AA Visiting School Ring of Fire - Tokyo 2019

Ring of Fire Tokyo, Japan

COVER PAGE: Earthquakes since 1989, by magnitude. Image: John Nelson, IDV Solutions.

Image: BASE studio

Ring of Fire

AA Visiting School

The AAVS ‘Ring of Fire’ is a design research workshop exploring for innovative design systems and strategies that can feed, tackle and/or question the way architecture is responding to the impact of natural disasters over populated areas surrounding the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire.

There are 29 countries in the world that have been historically exposed to natural disasters. The quantity and magnitude of such unpredictable events these places face, is largely explained by their geographical location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire”. About 90% of the world’s earthquakes and 81% of the world’s largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, and it concentrates more than 75% of the active volcanoes of the world.

How can architecture become a vehicle for overcoming such issues? What is there for other Ring-of-Fire neighbouring countries that it can be learnt, tested and systematized in order to articulate a common approach to such global issues?

How can architecture overcome the immediacy of shelter without compromising quality? How can architects design better infrastructures when means and resources are limited? These are some of the questions that the AAVS pursues, by establishing a more proactive and less reactive attitude towards natural disasters. An attitude that take catastrophes and natural disasters as the catalyst for a new kind of architectural activism that is able to foresee and produce opportunities out of scarcity, shortage and resilience.

The Programme

The diversity of technological, cultural and identity features are investigated in order to develop an architectural response that examines what glocality means as an operational resource for handling better/smarter/faster with the aftermath of natural disasters.

The goal is to generate innovative solutions for adaptable/replicable architectural systems that can accommodate the need of shelter by incorporating simple/sensible fabrication logics, as a way of responding to contexts of scarce technology, material, tools and machinery resources; contributing to a more prototypical approach towards natural disasters reconstruction, with particular focus in Resilient Systems, Material Research and Experimental Design.

As the area of study is of planetary scale, the AAVS ‘Ring of Fire’ is conceived as a long-term nomadic programme that will take place in a number of locations and cities within the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire; gathering institutions, professionals and people together, in order to build-up a global discussion on how of architecture should engage with the issues arising from natural disasters.

The Ring of Fire includes Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, Panamá, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, México, United States and Canada, then turns up to the Aleutian Islands and down the coasts and islands of Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Brunei, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and New Zealand.

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

Image: Pamela Cortez * Data: “Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft”, Geo Risks Research, NatCatSERVICE, April 2016. Consulted at “National Research Strategy, Innovation and Development for Resilient Against Natural Disasters”, 2016, Page 21.

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

The Programme

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

The Earth’s tectonic plates.

9 most seismic countries worldwide 1900-2019 * Data: “USGS Natural disasters”. Consulted at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=1_a_k6vsdso.

This table shows all the earthquakes from 1900-2019. Some of these led to Tsunamis. Note that only earthquakes of magnitude more than 6 are represented.

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

World map showing the most powerful earthquakes recorded in history along the Ring of Fire.

Most powerful/destructive earthquakes energy release comparison * Data: NOAA National Weather Service, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

2016.

Tokyo Japan

The AAVS Ring of Fire was organized as a 10 days full-time design research workshop held at KEIO University Shanon-Fujisawa Campus.

Image: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Katsushika Hokusai, 1829 - 1833

The workshop alternated the dynamics of computer-aided design with analogue techniques and physical exploration and prototyping for exploring new ideas of shelters.

A number of lectures were held during the first stages of the workshop in order to create a sensible attitude toward post-disaster design.

With a strong focus on critical thinking, the diversity of ideas and explorations tested-out the relationship between the basic need of shelter with the opportunities that material resources and construction techniques provide for a new architectural response that can be both, culturally specicifc and globally adaptable at the same time.

The workshop was developed as a handson programme in which participants were encourage to take position on particular tasks that suited his/her interest better.

A particular range of material resources, design processes and fabrication methods were explored, leading to the fabrication of a 1:1 physical structure constructed as a systemic/replicable response for sheltering multiple uses on post-natural-catastrophes events.

