Mathematically Driven Forms and Digital Tectonic : A formula for realizing the digital

Mathematics has been the interest of architects for hundreds of years and has been used in projects ranging from the Denmark Pavilion at Expo 2010 to Gaudi’s cathedral. Generative form finding frequently takes the inspiration of the geometric aesthetic found in mathematic forms. Today, the influence of digital computation technology is increasingly evident in architectural form seeking and analysis as they relate to mathematics. The sculptural possibilities of math forms have reconditioned the design process that establishes new modeling and tectonic approaches. This paper focuses on the study of current constraints and new procedures within mathematical approaches to architecture. Furthermore, this paper describes three experimental projects exploring mathematically driven designs and their potential within architectural vocabulary. In these experiments, the designers and students explored the manipulation of a planar surface through algorithmic equations and the molecular make-up of a surface through voxel representation.