Expanding the creativity of creators to create concept design that transcend human hands

technology & engineering
Expanding the creativity of creators to create concept design that transcend human hands

Computational concept design

For NOMURA Co.,Ltd., computational concept design is one of the most important tools for expanding the possibilities of creativity. Rather than using the capabilities of computers primarily for the purposes of efficiency and labor savings, we utilize computers to expand the creativity of creators. This opens up new possibilities for "spatial concept design" and "spatial experiences."
What exactly does computational concept design involve? We asked Yoshida Keisuke, a designer at NOMURA Co.,Ltd. who has been working on computational concept design since early on, to tell us about the actual process of concept design production.

Creating a moment-by-moment spatial experience of rows of cherry blossom trees

The square is decorated with over 1,000 original LED lights that twinkle like rows of cherry blossoms in full bloom. Just as natural cherry trees change appearance with the sunlight, wind, seasons, and time of day, the LED lights also change appearance as if they were alive, with the light flowing with the wind and gradually fading like cherry blossoms falling, only to return to full bloom once they've all gone out. There is a water basin under the lights, and three-dimensional sound plays all around. Many people sit on the benches nearby and enjoy the space of light and sound.
Shibuya Sakura Stage opened in July 2024, directly connected to JR Shibuya Station. Sakura Chorus, located in the Nigiwai Stage, has become a soothing space for visitors. Yoshida Keisuke was in charge of the spatial concept design for this project, together with a partner company.

"While respecting the culture of Shibuya and the history of the Sakuragaoka area, we concept design to be a permanent environmental display that will take root in the city for a long time. The computer senses not only changes in the weather such as temperature, humidity, rain, and wind, but also the flow of people in the square and the arrival and departure of trains at the adjacent station platform, and generates light and sound displays that change every moment. The display changes every moment, so the same behavior never repeats."

Computers and concept design. Computers have already become an indispensable tool in the field of concept design production. There are many ways to use computers, from simply replacing paper and pencil to simulating 3D models on a computer. Among these, computational concept design is when designers use computers as a creative tool, as an extension of their brains.
Recently, BIM (Building Information Modeling), which utilizes computers in the design of architecture and spaces, has been attracting attention, but Yoshida says that although BIM and computational concept design are adjacent fields, they use computers in different ways.

"It's often misunderstood, but the two are completely different. BIM is a system that links all information to modeling information, allowing work to be carried out more efficiently, conveniently, without errors, and with greater precision. Everyone involved in the project uses BIM as a common platform. It's a direction toward the 'democratization of information,' so to speak.

In contrast, computational concept design involves individual designers using computers to create concept design go beyond human hands. For example, when coming up with a concept design concept, a designer might want something that resembles a waterfall or the sky. Designers can draw an image by hand, but instead they write a program that evokes the image of a waterfall or the sky. With a waterfall, how the flow and spray of water are expressed depends on how the program is written, so the resulting work can be completely different depending on the designer.
Although it's impossible to draw each droplet by hand, it's possible to have a computer draw them by describing the rules for the shape. In this way, we first decide on concept design path and then concept design a system that will allow the computer to express it. Because the computer doesn't concept design automatically, the designer's sensibility and individuality are very much reflected. The code that runs the computer can only be interpreted by the person who wrote it, and the finished concept design is a personal work of the designer."

Think of "concept design" and "experience" as a set

Yoshida has loved computers since high school, and while majoring in architecture at university and graduate school, he became absorbed in developing programs. While working part-time at a major design administration firm, there was a competition for the new National Stadium, and he wrote a program to connect a truss-type structure to the architect's proposed roof, which had a large, undulating concept design. During his student days, he met a professor from the United States who was teaching computational concept design, and he was drawn to it.
The first computational concept design project Yoshida worked on after starting work at NOMURA Co.,Ltd. was artwork for a shop.

"I wanted to create concept design in which petals would flutter down from the ceiling of the shop. Not just a chandelier that looked like petals would flutter down, but something that looked like real petals were blowing down from the ceiling. So I set the louvers on the ceiling in the same position as the real thing, and wrote a simulation program in which the petals would blow down through the gaps in the louvers.
We then verified the movement of the petals on the program, frozen the moment when they looked beautiful, and created the actual petals. We extracted the XYZ coordinates of each petal to determine their position, and then hung them from the ceiling. Petals blown by the wind look different depending on their direction and tilt. It's impossible to reproduce all of these shapes, so we wrote a program to replace them with approximate patterns. In the end, we created 20 different types of acrylic petals."

Yoshida began working on this project around seven years ago. At the time, computational concept design was hardly used in his field. Since then, he has worked on a variety of projects and interacted with external creators, expanding the scope of computational concept design 's use.

