Prototype+Variant.
(click to launch project)
This project was an early exploration into an architectural design process incorporating custom digital tools. Based on the theme “prototype and variant,” these visualization and generation tools supported an interactive evolutionary design process, in which the evaluation of fitness is completed manually by the designer.
;)
About.
Anomålus is a collection of experimental, multi-disciplinary design work in architecture, environments, interactivity, and graphic design. The projects that comprise this collection explore digital innovation by utilizing design tooling, computation, and customized processes, alongside purely functional approaches.
The goals of this work are (1) to design unusual yet intuitive objects and environments that serve as representative results of innovative explorations in design process and (2) to develop new methodologies and tools applicable for designing real-world products.
Anomålus Computation.
Research into design computation underlies most of the work at Anomålus, and this section presents several ongoing threads of this research. The projects here pursue the relationships between digital tooling and design process, as well as formal and visual characteristics of computation when applied to architecture and design.
The Design.
This site is an experiment in web design that attempts to bring an abstract spatial character to information organization.
The self-contained interface (made with JavaScript, namely the moo.fx and Prototype libraries) reveals relationships among information via content and navigation mechanisms that move smoothly in parallel. Pieces of information have virtual locations, and thus the user knows departure and destination at one glance, and the experience is not broken by having to reload the page.
Hopefully, this will serve as a simple prototype for sites that combine the functionality of HTML-based websites and the animated nature of Flash-based sites in the service of clarity, continuity, and search-engine friendliness.
User Notes.
Please note that this site requires JavaScript and works best on the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, Opera, Netscape, and Internet Explorer. Mac users: This site performs best in Safari. It is best viewed at a window size of at least 1024 by 768 pixels.
Links with a tick(
) will open in a new browser window. Links with chevrons(
) will launch a new container—the browser window will automatically scroll to the right.
For Windows and Linux users: Some interactive projects require Java
.
The applets and Java-based tools used with the projects on this site are built with Processing.
This site is built with the moo.fx and Prototype libraries and modified scripts from DynamicDrive.
Clients: Please enable cookies to log in.
This site is hosted by (mt) Media Temple.
Personal Profile.
Allan William Martin is a recent graduate of the Master of Architecture program at the Yale School of Architecture. He has a background in design, programming, and mathematics.
His interests include interaction design, algorithmic architecture, digital design tooling, innovation processes, information design, tangible computing, generative and emergent design, evolutionary computation, artificial intelligence and artificial life, ubiquitous computing, ambient information systems, environments design, interactive space, visualization methods, and smart building design.
Download resume as pdf.
Fractal Ornamentation.
(click to launch project)
This project explored the possibility of using iterated function systems, or IFS, typically used to generate fractals, as a generative design tool for architectural ornamentation. IFS had the potential of negotiating between themes of chaos and order, the natural and man-made, found in the study of ornament.
;)
Anomålus Experiments.
Unlike the research section, the experiments are singular explorations, rather than part of a continuing line of investigation. Less related from one to another than the projects in the ‘research’ section, these attempts rather establish a creative generator for further work.
This experimental design work includes projects in interaction design, web design, environments, interfaces, computation, and graphic design.
OTTO.
(click to launch project)
Programmed as an experiment in book design and artificial intelligence, an early version of OTTO (a play on 'automatic') was used in the third issue of the Yale graduate student arts and literary magazine Palimpsest. A multi-disciplinary team of designers, programmers, and editors collaborated in a unique process that challenged the typical notions of design, editing, and computation.
;)
Functional Geometry.
Functional and geometric bases for design are related topics of investigation in these projects, complementing the heavily computational projects in the other sections.
These solutions in architectural and industrial design attempt to explore the potential of our built environments to resolve the complexities of serving human usability with geometry.
All Projects.
This listing of all the projects in Anomålus research is currently under construction. Use the three links above on the main menu to browse the projects.
More projects to come: OTTO, TimeSine, Synaestesia Word Generator, Parametric Type.
News.
The news section is also under construction. But recently, I've added more projects, especially ones involving parametric modeling, and a few graphic ones.
Visual Directions.
(click to launch project)
This is an experiment in information design that explores improving the visual display of generated driving directions.
Typically, no heirarchy exists in displaying sequences of directions from MapQuest or Google Maps. Each direction has the same visual weight as any other, regardless of the distance or time-of-travel.
The user must then evaluate the importance of a direction by its length in miles, a number that continually changes location thus making the list difficult to read.
;)
Links.
To other designers:
jason van nest
agency:collective
standard baggage
robotodie
ian dapot
neopong software
Colliding Structures.
(click to launch project)
An abstraction of architectural organization and structure. Tectonic prototypes interact by seeking and providing support within a bubble diagram.
;)
Parametric Museum.
(click to launch project)
This was an early experiment in customized parametric design that entailed parameterizing the geometry of the structure of a nautical museum.
Inspiration came from an analysis of ocean waves and the forms they take when breaking.
;)
Algorithmic Optimization.
(click to launch project)
This project attempts to make a case for a modular, computer-based, generative design system that is not purely form-making, but that resolves performance criteria with the geometric constraints of a construction method. This process aims in a larger sense to suggest the utility of computational methods both to expand the architect’s ability to explore design options while simultaneously to ensure the practicality of those options.
;)
Adjustable Kitchen.
(click to launch project)
This project proposes a kit-of-parts solution to retrofitting a raw, loft apartment with a kitchen, constructed from adjustable countertops and interchangeable cabinets, plumbing, and appliances.
What you will see is a snapshot of one of the systems, which is a work-in-progress.
;)
Kayakhouse.
(click to launch project)
First a simple project in negotiating a narrow site with a geometric composition of circles, this project also explores the storage and use of kayaks on the Mill River in New Haven, CT.
The program required the boathouse to accommodate the storage of twelve kayaks and to facilitate recreation by the general public and the neighboring school. It also included storage space for equipment, restrooms, a shop for refreshments and bait, and a loading ramp for people bringing their own boats.
;)
Featured Projects…
Welcome to Anomålus. I'm Allan William Martin, and this site serves as my online portfolio and is continually under construction. Please leave feedback at william at anomalus dot com.
The interface is a bit experimental and is meant to provide a kind of abstract spatial character, animated but still search engine friendly. You must have JavaScript enabled. Navigate with the major categories to the left and the listings at the top. Close windows with the 'x'. Click on the square thumbnails to navigate images and links for keywords, texts, and tools.
Download resume as pdf.
