Computational Geometry | Generative Design
This project explores speculative evolution through a 3D implementation of Conway’s Game of Life, using procedural simulation to generate unfamiliar (extraterrestrial) organic forms. By applying a volumetric optimized workflow , the raw cellular structures are smoothed into unified, bone-like geometries that evoke alien biological systems. The resulting forms, (strange yet organic) are 3D printed as fossil-like artifacts, offering a tangible look into hypothetical generated structures. This process blurs the line between artificial life, evolutionary theory, and digital fabrication, suggesting a new direction for computational bio-art. The work demonstrates how simple rules can simulate complex biological emergence and challenge perceptions of the organic.
The project draws inspiration from both computational science and speculative biology. Conway’s Game of Life (1970) has long been a symbol of emergent complexity from simple rules, while its extension into three dimensions opens new opportunities for spatial and biological interpretation. Dougal Dixon’s After Man (1981) laid the groundwork for speculative evolution as a genre, imagining post-human ecologies shaped by evolutionary pressures. In the digital arts, Refik Anadol’s data sculptures and generative environments influence this project’s aesthetic and conceptual foundation—particularly in translating data or simulations into spatial experiences. Ernst Haeckel’s Art Forms in Nature (1904) serves as a historical precedent in biologically-inspired form-making, emphasizing symmetry, complexity, and the underlying logic of nature. Contemporary artists working in procedural sculpture and bio-art, such as Neri Oxman, further bridge organic systems with computational design. In this context, the project positions itself as a hybrid merging cellular automata with speculative zoology, and uniting digital life with tangible outcomes through 3D printing. It also echoes the educational goals of fictional biology projects like All Yesterdays (2013), where speculative forms not only entertain, but invite reflection on evolution, morphology, and the potential of unseen life forms, past or future.
The process begins with a custom 3D adaptation of Conway’s Game of Life (an algorithmic system in which simple local rules lead to emergent global complexity). In contrast to its traditional 2D grid, the simulation operates within a voxelized 3D environment, allowing for the formation of spatial structures that more closely resemble organic growth. The rules were adjusted experimentally to encourage the persistence of complex forms, mimicking the behavior of biological structures.
Once the desired results with determined seeds and iterations were generated, the raw voxel data was optimized and by developing a script with different attributes like rotating the initial voxel cells, mirror cutting the final mesh (volumetric workflow using the VDB (Volumetric Data Block) system), applying smoothness and unifying the voxel cells. VDB operations such as smoothing, erosion, and dilation were used to transform the cubic automata into more cohesive and lifelike surfaces. This process enhanced the organic aesthetic while preserving the underlying logic of their formation.
The smoothed geometry were then prepared for 3D printing by converting form into high-resolution meshes and optimizing them for physical fabrication. The printed result exhibit forms that appear skeletal, coral-like, or alien fossils shapoe suggesting life forms shaped by unfamiliar evolutionary forces.
Throughout the process, the project maintained a speculative design lens, treating the generated artifacts not just as abstract sculptures, but as structures of fictional of species from an alternate biology. This narrative context deepened the work's relationship to speculative evolution, turning algorithmic outputs into conceptual artifacts. The project was exploriung the intersection of evolutionary biology, procedural design.
