Santa’s Digital Workshop took place in Bucharest, Romania between 12 and 18 December and was held in the University of Architecture and Urbanism “Ion Mincu”. The workshop exploited the possibilities of advanced algorithmic design introducing at the same time elements of interactive design. The purpose was to design geometrically complex ornaments for the Christmas tree and interactive light installations.

During the one week period the students identified and exploited the constraints of 3d printing technology and explored and constructed complex geometries. The workshop provided participants with instruction in digital fabrication techniques and software training. The output of the workshop is a variety of Christmas ornaments. The participants approached different algorithms: some inspired from biology like Voronoi or L-systems , some which defined shapes with mathematical formulas, others using fractals or by applying physical constraints to virtual membranes.
The interactive part of the workshop consisted in introducing students to both hardware and software components and the interactions between them. The light installation represents the interactive part of the Christmas tree. It consists of a sensor that once touched detects the heart rate of the person touching it and starts to vibrate the lights accordingly to his or hers heartbeat, creating an intimate connection with the Christmas tree.












Vine moşul şi am zis sa-l întâmpinăm cu un brad parametric ! Nu atât bradul (care este deja parametric), cât podoabele…
Am decis să organizăm un nou workshop de design generativ (/”parametric”/“algoritmic”), de data aceasta destinat celor care sunt deja iniţiaţi - fie că au mai participat la un workshop de iniţiere, fie că au demarat pe cont propriu, ideea este sa ne adresam unor persoane care sunt familiarizate cu workflow-ul Grasshopper-ului şi care vor sa faca un pas înainte intr-un mod organizat, hei-rup-ist dar cu siguraţă amuzant!