Shape Studies - eCAADe 29 799 Methodological Approach for the Integration of Material Information and Performance in the Design Computation for Tension-Active Architectural Systems Sean Ahlquist 1 , Achim Menges 2 1,2 Institute for Computational Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany 1,2 http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de 1 sean.ahlquist@icd.uni-stuttgart.de, 2 achim.menges@icd.uni-stuttgart.de Abstract. As computational design processes have moved from representation to simulation, the focus has shifted towards advanced integration of performance as a form defning measure. Performance, though, is often assessed purely on the level of geometry and stratifed between hierarchically independent layers. When looking at tension-active membrane systems, performance is integrated across multiple levels and with only the membrane material itself, defning the structural, spatial and atmospheric qualities. The research described in this paper investigates the integrative nature of this type of lightweight structure and proposes methodologies for generating highly articulated and differentiated systems. As material is a critical component, the research focuses on a system-based approach which places priority on the inclusion of material research and parameterization into a behavior- based computational process. Keywords. Material behavior; material computation; system; gestalt; tension-active system. INTRODUCTION Architectural design processes have been increas- ingly tailored to foster more thorough and precise considerations of context in the generation and specifcation of form. Here, context is not simply the physical elements at the boundaries of an artifact but refers to the interwoven composition of mate- rial, environment, and functional intensities. This is refected within current computational platforms, as well as organizational frameworks, which attempt to embed the variants and invariants related to a build- ing’s materiality, its internal spatiality, and its external relations within a cohesive process structure. By in large, these design frameworks function through strategies which place primacy upon geometry. Ge- ometry is formed in response to a limited number of contextual conditions, and in subsequent steps test- ed against the remaining internal and external cri- teria. Such a stepped approach often resolves itself in systems of interconnected but autonomous lay- ers; interconnected as geometry, but autonomous in their operation and function. With the design of each hierarchical layer, its preceeding layer is ‘frozen’