On Friday, the 13th of May, IAAC welcomed Farshid Moussavi who gave a lecture titled “Form and Ornament”.

Farshid Moussavi is an architect, educator and co-founder of Foreign Office Architects (FOA). She is Professor in Practice of Architecture at Harvard University. She has published two books based on her work at Harvard, The Function of Forms and The Function of Ornament.

Farshid oriented her lecture around the relationship of Function of style with form and function as it is identified in her books. Throughout her lecture she stated that suggestive repetitions can over time suggest significant changes, as repetition is a fundamental condition in Architecture.

(Above- IAAC Faculty Javier Peña working with MAA Student Manuel Alejandro Huerta Fernandez (Mexico) in DS2)

Last week students in the Masters for Advanced Architecture Program began work in their Development Studios. Phase III of the MAA Program is an Open Educational Structure where the students attend a Development Studio plus 1 seminar engaged with the studio (MAA Research Trips) and 2 seminars chosen within their academic interest. Phase III continues its focus in three different scales of investigation: territorial, architectural and parametric design.

This Development Studio is led by Vicente Guallart (IAAC Director) and Javier Peña assisted by Rodrigo Rubio. They are joined by guest expert, Nikos Salingaros.

(Above: MAA Student Larisa Melnikova (Russia) working with  IAAC Faculty Javier Peña and Studio Assistant Rodrigo Rubio)

MAA Student: Javier Gonzalez (Spain)

Research Studio: Self-Sufficient Buildings

Studio Instructor: Vicente Guallart, IAAC Director

Project Goal: Create a self-sufficient urban block for 22@, Barcelona.

Student Summary:

Trying to look to the past by adapting the proposal to Ildefons Cerdá’s urban structure to keep the character of the city (not only adjusting the façades to the pre-existing grid to maintain the alignment of the streets, but also providing a big central courtyard working as public space inside the block, as the original thoughts of Ildefons Cerdá), the building also tries to look forward to the new paradigm of Self-Sufficient architecture.

Taking advantage of solar energy as the easiest renewable energy source in Barcelona, the building tries to orient itself to the position of the sun. Its form follows the sun tilting the main “roof façade” into a proper angle for solar energy gathering, while also decreasing its height in the southern part and increase it in the northern part, in order to allow the best access to the solar daylight as possible.

The characteristic element of this building, its “roof façade”, has been though as a double skin which will contain a mixed system of photovoltaic panels and openings, based on Ecotect analysis and their own interior program, thus optimizing the position of panels and voids. Overheating inside the building will also be controlled through the double skin, allowing a natural flow of air through the gap between the interior and the exterior skin.

MAA Student: Hugo Carvallo (Peru)

Research Studio: Self- Sufficient Buildings

Studio Instructor: Vicente Guallart, IAAC Director

Project Goal: Create a self-sufficient urban block for 22@, Barcelona.

Student’s Summary:

“The metabolism of the building/block [project] for the Self-Sufficient Building Studio is based on water.

Water as a natural element not only provides life to the animals and plants of the planet, but it also is an important part of many systems and cycles. The proposed design looks to balance human beings lives and the nature of the world with its chaotic and problematic social issues, and economical conditions.

To start, I took three main references that helped me to develop this project.  As natural reference, I am taking under consideration the water cycling; and under historical reference, I am taking under consideration the farm terrace that many ancient cultures used, such as the Inca.  I would like to make a special emphasis on learning about ancient ways of living because they were very sustainable and self-sufficient.  And last but not least, I considered current technology, which will improve the idea of recycling the ‘water cycling’ and therefore provide energy within it.

Under the natural consideration, it is been known that water cycles naturally through an infinite process.  This similar process, using current technology, will imitate the benefit to the inhabitants of the block.

The farm terrace will work perfectly in the sense that water will follow a determinate path where water cycling will be appreciated and noticeable through the metabolism of the building.  Through this, remains from the farms will be collected and processed thereafter to provide energy throughout the building.”

About the MAA Final Projects

In Final Phases of the Masters in Advanced Architecture program students attend one of three Research Studios: Self-Sufficient Buildings, Digital Tectonics or Emergent Territories. At the end of Phase II MAA Students presented their initial proposals. Throughout Phase III they will refine this research for their final presentations.

In the time leading up to the week of presentations we will give a preview of each project on the blog.

This year final presentations will be held the week of June 27. All presentations are open to the public. We invite you to come to see the students present. More information will be provided closer to the week of presentations.