Participants

Directors

Local Coordinators

Tutors

Barbara Barreda Felipe Sepulveda

Dr. Kensuke Hotta Dr. Yasushi Ikeda

Jiang Lai Pamela Cortez Aqil Cheddadi Alric Lee

Image: BASE studio, 2019.

Students Alfonsina Rosas Ayebanengiyefa Wabote Deqiang Huang Elías Rizo Oroz Eliott Haddad Hafsa Rifki Jingyi Zhang Jiyuan Lin José M. Estevez Dopazo

Lingfung Chan Mara Calderón de la Barca Morillo Marcelo Etienne Soberón Meichen Wang Miyu Horiuchi Philipp Görtz Ricardo Mouret Abadiano Sam Cheng-Yu Ho

Sophie Chi-Yun Shen Tetsuro Sonoda Thierry Gedeon Wesley Zhenhui Song Yanling He Yingqi Li Yumin Kim Yunong Sun Zhichao Deng

Lecturers

Image: Steve Farmer

Image: Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images Europe

Five different speakers shared their experiences/projects at a very early stage of the workshop, which provided a diverse, strong and meaningful conceptual framework from where to build up a much sensible attitude for operating in post-disaster scenarios.

Keisuke Toyoda

Dr. Christopher Kaltenbach

Possibilities of material systems and technology.

Biomimicry: Inspiration from nature (geometry, organization)

Innovative approach towards design at different scales and fields (interdisciplinary process).

Digital parametric tools to define design (use of Grasshopper in his projects).

Aggregation componency to generate overall complex geometries.

Personal experience and approach to Japan’s March/11: - Logistics - Context - Conservation - Mental Fitness Japanese reconstruction phases: 7 days/ 3 months/ 3 years Design response to post catastrophe context (concepts of component/ module, system, variations).

Image source: SFC Keio University

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Builder Tech

Dr. Yasushi Ikeda

Dr. Mitsuhiro Kanada

Dr. Hiroto Kobayashi

21st Century Architecture on Digital Production:

Structure + materials + fabrication interrelationship and dependency (relationship architect / engineer / builder)

The “Veneer house� project as a tool for communities to participate in construction / maintenance.

- Performance: adaptable flexibility.

- Materials: Renewable Bio Materials.

- Locations: At any location with in-situ resource.

Constructive innovative solutions for complex geometries.

Prefabrication and prescribed systems for global reach.

Simplicity as a key concept Prefabricated/In-situ conto develop assembly pro- Modularity: Non-standard struction distinction: what cesses and construction parametric module. can/should be prefabriprotocols that anyone can cated (industry or expert) easily follow.

- Geometry: Double curved surface based on paramet- previously and what can be left to unskilled labors. Replicability of a system ric generations. regardless of specific use - Process: Enjoyable interTransferability: Architecand/or scale.. action. ture work maintenance by Randomness: Definition of community (gives sense of belonging, build commurules that can allow connity). struction inaccuracy.

Post-Disaster Scenarios

1995 Kobe Earthquake. Image: Published by The Japan Times Link: https://features.japantimes.co.jp/heisei-moments-part-11-insecurity/html#photo25 html#photo25

Contextual framework

In order to set a common understanding for what a post-disaster scenario means, it was necessary to first established a general contextual framework.

• Timing and Fast Response

This framework was built upon the debate of ideas, the shared experiencies and the many different insights from the lectures, as well as the personal research that each participant was encorauged to carry out during the workshop.

• Community engagement / Collaborative construction

Thus, a number of key concepts were outlined as to be the critical subjects to address:

• Reconstruction phases: 1 day / 1week / 1 month / 1 - 3 years

• Immediacy of shelter • Mental Fitness • Material Availability / Limited resources

Community engagement / Collaborative construction

Neighbourhood meeting, Bang Bua Canal, Bangkok. Image: David Sanderson Link: https://odihpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sanderson.jpg

Reconstruction phases: 1 day / 1week / 1 month / 1 - 3 years www.wired.com/2011/03/the-power-of-a-tsunami-cars-as-sedimentary-particles/.html#photo25

