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Today the MAA01 students presented their final works for the Introductory Seminar in Digital Fabrication, led by Alexandre Dubor with Sofoklis Giannakpoulos and Anna Popova.

The works consisted in projects developed throughout the term focussing on exploring the design opportunities arising from three common digital fabrication process that will be explored during the course : Laser Cutting, CNC milling and 3D Printing.

This year the exercise was articulated around the design of a differentiated component (composed of 2 material types) proliferating to form a volume. Each component was part of a common family, sharing the same constructive logic, while being slightly different from each other, evolving from a high density to a low density component.

The outcome of the exercise was a constructed assembly of at least 10 components which inhabited a given shape to create a suspended lamp.

Tonight we had the pleasure of hosting Aaron Betsky, among other things one of the members of the IAAC Scientific Committee, as the final lecture of the 2014 Fall Lecture Series.

In his Lecture entitled The Architecture of Hunting and Gathering, Mr Betsky discussed architecture today as being about gathering together what already exists. He believes that it is not about the making of abstract and rigid objects placed on the ground. It is not about making first great plans, then turning them into objects, and then imprisoning people within those artifacts. It is about seeing and knowing the world all around you, using the skills specific to architecture to reveal the possibilities inherent in what already exists. Architecture is collage, urbanism is tactical. This lecture will look at how we can use techniques ranging from collage to Photoshop, and from DIY insertions to the reuse of existing buildings, materials, and even designs, to create a physical environment that is more sustainable, socially just, and beautiful. Examples drawn from both architecture and the arts will show the many possibilities of such an approach. The lecture will also show how installation work, dating from the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale to the proposed 2015 Shenzhen Biennale, exhibits some of the best properties of an architecture of hunting and gathering.

Partners and FOAT met for the second time on the 9th and 10th of October 2014 in Prague, hosted by CCEA.
During the first day, after a short wrap up of the previous meeting, partners start discussing contexts in which competition programming develop. During the discussion, the partnership achieved three important shared definitions:

• YOUNG = not only in age but also in experience and in accessing the competition market (e.g. SMEs have less chance to compete)
• GREEN = effective and sustainable throughout the entire life cycle
• COMPETITION = in Europe we have a common framework which is the new EU directive on public procurement (2014/24/EU). This might help understand what we are talking about in terms of public competition, then the private competitions work around the law.

To support the debate, Walter Menteth, part of the USE group, gave a very interesting and useful presentation on the current situation of competitions in Britain and in Europe, stressing the importance of EU networking as a tool to reform the competition system.
Its presentation provided inputs to the discussion around the idea that Architects working together might enhance competition practices to improve access, opportunity, societal engagement, improve quality, reduce waste increase sustainability and support growth. Read More »