BETTER NOUVEAU LEARNING HUB

Better Nouveau workshops are dedicated to computational strategies applied to design. They are intensive courses in which research and education deal straight on with generative design, interaction design, digital fabrication and physical computing. A place for creative trouble/makers.

Better Nouveau is not only an independent design label but also a learning hub: not a traditional school, but a place where new design communities can meet, share, and engage with the computational medium’s creative lingoes and innovative technologies. We have started two series of workshops:

Tabula Rasa
Hands-on workshops directed to students and professionals who wish to explore the use of generative strategies within their practice of design for the first time. Tabula Rasa loves 'learning by doing', contamination, systems and data. And can’t help but lay both hands on it all.
Let’s start over, for real. First of all by learning to build, not just use.

Design Today
A series of longer workshops, aimed at students and design professionals willing to dive deeply into a specific topic through the use of computational media.
Design Today requires the ability to think bottom-up, inoculate viruses, observe systems, analyze data, spy on nature, doubt mathematical laws.
Its goal: to make different experiences and skills collaborate on the creation of a concept, according to new paradigms and processes.

Past workshops:

GET ON BOARD!

Learn to design and fabricate your own Arduino shields from scratch

by Massimo Banzi

With Massimo as your guide, you'll learn to create your very own PCB (printed circuit board): we'll start from schematics, create the layout and make a real prototype on-site, with a low-cost CNC mill.

Teacher: Massimo Banzi (co-founder of Arduino)
References: www.arduino.cc | www.rolanddg.com | www.cadsoftusa.com
When: February 17-18-19, 2012
Where: Turin
Duration: 2.5 days
Language: Italian / English
Requirements: Previous experience with Arduino and electronics

INTRO TO OPENFRAMEWORKS

Brute force for creative coders

by Alessandro Capozzo, Abstract-codex

The workshop will offer an introduction to openFrameworks, a powerful open source C++ toolkit aimed at creative coding. The course is suitable for students with no openFrameworks experience but some basic understanding of scripting in Processing, Flash, etc. is required.

Teacher: Alessandro Capozzo, Abstract-codex
References: www.openframeworks.cc
When: January 20-21-22, 2012
Where: Turin
Duration: 2.5 days
Language: Italian
Requirements: Previous experience with scripting or programming

Keywords: creative coding | openframeworks | computational design | c++

PLUG IN! AUDIO &
PHYSICAL COMPUTING

Intro to Max/MSP + Arduino

by Emanuele Lomello

The workshop explores the use of Max/Msp, an interactive graphical programming environment for music and audio. Students will be introduced to the basics of Max’s programming interface and guided though the construction of a custom hardware controller, built with the Arduino TinkerKit. (TinkerKit simplifies and accelerates electronic prototyping, allowing the setup of interactive environments on the run, without soldering iron and breadboard.)

Teacher: Emanuele Lomello
References: www.cycling74.com | www.arduino.cc
When: November 11-12-13, 2011
Where: Turin
Duration: 2.5 days
Language: Italian
Requirements: None

Sliced Surfaces

workshop introduttivo all'uso di Grasshopper
e alla Digital Fabrication.

by Andrea Graziano / CO-DE-IT

The workshop will provide everything you’ll need to get started with Processing, the most widely used open source tool to develop generative and interactive graphics.

Teacher: Andrea Graziano
References: www.grasshopper3d.com
When: July 8-9-10, 2011
Where: Torino
Duration: 2.5 days
Language: Italian
Requirements: None

Keywords: Generative Modeling | Grasshopper | Rhinoceros | Digital Fabrication | Lasercut

3D PROJECTION MAPPING

Metodologie e progettazione

by Roberto Fazio + Riccardo Mongelluzzo

This workshop investigates the design of a video mapping project in a scenario where space, 3D video and real-time contents interact with each other.

Teachers: Roberto Fazio (Roberto Fazio Studio), Riccardo Mongelluzzo (ToDo)
When: July 6-7-8, 2012
Where: Turin
Duration: 2.5 days
Language: Italian
Requirements: Previous experience with basic 3D modeling

DATAVIZ: VISUAL REPRESENTATION
OF COMPLEX PHENOMENA

Data visualization & computational design

by Density Design + NodeBox

Rappresentazione visiva di fenomeni complessi

An in-depth focus on the visual representation of large datasets. Study how to capture, prepare, visualize and refine data. Gain insight in dataviz theories and start to look at data in a different way. Learn about the history of data visualization and how to create your own new and interesting designs for the future.
An all-stars workshop run jointly by the NodeBox Team (Experimental Media Research Group, Antwerp) and the DensityDesign research lab (Politecnico di Milano).

Teacher: Frederik De Bleser, Tom De Smedt (NodeBox, Experimental Media Research Group), Paolo Ciuccarelli, Donato Ricci, Michele Mauri (DensityDesign research lab), Lorenzo Benussi (guest lecture on open-data)
References: NodeBox Team | DensityDesign
When: December 12-17, 2011
Where: Turin
Duration: 6 days
Language: English
Requirements: Participants will be selected based on their portfolio and on the specific skills they can bring to the table.

Listening systems!

Intro to creative coding with Processing

by ToDo

Introduzione al creative coding con Processing