Image: Published on Wired.com

Napa Valley Earthquake 2014. Image: Lisa James

Timing and Fast Response

Material Availability / Limited resources

2010 Baja California Earthquake. Image: Published on The Christian Science Monitor Link: www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0809/Mexico-s-ground-still-moving-from-April-earthquake

2011 JapanTsunami. Image: Yasuyoshi Chiba

2011 tsunami, Japan. Image: ACP, published on Asia One. Link: https://www.asiaone.com/asia/japans-taxi-drivers-pick-ghost-passengers-area-hit-2011-tsunami

Immediacy of shelter

Mental Fitness

Design Approach

Operational framework

Once the contextual framework was layed out, a general understanding on how to operate in these scenarios was somehow acknowledged.

The Operational framework was then established as a protocol or set of rules that would inform the architectural system to be design, prototyped and tested.

1964 Alaska Earthquake. Image: Vancouver Sun

This also gave a number of key concepts that orbited every step forward of the design process:

• Experimental approach towards design • Non-Specialized Labor / Simple techniques • Systematized solutions • Randomness: Rules that deal with construction inaccuracy • Domestic resources • Transferability / Reuse

Systematized solutions 2015 Nepal post eartquake.

Link: https://www.nepalhousingreconstruction.org/index.php/scope-of-disaster

Non-Specialized Labor / Simple techniques

2018 Japan Floods Link: www.bkmedia.cn/a/lanmu/shendu/2018/0814/7686.html

1964 Alaska Earthquake. Image: Vancouver Sun

Experimental approach towards design

Transferability / Reuse Staff from Tail Project organize cleaned-out belongings. Image: Noriko Hayashi for BLOOMBERG Link: www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-07-18/japan-s-lonely-death-industry

Domestic resources

Paper partition system designed by Shigeru Ban. Image: Published on Stylus.com Link: www.stylus.com/bjlfwm

Image: Chile Earthquake Tsunami Warning.

Link: www.techtensity.com/chile-earthquake-tsunami-warning-lifted/

Randomness: Rules that deal with construction inaccuracy

v

Designing a Shelter

not just a form but a system

Having a better understanding of the needs and possibilities of post-disaster scenarios, it became crucial to rethink the idea that the coverage of the first needs is only a matter of providing roof and physical shelter.

However, the need for shelter is, in many cases, the most quickly and effectively resolved need in post-disaster scenarios, there is much for design to contribute to the way sheltering people is actually being done worldwide.

The very need for shelter becomes the opportunity for architecture and design to engage with communities and people in a more meaningful and profound way.

A way that can actually help them coap with the aftermath by improving their mental fitness.

In this sense, it became fundamental to consider that designing a shelter would not only mean designing a form or a specific shape but designing a holistic process in which people, resources, materials and logistics, are all coordinated to create temporary structures. To think of it as a system that operates with pre-fabricated and post-fabricated ideas of construction; with digital tools and upgraded technology as well as rudimentary craft techniques for its materialisation. A system that can be replicated and adapted to different scales, contexts and uses.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Digital Tutorial Sessions

Image: Pamela Cortez Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Rhinoceros and Grasshopper as main tools for modelling and evaluating ideas.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Preliminary Proposals

Image: Pamela Cortez Image: Pamela Cortez

After digital tutorial sessions and lectures, participants where divided into 6 groups of 4-5 people each with a common assignment: Design a shelter system considering an isolated post cathastrophe scenario.

Brainstorming sessions where carried out in order to widen the material, possibilities of domestic available materials and explore diverse geometric and constructive strategies.

Team 01> Rag n Beams Preliminary ideas of tensile estructure that utilise rags and basic wooden beams.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Preliminary Proposals

Image: Pamela Cortez

The team studied the possibility of creating flexible joints that operate with the randomness of material resources.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Team 02> Super Joints

Team 03> Weaving paper Paper -easily accessible on a domestic scale- was tested as to understand its physical capabilities to create semi-rigid woven structures.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Preliminary Proposals

Image: Pamela Cortez

The translucency of paper -strongly present in the japanese culture- was combined with folding logics, arguing for a richer spatial and atmospheric condition.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Team 04> Light and Shadow paper

Team 05> Origami structure Folding logics of origami where studied to understand how to pop up structures from creased surfaces, acknowledging japanese traditional tecniques.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Preliminary Proposals

Image: Pamela Cortez

The team approach the idea of inflatables as a mold where other soft materials can be casted on top of it.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Team 06> Structural Balloon

Design Proposal

The system was designed through an iterative process informed by both, 1:1 material exploration and digital tools.

