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Responsive Pattern | 

Critic: Robert Cervellione | Fall 2013 | Pratt Institute | New York | U.S.A.

Project By: Milad Showkatbakhsh

Geometric patterns make up one of the three non-figural types of decoration in Islamic art, which I prefer to call it as Persian pattern. Because these patterns existed before Islam came to Persia. Whether isolated or used in combination with non-figural ornamentation or figural representation, geometric patterns are popularly associated with Persian art and Islamic art, largely due to their aniconic quality. These abstract designs not only adorn the surfaces of monumental Persian architecture but also function as the major decorative element on a vast array of objects of all types. While geometric ornamentation may have reached a pinnacle in the Islamic world, the sources for both the shapes and the intricate patterns already existed in late antiquity among the Greeks, Romans, and Sasanians in Iran. The significant intellectual contributions of Islamic mathematicians, astronomers, and scientists were essential to the creation of this unique new style. As a matter of fact, geometric ornamentation in Persian and Islamic art suggests a remarkable amount of freedom; in its repetition and complexity, it offers the possibility of infinite growth and can accommodate the incorporation of other types of ornamentation as well. Their abstractness, repetitive motifs, and symmetry are the key elements of them. Persian patterns have the ability to grow infinite but every pattern in every stage of growth is a static and invariant geometric shape. The aim of the project is to create a responsive pattern out of a rigid and static Persian pattern. To make it more changeable. In this project, one more level of change is going to be added to Islamic patterns. Simultaneously while it grows, it can be edited in every stage of growth as well.
The Pattern is going to respond to hand movements via Leap (an external device connected to a computer)  in every stage of its growth. Leap is going to translate physical movement of fingers to a computer. There will be two types of deforming stage for every step. One will be in Z direction and the other one is XY plane. Basically, the project is constituted by two parts, designing and manipulating. The first part of the project, designing the pattern was completely done in Grasshopper and the second part was done by scripting in C# language within the grasshopper. 

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Leap translates the movements of the hand to the computer and the pattern will change subsequently.

Each number is activating one stage of complexity of the pattern

There are 5 levels of complexity and growth introduced to the system which can be activated.

One of the outcome of the experiment

First, you can choose your desired pattern via your fingers, each finger is assigned to one generation of the pattern, using more fingers will grow the pattern. After choosing the pattern, you can generate a turbulence via moving your hand upside and down, If you move your hand closer than the number of “Minimum Distance to Deform”, then you can simultaneously adjust the turbulence of the pattern and deform the pattern based on the position of your hands. In this case, pattern tries to go away from your hand and find its way. Since the pattern is an integrated geometry, this will affect the whole pattern and it starts to be deformed.While you are adjusting the pattern you can always change a lot of parameters with iPad. This project has been done via using Leap device, grasshopper and C# scripting, and TouchOSC app in iPad. The video of this file is missing and I am currently working to regenerate the process and record it as a video again to be more clear.

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Deformation Multiplier: the intensity of deforming the pattern
Efficiency Scale: the relationship between Leap sensitive area and the scale of the pattern
Minimum Distance to 
Deform: the distance which less than that the pattern start to be deformed
Vector 
Length: length of the moving vector that has been shown with the button “ Show Vector”
Show 
Vector: holding the bottom will let us see the moving vectors and their directions
Gradient 
Black: amount of black color of the pattern
Gradient 
White: amount of white color of the pattern 
 

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