The digital-physical feedback loop: A case study

Abstract

Kukje Art Center, Seoul’s new gallery designed by architects SO-IL, features a totally bespoke chain mail mesh system. A single sheet of double-curved, tensioned mesh, made of interlocking rings, wraps the building. This paper discusses the stages of a feedback loop process employed by the authors to refine a digital model of the mesh that captures chain mail’s behavioral tendencies as it negotiates the building’s geometry. At each stage of the feedback loop process, the working digital model was used as the basis for a physical mockup, which was used to evaluate and refine the digital model. Ultimately, the model output of a relaxation algorithm was used as the basis for engineering simulations and the sizing of the mesh that wraps the building.