MArch Architectural Design (AD) 2015

AD

MArch Architectural Design 2014-2015

The Bartlett School of Architecture UCL

AD

MArch Architectural Design 2014-2015

Image: BiotA Lab crits

Contents

6 Introduction

Frédéric Migayrou, Bob Sheil 8 MArch Architectural Design

Alisa Andrasek 10 Wonderlab

Alisa Andrasek Wonderlab RC1 Synthetic Constructability: Increased Resolution Fabric of Architecture Alisa Andrasek, Dağhan Çam

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

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28 Wonderlab RC4

Printing Architecture

Manuel Jiménez Garcia, Gilles Retsin 44

Wonderlab RC5 Of Part and Whole: Materials in Computational Architecture Guan Lee, Vicente Soler

60 Wonderlab RC6

Crafting Space

Stefan Bassing, Soomeen Hahm, Daniel Widrig 76 BiotA Lab

Marcos Cruz, Richard Beckett

with Javier Ruiz 92 Interactive Architecture Lab

Domestic Ecologies

Ruairi Glynn with William Bondin, Christopher Leung 110 114 116 118 120 121 122

Staff Biographies Staff and Consultants Bartlett Lectures 175 Anniversary New Programmes Bartlett Short Courses Bartlett School of Architecture Publications 3

Image: B-Pro Show 2014, Interactive Architecture Lab

Introduction

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Professor Frédéric Migayrou Chair, Bartlett Professor of Architecture Director of B-Pro For three years, B-Pro, Bartlett Prospective, has been organised as a global postgraduate entity within The Bartlett School of Architecture comprising two advanced courses: the MArch Architectural Design (AD), led by Alisa Andrasek, providing access to the most sophisticated research in design and fabrication; and the MArch Urban Design (UD), led by Adrian Lahoud, opening critical and theoretical strategies in urbanism and offering new approaches to creating cities.

The one-year B-Pro programmes welcome a diverse international student cohort and offer highly structured access to the realisation and application of research, and to the production of new schemes of conception and construction in architecture and urbanism. B-Pro has developed numerous lectures, seminars and workshops to underpin these ideas and promote a broad dialogue.

In 2015 the B-Pro programmes were divided into a series of Labs driven by their respective academic leaders, offering students the opportunity to choose a field of enquiry.

Each Lab follows a unique approach with regular inter-lab debate, creative exchange, and vibrant discussion. The Labs are seen as a suite of distinct research entities that set new research agendas in their respective fields.

In AD, the Labs are Wonderlab, led by Alisa Andrasek, BiotA Lab, led by Professor Marcos Cruz and Richard Beckett, and Interactive Architecture Lab, led by Ruairi Glynn.

Within this, Research Clusters pursued specific research in a number of domains, and offered the opportunity to gain access to new computational tools and a new culture of scripting, directly connected to tools of fabrication. Inspired by, and directly related to, the current scene of international architecture creation, the teaching of supercomputing and software packages such as Maya, Grasshopper, Arduino, Processing and 6

other generative platforms, comes from the perspective of an innovative idea of conception and fabrication in association with new digital production facilities (robots, SLS printing, advanced CNC tools etc).

MArch UD is organised around two Labs, City and Urban Infrastructures Lab, led by Adrian Lahoud, and Urban Morphogenesis Lab, led by Claudia Pasquero. Based on a global overview of the Mediterranean context, the City and Urban Infrastructures Lab offered new theoretical schemes to analyse this complex social, cultural, economical and political territory. Alternative proposals based on new morphological concepts and protocols were developed in response to urban field studies. The Urban Morphogenesis Lab engaged urban design as a computational practice to prefigure alternative models of the city represented as a complex dynamic system.

The ambition of the Lab is to stimulate a transdisciplinary discourse that reaches wider academic research networks as well as scientific organisations involved in the study of the city as a living system, and in the development of future bio-digital technologies.

The Bartlett International Lecture Series – with numerous speakers, architects, historians and theoreticians, supported by the Fletcher Priest Trust – presented the opportunity for students to encounter the main streams of research that will be influential in the near future. Alongside their cutting-edge research, UD and AD organised numerous seminars, theoretical workshops and public events

The school’s production facilities are enhanced by B-Made, a multidisciplinary centre that strives to foster the next generation of thinkers, designers and makers. Students’ work evolved through different crit sessions and the B-Pro Show in the new temporary location of Hampstead Road, with the presentation of drawings, models and animations, all of a very high quality, which clearly demonstrate the intense activity undertaken throughout the year.

Professor Bob Sheil Director of The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL 2014-15 has witnessed and delivered another significant progression in the evolution of our MArch Architectural Design and MArch Urban Design Programmes, that fit within the organisational structure of B-Pro (Bartlett Prospective). By introducing our new substructure of Labs the relationship between research, education, and enterprise is fundamentally addressed and placed in the foreground of the School’s everyday activity. Each Lab is now provided with the platform to develop their own unique bias and profile, whilst offering the opportunity of linkage across the School through other complementary programmes and groups.

This signifies a profound shift in the way that education will be approached in the decade ahead, where more nimble, agile and inventive approaches are allowed breathing space to experiment and test the status quo. With new premises and programmes ahead, The Bartlett School of Architecture is embarking on its greatest transformation in forty years. Our short time in Hampstead Road will be seen in the near future as an historic gear shift in the operations of this renowned institution. My congratulations to all staff and students associated with the work on display in this volume; it has been an inspiring year and a significant one to build on.

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The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Through the federative idea of creative architecture, B-Pro is an opportunity for students to find a way to participate in a new community and to affirm the originality of individual talents.

These programmes are not only an open door to advanced architecture but also the base from which each student can define a singular practice and invent a strategy to find a position in the professional world.

Looking ahead, 2015-16 will mark a significant year in the School’s history. It will be our last year in refitted temporary premises at 140 Hampstead Road while UCL invests over £40m in extending and refurbishing our Bloomsbury home at 22 Gordon Street. Along with UCL Engineering, we will also be expanding into premises at Here East on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in early 2016. 10-metre-high studio spaces will be used to undertake groundbreaking research in areas including design, infrastructure, transport, robotics, manufacturing and environmental measurement. B-Pro is now housed alongside the School’s professional programmes, presenting greater opportunities for collaborative working. B-Pro is currently developing links with The Bartlett’s MArch Architectural History Programme and the new MRes programme in Architecture and Digital Theory to extend the field of research between each area. Finally, in 2016, it will be 175 years since architectural education began at UCL, following the appointment of Thomas Leverton Donaldson as UCL’s first Professor of Architecture in 1841. We will be planning and announcing a series of celebrations soon, not least the opening of our new buildings on Gordon Street and in East London.

The 2015 B-Pro exhibition and the publication of this book provide an excellent overview of the depth of quality and the intensity of the teaching of The Bartlett’s tutors. What they also showcase is the passion of all the students involved.

MArch Architectural Design Programme Leader: Alisa Andrasek

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

The MArch Architectural Design (AD) is a 12-month post-professional programme invested in the frontiers of advanced architecture and design and its convergence with science and technology. Composed of an international body of experts and students, it is designed to deliver diverse yet focused strands of speculative research, emphasising the key role computation plays within complex design synthesis.

Design is increasingly recognised as the crucial agency for uncovering complex patterns and relations, and this has never been more important. Historically, the most successful architecture has managed to capture cultural conditions, utilise technological advancements and answer to the pressures and constraints of materials, economics, ecology and politics.

Presently, this synthesis is accelerated by the introduction of computation and the evolving landscape of production. With access to B-made, one of the most advanced fabrication workshops in Europe, AD students are introduced to highly advanced coding, fabrication and robotic skills, aimed at computational and technological fluency. Simultaneously, students are exposed to larger theoretical underpinnings specifically tailored to their enquiries. Students are part of a vibrant urban and professional community, in one of the most exciting cities in the world, enriching the process of learning and opportunities for networking.

Placing advanced design agency at its core, AD devotes a high proportion of its time to studio-based design enquiry, culminating in a major project and thesis. The programme is organised into Labs, each with its own research agenda, underpinned by the shared resources of technical tutorials and theoretical lectures and seminars. The latest approaches to robotics and AI, CNC fabrication, 3D printing, supercomputing, simulation, generative design, interactivity, advanced algorithms, extensive material prototyping and links to material science are explored. AD engages critically with new 8

developments in technology, which are rapidly changing the landscape of architecture, its social and economic role and its effectiveness as an active agency.

Students are introduced to theoretical concepts through lectures and warm-up design projects supported by computational and robotics skills-building workshops. Throughout the year students work in small teams or individually, according to the methodology of each Research Cluster, amplifying students’ focus and individual talents in the context of the complexities of design research and the project development. Projects are continuously evaluated via tutorials with regular design reviews by external critics.

Alongside its cutting-edge research, AD hosts public lectures and seminars throughout the year.

The MArch AD programme sits alongside the MArch Urban Design (UD) programme within the overarching structure of B-Pro, led by Professor Frédéric Migayrou, Chair of the School of Architecture. This year the MArch AD programme was divided into three Labs, offering students the opportunity to choose a distinct field of enquiry: Wonderlab Led by Alisa Andrasek BiotA Lab Led by Professor Marcos Cruz and Richard Beckett Interactive Architecture Lab Led by Ruairi Glynn Each Lab follows a unique approach with regular inter-lab debate, creative exchange, and vibrant discussion.

Image: MArch AD, Wonderlab, RC4, CurVoxels ‘Space Curves’, Robotically extruded chair. Research directed by: Manuel Jiménez Garcia, Gilles Retsin. Students: Amreen Kaleel, Hyunchul Kwon, Xiao Lin Li

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

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Wonderlab Lab Leader: Alisa Andrasek

‘A new generation of artists writing genomes as fluently as Blake and Byron wrote verses, might create an abundance of new flowers and fruit and trees and birds to enrich the ecology of our planet. Most of these artists would be amateurs, but they would be in close touch with science, like the poets of the earlier Age of Wonder.’

Freeman John Dyson, referencing The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Wonderlab is invested in the search for and materialisation of the rare, the unseen and the unexplored. It believes that the poetic and aesthetic magic of wonder can be analysed, synthesised, engineered and designed.

Architecture’s ‘superpower’ has always been the creative synthesis of a multitude of elements.

Historically, the most successful architecture has managed to capture cultural conditions, utilise technological advancements and answer to the pressures and constraints of materials, economics, ecology and politics. Today, this synthesis is increasingly open and accelerated with the introduction of computation and the evolving landscape of production. Design is the crucial agency for uncovering patterns and direct engagement with complexity, and this has never been more important.

Wonderlab’s main area of expertise is in innovating new computational territories for applications in design and fabrication processes.

Principal research trajectories include simulation and GPU-run supercomputing, in which large quantities of data allow us to traverse scales and disciplines, embed micro into macro, from the scale of material science to design applications at scale. By encoding matter with algorithmic parameters – now widely practised in the sciences and many industries such as the automotive industry – we are working with what could be called ‘materialisation prior to materialisation’, designing not only form but possible material states, before they are materialised. Through its work with simulation, 10

Wonderlab demonstrates how we can now design to a previously unimaginable level of performance and simultaneously uncover truly fresh aesthetic possibilities of this new ‘increased resolution’ fabric of architecture.

One of Wonderlab’s main missions is to evolve thinking on what architecture and design could be. We aim to reimagine the possibilities of architectural design research, engaging with territories that are not traditionally considered to be in the domain of architecture. A carefully curated combination and breadth of diverse talent in Wonderlab makes this the largest Lab in B-Pro at The Bartlett and an incredibly exciting place to be.

Wonderlab is building a network of industry collaborators from diverse areas such as the visual computing industry, advanced research labs of very large engineering companies, the film industry, business innovation and architecture. We are immersed in what is believed will bring massive revolution to many fields: the investment of the industry into robotics and artificial intelligence. We are also extending our collaboration to other research labs, especially in compatible scientific territories, such as computation, material science, robotics and nanotechnology, at UCL and beyond. We actively seek pilot projects as real materialisation opportunities to put the Lab’s advanced research to the test and accelerate innovation.

Image: MArch AD, Wonderlab, RC1, White Rabbit, Multi-material robotic extrusion. Research directed by: Alisa Andrasek, Dağhan Çam. Students: Jong Hee Lee, Ningzhu Wang, Feng Zhou, Danli Zhong

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RC1

Wonderlab

Synthetic Constructability: Increased Resolution Fabric of Architecture Alisa Andrasek, Dağhan Çam

Students Andrey Bezuglov, Kyungchul Choi, Suvro Sovon Chowdhury, Lei Gao, Liying Guo, Chan Gyu Lee, Jong Hee Lee, Yu Qun Li, Ameyavikram Mahalingashetty, Itthi Poldeenana, Peng Shuai, Guan Tianping, Ningzhu Wang, Feng Zhou, Danli Zhong

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Project teams White Rabbit Jong Hee Lee, Ningzhu Wang, Feng Zhou, Danli Zhong [a] - Panoptes Kyungchul Choi, Chan Gyu Lee, Itthi Poldeenana, Space Benders Andrey Bezuglov, Ameyavikram Mahalingashetty, Peng Shuai, Guan Tianping Arachne.s Lei Gao, Yu Qun Li, Liying Guo, Suvro Sovon Chowdhury Report Tutor Mollie Claypool Thank you to our sponsors nVidia and Formfutura Thanks to our collaborators Andy Lomas, Amirreza Mirmotahari and Gennaro Senatore

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High volumes of computing, computational physics simulations, discretised and adaptive algorithms, and large data are opening new spaces of synthesis for architecture. This architecture draws on large data from the finer-grain physics of matter – matter as information, enabled by computation. It not only expands on technically enriched material formations, but also activates previously hidden material powers towards designs beyond our anticipation. Finer-grain physics simulations disrupt the blueprints of architecture, resulting in structures with the increased resilience and malleability of complex interrelated systems.

Additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly relevant to largescale applications such as architecture. Research Cluster 1 is exploring these advances, going away from the logics of assembly and mechanical joints which formerly characterised construction paradigms, towards the complexity found in natural systems. The physics of matter is harnessed directly through properties such as gravity, friction and fluid dynamics.

Complex syntheses of geometry and physics, fortified by principles of self-organisation, are allowing designers to work with materialisation prior to materialisation. Innovation is accelerated by simulating material states, therefore radically reducing the need for exhaustive physical prototyping.

The polymorphic possibilities of computational coding are now migrating to the universality of robotics. Boundless opportunities emerge by coupling robotics with material behaviours and the ability to design various extensions for robotic arms via 3D printing.

The four research projects presented here each define a speculative Increased Resolution Fabric of Architecture through novel design and fabrication ecologies. The White Rabbit team generated design language at multiple scales (their team name referencing Alice in Wonderland’s poly-scalar world), based on biological cellular growth simulations programmed in c++/CUDA on GPU-run supercomputing. In parallel this group developed a method and robotic tools for multi-material extrusion, resulting in an enchanting counter-intuitive design world of ‘Alien Resolutions’ where unseen intricacy populates familiar objects and chunks of architecture. [a] - Panoptes reimagined the Gothic rose window in the acute technological context of 3D printing, for construction of incredibly intricate and precise light filters, regenerating the complexity of crystals and (synthetic) rainbows in the experience of architecture. Space Benders simulated magnetic fields in order to design torqued structures, fabricated through the complex robotic bending of metal sheets. The structures were fortified by intricate carbon-fibre robotic weave. And Arachne.s (from Greek arakhnē, spider) programmed n-dimensional spatial choreographies with multiple robots weaving intricate carbon-fibre structures which are simultaneously light and strong, and, like spider structures, extremely adaptive to variable host conditions.

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Figs. 1.1 – 1.5 White Rabbit ‘Alien Resolution’. New technologies of computational simulation as well as a revolution in 3D printing technology are opening fresh creative possibilities for design and architecture. This research has embraced the Cluster’s research umbrella of ‘increased resolution fabric of architecture’ by simulating a complex biological behaviour: embryonic morphogenesis. The topological evolution process of the cell division simulation, which is abstracted by object-oriented and parallel programming (GPGPU based on CUDA), has led to a synthetic design that integrates not only all structural elements such as columns, walls and ceilings but also ornamental elements such as a pattern and colour, into continuous structural fabric. In addition, robotic fabrication research focuses on the multi-material robotic extrusion so

as to materialise the high resolution complexity of design outcomes derived from the cellular division morphogenesis.

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1.8 Figs. 1.6 – 1.9 White Rabbit ‘Alien Resolution’. Traditionally, different parts of architecture necessitate different materials.

This experiment makes it possible to print all the parts simultaneously by changing the proportion of multiple materials. The aesthetic introduction of super-high resolution introduces alien visual effects into the fabric of the familiar host (architecture).

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1.12 Figs. 1.10 – 1.13 [a] - Panoptes ‘The Clouds’. This research looks into the design of a new kind of ‘light filter’ for architecture, enabled by the technologies of 3D printing.

A fundamental element for architecture, light is given a new definition for the 21st century. The architectural application aims to change the properties of light at a very high resolution by varying geometries, density and function. It also seeks to understand the morphing process of natural genesis as well as controlling the nature-inspired reaction diffusion process.

‘G’ and materials are tested through countless iterations of its form and function. The project has extracted new information out of the reaction diffusion algorithm, defined as ‘reaction diffusion structural network’, where the gradients of two different chemicals are systematically linked.

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1.15 Figs. 1.14 – 1.15 [a] - Panoptes ‘The Clouds’. The team sources various algorithmic ingredients to form coherent design process, where big data from simulation can be materialised, tested and analysed in a rendering engine. The design, then, is fabricated through a high-resolution 3D printing/CNC milling, which will retain its intended and fine geometries.

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1.16 The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

1.17 Figs. 1.16 – 1.17 Space Benders ‘EMF_Torque’. This research aims to create an adaptive method for producing bent and woven structures. To make it feasible, a system for precisely controlling the bending process, which is lightweight, reusable and, most importantly, controllable, is developed in this research. The methodology is based on a computational simulation that uses the emf (electromagnetic field) and the fabrication is explored through robotic bending of metal sheets.

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1.20 Figs. 1.18 – 1.21 Space Benders ‘EMF_Torque’. The concept is to build a series of continuous surfaces and structures based on the elastic deformation of metal strips and weave between them for structural stability. The digital data is transferred to the bending machines developed by the team and the robot that helps replicate the exact physical model, depending on the data received from the software. Finally, architectural applications and a physical prototype are based on the use of the fabrication system developed here and could be used in actual construction processes.

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1.23 Figs. 1.22 – 1.25 Arachne.s ‘Fiber.Arachnoid’. The project aims to search for a form-finding process whereby the material behaviour of fibrous systems may be governed by multi-directional force vectors. The self-generating formation is driven by the collaborative movements through which sequential real-time weaving with fibre sets to form the spatial organisation of an intricate lightweight fibrous adaptable structural system. In achieving the notion of morphogenesis in the space-time continuum and its incorporation with fabrication methods, the research has a twofold challenge: conceiving a space of virtual movement in topological manifolds while incorporating multiple independent but interdependent variables; and the intertwining of material complexity within a morphogenetic 24

process where the non-linearity of material behaviour will emerge into a self-optimised system. The initial step is the development of ‘choreographed’ weaving sequences for fabrication for multi-dimensional and structurally adaptable fibrous formations which can later be translated through ‘collaborative robotic movements’. The sequence of the fabrication technique receives feedback from the constraints of fabrication itself and from the simulations that occur.

The fabrication aims to generate prototypes of architectural shapes that emerge from the properties of the carbon fibres as a material while applying natural fibrous morphogenetic principles in the process.

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1.28 Figs. 1.26 – 1.29 Arachne.s ‘Fiber.Arachnoid’. Two main constraints were considered to achieve architectural scales: structural adaptibility and fabrication constraints. The latter is the virtual translation of the fibre material, integrating it to create an entangled spatial weaved formation which is in tension. By applying these systems for design derivation with an integrated window to control design parameters, a new architectural language can be developed to describe the ‘form-finding’ and physical transformation of fibrous spatial formation. The project concludes with the synthesised simulated physical behaviour of fibre with the choreographed robotic movement sequences which can be gradually accommodated through various possible design applications.

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hierarchy and articulated density variances and later are transformed into a more spatial, structurally adaptable formation.

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RC4

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Printing Architecture Manuel Jiménez Garcia, Gilles Retsin

Students Nadia Al Doukhi, Francesca Camilleri, Xiaosong Chen, Yuchuan Chen, Zhe Feng, Wan Jiang, Amreen Kaleel, Hyunchul Kwon, Xiao Lin Li, Ke Liang, Dan Lin, Longchun Liu, Alvaro Lopez Rodriguez, Roman Strukov, Xi Wang

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Project teams Amalgama Nadia Al Doukhi, Francesca Camilleri, Alvaro Lopez, Roman Strukov VoxelTimber Zhe Feng, Ke Liang, Dan Lin, Xi Wang, nBezier Xiaosong Chen, Yuchuan Chen, Wan Jiang, Longchun Liu CurVoxels Amreen Kaleel, Hyunchul Kwon, Xiao Lin Li Thanks to our critics and consultants Zeeshan Ahmed, Alisa Andrasek, Stefan Bassing, Isaïe Bloch, William Bondin, Mario Carpo, Mollie Claypool, Octavian Gheorghiu, Kostas Grigoriadis, Soomeen Hahm, Vincent Hygh, Nan Jiang, Bruno Juricic, Frédéric Migayrou, Igor Pantic, Jose Sanchez, Peter Scully, Vicente Soler, Filip Visnjic, Daniel Widrig

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With an exponential increase in the possibilities of computation and computer-controlled fabrication, architecture is now facing a novel challenge. As architects we can design for infinite resolution and density of information, controlling the deposition of millions of material particles, but the continuous translation to a material reality is still a significant problem. How can we develop computational systems that are not representational, but actually respond to core architectural logics such as space, structure, material and tectonics? Instead of borrowing existing algorithms from ‘nature’ as a found object, how can architecture generate its own algorithms that are purely concerned with design, materiality and structure?

Research Cluster 4 researches computational design methodologies for large-scale 3D printing with industrial robots, taking logistical, structural and material constraints as design opportunities to generate nonrepresentational architectural spaces with extreme information density.

The cluster investigates the tectonic problems associated with the idea of 3D printing and makes them inherent to the design. Computational models develop as strategies to organise material in space in response to specific structural and logistical inputs, as well as purely aesthetic concerns, without privileging one over the other. We specifically exploit the aesthetic possibilities of the computational organisation of matter: unseen levels of detail, unknown, alien logics, extreme heterogeneity, novel ideas of composition and new systems of relations. Computational processes are deployed both on the level of space and on the level of tectonics and material articulation.

This year’s projects explored a diverse range of printable materials, including concrete, plastic and timber. Projects started out with experimentation on a smaller scale, looking at furniture before scaling up to architectural elements such as stairs and columns. Computational systems investigated discrete, voxel-based models and concepts such as combinatronics.

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Figs. 1.30 – 1.35 CurVoxels ‘Space Curves’. Fig. 1.30 Sectional prototype of a 3D-printed chair with differentiated material densities in response to structural loads. Initially, the chair starts off as Verner Panton’s iconic chair, which in itself is derived from Marcel Breurer and Mart Stam’s iron tube chairs.

The Panton chair is voxelised, a process of dividing an object into ‘volumetric pixels’. These voxels are then translated into a basic spatial curve, which can adopt different orientations, generating an overall pattern throughout the chair. The size of the voxels changes depending on the amount of stress in the chair, distributing different material densities. When the voxels are very small, the spatial curve effectively becomes no more than a line. What appears as two different formal syntaxes, curvilinear versus linear, is actually the product of a single

spatial curve on different scales. Figs. 1.31 – 1.33 Three different 1:1 chair prototypes, undergoing subsequent optimisation to loading. The last image shows the implementation of a small-scale voxel resulting in more clearly distributed material densities. Fig. 1.34 Experimental Extruder design which can print with different thickness. Three nozzles are focused on one point, and are able to be controlled separately, resulting in different print diameters. In zones of high stress, thicker lines can be extruded within one singular toolpath. Fig. 1.35 Rendering showing a prototypical chair with different material gradients. Through the first simulations, twelve different design issues where examined, of which toolpath continuity, patterns resulting from combinatronics, printability and density were the most important.

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Differentiated voxel size is achieved through octree voxelisation, which is often used in the games industry.

Octree voxelisation makes the voxel size dependent on the amount of detail in the geometry. As described earlier, the group uses this method effectively to introduce different material densities in the structure, but at the same time this differentiated voxel also introduces multi-scalar patterns with different levels of hierarchy. In further architecture-scale speculations, this property can be used as a space-generating device, understanding large-scale hollow spaces as large voxels, and the surrounding structure as dense material with a small voxel.

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1.37 Figs. 1.36 – 1.37 CurVoxels ‘Space Curves’. Fig. 1.36 Robotic printing sequence of the chair. The robot drags extruded plastic in the air where it is cooled down. The whole chair consists of a single, continuous line. Fig. 1.37 Diagrams showing the development of a printable spatial curve as a building block for a combinatorial system. The combinatorial system aims to generate a single continuous spatial curve so that the chair can be printed by the robot without stopping.

The system starts out with a curve in one voxel, which sets out tangents and points of connectivity for the curves in the neighbouring voxels. The discrete unit of the voxel has 24 possible rotations, which enables it to generate a differentiated, heterogenous pattern. The discretisation of the curve into a voxel unit allows for the quick evaluation of 32

printability, introducing a high level of control over the pattern.

Every part of the continuous line can be modified as a discrete unit until an optimal design is reached. The group aimed to programme the voxel as a self-assembling unit, which has the agency to construct both the differentiated pattern, react to stress levels and guarantee continuous printing. Fig. 1.38 Amalgama ‘Fossilised’. 3D-printed concrete columns. The group proposes a method for 3D printing concrete elements on a supporting bed of glass beads. This technique allows for more formal possibilities, such as large cantilevers, and for the integration of the transparent supporting material in the print.

