Tyler Van Kirk

The Project Planner developed for Sabin Lighting, is a web portal for users to input their project information and generate both layouts and individual units which could be submitted internally to generate orders.

I led the concept and development of the project including initial UX/UI design, all features within the configuration such as dimension manipulation, texture mapping, color selection, unit deletion, image exports, submittal document exports, and 3D model exports. These features were primarily driven by the ThreeJS library.

I also oversaw the integration with the ERP system which created sales orders and other sales documents from Project Planner input. Lastly, I also oversaw and managed the development of other web features such as user accounts and user project dashboards

See more of my thoughts on the development of the Project Planner here

Featured in Data Aided Design

Starting with Japanese antique hand painted silk, this project explored the sampling of handcrafted works within digitally constructed compositions. Using python a “digital swatch” was created sampling multiple images to form one composition. The resulting images both spoke to the original source of handcraft, but also the digital aesthetic and precision of its construction. The constructed images were then printed onto a silk-like material, re introducing the source to a resemblance of its original context. The newly printed fabric was then sold online as well some clothing options through my store. The collection stands as a collaboration across time, where work from a 17th century unknown artist can be reinterpreted into garments both relating to its original context, such as kimonos and scarves, but also contemporary options such as streetwear and dresses.

Explorations with local/international artists and composers throughout 2021. Each exploration consists of sound/audio files driving geometry and motion. Work was done in a variety of softwares inclusing Cinema 4D, Rhino/Grasshopper, and Python.

Winter 2018 University of Michigan

After my work as a research assistant for Asa Peller and Wes McGee’s Research Through Making project Elemental Ornamental, I decided to make a lamp using the same fabrication method for my advanced lighting course. For this project I wanted to experiment with different layer heights and extrusion rates to create varied shell densities. This project also marked my continuation of researching ceramic extrusion starting with my ceramic modular unit project in 2017

“Scanlines” is a product I developed while at Turf. I was tasked with creating a way to use our CNC drag knife and familiar operations to carve images into felt panels.

The felt panels were composed of one 3mm layer color and a 9mm base color. I created a script that analyzed the black value of every pixel and return a value. These values were then used to manipulate the cutting path which when cut would generate the image. If the color value for a certain pixel was more dark it would deviate further from the center line and if the color value was closer to white it would appear more like a straight line. The resulting piece then consists of varying degrees of distances from the centerlines when looked at a distance closely resemble the image, but also provides sighnificant acoustic absorbtion.

I also led the concept for the product photoshoot and worked with an illustrator to generate the wildlife themed panels seen in the product images.

See product page for scanlines here

product featured on design milk

This research explores the translation of pixel red, green, and blue values (RGB) in XYZ cartesian coordinates creating a three-dimensional point. This translation then allowed a 2D image to be read a point cloud which could then be extrapolated into a solid form by mapping the connection of pixels. The resulting “digital artifact” both speaks to its original image but also stands alone as its own entity. The resulting solid was 3D printed with the source image displayed at its base.

Featured in DigitalFUTURES Young Computational Design Series

Download the plugin developed from this project

While at Turf, I assisted in the design and fabrication of a complex custom project consisting of a series of panels and thousands of unique “quill” pieces. My work consisted of assisting on the inital script development/form generation, as well as creating a secondary script to tag all “quill” pieces with coordinate system to assist in assembly.

Master of Architecture Thesis University of Michigan 2019

Partners Jing Zheng and Kurniati Kadawan

This project is intended to be viewed as a case study of how artificial intelligence can be embraced within design. The process consisted of training a neural network on a series of training points, allowing the network to self organize amongst the training points. The “success” rate was then determined by how close a given point was mapped in proximity to one of the training points. Different sized volumes were assigned to points based on success rates hence larger volume was less successful vs a smaller volume was more successful. The volumes were the differenced out of a massing forming an interior space that naturally utilized methods of scaling and detailing solely based on its method of inception. This technique also trained the designer, by only being able to set points the designer must learn how the neural network responds giving insights on how to form conditions akin to entryways, courtyards, skylights, and windows.

Fall 2017 University of Michigan

I wanted to explore the concept of dwelling within the fire station. Although these forms may not seem like a traditional dwelling, by using a series of vessels displaying natural light and materials, I wanted these interior vessels to capture simplicity that can sometimes be lacking in the busy schedule of a firefighter.

These vessels also act structurally providing support for the encompassing box form surrounding the vessels. These two languages provide a contrasting of environments, the modernist box of a simple grid structure with lots of glass and open space, vs the more condensed vessel of a single sky light creating a more ephemeral experience. These two environments allow a push and pull of experiences where users becomes the link between these two drastic formal languages. 

Spring 2016 Ball State University

2nd place group winner in MKM Steel Design Competition Spring 2016

Partner: Jonathan Chambless

Looking at the potential of modules, Form 15 is a project that begins to merge function, form, and design theory into one. By designing a structural grid and a modular unit, spaces could plug in to the form and create new and expand existing areas allowing the function and the needs of the people to create the ideal form of the building.

Fall 2017 University of Michigan

These various drawings display the wide arrange of visualization techniques I like to employ, These drawings served as midterm concepts for the previous fire station project in which my professor asked us to create different drawings inspired by designers such as Wes Jones, Boulee, and Aldo Rossi.. I like to work through images and use visualization to inform the design process and vice versa. 

