• Level: introductory
• Costs: 50€ (7h / 1 day)
• Max number of participants: 20 people
• Min number of participants: 4 people
• Sign-up through this form if you want to join: click here
• Contact: info@davideprati.com

The "Algorithmic Botany" is a one-day long workshop where the participants learn how to draw trees and flowers using generative models "The goal of the workshop is to give the practical and theoretical instruments to generate 2D or 3D forms of trees, with any degree of abstraction. We are not looking for realism, but for generative processes and their visual applications.

The generated forms can be used for videogame, design, illustrations or 3D printing. The workshop is structured as follows: A short introduction to computer generated trees in art and videogame, from Harun Faroki to Horizon Zero Dawn. L-System, Turtle graphics and string rewriting. Overview of the grammars described by Aristid Lindenmayer in ""The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants".

The participants will write an interpreter that implements one of these grammars. An overview of the openFrameworks add-ons dedicated to L-Systems and tree generation. Overview of the same tools in the javascript world. The participants will learn how to use them in their own project. Phyllotaxis. An overview of phyllotaxis in common flowers and trees.

The participants will:

1) Write their own implementation of the algorithm in javascript.

2) Use their algorithm in a three.js scene.

3) Add a third dimension in order to generate 3D abstract forms.

4) Add a GUI in order to experiment with parametric design. How to draw a leaf using parabola's equation.

We will start in 2D, and we will learn how to introduce the third dimension in our sketch. We will then see how this equation can be applied to draw blades of grass."