Fields play a crucial role in generative design, as they are responsible for guiding compositions and creating natural pattern formations. In my work, particles either interact with each other to define their movement or their motion is determined by a field present in the space they occupy—or sometimes a combination of both. The images shown here were generated through a real-time simulation of 5,000 charged particles interacting with magnetic fields.

The simulation is based on the Lorentz Law, which defines how a charged particle is influenced by an electromagnetic field. According to this law, the force acting on a charged particle is equal to the charge of the particle multiplied by the electric field it is in, plus its charge multiplied by its velocity crossed with the magnetic field present. If multiple magnetic fields are involved, the equation is solved for each field and then summed to obtain the total resultant force.

These renderings were generated using only the magnetic component of the Lorentz equation, producing vector forces in 3D space, which are visualized in the images as dynamic, organic patterns shaped by the interplay of charged particles and magnetic fields.

Designer & Developer: Reza Ali
Output: Prints & Custom Software (Java, Processing & C++, openFrameworks)
Year: 2011