Spring 2017 Ball State University

For this exercise I was tasked with teaching the robot to paint a symbol using linear and circular motion paths. Once the initial path is taught I was able to duplicate the paths and change the orientation of the brush at different points, which creates a subtle yet noticeable difference in the outcome.

Winter 2018 University of Michigan

The SO_SCOPIC project explored the use of common perspectival techniques seen in film and reinterpret these techniques as they could apply to architecture and specifically the facade. My project looked at stereoscopic effects in which the eyes are presented with two images from slightly different perspectives causing an impression of depth. This effect is similar to what is used in films like the Matrix, in which multiple shots are taken along a single track and pieced together to create a scene in which the camera seems to glide around the subject while preforming a stunt. This effect is also seen in work like David Hockney’s joiner photographs where by taking multiple photographs at different angles and perspectives and placing them strategically together he creates a vivid interpretation of the event that surpasses the temporality of a single photograph. These concepts are what led my design process along with the idea of exploring the hyper-primitive. In which a form language can be interpreted both as futuristic and archaic, as seen in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House which was used in a sci-fi film like Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, but also in a fantasy show like Game of Thrones. By using the motif of the Ennis House block as a starting point  and piecing varying perspectives and orientations over itself I attempted to create facades that captured a stereoscopic sense of motion.

Spring 2017 Ball State University

My final semester at Ball State I reached out to the ceramic department and asked to do an independent study with their new ceramic 3D printer. Work from my research that semester can been seen on my instagram profile, but the study itself culminated to this final project. These nine pieces look at the use of trigonometric equations to create efficient extrusion printing paths with minimal intersection and serve as a catalog for ceramic modular units that could be designed to respond to various conditions such as lighting, acoustics, and airflow.

Reaction diffusion models have become increasingly popular in the design field seen in Nervous System’s project “Coral Cup” in which a reaction diffusion model was used to populate the exterior of the shell with complex patterns. These patterns can be seen throughout nature in the pattern of a zebra’s coat to the formation of undersea coral. Due to the nature of reaction diffusion models the pattern variation is limitless based on parameters such as chemical proportions, diffusion coefficient, and many others. This project aims to manipulate those parameters to create custom acoustic panels that can respond to various acoustic conditions based on frequency and wave length allowing optimal diffusion of sound.

Summer 2016 Minnetrista Cultural Center

During the summer of 2016 I had an exhibit design internship at Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie Indiana. One of the projects I worked on was a set of children’s tables for a kid’s maker space exhibit. Utilizing the CNC mill present at Ball State University, I convinced my supervisor to allow me to design and mill four tables. Each of these tables are made of three pieces milled out of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood sheets and can be stored completely flat.

InTransit (2019)

This first-person short film was made for an architecture elective exploring the relationship between the built environment and film. It is composed of images and videos taken while in Tokyo for studio. The film name “InTransit” plays on the term “intransient” meaning not passing away/permanent.

InTransit explores the relationship between human memory and digital memory, using glitch-like techniques to signify the loss/ or corruption of human memory due to time. The subway cart’s purpose in the film is an allegory to how a person can “travel” back to their memories, but only in passing as if seeing scenes passing through the window of a train.

Fall 2018 University of Michigan

Partners: Roger Salinas and Kazi Najeeb Hassan

Detroit is a spectacular theater of urbanism mimicking the fallen hero trying to carve a future in a new world faced with climate change and affordable housing shortage. A new housing project therefore questions how it can proactively aid the city to rise by innovating on the ease of affordability through integration of natural energy sources and recycling systems in a technology driven future. The new form based code directs a low and mid rise development on our assigned sites located on the edge of downtown located in what was the parking lot of the soon to be demolished Joe Louis Arena.  The inclusion of street side retail on the ground level as well as renovating the adjacent car ramp structure as a civic space hopes to rejuvenate the street. The water edge on the south and south east of the south building  has been blurred to allow for alternate energy mechanisms and civic programs, while parking is distributed underground in two levels, below the north building and under the landscape. The water drawn in from the Detroit river is channeled diagonally across the site from the south to the north building, surrounded by a combination of lush greenery, small water bodies, hard and soft paving. Each building is served by a vertical green circulation and utility core that connects to all units via circulation terraces, while acting as the main element of a Vierendeel structural system.

Summer 2018

The sukkah is a temporary structure used during the Jewish holiday Sukkot, in which participants eat and pray within these temporary structures. The sukkah design I propose emphasizes simplicity both in its material usage and narrow size, yet invokes both a powerful and inherently spiritual aesthetic through its form. The usage of common dimensional lumber reinforces the concept of humility and humbleness. The entrance to the sukkah is just wide enough for one to enter. The lumber gradually raises inherently forming an iconic arch way. The sukkah is no longer than a standard 8 foot 2x4 with a simple bench running along one side for praying, eating, and festivities. The roof is composed of leaves, twigs, and branches supported across the top of the sukkah that drape over the walls .

This project was done for the Downtown Synagogue Sukkah x Detroit Competition

Summer 2018 Virtuoso Design + Build

Some samples of visualization and shop drawings I have worked on in an office setting. For various projects I had been given different roles spanning both millwork and architecture projects including drafting, modeling, rendering, and editing.

All images and documents shown are property of Virtuoso Design + Build