opera-house/ (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Chatterjee, H.J. (2009). Object-based learning in higher education: The pedagogical power of museums. In: Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Committee of ICOM for University Museums and Collections (UMAC), Berkeley, USA, 10th–13th September 2009. Available at: https://edoc.hu-berlin.de/bitstream/handle/18452/9349/chatterjee.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Jenson, S. (2022). Artist in Residency: Sage Jenson (mxsage). Available at: https://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/?p=9137 (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Kowal, S., Koszewski, K., Słyk, J. and Wrona, S. (2015). Parametric Methods in Reconstruction of the Medieval Proto-Town in Pułtusk, Poland. In: eCAADe 2015: Real Time, vol. 1 [proc]. Real Time – Proceedings of the 33^rd International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. Vienna, AT: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, TU Wien. Available at: https://ecaade.org/downloads/eCAADe2015_volume1_lowres.pdf (accessed: 23.04.2025).

Raszeja, E., Szczepańska, M., Gałecka-Drozda, A., de Mezer, E. and Wilkaniec, A. (2022). Ochrona i kształtowanie krajobrazu kulturowego w zintegrowanym planowaniu rozwoju [Protection and shaping of cultural landscape in integrated development planning]. Polanań, PL: Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe. Available at: https://wgseigp.amu.edu.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/394103/ochrona-i-ksztaltowanie-krajobrazu-kulturowego-w-zintegrowanym-planowaniu-rozwoju.pdf (accessed: 23.04.2025).

Victoria and Albert Museum (no date). Computers and the Sydney Opera House. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/computers-and-the-sydney-opera-house (accessed: 02.08.2024).

Other texts and works I engaged with while writing this post

reading notes

Ahmed, S (2019). Using things, in: What’s the Use?: On the Uses of Use. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Hardie, K. (2016). Engaging Learners through Engaging Designs that Enrich and Energise Learning and Teaching, in: Chatterjee, H.J., and Hannan, L. (eds). Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. Oxford, UK: Taylor & Francis Group.

Kahn, P. and O’Rourke, K. (2005). Understanding Enquiry-Based Learning. In T. Barrett, I., Mac Labhrainn and H. Fallon (eds), Handbook of Enquiry & Problem Based Learning. Galway: CETL. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258844946_1_UNDERSTANDING_ENQUIRY-BASED_LEARNING (accessed 02.08.2024).