Generative designing with biological systems - searching for production tools aimed at individualization

We intend to design and study systems that produce artifacts with biological generative systems, where nature’s randomness and physiological needs have an important role in defining form. To understand these systems we will develop, analyze and criticize experimental models with ants, bees and mushrooms. In these models the matrices of construction and the system are defined, but the outcomes will be uncertain due to their dependence on biological variables. Our goal is the development of artifacts in an embryonic stage as well as of the constraints for their development. By defining the matrix and some guidelines, we aim to make available to the general public systems that reproduce artifacts that are similar in their genesis, but which become unique due to their biological actuators. Among other factors, these artifacts seek to enhance an emotional bond between users and object; this bond happens due to the empathy that is generated by the proximity and the time that is required for their growth, and by the better comprehension of their morphogenesis and process. This nurturing is essential for the evolution of the matrix into the desired product. The final products are unique and unrepeatable, and the end result arises from the close relation between the cooperators: the designer that develops the system, the person that uses it and the actuators that execute it. We believe the deeper understanding of the artifacts geneses and the bond that is created with it may result in new aesthetic qualities. KEYWORDS: biological design; generative; customization; opensource; Open design