After reviewing and discussing the 6 student proposals and their potential, a design strategy to develop during the next days was defined. This strategy was based on two fundamental aspects:

1_ The use of a temporary inflatable structure as a soft mold, which after being inflated on-site, other soft materials can be cast on top of it.

Image: Pamela Cortez

2_As casting, domestic available materials should be considered, paper was defined as the preliminary material to explore as main resource.

This design strategy allows the construction rules to be embedded in the mold.

Each pattern seam may determine the areas where to cover with paper. This means it can be easily transferable since the mold is also the “construction manual”. Also, when the paper has solidified, the inflatable mold when deflated can be reused for creating multiple other shelters.

Even though the system considers digital tools and technology in the design and an industrial process for mold fabrication, it considers rudimentary techniques and simple available materials for its structure materialization. This “Digital Craft” logic, gives the possibility for the system to be replicated by different communities and adapted to diverse scales, contexts, and uses.

Images: ElĂ­as Rizo / Mara CalderĂłn de la Barca

Design Proposal

Images: Elías Rizo / Mara Calderón de la Barca

Image: BASE Studio

Images: ElĂ­as Rizo / Mara CalderĂłn de la Barca

Material Studies

Images: ElĂ­as Rizo / Mara CalderĂłn de la Barca

Initial material studies started to explore the inflatable capacites of soft/ domestic molds.

Plastic bags and balloons where part of the first models.

Images: ElĂ­as Rizo / Mara CalderĂłn de la Barca

Material Studies

Images: Elías Rizo / Mara Calderón de la Barca

Geometry Studies Soft body unit

The overall dome-like geometry established a prototypical size of 4 x 4 x 4 m. A ‘room size’ bounding box that argues for a minimum unit of inhabitation.

Considering the visited principles of air inflation and material studies, the geometry studies explore a digitally optimised model that evaluates patterning and ribbing logics, as well as deformation and form complexity.

Image: Pamela Cortez

These studies evaluate not just the geometrical qualities of a single unit but also speculate on the different scales of the shelter and mostly on the potential aggregation of units.

Image: Mara Calderón de la Barca, Elías Rizo / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin

Variation samples

01.

02.

03.

04.

Opt: 100 Deform: 1.16 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 12 Edg numb: 299 Total length: 434.8 m

Opt: 90 Deform: 1.24 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 12 Edg numb: 301 Total length: 454.9 m

Opt: 80 Deform: 3.1 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 12 Edg numb: 294 Total length: 423.9 m

Opt: 70 Deform: 1.8 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 12 Edg numb: 298 Total length: 452.5 m

Image: Mara Calderón de la Barca, Elías Rizo / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin

05.

06.

07.

08.

Opt: 50 Deform: 1.01 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 13 Edg numb: 308 Total length: 436.9 m

Opt: 40 Deform: 1.33 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 13 Edg numb: 311 Total length: 430.4 m

Opt: 30 Deform: 0.79 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 13 Edg numb: 309 Total length: 442.6 m

Opt: 20 Deform: 2.13 cm Faces: 8 Ribs: 14 Edg numb: 303 Total length: 428.2 m

Structural Analysis

Optimised ribbing system

Considering the defined ribbing geometric rules of the system applied to the dome-like shape, a process of Evolutionary Computation, using digital tools , was followed to generate genetic algorithms for structural form-finding and optimisation.

Five hundred variations of the system were generated and evaluated.

Image: Pamela Cortez

The most efficient ribbing pattern, in terms of structural conditions, was selected to be further on tested and prototyped 1:1.

The structural analysis considered load transfer efficiency as well as material properties and physical limitations.

