RC3
Interactive Architecture Lab #softerarch
Ruairi Glynn, Vincent Huyghe
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2016
Students Ava Aghakouchak, John Russell Beaumont, Somya Chaturvedi, Juncheng Chen, Bahnfun (Darcy) Chittmittrapap, Siyuan Jing, Alexander Kendall White, Hyo Yeon (Hannah) Kim, Maria Paneta, Takashi Torisu, Haavard Tveito, Menglin (Ariel) Wang, Yiyi Wang, Xiaoxuan (Lydia) Zhou
The Interactive Architecture Lab is a multidisciplinary research cluster interested in the behaviour and interaction of things, environments and their inhabitants. Areas of focus include Adaptive Responsive Environments, Kinetic Design and Robotics, Multi-Sensory Interfaces, the Internet of Things, Performance and Choreography, and Biological and Material Computation. Each year’s theme, described below, 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.
Teaching assistants Kaspar Althoefer, William Bondin, William Victor Camilleri, Ersinhan Ersin, Julie Freeman, Dominik Koller, Francois Mangion, Helge Wurdemann
Brief This year we have softened the perceived boundaries between the body and our built environment. Through the design of physical and virtual installations we have explored material and immaterial approaches to what a soft architecture can be. A number of recent technological developments have led our exploration.
Thanks to our critics and consultants Foteini Aravani, Paul Bavister, Bastian Beyer, Georger Bull, Marina Castan, Benjamin Custance, Carole Collet, Delfina Fantini van Ditmar, Paulien Dresscher, Behnaz Farahi, Anne Frobeen, Stephen Gage, Jon Goodbun, Chris Green, Josef Hargrave, Andy Hudson-Smith, Clara Jo, Mária Júdová, Megan Kieran, Sebastian Kite, Rolf Knudsen, Siuli Ko, Samantha Lee, Tim Lucas, Elisa Magnini, Veronica Gomes Natividade, Bakul Patki, Richard Roberts, Carmen Salas Pino, Michael Straeubig, Chryssa Varna, Matt Wade, Rich Walker, Philip Wilck, Duncan Wilson, Rachel Wingfield, Marc Winklhofer We are grateful to our partners Marshmallow Laser Feast, UCL Mechanical Engineering Soft Haptics Lab
Soft Robotics The future of robotics is soft. Improvements in flexible and programmable materials are literally re-shaping robotics away from typically rigid structures driven by servomotor systems, towards more fluid and responsive mechanics inspired by nature. Virtual Reality The indivisible relationship between our visual-auditory experience of virtual space and our somatic sensory body grounded in physical space is fractured by VR technologies. We have examined ways to bridge the virtual and physical, building mixed realities where both immaterial and material worlds interact. Artificial Intelligence In the search for a softer body to architecture, we have explored the soft architecture of the human brain, studying the nature of ‘thinking’ through cybernetic theory and experiments in computational neuroethology. 2016 Artists in Residence We have had the pleasure of collaborating with one of the UK’s leading creative studios. Marshmallow Laser Feast are famous for producing groundbreaking work at the intersection of art and cutting-edge technology. Recent work has focused on creating spatial experiences between the virtual and the real, pushing creative and technical boundaries. Their work ranges from real-time animations and large-scale interactive installations to live events and performances. www.interactivearchitecture.org
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