It enables us to rethink the fundamental relationship between transparent and opaque elements in a building.

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Figs. 1.39 – 1.41 Amalgama ‘Fossilised’. Fig. 1.39 Combinatorial pattern logic. The design process starts out with a set of simple linear patterns on the faces of a voxel. Each line of the pattern can be assigned a different material ID. The voxel is able to rotate in 24 positions, generating different patterns and directions. An initial volume or design space is voxelised, and analysed on principal stress directions of compression and tension force. Next, the voxel pattern attempts to construct a continuous pattern which aligns to the direction of the stress.

Each voxel follows a cellular-automata logic to communicate and investigate its local neighbourhood. Rotations happen randomly until the best position is found. In the next step, the curves start to distribute material in the form of a voxel, translating from a linear pattern to a three-dimensional

structural form within the voxel. Finally, these voxels are translated to a continuous toolpath over the entre structure with as little breaks as possible. To achieve this, another form of ‘neighbour logic’ was adopted where points investigate the surrounding and connect themselves to other points. Each point has a maximum of eight neighbours, or eight possible connections. To achieve a continuous line, each point should have only two connections. The code cycles through the layer, trying out different possibilities until every point has the smallest possible amount of connections. Fig. 1.40 Concrete extrusion nozzle. Printing takes place in a bounding box which is gradually filled with translucent powder-like material such as glass beads or plastic particles. The tool itself contains two nozzles: one to extrude concrete, the other to deposit the

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binder for the transparent material. The concrete extruder makes uses of pre-mixed concrete with the flow controlled by a pump. The entire nozzle was 3D-printed in ABS plastic.

The pumping system is based on a peristaltic pump, which is optimised to pump thick materials like concrete with low energy consumption. Fig. 1.41 3D-printed concrete table.

This concrete table exhibits the potential of the proposed 3D printing method, such as extreme cantilevers, thin extrusion and a continuous toolpath.

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1.43 Fig. 1.42 Amalgama ‘Fossilised’. Rendering of a network of toolpaths with different materiality. Combinatorial skeletons connect to form a visual pattern of structural ‘ribs’ on the surface, and variably thicken internally to according to the different areas of structural rigidity. From a visual perspective this also enables a variation in porosity, generating a design that is directional in terms of stress alignment, and has a varied solid to void ratio. Fig. 1.43 VoxelTimber ‘Hypersprixel’.

Composite materials, computational design and digital fabrication are changing the way we use wood. This project develops a CA-based algorithm to specifically design and control 3D printing timber-like material, such as wood shavings, wood fibre and wood filament. The image shows two initial column designs which explore the formal possibilities of

a discrete, voxel-based computational system such as a CA, in combination with a systemic distortion of the voxel faces through mesh relaxation. At the same time, these columns investigate strategies to tailor CA-rules to structural criteria, resulting in different gradients of material density.

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1.45 Figs. 1.44 – 1.46 VoxelTimber ‘Hypersprixel’. Fig. 1.44 Chair generation process. The group developed a multi-layered algorithmic process. It begins from a CA-based distribution of voxel cells around principal directions of stress. The base voxel is constructed as a network of particles and springs which is able to compute local forces, triggering further subdivision of the voxel or removal. In a last step, the springs contract or expand in reaction to tension and compression forces in the structure. Fig. 1.45 Prototypical chair design. This initial design for a chair shows highly articulated organisation of material; with different patterns and densities distributed throughout the chair. The voxel itself contains different sets of information and parameters, such as stress data, centre position, vertices, edges and surfaces. After structural and 38

functional analysis, the voxel can be translated into different types of articulations such as a spatial curve, layer by layer polylines or a spaceframe. Through this hierarchical deformation, the design becomes heterogeneous and adaptable to material and printing constraints. Fig. 1.46 3D-printed timber chair. This 1:1 prototype is used as a test case for the digital process. The chair was printed in a number of different pieces, making effective use of shifting the layer directions of printing. The printing process is discrete, taking place within a defined bounding box filled with wood chips and fibres, which act as a support for timber-polymer filaments. In the printing process, the hot filament clusters timber chips together.

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1.48 Fig. 1.47 VoxelTimber ‘Hypersprixel’. Plan view of a dome-like structure generated from the VoxelTimber algorithm. Voxels are arranged around principal directions of stress. Surface relaxation differentiates and ripples the voxel faces resulting in a unique aesthetic language. Through rotational and axial symmetries, this dome prototype also suggests a possible discretisation into seperate building components, this model of 43,0000 active voxels. Fig. 1.48 nBezier ‘Assempicur’.

Iterative structure-generation process. This project aims to generate differentiated spaceframe-like structures through a process of continuous assembly. The project is based on an algorithmic process which generates structural components on different fractal scales, which are making use of robotically bent metal pipes. Physical simulations are used to distribute

the various bending pipes into a coherent structure with a variety of scales. A basic component or cell in the project can be understood as similar to a traditional space frame cell, forming a stable, balanced structure. Cells arrange themselves along principal directions of stress, or more aesthetic design decisions on curvature. Axial symmetry is explored as an aesthetic device to increase readability and emphasise internal organisational patterns.

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1.50 Figs. 1.49 – 1.51 nBezier ‘Assempicur’. Fig. 1.49 Component diagrams showing different pieces for fabrication. A series of components arrange themselves within defined boundary curves to form a stiff building block. Fig. 1.50 Design for a wall-mounted structure. This model further refines the design language developed throughout the project and manages to diffuse the components or pieces within the overall assembly.

Fig. 1.51 Speculative architectural model. This model exhibits the potential of nBezier’s system; a multi-scalar architectural space with different hierarchies and degrees of porosity.

Structural elements are generated within the same overarching system. The structure exists as different discrete components and elements which can be manufactured in a controlled environment to be rapidly assembled onsite.

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Of Part and Whole: Materials in Computational Architecture Guan Lee, Vicente Soler

Students Fei Chen, Glenn De Roche, Weijia Dong, Lina Lan, Wenmo Liu, Zhenhua Luo, Sibo Pang, Jian Hua Ren, Jun Wei Ren, Long Fei Wang, Yuwei Wang, Rui Xie, Kun Yin, Wanhong Yu, Chen Yuan

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Project teams Actuated Ferrocement Fei Chen, Sibo Pang, Wanhong Yu FAB | CLAY Weijia Dong, Glenn De Roche, Wenmo Liu, Yuwei Wang Gelacasting Rui Xie, Kun Yin, Chen Yuan X-Bamboo Lina Lan, Zhenhua Luo, Jianhua Ren, Jun Wei Ren, Longfei Wang Thank you to our guest critics Alisa Andrasek, Stefan Bassing, Adam Blencowe, Dağhan Çam, Manuel Jiménez Garcia, Soomeen Hahm, Arthur Mamou-Mani Frédéric Migayrou, Andrew Porter, Gilles Retsin, Louis Rigano, Daniel Widrig Thank you to our sponsor Grymsdyke Farm Special thanks to Jessie Lee, Philippe Morel, Callum Perry, Thibault Schwartz

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Research Cluster 5’s research is firmly rooted in analogue and digital exploration of material and its implementation in architecture, with particular emphasis on robotics and computation. We see traditional building technology as a benchmark for experimentation, not simply for novelty in design. For us, fabrication technology such as robotics cannot be considered separately from materials and computational design strategies in multiple scales. Designs with robotic manufacturing systems usually comprise design and generation of robotic movements in multiple segments, as continuous or discrete actions. Critically, fluency in robotic translation from design to fabrication is contingent on the practical application of computational geometry, persistent material experimentation, and the effectiveness of tools employed to interact with materials.

This year, two projects have engaged with robotics. The first project builds on last year’s research on 3D printing with clay extrusion, engaging with traditional joining of clay elements before firing. Another key aspect is the use of bone-dry plaster mould as temporary support; this technique is borrowed from the process of slip-casting. The resulting ceramic components are compelling, opening further questions for experimentation.

The second project explores the process of bamboo forming using the robotic arm. This project challenges the traditional timber bending process, by introducing a technique that can be carried out without any formwork.

The computational aspect of this research includes integration of material properties to digitally simulate the processes of bending prior to programming the robotic arm.

In order to traverse the terrain of experimental fabrication in architecture, rethinking existing processes is as important as reconfiguring and inventing new ones. A group of our students decided to investigate the potential of rethinking ferrocement as a process of making. Instead of manipulating standard wire mesh, custom-made laser-cut steel sheets are folded and rolled into place before introducing a cement mixture.

The parameters that govern the outcome of this project still require rigorous testing and further examination. Different sets of rules apply at different scales in architecture: they are not discrete, but interwoven. This is also the theoretical underpinning of emergent behaviour that will dictate our future research.

Finally, it is through failed experiments that we profit the most. The ‘Gelacasting’ group decided to adapt and scale up an existing research project by Vasily Sitnikov entitled, ‘Irregular Structures: methodology for computation and fabrication’. By using electricity and thin wires, tunnel-like voids formed within solid blocks as moulds for casting in plaster and cement-based mixtures. So far, we have not been able to make larger gelatin tunnels without collapse. Our concerns for materiality at different architectural scales aim to be non-materialistic in nature.

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1.55 Figs. 1.52 – 1.56 Actuated Ferrocement Fig. 1.52 This column is fabricated by folding laser-cut sheets of metal that are linked together then gradually sprayed, layer upon layer, with cement mixed with water. This fabrication process is similar to that of ferrocement, except cement mix is sprayed rather than trowelled. Fig. 1.53 Two columns sprayed with different mixtures. The column in the foreground is sprayed with cement mixed with water and PVA (5: 2: 1). The column at the back is sprayed without PVA. This visual composition illustrates how the front column evolved from the one at the back, both in terms of form and material. Figs. 1.54 – 1.55 This set of digitally simulated components make up two separate columns. The digital simulation follows the fabrication processes, from the flat cutting pattern to the folding 46

and the spraying of cement mixtures. Fig. 1.56 This photograph shows the column in its entirety. The initial skeleton is an assembly of two folded sheets of metal.

The sprayed cement unifies the two elements visually and structurally. The added advantage of the sprayed cement is its fireproofing quality.

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1.58 Figs. 1.57 – 1.61 Actuated Ferrocement Fig. 1.57 This digitally simulated rendering shows how the columns can be experienced spatially in the setting of a small pavilion. The design of the central column represents the blossoming of a lotus flower.

The column as a whole illustrates the form from bud to flower.

Fig. 1.58 Initial folded sheet metal skeleton. The steel component is not rigid and deforms easily. It is akin to wire mesh that is commonly used in ferrocement construction.

Fig. 1.59 This photograph shows the folded paper model as one of the prototypes for the steel skeleton in Fig 1.58. The model is made from one piece of paper folded and rolled in a particular order. Figs. 1.60 – 1.61 Close up texture of the sprayed cement column. The internal steel component reinforces the cement column giving the column form.

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Figs. 1.62 – 1.66 FAB | CLAY Fig. 1.62 Highlighting the use of a secondary CNC-milled scaffold system to support the assembling and curing of a complete breezeblock component.

The secondary scaffold is positioned to allow the clay to dry without restraints, preventing the ceramic breezeblock from cracking as it shrinks. Fig. 1.63 Robotic fabrication with clay extruded on a bone-dry plaster mould. Fig. 1.64 A series of extruded clay surfaces drying until leather-hard, when 85% of the water has evaporated. Eight modular surfaces can be joined to construct a full breezeblock component. Fig. 1.65 A single extruded clay surface. The modular surface is unique because the pattern for each follows a toolpath generated through a randomised differential growth script. Although each surface texture is unique, design of the ceramic breezeblock

requires only a single type of plaster-cast mould. Fig. 1.66 Fully constructed components before firing. These ceramic breezeblocks are made up of modular surfaces that become unique through non-repeating modular surfaces. This process takes advantage of the robot’s ability in following a unique toolpath for each extrusion process.

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1.68 Figs. 1.67 – 1.69 FAB | CLAY Fig. 1.67 Detail image illustrating the quality and resolution of the extruded clay surfaces after they have been joined, glazed, and fired to make a full breezeblock component. The low firing clear glaze used here is fired up to only 1200 degrees Celsius. This is to lower the risk of deformation at a higher temperature. Fig. 1.68 In this rendered image, the 3D-printed breezeblocks are used to form a catenary shell structure that acts as a retreat from harsh sun exposure, creating a ceramic shading pavilion.

Fig. 1.69 The stacked components are achieved through the introduction of a customised, semi-flexible ring lining the interior branch of the ceramic breezeblocks. This ring is lined with a thin neoprene, and therefore uses friction to create a rigid, self-supporting structure. While the ability to attain to 52

an architectural scale presents many challenges, the potential of ceramics as a building material and its ability to be extruded with a high degree of control and resolution is promising.

