Students at Monterrey University (UDEM) have designed and manufactured parametric pavilions called “Bugs,” a family of sculptures that is the result of a multidisciplinary study. Through integral teamwork thought, the exercise blends architecture, research and technology, and defines the abstract language. It is based on art, exact sciences and humanity. The initial stage of the project was carried out by Daniela Frogheri and Fernando Meneses, architecture students at the University of Monterrey. Frogheri, Meneses and their team are promoting the use of parametric design and digital manufacturing to generate spaces, furniture and new presences in the city to put into practice the abstract processes that take shape in the field of architecture.
The way these huge, fanastic “bugs” were built was by using 3D software that works hand-in-hand with new, flexible systems, close packing, which is a way to show how to to activate and insert the parametric design in Mexican architecture. Wood was used for the elaboration of the bugs’ structure by way of lazer cutting it into thin plates using algorithm programs to achieve the pattern that was needed. This work arises from growth systems study with fractals and conformations as the basis which underpin the logic of shape generation. The system is based on having all the branches developed with triangles, guaranteeing the possibility to generate the structure as completely developable. “Bug 5” and “Bug 6” are the most recent members of the family.
