Fractal Gothic I-II

A few years back I stumbled upon the work of Michael Hansmeyer who was experimenting with selective subdivision algorithms to create a series of platonic solid forms which were then expressed as architectural elements in the forms of columns. The process followed was purely computational, an algorithmic process which followed a step based approach to determine the final form. When each step was repeated thousands of times, the geometric complexity of the output was perplexing and fascinating, to the point that it would be practically impossible to replicate through a traditional drawing process.

I found this research and work to be fascinating and it served as motivation for me to begin exploring this domain. At this stage, I'm still working on developing the required computational knowledge to be able to have fine control over the form-generation process, though I do follow a step based approach.

For the generation of the base building units, I use the freely available Mandelbulb software. The software, which is essentially a 3d visualization of fractal geometry, yields a series of geometric shapes of interesting internal and surface geometry. I then take these base meshes and intuitively deform them to determine the final forms. It could be considered a hybridic approach; the generatively determined building blocks are manually sculpted and manipulated to yield a final result.

The next step would be the expansion of the application of specific algorithms to further provide finer control and parameters. It's an exciting avenue that I'm looking forward to!