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Figs. 1.70 – 1.77 Gelacasting A making process using magnets to form a mixture of cement, iron powder and water. Figs. 1.70 – 1.71 A spaceframe structure using a magnetic fabrication technique. Fig. 1.71 Testing of the magnetic casting method by stretching two parallel acrylic boards in opposite direction.

Figs. 1.72 – 1.73 Gelacasting as an alternative to traditional mould and cast process. Fig. 1.72 Metal wires being heated up, by running electricity through them, with hollow spaces created within solidified gelatin. Small openings at the bottom of the container allow melted gelatin to flow away, leaving a void for casting in another material. Fig. 1.73 Cement mix with water poured into the hollow spaces. This experiment is based on Vasily Sitnikov’s project ‘Irregular Structures: methodology for computation and fabrication’. Fig. 1.74 Removal of the

gelatin mould using hot water at 70 degrees Celsius. Fig. 1.75 Cement cast. Fig. 1.76 The prototype cast is fabricated following the script Minimum Spanning Tree (MST). Fig. 1.77 Plan view, elevation view and digital rendering of prototypes.

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1.80 Figs. 1.78 – 1.80 Gelacasting Fig. 1.78 Digital rendering of Gelacasting Column, the column’s design is based on a combination of two different scripts, Force-Directed Edge Building and the Minimum Spanning Tree. Fig. 1.79 Physical model of Gelacasting Chair made of plaster. The chair was fabricated in a box (70cm x 70cm x 90cm). The idea is to test the viability of scaling up the initial gelacasting experiment.

Fig. 1.80 Rendering of Gelacasting Pavilion. Generated using the same script as Gelacasting Column. The agents form the pavilion based on location of points and behaviour around points. Fig. 1.81 X-Bamboo Robotic fabrication of architectural elements using bamboo. Bamboo strips are steamed for one hour before being handled by the robotoc arm. PVA wood glue is then applied. Thereafter, the robotic 56

arm accurately bends bamboo strips into specific curvatures.

These curvatures are predefined using a digital model of the elements.

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1.85 Figs. 1.82 – 1.85 X-Bamboo Figs. 1.82 – 1.83 Laminated strips of bamboo formed using a robotic arm. Assembled using embedded metal connectors, this 1:1 prototype shows the potential of accurately bent bamboo limbs using a controlled robotic arm moment. This robotic fabrication technique does not require elaborate formwork and it is efficient in forming 3D components. Figs. 1.84 – 1.85 Rendering of bamboo prototype at an architectural scale. Each component has a unique curvature. This is not just a fabrication process, but also a new design methodology. Bamboo’s material properties can be digitally integrated to simulate digital models that can be robotically formed accordingly.

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Crafting Space Stefan Bassing, Soomeen Hahm, Daniel Widrig

Students Christina Bali, Meng Ying Li, Somdatta Majumdar, Siti Nadiah Shahril, Zhen Shan, I-Ting Tsai, Chrysanthi Tzovla, Shaoru Wang, Jinliang Wang, Changchen Wei, Wenjian Yang, Chao-Fu Yeh, Yiru Yun, Chao Zheng, Xixi Zheng

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Project groups SpaceStream Meng Ying Li, Zhen Shan, Wenjian Yang, Shaoru Wang faBrick I-Ting Tsai, Somdatta Majumdar, Xixi Zheng, Yiru Yun inCrease Chao Zheng, Changchen Wei, Chao-Fu Yeh, Jinliang Wang Plex-e Christina Bali, Nadiah Shahril, Chrysanthi Tzovla Teaching Assistant David Reeves (ZHA Code) Thanks to our consultants and critics Roberto Bottazzi, Michail Desyllas, William Firebrace, Kostas Grigoriadis, Christoph Hermann, Ross Lovegrove Igor Pantic, Jose Sanchez

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Impacting on all aspects of creative production, digital design and manufacturing technologies enable architects and designers to work at a pace and resolution unimaginable just a few years ago. Digital systems allow designers to accumulate, structure and utilise massive quantities of information to parametrically shape products and the built environment.

Corresponding materialisation technologies such as 3D printing and robotics synthesise these projects in an increasing scale and resolution employing rapidly expanding ranges of ‘digital materials’. While these soft- and hardware systems facilitate the rapid design and materialisation of such products and environments, tactile interaction with form and matter throughout the design and fabrication process is increasingly scarce. With all of us more and more depending on readymade fabrication strategies, scripts and black box technology, an unbiased evaluation of our computational design culture is increasingly difficult.

Within this context, Research Cluster 6 seeks to revaluate the role of craft and hands-on production in the digital design domain. Now in its third year, the cluster’s Crafting Space programme continues to explore hybridised design and fabrication strategies in which digitally controlled techniques of form-finding and manufacturing naturally blend with existing crafting techniques and low-tech ways of making. Manoeuvering between disciplines, the cluster seeks to occupy ‘in-between’ territories where traditional and contemporary ways of designing and making blur into one.

The cluster’s research work has received great attention over the last year being published widely across the web on Dezeen, Designboom, suckerPUNCH daily, ArchDaily, Wired, Progettare Architettura and gooood.

Our work has also been exhibited at various international events including the Pavilion of Innovation 2015 as part of the Beyond Building Barcelona Construmat and DADA 2015, the architectural biennale in Beijing, China.

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1.89 Fig. 1.86 Plex-e Ceiling design. The design is derived from the aggregation of minimal surface edge curves along which varying bridge components are arrayed. Figs. 1.87 – 1.90 SpaceStream Fig. 1.87 Column design. The design displays moments of varying density and mesh size of the grid, the structural bundles accrue where more load-bearing elements are needed within the structure. Fig. 1.88 Column design. 3D print. Fig. 1.89 Interior perspective. The three key features in the Stream House are shown the staircase, main column and secondary column which all branch seamlessly into floor and ceiling unifying all building elements in one coherent design. Fig. 1.90 Straw chair. 1:1 physical prototytpe made from conventional plastic straws, the straws form a hierarchical net of main structral bundles and sub-cells forming infills for the backrest and seating area.

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1.94 Figs. 1.91 – 1.94 SpaceStream Fig. 1.91 Process diagram.

The digital design workflow works in several steps running a guide curve through a regular 3D grid, cells close to the curve subdivide creating a first structural hierarchy. In the last step an agent-based system of particles is sent through the structure bundling up multiplying lines which are exposed to strong structural forces. Fig. 1.92 Staircase. The top view displays a central core stream from which the individual steps branch off, finer subdivisions in the grid form the extension of the steps. Fig. 1.93 Staircase elevation. Fig. 1.94 ‘Stream House’, interior perspective. The 3D structures transition seamlessly from vertical into horizontal conditions forming structural support as well as furniture.

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Figs. 1.95 – 1.99 Plex-e Fig. 1.95 Final chair design, digital representation. Back elevation and top view showing the concept of a structural skeleton within which finer ropes are tied in order to create a comfortable backrest and seating.

Fig. 1.96 Final chair design, physical prototype. Fig. 1.97 Column, physcial design process. The object is tied into a supporting frame in order to be held in place before the hardening coat is applied. Fig. 1.98 Column, physical prototype. The design follows the idea of having a strong structural base transitioning into a more articulate and ornate capital of the column. Fig. 1.99 Final chair design. Digital representation showing the concept of a structural skeleton within which finer ropes are tied in order to create a comfortable backrest and seating area.

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1.101 Figs. 1.100 – 1.102 Plex-e Fig. 1.100 Final spatial proposal.

Interior perspective walking towards two symmetrical feature staircases. Fig. 1.101 Stool design. Physical prototype showing object before the hardening coat is applied: ropes tie foam tubes together creating knots of varying size and orientation.

Figs. 1.102 Final spatial proposal. The design consists of several viewing towers which are linked together through a circulation of unique feature staircases.

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Figs. 1.103 – 1.110 faBrick Fig. 1.103 Making process. The flat sheet is sewn together in certain areas to create structural folds which allow the sheet to be twisted and curled into the final shape of the stool. Fig. 1.104 Stool design, physical prototype. Figs. 1.105 – 1.106 Design study. Physical prototype displaying the ‘2.5 D’ transformation of a physical prototype describing the transition from an almost planar surface into creases and then net-like conditions. Fig. 1.107 Digital Design Study showcasing the transition from volumetric elements into flatter creased areas. Fig. 1.108 Backrest angel chair. Physical prototype investigating the relationship between tubular, strand-like elements and their transition into ribbons. Fig. 1.109 Design study giger, physical prototype.

Before being brought into the final shape, the prototype

beautifully displays the transition from linear tubular elements into an almost flat surface definded but a few creases and folds. Fig. 1.110 Design study giger. Physical prototype sewn and stitched together from three formerly seperated parts.

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1.112 Figs. 1.111 – 1.113 faBrick Fig. 1.111 Design study garden.

Physical prototype resolving the connectings of individual components through slits and stitching. Fig. 1.112 Final chair design. Physical prototype made of hardened felt, a skeleton of tubes transitions into a more volumetric flat seating area.

Fig. 1.113 Stool Design. Physical prototype made of concrete canvas, the stool consists of three indentical legs stiched together and hardened by applying water to the canvas.

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Figs. 1.114 – 1.116 inCrease Fig. 1.114 Final spatial design proposal, 3D print. The regular packed bricks on the ground form the plinth which creates furniture and platforms. The roof displays different levels of structural hierarchy and granularity of components. Fig. 1.115 Chair design. Digital representation displaying the hierarchical order of having larger and stronger components as chair legs and backrest and smaller components in the seating area to create a surface on which to sit. Fig. 1.116 Chair design. Physical prototype made purely from paper, holding the weight of a person.

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1.118 Figs. 1.117 – 1.120 inCrease Fig. 1.117 Final spatial design proposal. The floorplan highlights different zonings for people to rest and gather and a clear circulation through the centre.

Fig. 1.118 Digital prototypes of small-scale pavilions showing different ways of aggregating the same components. The individual components change orientation and solve unique connections while not intersecting; the design contains different strands of components varying in size, thus creating a hierarchy in structure. Fig. 1.119 Final spatial design proposal, elevation. The structure is divided into a plinth that forms urban furniture and platforms; the roof grows from the plinth and provides shelter. Fig. 1.120 Final spatial design proposal, perspective. The proposal is sitting in an urban environment inviting passersby to interact, sit and rest.

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RC7

BiotA Lab Lab Leaders: Marcos Cruz, Richard Beckett with Javier Ruiz

Students Chae Ah Ahn, Wen Cheng, You Han Hu, Yuan Jiang, Soo Hyung Kim, Sul Ah Lee, Sunbin Lee, Taehyun Lee, Dan Lin, Chang Liu, Cheng-Hsiang Liu, Yuxi Lu, Shneel Malik, Xia Chen Wei, Zhixiong Yang

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Projects Syn.[Eco]Plasm Soo Hyung Kim, Sunbin Lee, Yuxi Lu, Shneel Malik Filatures You Han Hu, Yuan Jiang, Cheng-Hsiang Liu, Xia Chen Wei Pervious Branching Chae Ah Ahn, Chang Liu, Zhixiong Yang Bio-responsive Bloom Wen Cheng, Sul Ah Lee, Taehyun Lee, Dan Lin Thank you to our critics, consultants and workshop leaders Alisa Andrasek, Silvia Brandi, Maite Bravo, Dağhan Çam, Natsai Audrey Chiesa, Gyungju Chyon, Martyn DadeRobertson, Ricardo Devesa, Stephen Gage, Manuel Gausa, Ruairi Glynn, Chris Leung, Sandra Manso, Areti Markopoulou, Eetu Martola, Josep Miàs, Frédéric Migyrou, Claudia Pasquero, Andrew Porter, Yael Reisner, Javier Ruiz, John Sadar, Marin Sawa, Mary Smith and Sarah Bell We are grateful to our partners mam architects with LUD. Thanks to IAAC Barcelona and Kew Wakehurst for hosting our field trips.

Special thanks to all at B-made and to Dr Brenda Parker, UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering, for technical support.

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BiotA Lab merges architecture, biology and engineering. The Lab explores new modes of production and simulation in architecture, as well as advances in the field of synthetic biology, biotechnology, molecular engineering and material sciences, and how these subjects are leading us towards an ever-increasing multidisciplinary approach to environmental design. The result is a new sense of materiality, new hybrid technologies and unprecedented living forms that are being integrated in our contemporary built environment.

BiotA Lab is part of an emerging network of international experts who develop bio-digital prototypes based on the novel use of advanced biotechnologies. Work produced in the Lab explores a new ecological model for architecture that responds to specific climates based upon the relationship between environmental conditions and the interfacial properties of materials with microorganisms. In opposition to the traditional complexities and highly costly ‘green architecture’, the use of such designed systems promotes a new symbiosis between buildings and nature that is more computationally sophisticated, and far less costly for buildings in densely populated cities.

