i.M.A.D.E led a consulting workshop for a dwelling design competition with an architectural design studio from Southern Illinois University. i.M.A.D.E students assisted with script writing and parametric modeling in GenerativeComponents. This intense workshop leveraged computational algorithms as instructions for adaptive growth and change in the assembly of dwellings via nano robotics.

i.M.A.D.E consulted with A2SO4 on an urban streetscape design proposal for the South Street corridor in downtown Indianapolis. Asked by the city to envision a contemporary South Street, A2SO4 set out to create an urban “park” with narrow green areas in the spaces along the sidewalks and street. In the interest of a solution that sustains the local economy and ecology, the developed schemes called for a combination of CNC milling operations performed on locally harvested Indiana limestone quarry blocks. Carved into seating, lighting, and pacing systems, the blocks could become a cost-effective means to infuse local, and other-wise unused materials into the urban streetscape.

The sculpting of both limestone and soil–as undulating land forms to perform as swales and retention basins to prevent immediate water run-off–adds a visual curiosity that indicates the functions of the park as a human-crafted system. Grass and alkaline sympathetic plantings (from the lime-amended soil) provide color, patterning, and in some instances shade.

The end result of this exercise was a crafted booklet, presented to the city of Indianapolis, describing and picturing this vocabulary of both re-used local and natural materials, urban infrastructure components, and proposals for fabricating and deploying these pieces along South Street to create a performative urban landscape.

Students: Dustin Headley, Katherine Marinario, Kyle Keaggaber, Ben Herring, Chandra Shrestha, Jason Klinker, Jamie Owens, Andrew Glass, Anindita Chaudhary

Industry Partners: A2SO4, ACS Sign Systems, Broad Ripple Art + Design

Faculty: Kevin Klinger, Joshua Vermillion, William Marquez