Jesse Louis-Rosenberg is an artist, computer programmer, maker and co-founder of Nervous System. Jesse is interested in how simulation techniques can be used in design and in the creation of new kinds of fabrication machines. He studied math at MIT and previously worked at Gehry Technologies in building modeling and design automation.

Nervous System is a generative design studio that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. They create using a novel process that employs computer simulation to generate designs and digital fabrication to realize products. Drawing inspiration from natural phenomena, they write computer programs based on processes and patterns found in nature and use those programs to create unique and affordable art, jewelry, and housewares.The studio has pioneered the application of new technologies in design, including generative systems, 3D printing, and webGL. Nervous System releases online design applications that enable customers to co-create products in an effort to make design more accessible. These tools allow for endless design variation and customization.

Their work is a part of the permanent collection of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Their studio is located in the Catskills in Palenville, NY.
Session
The Unbuilt Sculptural Works of Nervous System

A forest of giant algorithmically generated metal leaves, triply periodic minimal surfaces you can inhabit, hyperbolic surfaces of riveted puzzle cells. Nervous System’s sculptural works combine scientific research into natural pattern formation with new fabrication techniques and computational geometry. Unfortunately they haven’t been built yet.

Join Jesse on a tour through the unbuilt sculptural works of Nervous System and the ups and downs of running a small computational design studio. We will follow the twists and turns of inspiration, hilarious coincidences, computational research, and tragic ends of these unrealized works.