All work developed by students was produced between the studio and the laboratory, where applications of these systems were designed using advanced computation through modelling and simulation. Organisms were grown and materials tested under real laboratory conditions, providing feedback for rigorous iteration and data for the advanced fabrication of prototypes. This year’s designs were focused on the bioreceptivity of material, encompassing robotic printing of hydrogel for algae growth, robotic printing of cellulose-based composites for mycelium growth, 3D-printed sandstone-based composites for moss growth, and 3D-cast concrete panels for cryptogamic growth.

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2.4 Fig. 2.1 Filatures Prototype of façade screen. A robotically printed screen made out of a cellulose-based composite that promotes mycelium growth in specifically determined areas.

The design derives from a simplified point cloud turned into a linear mesh that is later interpreted by the robot in the form of ‘curly’ geometries. Figs. 2.2 – 2.4 Syn.[Eco]plasm Fig. 2.2 Additive manufacturing of hydrogel bio-scaffolds. The design research focuses on a robotically printing hydrogel screen that works as a scaffold for algae growth. The material composite allows the simplest of chemical diffusion processes, such as photosynthesis, responding in this manner to environmental stimuli that trigger or reduce the bio-colonisation of the gel surface. The proposed design is the result from the conceptualisation and fabrication process of a new material 78

‘ecology’ that is developed with the help of self-emergent digital processes. Fig. 2.3 Metabolistic bio-receptacles.

Detailed view of a stratified hydrogel print that retains the capability to hold its shape and thickness through layer-bylayer robotic fabrication. Fig. 2.4 Dehydrated hydrogel mesh.

The printed hydrogel scaffold is able to deform according to the hydration or dehydration of the material, being ultimately dependent on moisture variability in the environment.

Fig. 2.5 Bio-responsive Bloom Silicone mould. The casting of bio-responsive concrete façade components requires the design and fabrication of highly specialised rubber moulds.

The complex geometries applied to the surfaces of these moulds are used to cast numerous prototypes that vary in terms of material porosity and pH level.

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2.6 Figs. 2.6 – 2.8 Pervious Branching Fig. 2.6 Moss seeding on bio-receptive brick. The proposal focuses on the development of a new generation of bio-receptive bricks that promote the growth of moss directly on its surface. To enhance and determine the location of its growth, a robotically controlled seeding system is implemented to drip liquid moss spores with high levels of accuracy and speed control. This system is also used to structurally strengthen the material in weaker areas of the bio-receptive brick.

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2.9 Fig. 2.7 Bio-receptive façade mesh. The design of the bio-receptive façade derives from a self-generative branching system that defines the overall complexity and intricacy of the pervious material structure.

Fig. 2.8 Bio-receptive bricks. Sussex sandstone is used as the main aggregate of the bio-receptive concrete bricks.

This innovative cementitious composite is not only suitable for moss growth due to its low alkaline levels (pH 2.2), but also due to its water absorption and retention capacity, while providing an ideal textural roughness as a platform for plant growth. To fabricate the bio-receptive bricks, the sandstone powder is mixed with other cementitious aggregates and subjected to a computationally controlled 3D printing process of simple filamentous structures.

Fig. 2.9 Filatures Prototype of façade screen 2. The design of a bio-receptive façade screen for mycelium growth evolves from an iterative design and manufacturing process in which data is generated both from the scanning of growth systems (in nature), as well as computationally-driven simulations (in lab). The filamentous design is interpreted by the robot in the form of various degrees of ‘curly’ geometries that depend on the careful calibration of distance, speed and size of printing nozzle.

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2.12 Figs. 2.10 – 2.13 Syn.[Eco]plasm Fig. 2.10 Space Colonisation 1. Particle simulations are generated through numerous computational algorithms based on biological systems.

These space colonisation algorithms are generated from a simple geometric point source evolving into formations and linear patterns that are then translated through architecturally applicable fabrication techniques. Fig. 2.11 Space Colonisation 2: The pavilion. A selection of environmentally responsive particle simulations is used to define the design of a pavilion located in Camley Street Park, London. The simulations create a complex structural scaffold made of different hydrogel layers on which algae can proliferate and grow. Fig. 2.12 Space Colonisation. Specific algorithms are used to simulate hydrological pathways for the hydrogel and growth medium 82

to absorb existing water in the area, while also channelling rainwater and thus moisturising the entire surface of the pavilion. Fig. 2.13 Dehydrated robotic extrusion. Centrifuged algae cells are impregnated within the hydrogel before extruding and printing with a UR-10 robot. The robotic tool paths are generated and controlled computationally, allowing for the printing of thick layers in specific areas, while defining thin layers elsewhere that can channel the growth of algae within the hydrogel. After extrusion, the gel is sprayed with a solution of calcium chloride in order to encapsulate the algae cells. The resulting hydrogel mesh is environmentally responsive, enabling the algae to be active when moisture is available and dormant in moments of dehydration.

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Fig. 2.14 Syn.[Eco]plasm In-vitro laboratory experiments.

Preliminary growth experiments are performed in order to understand the optimal growth parameters of different algae species in different media. These initial tests in Petri dishes focus on immobilised algae within hydrogels, leading to the application and manufacturing of large-scale façade prototypes. Fig. 2.15 Filatures Model of façade panel.

The design of a bio-receptive façade screen evolves from an iterative design and manufacturing process in which data is generated both from scanning growth systems (in nature), as well as computationally-driven in-lab simulations. The resulting filamentous geometry creates an intricate ‘veil’ for the pavilion design. It is in parts colonised by mycelium as a means to strengthen and bind different surface areas of the façade.

Fig. 2.16 Bio-responsive Bloom Porous surface substratum.

The proposed concrete mixture results from material testing with various ratios of aggregate, cement and water. It aims to create a scaffold that is able to host various bio-receptive materials in its porous interstices, ultimately leading to growth. The resulting components are not only lightweight but also permeable enough to allow the growth of mosses and other microorganisms to proliferate. The complex geometry of the components is determined by climatic factors, such as sun orientation, dominating windflows and rainfalls, all of which are computationally generated.

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2.17 Fig. 2.17 Pervious Branching Computational analysis of faรงade panel. The proposal focuses on branching geometries that are generated from inside out. Preliminary studies apply a diffusion-limited aggregation system that only explains the extension of space of existing structures in two dimensions.

Subsequent studies take a more three-dimensional approach in which the special and structural syntax becomes more organic. It evolves the branching system of the host structure into a unique porous structure that maintains and captures moisture for moss to grow.

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2.18 Fig. 2.18 Filatures Filamentous host for Mycelium growth.

Careful observation of different mycelium growth patterns leads to the design of a new type of filamentous host in which mycelium can proliferate along the geometric interstices and orifices of the material. This triggers a novel morphological interaction between ‘nature’ and ‘artifice’ that is simultaneously bio-mimetic and bio-receptive. Fig. 2.19 Bio-responsive Bloom Permutations of meta-ball aggregates.

The use of a fibrous structure provides the opportunity for a porous multidimensional mesh to be occupied by meta-ball aggregates. These fibrous assemblages allow for aggregates to be attached, following an extra torsion or noise in between the solid entity and the surface structure. This creates an additional layer of morphing surfaces that further enriches 86

the geometry. Fig. 2.20 Pervious Branching Pavilion design.

An umbrella-shape structure provides a bio-receptive cover to be located in the rock garden of Kew London. The initially coral-like mesh is highly porous, providing the opportunity for moss to grow and fill its interstices until it is fully grown and enclosed. The surrounding environment, light, wind direction and humidity factors determine different densities of the construction surface for organisms to grow and proliferate.

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2.23 Fig. 2.21 Bio-responsive Bloom Endolithic blob aggregate.

Preliminary studies of the project are based on cell division patterns that result from a self-duplicating system based on natural principles. These originate from a single source particle growth system that evolves into a group or several groups of point systems. Multiple particles are generated, aiming to create growing areas by using noise maps that work in equivalence to unbalanced conditions in the natural world.

Fig. 2.22 Filatures In-vitro laboratory experiments. Different in-vitro studies are carried out with paper towel, oat paste, wood filament and agar, aiming at analysing the growth rate and bio-mass colonisation of mycelium on various material surfaces. The resulting structures are composites made of waste products that are bound through mycelium, offering 88

new low-cost and biodegradable design solutions. Fig. 2.23 Bio-responsive Bloom Fibrous assemblages. The proposed self-emergent mesh is a multi-dimensional host for growth. It derives from a structure and surface condition that originates from shaded and cracked areas in nature. Fig. 2.24 Filatures 3D-printed host for mycelium growth. A small-scale 3D printed bio-scaffold is designed for an incubator growth to host the progressive cell division of mycelium from its origins as a seed to a mature evolved root system. The shape of the bio-scaffold results from the careful observation of mycelium growth and its multiple morphological transformations.

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2.26 Fig. 2.25 Filatures Pavilion design. The design of several hides in the forest of Hampstead Heath, London, follows the concept of a self-generative fungal growth pattern that can be observed in nature. Rudimentary filaments begin to rise from ‘seeds’ in a site-specific point cloud that defines areas of moisture, shadow, and temperature. These gradually progress into complex growth manifolds that eventually become architectural screens, or ‘veils’ for bird watchers.

Figs. 2.26 – 2.27 Bio-responsive Bloom Fig. 2.26 Pavilion design (section). The proposed pavilion is conceived as a permeable monolith located in a rocky glade of the forest of Kew Wakehurst. The form emerges from a self-generative design process in which the overall surface tectonic, metaball aggregates, and fibrous networks are environmentally 90

determined and topographically specific. Fig. 2.27 Pavilion façade (side view). The design of the pavilion façade is conceptually understood as an extensive coral reef that responds through its growth to various environmental vicissitudes. The overall porosity of the concrete pavilion integrates a ‘secondary growth system’ that is formed of small-scale concrete components that are receptacles of growth. The material and shape of these components are designed in response to specific shading paths and the storage capacity of the material aggregates. Besides the porous surface, the entire pavilion is composed of several smooth pieces, enriching the contrast of textural and tectonic expression.

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RC3

Interactive Architecture Lab Domestic Ecologies

Lab Leader: Ruairi Glynn with William Bondin, Christopher Leung

Students William Victor Camilleri, Tania Chumaira, Dan Feng, Syuko Kato, Alex Kendall White, Aksa Khera, Danah Al Kubaisky, Renxiang Li, Ero Papavasileiou, Danilo Sampaio, Zhao Wei, Yanchao Xi, Yexin Xiong, Dongming Zhao Teaching assistants Francois Mangion Vincent Huyghe The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Thesis tutor Sam McElhinney Thanks to our critics and consultants Kaspar Althoefer, Kate Anderson, Francesco Anselmo, Angeliki Bakogianni, Nat Chard, Mario Carpo, Mollie Claypool, Amy Croft, Inigo Dodd, Ersinhan Ersin, Marlen Lopez Fernandez, Stephen Gage, Adrian Goodwin, Usman Haque, Sean Hanna, Colin Herperger, Shobana Jeyasingh, Mike Jones, Rolf Knudsen, Tim Lucas, Jonny Martin, Nicola McGowan, Kasia Molga, Hugo Mulder, Thrish Nanayakkara, Ollie Palmer, Bakul Patki, Beatrice Pembroke, Emmanuel Petit, Richard Roberts, Peter Scully, Qingling Tan, Chryssa Varna, Emmanuel Vercruysse, Michael Wihart, Seda Zirek, Fiona Zisch We are grateful to our partners Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Dept. Informatics King’s College London, King’s Cultural Institute, World Wilder Lab

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The Interactive Architecture Lab is interested in the behaviour and interaction of things, environments and their inhabitants. Areas of focus include adaptive, responsive, kinetic design and robotics; ecology; multisensory interfaces, and performance. Each year’s theme is intended to drive early research exploration and the development of core skills. However, the studio actively encourages students to break out and over the course of the year develop their own research agendas.

‘It is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on earth at a higher standard of living than any have ever known. It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary. War is obsolete. It is a matter of converting the high technology from weaponry to livingry.’ R. Buckminster Fuller 2014 Brief From wearable technologies, to the Internet of Things, from building managements systems to urban sensory networks, we are seeing the unprecedented saturation of the built environment with computation and embedded sensing. Billions of passive and active devices are building dense, rich layers of real-time sensor data where even our own clothes may monitor our bio-data to share with the ‘cloud’. These vast datasets, latent with novel applications for consumers and industry alike beg the question: what does a world of hyper-connectivity and high definition sensing offer design? What hybrid ecologies form out of the interaction of natural and digital agency?

Ecology Our focus in Ecology was its driving principle of adaptation. A powerful and central idea of the past century, it has transformed the study of natural and social sciences, guided the engineering principles of computing and continues to offer us a mechanism to mediate between the natural, synthetic and digital. Ecosystems must be conceived as ‘whole systems’ including not only the living organisms (biotic factors) but also the physical environments (abiotic factors) which form their habitats. To design ecologically requires us to understand whole systems – materials, objects, spaces, and inhabitants – all in complex and continuous communication and interaction.

Cybernetic Architecture Cybernetics provides a way of looking at the behaviour of all things, alive or synthetic, uniformly, enabling the science of ecology to share a common language with computational and design thinking. From it came the foundations of robotics, artificial intelligence, networked communication, and modern computing, among many innovations. The Interactive Architecture Lab’s agenda is firmly rooted in the ambition to make our built environment more responsive to human needs and catalytic to social interaction.