The optimum thickness for each structural rib was digitally evaluated. The overall resulting values for thickness variation were:

Image: Miyu Horiuchi

Structural Analysis

The digital analysis considered a shell + beam structural model. The diagram illustrates the strength tested in the beam system as bone lines that can vary in thickness depending on the strength required for different long life of the structure.

Structural strenght is basically evaluated by displacement —the less displacement the safer (elasticity and buckling excluded). In this analysis, reinforced concrete was taken as a referential model [‘d’< (span)/200 ].

In this case the structure cracks at the maximum displacement: ‘d’ = 20mm.

Image: Miyu Horiuchi

The balloon-like shell, made out of paper and additive resin, was physically merged together with the beams creating a monocoque structure. However, in order to analyze the required thickness, they were evaluated separately as independent structural elements.

The principle remains the same: the less displacement the better.

For further development of the structural analysis, a final evaluation has to be done, considering the material properties of paper with its collapse risk.

Since every material has different properties, a deeper technical research on paper must be further developed to examine the precise properties of the material.

However, to give a general idea of â&#x20AC;&#x2039;â&#x20AC;&#x2039;the structural performance of the paper, the properties were assimilated to the default template of cardboard and light wood as an initial approach with which to input standard values into the digital evaluation model.

Image: Elías Rizo / Mara Calderón de la Barca

Logistics/Deployment

01.

02.

05.

Image: Yumin Kim

03.

04.

04.

The system works as an easy deployable structure that weighs around 20k.

When on the ground, the inflatable gets unrolled and layed out to be fully operational and inflated.

Once the inflation process is finished the layering process starts. Any sort of paper sheet could be use to create that first layer. The thickness of the paper layer will vary from one area to another by following the tracing pattern embedded on it.

06.

The layering process continues until the shelter is strong enough to stand on its own.

When the paper has solidify, the inflatable mold gets deflated and could be reused for creating a new shelter.

After the paper has settled for a while, new layers of solidyfing materials can be added as a third or fourth layer (mud, clay, concrete, etc.), translating the same additive logic to evolve the sheleter to a more permamanent structure.

Prototype Fabrication 1:1 Inflatable mold

As the primary and most fundamental part of the system considered a prefabricated inflatable mold, a 1:1 prototype was developed in order to test the mold patterning logics, inflation process and geometry deformation.

The prototype -made out entirely of lightweight pvc membranes- takes advantage from the use of digital tools to inform with precision a crafted process of manufacture.

Image: Pamela Cortez

The process started from a digital model that provided an optimised sizing for every patch to be then unfolded, flatten, projected and traced over directly to the pvc.

In that sense, the fabrication process it was more similar to a fashion garment than to a building; a soft and flexible piece that it has not necessarily been built, but rather tailored.

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Fabrication

Since the fabrication process requiered to deal with a big amount of double curvature surfaces, a logic similar to the fashion garments was applied.

Each surface was then assigned with a specific letter, and each subpatch contained in it was then unrolled and flatten out.

The process started by labeling every surface resulting from the ribbing seams that define the structural edges of the mold.

The whole unfolding process was replicated on each surface. With this, a set of drawings to be trace over on pvc plastic was outlined.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Surface C Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface B

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface A

Image: Pamela Cortez

Surface F Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface E

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface D

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface H

Image: Chi-yun Shen

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Surface G

Prototype Inflation 1:1 Inflatable mold

The 1:1 inflatable mold prototype inflation tests threw valuable facts to inform further development: - When inflated, the geometry´s double curvatures are not highly pronounced, and the Pvc material has a natural deformation which helps the curvature to be shaped. This suggests the possibility of reducing the pattern density and amount of pieces and joints without modifying substantially the shape.

Image: Thierry Gedeon

- The adhesive tape as joint between pieces behaved well during the first inflation presenting low air loss. But later, when exposed to a second inflation process, the joints begin to separate slightly and therefore the air loss increased.

Adhesive tape and a crafted mold fabrication process are not recomended because of air loss.

- The inflation process is simple and quick. Just one person can unroll the piece and inflate it manually with an electric simple blower. It takes 30 minutes to fully inflate the piece (considering joints air loss).

