Mixed Matters – Concrete Stuttgart, July 2017 Programme Directors: Kostas Grigoriadis, Michael Herrmann, Werner Sobek The aim of Mixed Matters is to instigate an alchemy for the twenty-first century, moving away from explorations of single, isotropic or composite materials and towards a completely new field of investigation dealing with material mixtures and grading. These new types of mixes will allow us to question tired ideas of tectonics, messy building processes, energy, resource and material wastage and the minimal aesthetics of sharp boundaries and uniformity. For the second cycle of this exploration we will be based at the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) and the office of str.ucture GmbH Engineering in Stuttgart, where we will attempt to stretch the possibilities of what can be mixed with concrete. We will use the concrete-spraying robot at ILEK to build individual small-scale prototypes in graded concrete. Intensive digital material simulations will be made alongside physical prototyping, moving towards building constructs that have finally caught up with the latest material developments.
Design Tropisms Vienna, July–August 2017 Programme Directors: Igor Pantic, Raffael Petrovic With a growing interest in algorithmic design, and increasing sophistication of generative design strategies applied in the field of architecture, the question of authorship is becoming an inseparable part of the profession. While writing custom software tools for CAD software is becoming more and more common within the industry, it is mostly used as a problem-solving device at certain phases of the project. Our interests lie in the use of algorithms as an integral part of the design process. AAVS Vienna will conduct research into rule-based design systems, examining modes of interaction between the designer (human) and the logical constraints of algorithms (machines) in the process of design, creating virtual design ecologies that challenge the conventional notion of authorship. A set of programmed behaviours and rules form computational design engines, which are used to design and digitally grow a series of architectural systems. With this in mind, we will create a loop system between the input parameters (design decisions and environmental conditions), computational systems and ‘built’ space – a recursive process which results in architectural/computational tropism.
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