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3.5 Figs. 3.1 – 3.5 William Victor Camilleri, Danilo Sampaio ‘Re-Earth’. The project proposes to empower plants by enabling them to merge their physiology with robotic technology to become ‘domesticated’ for self-reliance. The plants serve as the driver of a geodesic sphere (code named ‘Big-B’) – a mobile architecture which moves controlled by the plants’ reaction to their environment. Areas of Greater London are now inhabited and dominated by non-native plants. The proposal of this autonomous ‘cybernetic gardener’ is an extension to a park, with native plants acting as the intelligence of the structure.

Utilising plant electrophysiology and a series of environmental sensors, the spheres are allowed to explore London, seeking new spots of sun with the purpose of spreading indigenous plant species. Fig. 3.2 Detail of the inner core of the structure:

aluminium fins support three linear actuators, each of them holding a garden module. Upon signal receipt of a daylight transition, the plants inform the system to extend the corresponding latter module in order to roll the structure.

Figs. 3.3 – 3.4 Photographs of two garden modules installed on the linear actuators, and one prototype circuit panel on the inner core. Fig. 3.5 Two amalgamated sections of the structure. The left part illustrates half of the geodesic sphere, the steel cable supports and the inner core. The right half displays a segmented core, with five linear actuators in place and half of the garden modules. One of the modules is extended to demonstrate the change in the centre of gravity, responsible for the rotation of the structure.

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Figs. 3.6 – 3.9 William Victor Camilleri, Danilo Sampaio ‘Re-Earth’. Fig. 3.6 Plants have no nervous system but use electricity to transmit signals as all living organisms do.

It was therefore imperative for a number of experiments to take place for Big-B to be designed. Fig 3.6 explains the arrangement used to translate these signals into readable measurements. The experiment tested outdoor real-time conditions in relation to the time of day. Fig. 3.7 The twelve dissimilar plants carried by the structure dispute for different locations, as some plants need more sun than others do.

Big-B is designed to allocate enough time for each garden accordingly. However, if its batteries drain in the process, the community is urged to help out by charging it using their domestic mains supply. Fig. 3.8 An indoor experiment to

observe the plants’ response to a sudden lighting transition.

Electrodes were inserted in plants’ stems inside a dark room when a purpose-built robotic lamp was switched on and directed light at them. The plants’ reactions to the transition are indicated by the lines. Fig. 3.9 The robot is visualised as an explorer, walking with people in Paternoster Square. The plants’ responses to the external environment, observed through electrophysiology, dictate the behaviour of the sphere.

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Figs. 3.10 – 3.13 Ero Papavasileiou, Yanchao Xi, Yexin Xiong ‘Polymelia’. Polymelia (from ‘poly’ meaning many and ‘melia’ meaning ‘parts’) describes a human or animal born with more than the usual number of limbs. The Polymelia project is a cyborg body of many parts intended to explore a new prosthetic vision for the future of humanity and prosthesis.

One of the principal parts of the Polymelia Project is the ‘Hammerhead’. It provides 360 degrees of vision around the head perimeter and gives the wearer the ability to share his sight and hearing senses with other Hammerhead wearers. It is inspired by the hammerhead shark’s stereo visual perception: its head is almost 50% as wide as its entire body length and its eyes are located on the sides of its broad skull. The visual field of one hammerhead shark eye (monocular visual field) is about

180 degrees and there is a significant overlap of the visual fields from each eye. This overlap helps the shark to achieve excellent depth perception. Fig. 3.10 Prototype of headset in white acrylic. A key challenge was finding a material that was lightweight but stiff and durable as well as attractive. Many iterations of materials and fabrication approaches were explored including casting, vacuum forming, 3D SLS & ABS printing and robotic milling. Fig. 3.11 Early experiments with biometric sensors and actuators developed the group’s understanding of the augmented experience of our body and space through prosthetics, for example a heart rate ear clip sensor that measures arousal of emotion and activates vibration feedback to make a user more aware of their internal state. Another example, muscle activity sensors, EMG

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detection, and flex sensors combine to electrically activate the movement of a prosthetic wearable robotic arm. Fig. 3.12 Latest version of the full Polymelia Suit. As well as the headpiece, there is an inner eso-thin layer, the ‘Sensing Suit’, made of silicone, which includes heating elements. On top of this piece there is the exoskeletal controller, which is 3D printed and summarises and controls all the suit’s functions.

Finally, the arm piece relates to the application of gait control studies. Fig. 3.13 Detailed internal render of the ‘Hammerhead’, presenting the internal structure and electronics. On the inside of the Hammerhead case there is a structure holding together an oculus a frame with optic lenses and a five-inch high definition screen in the middle. The screen is connected to a Raspberry Pi Compute Module and linked to an Arduino

Nano microcontroller. It receives video signals from the two Raspberry Pi camera modules that are attached via servos to the sides of the headpiece, much like the eyes of the hammerhead shark. The servos allow the rotation of the eyes, and fisheye lenses can broaden the visual perspective field of the wearer.

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Figs. 3.14 – 3.17 Aksa Khera, Dan Feng, Dongming Zhao ‘Trespass’. The project explores the most powerful and empathetic of human interactions, touch, and the complex aesthetic responses it produces in designed structures surrounding interacting performers, dancers and participating audiences. To trespass is to enter a space without permission, manipulating boundaries by either breaking through, shifting or avoiding them. Manipulation could be translated into simple actions of push and pull, or alternatively through proximity of a dancer (occupant) and robot (spatial modulator). Proximity further allows for variations in impact on the movement, or state, of the robot, relating to the dancer moving away, towards the robot, or simply staying static at a constant distance. The piece distorts the perception of the space

within which people interact with it, and its movements affect the way people behave with it. By inherently being an unpredictable, ever-distorting, transforming, interactive, stimulating environment, Trespass challenges us to become more conscious of ourselves. Once the unlimited possibilities of spatial experience are acknowledged, architecture can recondition us to become over-stimulated in a semi-predictable manner. This in turn reinvigorates the physical and visual relationship between architecture and its user. Fig. 3.14 Trespass and its context. Trespass is a collaborative, site-specific project with the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and the Department of Informatics at King’s College London (KCL). The first stage of this project was performed for a select group of invited guests in July 2015 and

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is intended to be further developed for public performance in 2016. The site of the proto-performance was KCL’s Anatomy Museum that consists of a mezzanine which wraps around the display area. This allowed for an unusual opportunity to have the entire piece viewed from above looking down onto the space. Governed mainly by the intent of viewing from above, an approach similar to SCARA robots (which only move in the X and Y planes) was taken and adapted to the requirements of the performance and its audience. Fig. 3.15 The performance.

Two dancers participated in the nine-minute performance. The scale of the robot allowed the dancers to interact with it at face level, and to crawl under it. This added to the complexity of distorted spaces around both the dancer and the robot.

Fig. 3.16 Render of exhibition design following lessons learnt

during the first performance. The robot consists of three segments, where only the first segment is actuated and is controlled by a stepper motor. The second and third segments move through the forces the first segment transfers to them through rotating bearing joints. This semi-actuated condition allows for extensive interaction between the robot and the dancers. Fig. 3.17 Trespass as a distortion of perceived space.

Viewing the piece from above is the first and most effective aspect of changing the way viewers perceive the space the piece creates. This unusual condition allowed for this exploration to be made in the design of the robot and the choreography of the dancers, and eventually the choreography of the dancers and the robot.

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Figs. 3.18 – 3.21 Syuko Kato ‘Fabricating Performance’.

An experimental dance methodology for architectural design and fabrication through the use of gesture, notation, computer vision, and robotics. Two reciprocal processes of performance-driven design and data-driven fabrication are combined to inform a new design logic and practice. The resulting system incorporates dancer-robot interactions to construct spatial artefacts that are both inhabitable architecture and readable notations of performance. To measure the quality of movement, a body tracking system, ‘Optitrack’, is employed to capture information on body motion with data collected and analysed with Python code.

Construction is an iterative process of exchange where the ephemeral kinetics of dancers supply data that in turn drives

the kinetics of fabrication that in turn add to the constructed space, feeding back into subsequent dancer movements.

From this novel design process, of continuous and surprising gestural and spatial exchanges, the architecture of dance emerges. Fig. 3.18 The bespoke end effector for the UR10 robotic arm and an automated bending machine are designed into a continuous workflow. The grip end effector arranges the materials within a range set in the fabrication hub, and the bending process is executed on the machine accordingly.

Fig. 3.19 Fabrication system at phase 3. An industrial bending machine is customised and computerised, enabling the translation of movement through a digitalised notation system. Figs. 3.20 – 3.21 Performance-driven fabrication generates analogic space and form. The procedures gradually

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grow, ultimately making the invisible ‘quality of movement’, visible. The notions of repetition, rhythm and patterns designate vital potential to qualify movement in space and raise questions of how these qualitative segments (movement) can be articulated in quantitative (physical) terms.

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Figs. 3.22 – 3.25 Danah Al Kubaisky ‘Shadows of Stillness’.

The notion of stillness is examined in a series of kinetic prototypes that attempt to encode it into a cybernetic system. Fig. 3.22 Perpendicular multiple composition prototype uses three wax motors fixed at angles to reference plane as the sensor of the system. These wax motors are passive hydraulic cylinders built in two parts, static and dynamic. The static cylinder reads the surrounding contextual fluctuating thermal energy and translates it into a kinetic movement. Fig. 3.23 Rendered perspective view showing proposed system. The exposed front-stage part consists of urethane actuator controlled by tension wire running through it. Both tension wire and actuator are being supported and sandwiched in the threshold part with aluminium plates.

Fig. 3.24 The displacement of a wax motor piston generates movement in the plastic mesh actuators placed on top. The energy of the system flows from the wax piston through tension wires and finally to the plastic actuators. Fig. 3.25 Street view of kinetic canopy in Saudi Arabia. Fig. 3.26 Alexander Kendall White ‘Delta IV’, is a case study in exploring the role of the observer in kinetic sculpture. Inspired by Heinz Von Foerster’s concept of ‘trivial machines’, Delta IV is a spatial instrument with the simple goal of positioning its red balloon within the space relative to the position and orientation of the observers within the sensing range. While the primary objective of the machine is to explore how the performance of the piece can be triggered and directed by the observer, reciprocally Delta IV explores how this relationship will affect

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3.26 and evolve their interactions and behaviours and stimulate a discussion about human to system interaction, purposeful systems in art, and observer perception of mechanical systems.

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Figs. 3.27 – 3.30 Renxiang Li, Zhao Wei, Tania Chumaira ‘Orbital Thresholds’. A site-specific installation which explores the boundaries between virtual space and visual space through the use of laser-projected geometry. Contrasting itself from typical use of lasers projection in installation, Orbital Thresholds uses dynamically moving projection points that reconfigure around the space according to people’s movement (detected by a sensing system located in the floor). Fig. 3.27 Laser rig testing to draw geometry. A fixed laser is fired at mirrors whose orientation is controlled by galvanometer motors. Their fast motion creates a persistence of vision effect allowing a single-point laser to become a line or a 2D shape. When projected through a fog, points become lines, lines become planes, and shapes become volumes. These

projections construct the impression of space which is exists somewhere between virtual and physical realities. Fig. 3.28 Render of detail mechanical design of the central rotational mechanisms. Engineered to fine tolerance to move smoothly and remain level. Fig. 3.29 One rotational arm module, built primarily from aluminium. Fig. 3.30 Component breakdown of one rotational arm module. The complete installation uses three of these, however a larger turning circle than the observatory provides could be installed in other settings.

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Staff Biographies

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Professor Frédéric Migayrou B-Pro Director Frédéric Migayrou is Chair, Bartlett Professor of Architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture and Deputy Director of the MNAM-CCI (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre de Création Industrielle) at the Centre Pompidou Paris.

He was the founder of the Frac Center Collection and of ArchiLab, the international festival of Prospective Architecture in Orléans. Apart from recent publications and exhibitions (De Stijl, Centre Pompidou, 2011; La Tendenza, Centre Pompidou, 2012; Bernard Tschumi, Centre Pompidou, 2013; Frank Gehry, Centre Pompidou 2014; Le Corbusier, Centre Pompidou 2015), he was the curator of Non Standard Architectures at the Centre Pompidou in 2003, the first exposition devoted to architecture, computation and fabrication. More recently, he co-organised the exhibition Naturalising Architecture (ArchiLab, Orléans 2013), presenting prototypes and commissions by 40 teams of architects working with new generative computational tools, defining new interrelations between materiality, biotechnology and fabrication. In 2012 he founded B-Pro, The Bartlett’s umbrella structure for post-professional architecture programmes.