- Bending and rolling the deflated piece is an easy fast process. The whole deflated piece is light and has a reduced size.

Image: Thierry Gedeon

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Thierry Gedeon

Mockup

Detailed 1:1 prototype

After the overall dome-like inflatable shape and its ribs were defined, a 1:1 mockup was fabricated as to test and evaluate different stages of the system.

The mockup evaluated the physical behavior of a pressurized inflatable pillow-like sample when paper beams are added at specific indents and mache-paper is applied as a secondary covering material.

Image: Pamela Cortez

This material collaboration demonstrated that paper helps to maintain the formal and geometric integrity of the inflatable while constraining the deformation generated by the internal air pressure.

Paper beams where manually fabricated by rolling tightly several layers of newspapers. By folding the paper together at the edges, any beam length can be achieved.

Once the beams were rolled, a mix of water and flour was added as a binding agent.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Sam Ho

Details

Images: ElĂ­as Rizo / Mara CalderĂłn de la Barca Image: Thierry Gedeon

The inflation process can be done with low/tech appliances such as a hair dryer.

All in all, the mockup demonstrated the feasibility of an inflatable piece to serve as a mold and for paper to be strong enough to operate as a means of temporary, economic and domestic structure.

Image: Tetsuro Sonoda

Image: Philipp Goertz / Chi-yun Shen

Image: Thierry Gedeon

Details

Image: Sam Ho

Image: Tetsuro Sonoda

Shelter

Shelt-air

Shelt-air is a mid-tech post-disaster architectural system that synthesizes and embodies the explored potential of pneumatic principles for creating geometrical, material and non-conventional spatial formulations that can provide a quick, sensible and sensitive response to the need of shelter.

The system is an evolving hybrid that combines prefabrication componency with a post-fabrication logic of construction.

Image: JosĂŠ Manuel EstĂŠvez

A spatial protocol that organizes randomness in an evolutionary process, enhancing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unpredictability and cultural appropriation as a critical key for architecture in post-disaster scenarios.

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Drawings

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Drawings

Medium Structural Layer Material: Paper Beams

Base Inflatable mold Material: PVC

Image: Yanling He / Jiyuan Lin / Lai Jiang / Tetsuro Sonoda / Kim Yumin / Aqil Cheddadi

Outer Shell Layer Material: Paper

Image: ElĂ­as Rizo

Final Symposium ‘Digital Craft’

The closing event called ‘Digital Craft’, organised by the Digital Construction Consortium, took place at Keio University - Mita Campus in central Tokyo.

Image: Pamela Cortez

The symposium gave a closure to the 10-days workshop held at Keio’s Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Tokyo, Japan. The event invited to an open yet critical session where the overall design process, research, findings and outcome was explained and shared by students and directors to a wide audience of colleagues, as well as AA and Keio University representatives.

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

Image: Pamela Cortez

AA Visiting School Ring of Fire_Tokyo 2019

Directors

BASE studio

ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION

Academic Partner

Sponsors

Ring of Fire Directors

BASE studio architectural systems design research studio

BARBARA BARREDA

FELIPE SEPÚLVEDA

Architect and Master in Architecture Emergent Technologies and Design (EmTech) at the Architectural Association.

Barbara is Co-Founder and Partner at BASE studio. She has collaborated with architecture offices in Santiago and London, working on projects for Latin America, USA, Europe and Asia. Along with directing BASE, Bárbara is also professor at UDD University Architecture Faculty, teaching courses focused on geometry, materiality and experimental design applied to architecture. Also, Bárbara is part of Ciudad Emergente, a Lab of tools and urban tactics which seeks to improve urban quality of life through social innovation.

Architect and Master in Architecture & Urbanism Design Research Lab (DRL) at the Architectural Association. Felipe is Co-Founder and Partner at BASE studio.

He has been coordinator of the Digital Prototyping Lab and invited jury at the Architectural Association. He worked at Urban Systems Office: an architectural practice focused on generative design for big-scale projects in China. Currently, besides directing BASE, Felipe is also professor and researcher in architectural design, and head of the Technological Transference Department at Universidad del Desarrollo’s Architecture Faculty in Santiago, Chile.