The program is also unique as it is developed hand in hand with Industry Partners, with the objective of offering the researchers the possibility to engage in a semi-professional environment, and develop a project with the support and expertise of individuals and institutions that are commercially involved in their field of research.

The collaborative companies are: ASCAMM, Cumella Cerámica, Santa&Cole, Breinco and Cricursa.

The final presentations of OTF researchers took place with an international jury board: Areti Markopoulou – IAAC Academic Director, Lucía Pérez Cerezo – ASCAMM, Josep Maria Serra – Santa&Cole, Toni Cumella – Cumella Cerámica, and Paolo Bombelli – University of Cambridge; as well as the presence of the program advisors Silvia Brandi, Alexandre Dubor and Luis Fraguada.

This year’s projects feature green energy systems, small scale desalination devices, the implementation of ceramics with robotic fabrication, natural material research for the implementation of 3D printing on the architectural scale, and much more.

Open Thesis Fabrication 2014 // Applied Research Program

Monday, 19th of January 2015 // 16h00 – 19h00, IaaC Auditorium

Advisors:

Silvia Brandi

Alexandre Dubor

Luis Fraguada

Jury:

Areti Markopoulou – IAAC Academic Director

Lucía Pérez Cerezo – ASCAMM

Josep Maria Serra – Santa&Cole

Toni Cumella – Cumella Cerámica

Paolo Bombelli – University of Cambridge

Collaborative Companies:

ASCAMM

Cumella Cerámica

Santa&Cole

Breinco

Cricursa

Today the IAAC OTF researchers presented their research proposals to the partner companies (KUKA, CRICURSA, SANTA&COLE, DUPONT, STORA ENSO, BREINCO and CERAMICA CUMELLA), as well as the research line advisors, to discuss the next possible steps towards the development of their experimental prototypes.

9 projects, presented by 10 OTF researchers, in total were presented inside the research lines of INTELLIGENT BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS, and SMART URBAN ELEMENTS, bringing forth great interest on behalf of the partner companies, and an interesting discussion in general.

The research proposals presented various aspects and themes of interest:

_How can buildings meet the needs of public space, adapting continuously to the changing conditions posed by the environment and the interaction between public and private space? What is the potential of a building to interact and adjust to its physical, environmental and social context?

_What are the potentialities of embedding responsive technologies into various materials to generate smart materials, and dynamic products, finally a dynamic and responsive city, potentially generating constant evolution in the spatial context of these material applications, according to the real time needs of these contexts?

_What is the potential of parasite architecture towards the rehabilitation of obsolete infrastructure in the dense urban scape?

_How can invisible elements, such as pollutants and sound, become the basis for the interaction with space, creating new spatiality, according to urban and social needs, and potentially generating energy for these?

Today at IAAC the OTF Researchers followed a lecture on Intellectual and Industrial Property & Unfair Competition, given by Ignasi Espiell, Santiago Nadal, and Mònica López, vibrant young and experienced lawyers from Volartpons and SNAbogados.

This lecture gave the OTF Researchers the opportunity to understand and fully grasp the potentials, limits, the path to be undertaken, and possible problematics that can be encountered regarding Patenting, Industrial Design, Trademarks, unfair competition, and copy rights, as well as a final discussion on general Intellectual and industrial property doubts.

Breinco is a Catalan company dedicated to the production urban elements and urban furniture using concrete.
Its phylosophy is oriented to define a new generation of products which are set to improve our surroundings
thanks to their sustainability, while constantly striving for eco-efficiency in the manufacture of products,
using recycled materials and incorporating new technology in the design of multifunctional spaces.
Following these strategic guidelines, Breinco has evolved its product research and development, and has
created a new line of products, eco-logic®, being the first Spanish company to produce air clean® concrete
pieces with photocatalytic properties, which cause a decontaminating, self-cleaning effect and which reduce
the emission of environmentally-harmful NOx.

This year the researchers will follow one of three research lines: 3D printing in Architectural Construction, tutored by Enrico Dini, Petr Novikov and Sasha Jokic; Intelligent Building Constructions, tutored by Areti Markopoulou, Marc Viader, Silvia Brandi and Victor Arribas; and Smart Urban Elements, tutored by Luis E. Fraguada, Ali Basbous and Roland Bosbach.

The researchers’ projects will be developed hand in hand with the partner companies, consisting in: KUKA, CRICURSA, SANTA&COLE, DUPONT, STORA ENSO, BREINCO and CERAMICA CUMELLA.

This morning, after a welcoming and introductory presentation given by Areti Markopoulou, IAAC Master Program Director, each of the Partner Companies briefly presented themselves, and outlined some of their innovation and development interests.

With the knowledge gained today, the researchers will proceed to further elaborate their Projects, based on an individual research topic based on their own interests and prior experience, and in line with the challenges proposed by the divers partner companies, and start prototyping.