Andrew Porter B-Pro Deputy Director Andrew Porter studied at The Bartlett School of Architecture, winning the Banister Fletcher Medal and the RIBA Silver Medal for his graduation project. He has collaborated on projects with Sir Peter Cook and Christine Hawley CBE, and was the project architect for the Gifu Housing project in Japan. He practises with Abigail Ashton as Ashton Porter Architects and has completed a number of award-winning commissions in the UK as well as prizewinning competitions in the UK and abroad. Andrew is co-tutor of The Bartlett’s MArch Architecture Unit 21, has been a visiting Professor at the Staedel Academy, Frankfurt and guest critic at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles and Parsons New School, New York.

Alisa Andrasek MArch AD Programme Leader, Wonderlab Leader, RC1 Tutor Alisa Andrasek is a director of Biothing and Bloom Games. She is a Reader in Architecture and Computation at The Bartlett, and Professor at the European Graduate School. She has taught at the Architectural Association (AA), Columbia, Pratt, UPenn and RMIT. Her work has been exhibited at the Centre Pompidou, Paris; New Museum, New York; Storefront, New York; FRAC, Orleans; and TB-A21, Vienna. She curated exhibitions for the Beijing Biennial 2006, 2008 and 2010, and is a co-curator of the PROTO/E/ CO/LOCICS Symposium in Rovinj, Croatia.

Dağhan Çam Wonderlab RC1 Tutor Dağhan Çam is an architect and a researcher.

Before starting his own practice, he received an MArch degree with distinction from the AA and worked with Zaha Hadid Architects.

Currently he is leading a research project on Supercomputing at The Bartlett and focusing on design through simulation, large-scale 3D printing, robotics and AI.

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Manuel Jiménez Garcia Wonderlab RC4 Tutor Manuel Jiménez Garcia holds an MArch from the AA (AADRL) and has previously taught at the AA, Universidad Politecnica Madrid and Universidad Europea Madrid. As well as teaching on AD, he leads MArch Unit 19; is co-curator of Bartlett Plexus and co-founder of Emeidiem, an architecture practice based in London.

Dr Guan Lee Wonderlab RC5 Tutor Guan Lee is an architect, lecturer, and director of Grymsdyke Farm. He studied at McGill University, Montreal, the AA, and The Bartlett, where he completed his doctoral studies on the relationship between architectural craft, making and site. In his own practice he explores digital fabrication in conjunction with hands-on building processes using a range of materials, including clay, concrete and plaster.

Vicente Soler Wonderlab RC5 Tutor Vicente Soler graduated in architecture from the European University of Madrid. He specialises in computational architecture, generative design and robotics applied to architecture. He has worked with several architectural offices, including AMID.Cero9* and has lectured internationally, including at the University of San Sebastian, San Pablo CEU University, the COAMU (Association of architects of Murcia), and the European University of Madrid.

Soomeen Hahm Wonderlab RC6 Tutor Soomeen Hahm is a senior designer at Zaha Hadid Architects. Her interests are focused on research in generative and algorithmic design through the use of computer coding, application of multi-agent systems in design, interactive/ responsive environments, behavioural patterns of natural systems, as well as robotic fabrication processes and digital modes of production.

Daniel Widrig Wonderlab RC6 Tutor Daniel Widrig founded his studio in London in 2009. After graduating from the AA, Daniel worked for several years with Zaha Hadid. He has received international critical acclaim and has been published and exhibited internationally.

He is a recipient of the Swiss Arts Award, Feidad Merit Award and the Rome Prize.

David Reeves Wonderlab RC6 Teaching Assistant Dave Reeves is a designer, programmer, and researcher based in London where he works as a member of the Computation and Design (co|de) group at Zaha Hadid Architects. Inspired by the likes of ants, termites, slime moulds and other social organisms, his research focuses on decentralised intelligence and its application within the domain of architectural design.

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Gilles Retsin Wonderlab RC4 Tutor Gilles Retsin’s work investigates new architectural models which engage increased computational power in design and fabrication. He is interested in the impact of computation on the core principles of architecture – the bones rather than the skin. Prior to founding his own practice, he worked in Switzerland with Christian Kerez, and in London with Kokkugia.

Stefan Bassing Wonderlab RC6 Tutor Since completing the architecture and design programme at the State Academy of Fine Arts, Stuttgart, Stefan Bassing has been involved in numerous national and international design projects. His work is focused on contemporary design methodologies involving computation and object-orientated research for the capacity to comprehend and respond to architecture at a multiplicity of scales.

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Professor Marcos Cruz BiotA Lab Co-leader Marcos Cruz is Professor of Innovative Environments and Co-Director of BiotA Lab at The Bartlett, where he has also run MArch Architecture Unit 20 for over 16 years. In addition to holding the Directorship of The Bartlett School of Architecture (2010-14), he has also taught at UCLA, University of Westminster and IaaC Barcelona. Cruz has published and exhibited widely and is co-founder of the architecture practice marcosandmarjan. He is currently Principal Investigator of an EPSRC-funded ‘Design the Future’ research project entitled ‘Computational Seeding of Bioreceptive Materials’.

Richard Beckett BiotA Lab Co-leader Richard Beckett is Co-Leader of BiotA Lab and an MPhil/PhD candidate at UCL. His background is in both architecture and material engineering and he has expertise in 3D printing and digital manufacturing. He is currently embarking on the EPSRC-funded ‘Computational Seeding of Bioreceptive Materials’ project as a research associate, with Marcos Cruz.

Javier Ruiz BiotA Lab Tutor Javier Ruiz trained as an architect at The Bartlett, where he took part in an exchange programme with SCI-Arc. He has worked at Foster + Partners, CRAB Studio (Sir Peter Cook + Gavin Robotham) and Eralonso Arquitectos. He has also collaborated with marcosandmarjan. As well as teaching in BiotA Lab he works in practice with Grimshaw Architects.

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Ruairi Glynn Interactive Architecture Lab Leader Ruairi Glynn is Director of the Interactive Architecture Lab and a practising artist and researcher. He has exhibited his work at Tate Modern London, Centre Pompidou Paris and National Art Museum of China Beijing. He also works commercially with clients including Twitter, Nike, Lego, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Arup, and Buro Happold.

William Bondin Interactive Architecture Lab Tutor William Bondin is a Maltese architect and leading member of the Interactive Architecture Lab. Following his studies in architecture and building engineering in Malta he developed MORPHs – a reconfigurable interactive architectural system, at The Bartlett. William’s design research practice takes a fabrication-oriented approach towards architectural performance and behaviour.

Dr Christopher Leung Interactive Architecture Lab Tutor Christopher Leung is an architect trained at The Bartlett. He earned a doctorate from UCL for work on applying passive thermal actuators to the environmental control in buildings. His work raises questions about the relationship between machines, occupants and buildings explored through design research. This has been published in peer-reviewed journals together with his collaborations in the sixteen*(makers) group.

Vincent Huyghe Interactive Architecture Lab Teaching Assistant Vincent Huyghe is a robotic fabrication and interaction specialist. He obtained a Master of Advanced Architecture at IAAC followed by a Master of Adaptive Architecture and Computation at The Bartlett. He gained professional experience in the field while employed at Robofold. His areas of interest are robotics, scripting and software development, digital fabrication, micro-controllers and electronics.

Francois Mangion Interactive Architecture Lab Teaching Assistant Francois Mangion is a Maltese architect and member of the Interactive Architecture Lab. He obtained his degree in architecture and building engineering in Malta, and later studied architectural design at The Bartlett. He is interested in computational modelling, parametric design and digital manufacturing.

Natsai Chieza Report Tutor Natsai Audrey Chieza is a design researcher working at the intersection of Design Innovation and Biotechnology, exploring how the life sciences can enable new design and craft processes for a post-fossil-fuel environmental paradigm. She holds a degree in Architectural Design from the University of Edinburgh, and a Masters in Material Futures from Central Saint Martins.

Mollie Claypool Report Tutor Mollie Claypool is a writer, designer and theorist with research interests in mechanisation, production and fabrication, the philosophy of science and computational methodologies.

She is a Teaching Fellow in Architectural Design at The Bartlett, where she is the BSc Architecture Programme Leader and runs MArch Architecture Unit 19.

Winston Hampel Report Tutor Winston Hampel studied and practised architecture in Germany and France before graduating from the History & Critical Thinking programme at the AA. As well as teaching at The Bartlett, he has recently taught on the AA History and Theory Studies and the AA Design Research Laboratory.

Sam McElhinney Report Tutor Sam McElhinney is Course Leader for the MA Architecture, MA Interior Design and BA Interior Architecture & Design courses at the Canterbury School of Architecture. A former member of the ‘Space Group’ at UCL, his ongoing research is focused on developing real-time and motive spatial analytic models. He is also a registered architect and practices through his company, MUD Architecture.

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Professor Stephen Gage Report Module Coordinator Stephen Gage studied at the AA and has worked in the UK and California. He has taught at The Bartlett since 1993, where he is Professor of Innovative Architecture. He has been an external examiner at The University of the Arts and the University of Liverpool; he is part of the RIBA architectural course validation panel.

Lisa Cumming Report Tutor Lisa Cumming currently works with Wilkinson Eyre. She graduated with a Masters in Architecture and Urbanism from the AA’s Design Research Laboratory with a focus on adaptive architectural environments. Lisa gained her BArch (Hons) in New Zealand and has tutored and practiced within architecture in both New Zealand and the UK.

Staff and Consultants

MArch AD Professor Frédéric Migayrou Director of B-Pro Andrew Porter Deputy Director of B-Pro Alisa Andrasek AD Programme Leader

Lab Leaders, Tutors and Teaching Assistants The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Wonderlab Leader: Alisa Andrasek Wonderlab RC1 Alisa Andrasek Dağhan Çam Wonderlab RC4 Manuel Jiménez Garcia Gilles Retsin Wonderlab RC5 Dr Guan Lee Vicente Soler Wonderlab RC6 Stefan Bassing Soomeen Hahm Daniel Widrig Teaching Assistant: David Reeves BiotA Lab Leaders: Richard Beckett, Professor Marcos Cruz Tutor: Javier Ruiz Interactive Architecture Lab Leader: Ruairi Glynn Tutors: William Bondin, Dr Christopher Leung Teaching Assistants: Vincent Huyghe, Francois Mangion Report Module Coordinator Professor Stephen Gage Report Tutors Natsai Chieza Mollie Claypool Lisa Cumming Winston Hampel Sam McElhinney 114

External Examiners Professor Evan Douglis Professor Matias Del Campo Professor Christian Girard Professor Bart Lootsma Critics, Consultants and Technical Tutors Zeeshan Ahmed Kaspar Althoefer Kate Anderson Francesco Anselmo Angeliki Bakogianni Sarah Bell Adam Blencowe Isaïe Bloch Roberto Bottazzi Silvia Brandi Maite Bravo Gyungju Chyon Amy Croft Martyn Dade-Robertson Michail Desyllas Ricardo Devesa Ersinhan Ersin William Firebrace Manuel Gausa Octavian Gheorghiu Adrian Goodwin Kostas Grigoriadis Usman Haque Christoph Hermann Nan Jiang Mike Jones Bruno Juricic Rolf Knudsen Jessie Lee Marlen Lopez Fernandez Andy Lomas Ross Lovegrove Tim Lucas Sandra Manso Arthur Mamou-Mani Areti Markopoulou Eetu Marsalo Nicola McGowan Amirreza Mirmotahari Kasia Molga Philippe Morel Hugo Mulder Thrish Nanayakkara Ollie Palmer Igor Pantic Bakul Pakti Beatrice Pembroke Callum Perry Yael Reisner Louis Rigano Richard Roberts

John Sadar Jose Sanchez Marin Sawa Thibault Schwartz Gennaro Senatore Mary Smith Qingling Tan Brenda Parker Chryssa Varna Filip Visnjic Michael Wihart Seda Zirek Fiona Zisch

Bartlett School of Architecture Chair of School Professor Frédéric Migayrou Bartlett Professor of Architecture Director of B-Pro Director of School Professor Bob Sheil Professor of Architecture and Design through Production Director of Technology

Professor Nat Chard BSc Architecture Year 1 Co-Director Professor of Experimental Architecture Dr Marjan Colletti Senior Lecturer Director of Computing Professor Peter Cook Emeritus Professor Professor Marcos Cruz Professor of Innovative Environments Professor Adrian Forty Professor of Architectural History Professor Murray Fraser Professor of Architecture & Global Culture Vice Dean of Research Professor Stephen Gage Emeritus Professor of Innovative Technology

Professors, Visiting Professors and Stream Directors

Professor Christine Hawley Professor of Architectural Studies Director of Design

Robert Aish Visiting Professor in Computation

Professor Jonathan Hill Professor of Architecture & Visual Theory MPhil/PhD by Design Programme Director

Laura Allen Senior Lecturer Director of Special Projects Professor Peter Bishop Professor of Urban Design Director of Enterprise Professor Iain Borden Professor of Architecture & Urban Culture Vice Dean of Education Andy Bow Visiting Professor Professor Mario Carpo Reyner Banham Professor of Architectural History & Theory Director of History & Theory

