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Computational Studio

Spring Semester: FA-327-1 

Computational Studio: Simulated

Human collectivism is set to look dramatically different in the coming decades, in a world where the lines between physical and digital become increasingly blurred. Every asset, process, or person within or related to a collective will be replicated virtually — connected, traced, and analyzed. As a result, concepts like Play, Agency, and Worldmaking are rapidly redefined by a control-oriented, computationally simulated virtual environment. Free, open-source game design and development platforms offer thinkers and makers a new way to reflect on the question, “If I can make a conceptually meaningful world, executed by computer algorithms, rendered by graphics engines, what would it be like, and where would I begin?” This computational studio course will include a gentle introduction to basic modeling, object-oriented programming, video game development, and VFX with Unity, and related production tools such as Blender. Projects may address agency, emergence, generative(parametric) design, artificial intelligence/learning, critical computing, and more.

 

3 credits.

Course Code: FA-327-1

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.