"NOMURA Co.,Ltd. 's work is not just about creating spaces; it often combines elements of presentation and experience. When we try to incorporate computational concept design into this, we find that it works quite well. Even problems that seem difficult at first glance can be solved surprisingly easily with a program, and we can come up with proposals. In this way, we have gradually expanded what we can do.
To create something good, it's very important to think about the spatial concept design and the spatial experience as a set. So when concept design a space, you want to think about the presentation at the same time. What's more, if you can write programs, it's easier to think about the presentation. If you create a simulator on a computer, you can easily consider things like how to move light in a space or how an image will look."

Creating an "extraordinary experience that aims for heights"

Recently, there has been an increase in projects using computational concept design to create spatial concept design and experiences. One such example is SHIBUYA SKY, the observation facility at Shibuya Scramble Square that opened in 2019. Yoshida and a partner company were responsible for the spatial concept design from the entrance on the 14th floor to the 45th and 46th floors and the rooftop observation deck, SKY STAGE.

"The concept was to explain the significance of this observation deck being built in Shibuya, and to create an experience that could only be had in Shibuya. As a project team, we came up with the idea that when people climb to high places, like Mount Misen on Miyajima in Hiroshima, they walk up steep paths and pile up stones along the way in an attempt to leave their own traces. The rooftop SKY STAGE has an overwhelming sense of openness, so we created a space that allowed people to experience many different stories on the way up, such as making the path to it a little dark and oppressive, or deliberately passing through cramped areas like a mountain path. We also visualized various data about the city of Shibuya in real time and contrasted it with the view outside the window.

Yoshida says that he imagined a spatial experience that involves struggling to reach a higher level and created it using computational concept design.

"First, in SENSING HALL on the 14th floor, lines of light that suggest an extraordinary experience and interactive images on the ceiling that move as they follow you naturally make you think of upwards. When you enter the elevator, images and sounds flow across the ceiling as you ascend in time with your speed, creating a sense of transitioning into the extraordinary. Furthermore, the corridor leading up from the 45th floor is pitch black, with thin lines of light running along it as if guiding you upwards. The suppressed feelings in this dark space are suddenly released on the rooftop SKY STAGE. The building is 250 meters above ground, and we shot a 250-meter laser beam from the roof, allowing visitors to look up to the sky from the highest stage. These spatial concept design and experiences were solved using programs, including the flow of light, the insertion of images, and the placement of gallery displays. How can we enrich the spatial experience? I believe this project could only be realized through computational concept design."

I want to combine handcraft and digital

While some of the uses are geared towards performances, others are created using computational concept design. Recently, Yoshida has been working on tile production, teaming up with Chinese and Japanese manufacturers to take on the challenge of creating tiles that would be difficult for artisans to make by hand.

"It's the facade of a VIP innovation facility in China, and it was made with 3D ceramic tiles. Pattern culture has been deeply rooted in China since ancient times, so we thought that reinterpreting it digitally would be meaningful for the innovation facility.
Patterns are made up of flat geometric designs, but by continuously changing a single shape through a program, it is possible to create extremely complex patterns. By changing the parameters, it is possible to generate a nearly infinite number of variations. In this case, 15 patterns were drawn on the surface of each tile, and then output using a 3D printer that can handle ceramics. The tiles are glazed and fired, so the texture and feel are just like ceramic. The patterns, which have gone from flat to three-dimensional, point to new possibilities for patterns.
The tiles were a big hit with our Chinese customers, so we received another request to concept design freely. This time, we decided to give the pattern meaning and create tiles with auspicious motifs, using cranes and turtles as motifs. Inspired by the beautiful curves of a crane's wings and the ridges of a turtle's shell, we used a program to concept design an organic, three-dimensional silhouette. There are 20 patterns for the crane alone, but concept design is such that it will work no matter how you combine them in any direction. I believe that the thick curves of the crane and the turtle with its fine, sculptural lines were only possible through the combination of computational concept design and a 3D printer."

Now, Yoshida is trying to use computational concept design to combine handcraftsmanship with digital fabrication.

"For example, we could have a craftsman carve the surface of a stone, then 3D scan it and create concept design using a program. Or we could extract the skeleton of a wooden object made by a craftsman and concept design, while allowing it to grow randomly just like a tree. If we use either method on a facade, I think we can create the impression that the craftsman's hand has left its mark."

Yoshida is also working on a wide variety of experimental themes for the future, such as attempts to convey information and create spaces using materials such as metal and glass, rather than using luminous displays such as LCDs or LEDs.
"Computational concept design in Japan is far behind other countries. That's why I want to persevere in taking on challenging themes and spread it to society, even if only a little."

(Interviewed in November 2024. Titles in the article are those at the time of the interview.)
Keisuke Yoshida Photo = © Kazumi Kiuchi