Carlos Jiménez Cenamor BSc Architecture Year 1 Co-Director Professor CJ Lim Professor of Architecture & Cultural Design Vice Dean of International Affairs Dr Yeoryia Manolopoulou Senior Lecturer Director of Architectural Research Josep Miàs Visiting Professor

NĂ­all McLaughlin Visiting Professor Dr Emmanuel Petit Sir Banister Fletcher Visiting Professor Frosso Pimenides Senior Lecturer BSc Architecture Year 1 CoDirector Dr Peg Rawes Senior Lecturer Associate Director of Architectural Research MArch Architectural History Programme Director Professor Jane Rendell Professor of Architecture & Art Susan Ware Sub-Dean and Faculty Tutor Director of Professional Studies Part 3 Programme Director

Mark Whitby Visiting Professor in Structural Engineering

Programme Directors/ Leaders and Coordinators Alisa Andrasek Reader in Architecture & Computation MArch AD Programme Leader Julia Backhaus MArch Architecture Programme Leader Matthew Butcher Lecturer in Architecture and Performance BSc Architecture Programme Co-Leader Dr Ben Campkin Senior Lecturer in History & Theory Director of Urban Lab Coordinator of Year 3 History & Theory Mollie Claypool BSc Architecture Programme Co-Leader Dr Edward Denison Research Associate MPhil/PhD History & Theory Programme Director (Sabbatical cover)

Ruairi Glynn Lecturer in Interactive Architecture

Dr Penelope Haralambidou Lecturer in Architecture Coordinator of MPhil / PhD

by Design

Tim Lucas Lecturer in Structural Design

Dirk Krolikowski Lecturer in Innovative Technology & Design Practice Associate Coordinator of Year 4 Design Realisation Dr Adrian Lahoud Reader in Urban Design MArch UD Programme Leader James O’Leary Lecturer in Innovative Technology & Design Practice Coordinator of Year 4 Design Realisation

Research Fellows and Associates Izaskun Chinchilla Moreno Senior Research Fellow Peter Guillery Senior Research Associate Survey of London Sally Hart Research Assistant Helen Jones Research Associate Survey of London

Dr Barbara Penner Senior Lecturer BSc Architectural Studies Programme Co-Leader MPhil/PhD History & Theory Programme Director

Dr Hilary Powell Research Fellow

Frosso Pimenides Senior Lecturer BSc Architecture Year 1 CoDirector

Harriet Richardson Research Associate Survey of London

Andrew Porter Principal Teaching Fellow B-Pro Deputy Director Peter Scully Technical Director of B-made Dr Tania Sengupta Lecturer in Architectural History & Theory Departmental Tutor Coordinator of Year 4 History & Theory Mark Smout Senior Lecturer Coordinator of Year 5 Thesis Patrick Weber Senior Lecturer Coordinator of Pedagogic Affairs

Academic and Honorary Staff Yannis Aesopos Affiliate Academic Abeer Al-Saud Affiliate Academic Tom Dyckhoff Honorary Research Fellow

Aileen Reid Research Associate Survey of London

Finance and HR Stoll Michael Faizah Nadeem Rita Prajapati Facilities Graeme Kennett Bernie Ococ

Bartlett Manufacturing and Design Exchange (B-Made) Abi Abdolwahabi Richard Beckett William Bondin Matt Bowles Martyn Carter Bim Burton Inigo Dodd Justin Goodyer Richard Grimes Olga Linardou Johnny Martin Robert Randall Peter Scully Matthew Shaw Paul Smoothy Tom Svilans Will Trossell Emmanuel Vercruysse Nick Westby

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Oliver Wilton Director of Education Senior Lecturer in Environmental Design

Elizabeth Dow BSc Architectural Studies Programme Co-Leader

Andrew Saint Principal Research Associate Survey of London Philip Temple Senior Research Associate Survey of London Andrew Thom Senior Research Associate Survey of London

Professional Services Professional Services Administration Meredith Wilson Academic Services Administration Izzy Blackburn Michelle Bush Emer Girling James Lancaster Tom Mole Research Mark Burgess Luis Rego Kimberley Steed German Communications and Website Laura Cherry Jean Garrett Michelle Lukins

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Bartlett Lectures

The Bartlett International Lecture Series Featuring speakers from across the world.

Lectures in the series are open to the public and free to attend. This year’s speakers included:

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Tatiana Bilbao Kendra Byrne Peter Cook Neil Denari Liz Diller Keller Easterling Frida Escobedo John Frazer Arthur Ganson Greyshed Efrén Garcia Grinda Adrian Lahoud CJ Lim Adam Lowe Lucy McRae Frédéric Migayrou Cristina Díaz Moreno Vo Trong Nghia Emmanuel Petit Steven Pippin Raj Rewal ScanLAB Benedetta Tagliabue Peter Testa Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen James Wines The Bartlett International Lecture Series is generously supported by the Fletcher Priest Trust.

A range of smaller lecture series attracted a wide range of speakers, including: Bartlett Plexus Paul Bavister, Richard Beckett, Tom Beddard, Niccolo Casas, Sam Conran, Xavier De Kestelier, Felix Faire, Filamentrics, Daniel Franke, Kostas Grigoriadis, Soomeen Hahm, Alex Haw, Istvan, Saša Jokic, Tobias Klein, Kreider + O’Leary, Samantha Lee, Owen Lloyd, Andy Lomas, Oliviu Lugojan-Ghenciu, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Emma-Kate Matthews, Ricardo O’Nascimento, Clemens Preisinger, David Reeves, Yuri Suzuki, Frederik Vanhoutte Material Matters Adrian Bowyer, Vincent Loubière, Sophie de Oliveira Barata, Aran Chadwick, Jan Knippers, Edwin Stokes, Daniel Cardoso Llach, Sara Klomps Designing for Sound Paul Bavister, Mike Harding, Benjamin Hebbert, Ian Knowles, John Levack Drever, Tomas Mendez, David McAlpine Situating Architecture Peter Bishop, Iain Borden, Ben Campkin, Mario Carpo, Claire Colebrook, Edward Denison, Murray Fraser, Stephen Loo, Clare Melhuish, Frédéric Migayrou, Barbara Penner, Emmanuel Petit, Sophia Psarra, Peg Rawes, Jane Rendell, Harriet Richardson, Tania Sengupta, Nina Vollenbröker, Robin Wilson

Image: PhD Projects Conference 2015 116

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

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In 2016 we will be 175 years old

In 1841 Thomas Leverton Donaldson was appointed UCL’s first Chair in Architecture, one of the first in the UK, founding what later became The Bartlett School of Architecture. To celebrate this milestone, in 2016 we will be organising a year of special events and activities:

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

The inaugural Donaldson Lecture, a major new annual lecture by a household name, which aims to draw links between the Built Environment sector and the wider world.

A special publication in conjunction with Architectural Review, celebrating the history of the School and the work of notable staff and alumni.

The inaugural Drawing Futures conference, an international peer-reviewed conference examining the critical role of drawing in relation to technology, contemporary architectural practice and beyond.

The 2016 conference of the Association of Architectural Educators, a major international conference on the theme of ‘Research-Based Education’.

The launch of a series of anniversary bursaries funded by alumni and supporters, to support promising students who may not otherwise be able to study with us.

Our newly refurbished home, 22 Gordon Street, will reopen with a series of special exhibitions and events.

Alumni will be invited to attend one-off reunion events and dinners in grand and unexpected spaces in the UK and overseas, to hear from guest speakers, network and reunite with old friends.

In addition, our International Lecture Series and Summer and Autumn student shows will feature extra activities and stellar guest appearances.

Find out more and get involved at bit.ly/Bartlett175

Image: Visiting lecturer Buckminster Fuller instructs students on building a Geodesic Dome, 1962. Photo: Guy Hawkins 118

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

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New Programmes

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

MRes Architecture & Digital Theory The new Masters by Research (MRes) Architecture & Digital Theory is dedicated to the theory, history, and criticism of digital design and digital fabrication. The intensive 12-month programme provides a grounding in research for students either trained in the design professions, or with a primary background in digital technology or the digital humanities, who are aiming at furthering their understanding of digital innovation. It is expected that in its inaugural years the programme will focus in particular on the challenge of complexity in computational design, and on its aesthetic, technological, economic and epistemological implications.

Research topics currently under consideration include: agent-based conception; the new sciences of simulation, optimisation and form-finding; the transdisciplinary scalability of computational models; robotics and the engineering and modelisation of new materials and of variable property materials; and the history of digital notations and the demise of notational processes in the current data-driven computational environment. bit.ly/mresarchdigi

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MA Architecture & Historic Urban Environments The MA Architecture & Historic Urban Environments pioneers the development of a more diverse and creative approach to the reinterpretation and reuse of historical environments in cities around the world, such as through imaginative architectural designs and urban strategies, and including issues of cultural heritage.

This 12-month programme is exceptional in linking the core research challenge of innovative design with in-depth processes of urban surveying, recording, mapping and analysis. As such, the programme has a strong international component, viewing cities around the world as fascinating laboratories for investigations into architectural and historic urban environments, with London being the prime example.

Core modules include: Design Practice for Historic Environments; Design Research Methods for Historic Environments; Issues in Historic Urban Environments; Surveying and Recording of Cities and Urban Redevelopment for Historic Environments. bit.ly/maarchhistoric

Bartlett Short Courses

The Bartlett School of Architecture’s short courses are aimed at school leavers, university students and professionals wishing to hone their skills, the courses give students a chance to experience life within the UK’s leading architecture school giving them access to cutting-edge facilities and staff.

Courses include:

Summer Studio This tailored short course offers students already studying Architecture at different universities, or undertaking similar creative programmes, the opportunity to diversify their skills in a range of areas.

Summer Skill-ups The Summer Skill-ups are intensive 5-day courses offering a wide range of computer and portfolio training to hone existing skills and develop new ones. These can be taken in conjunction with the longer Bartlett Summer Studio programme or as stand-alone courses.

Peter Cook Masterclass This is a new intensive studio specifically designed for Architects who wish extend the range of their work, under the guidance of Professor Sir Peter Cook RA. Pop-up Collaboration A series of tailor-made programmes offered to schools and universities wanting to gain an insight into the design approaches taught at The Bartlett School of Architecture.

Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Architectural Research (pgCAAR) This programme enables postgraduate students to take their work to a higher level of design and theoretical development in preparation for further study. bit.ly/b-shortcourses

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The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Summer School This 10-day design-based course gives participants a first taste of studying architecture at UCL. The course attracts both young people still in their secondary education and school leavers considering creative careers.

Summer Special These specialist short courses offer students already studying Architecture at different universities, or undertaking similar creative programmes, the opportunity to diversify their skills in a particular field.

Bartlett School of Architecture Publications Read online at issuu.com/bartlettarchucl Buy in print at bit.ly/Bbooks

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Bartlett Design Research Folios The Bartlett School of Architecture has launched a new publication series dedicated to design research produced by its own staff. The series is a free online resource showcasing original and experimental works by established and early career design researchers in the school. Each folio focuses on a single project, offering an in-depth visual and textual description of its research questions, methods and outcomes.

The result is an illuminating series that highlights the creative role of design practice in architectural research.

Online at bartlettdesignresearchfolios.com

PhD Research Projects The catalogue from the annual conference and exhibition showcasing doctoral research at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, published in early Spring each year. Each edition features a selection of presentations from students who are starting, developing or concluding their research.

The 2015 publication includes contributions from MPhil and PhD students at the Royal College of Music, as part of an ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration.

Online at issuu.com/bartlettarchucl

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The Bartlett Book Released each Summer, The Bartlett Book is a comprehensive catalogue of student work, focusing on the BSc and MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 1 and Part 2) programmes at The Bartlett School of Architecture. The publication is illustrated in full colour and includes a description of each Design Unit’s agenda and output, a summary of the School’s other programmes, and dissertation and thesis excerpts.

The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015

Buy in print at bit.ly/Bbooks

LOBBY A vibrant new publication produced by Bartlett School of Architecture students, LOBBY aims to open dialogue and stimulate debate. Each themed issue includes contributions from members of the architectural community beyond The Bartlett alongside and in response to work generated inside the school. LOBBY #3, Defiance, features Carme Pinós, David Adjaye and Mario Botta.

Buy in print at bit.ly/Bbooks Online at bartlettlobby.com

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B-Pro Show 2015 Lighting Supporter

Image: Interactive Architecture Lab field trip to Hong Kong

bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture

Publisher The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL Editors Frédéric Migayrou, Andrew Porter Editorial Coordination Laura Cherry, Michelle Lukins Graphic Design Patrick Morrissey, Unlimited weareunlimited.co.uk Photography Stonehouse Photographic Copyright 2015 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 978-0-9929485-5-9

For more information on all the programmes and modules at The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL, visit bartlett.ucl.ac.uk The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL 140 Hampstead Road London NW1 2BX +44 (0)20 3108 9646 architecture@ucl.ac.uk Twitter: @BartlettArchUCL Facebook: facebook.com/BartlettArchitectureUCL Instagram: bartlettarchucl Vimeo: vimeo.com/bartlettarchucl

bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture

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