(Above: IAAC Inside 0-14 Tower in Dubai. IAAC Tweet: “RS2@O-14 tower by Reiser+Umemoto/amazing concrete exoskeleton structure+skin freeing the building core and the floors from columns”)

Students in the Masters in Advanced Architecture Program are split into three Research Studios (RS1: Emergent Territories, RS2: Self Sufficient Buildings, RS3 Digital Tectonics). This week each will be exploring a different part of the world. Each trip is related to the focus of each Research and Development Studio.

RS 1:Emergent Territories landed in Hong Kong today. Their first day will consist of a walking tour of Hong Kong to visit relevant projects such as the HSBC headquarters, Bank of China Tower, and The Peak Tower. RS3: Digital Tectonics is currently traveling by bus through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Tomorrow they will be in Zurich visiting Blumer-Lehmann, Design to Production and Gramazio & Kohler, Architecture and Digital Fabrication.

RS2: Self Sufficient Buildings has been in Dubai all weekend and have been very busy so far. They’ve been to the top of the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa, and to Meydan Race Course. Today the group visited the dxb.Lab studio led by founder Khalid Alnajjar.

Tomorrow the group will visit Masdar City. Masdar City, established in 2006, is a commercially driven enterprise that operates to become a leader in making renewable energy a real, viable business and Abu Dhabi a global center of excellence in renewable energy and clean technology.

(Above: IAAC Tweet “Checking in at Burj Al Arab”)

(Above: dxb.lab. IAAC Tweet- “RS2@dxb-lab architectural office@Khalid Alnajjar,founder of the practise touring the group and presenting projects”)

IAAC Everywhere:

Staff members from each Research Studio group are chronicling their travels on Twitter.  You can also follow all of IAAC’s stops around the world on Foursquare.

In Phase II of the MAA program students attend one of three Research Studios: Self-Sufficient Buildings, Digital Tectonics or Emergent Territories. The final presentations for the Digital Tectonics and Emergent Territories Research Studios were held on separate days.

The project for this Research Studio: Build a Self Sufficient Block for Barcelona.

This studio is run by IAAC Director Vicente Guallart who is assisted by Rodrigo Rubio. For the final presentations, IAAC welcomed a guest jury: Cristina Sendra (Eco Intelligent Growth), Javier Peña (Xpiral Architecture) and Max SanJulian (Volido).

From left to right: Rodrigo Rubio (assistant), Cristina Sendra (guest jury), Vicente Guallart (Director IAAC/Studio Coordinator) Max SanJulian (guest jury) and Javier Peña (guest jury).

About the Self Sufficient Buildings Research Studio:

Architecture goes beyond buildings. A building is a concentration of activities in a particular location which should be responsive to concrete cultural, social, economic and technological conditions. In the 21st century, the buildings are more than machines for dwelling in. They should be living organisms, capable of interacting with their environment, following the principles of ecology or biology rather than those of mere construction.

This being so, the Self- Sufficient Buildings group works on scales that range from the macro-building to the individual home, developing principles and techniques that serve to organize the materialization of programmatic nodes of activity based on natural rules and principles.

The studio devotes special attention to housing and the new forms of social organization of our time, by way of buildings with shared spaces, or macrobuildings that incorporate all the functions of a city. This group is working to introduce innovative techniques such as local energy generation, the development of self-sufficient buildings, the incorporation of hydrogen into the building and the use of new materials, responding to each situation with ad-hoc techniques and principles.

Last Friday, 11 Februrary the IAAC community launched its latest project. The GREEN FAB LAB will be a research, education and knowledge center which will put together Nature, Technology, Architecture and Experience, in a mix of activities for the Barcelona community as well as in conjunction with international partners. The event was hosted by IAAC’s President Javier Nieto and presented by IAAC’s Director Vicente Guallart, who explained the timeline for the next few years in Valldaura at the Collserola Park in Barcelona, where the GREEN FAB LAB will be located. The project will be possible thanks to the collaboration of the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio, La Caixa, Parc de Collserola, Ajuntament of Cerdanyola del Vallés, among other companies and institutions.

See the presentation covered by TV3: http://www.tv3.cat/3alacarta/#/videos/3367233

More pictures about the presentation at: http://picasaweb.google.com/fablabbcn/Green_fablab

Bjarke Ingels and YES IS MORE.

Bjarke Ingles and the Danish Pavilion at Shanghai.

Bjarke Ingels and Vicente Guallart (IAAC Director).

Bjarke Ingels, Willy Müller (co-director MAA), Marta Malé -Alemany (co-director MAA),  Nota Tsekoura ( MAA Academic Coordinator)