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Today the IaaC OTF Researchers visited CRICURSA with Joan Tarrus and  BREINCO with Gemma Pagès.

CRICURSA was founded in 1928 with the intention of bringing form, material and processing into high technology glass bending, in order to explore the possibilities of bent glass as a decorative element. After more than 8o years of experience, now offers architectural glass, curved and flat interior and exterior glass, and is present in many of the most famous architectural works around the world.
introduction of new glass-made solutions. Passionate about architecture, creativity and innovation, their aim is to continue inspiring the best engineers and architects in the world, in close collaboration with Facades and installers and all professionals, partnering CRICURSA to the efficiency and capacity to deliver ideas and concepts of the designers.

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.

PYLOS ///

by Sofoklis Giannakopoulos

in collaboration with Enrico Dini (d-shape) and Slow Life

This abstract portrays the development of a research project with the final objective of designing and fabricating a large scale 3D Printer using natural clay as the printing material. The project focuses on the difficulties of the concept itself, that needs to be further developed, however after the first stages already revealing impressive results.

In the first stages of the research project a new protocol has been set up towards the investigation of the material chosen, soil, and the relative science, both physical and chemical, connected to this material.

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Today the OTF 5.0 Researchers went to visit Ceràmica Cumella and Santa&Cole, check it out!

Ceràmica Cumella

The family workshop CERÀMICA CUMELLA, founded in 1880 in Granollers (Barcelona), originally devoted
to the manufacturing of traditional ceramics and pottery for daily use, has finally become the central core
of an intense public and professional activity. Ceràmica Cumella has lately experienced a notorious increase
in the industrial production of serial pieces -floorings, socles, lattices, coatings, steps, modular elementsundoubtedly
specific in many cases, since they are ordered pieces. Cumella with the conviction of a necessary
integration of technical tradition and innovative process, encouraging with a steady hand and continued
research, for example, on the definition of colours and the manufacturing of the corresponding glazes, both
for mechanical or manual applications; or on finding solutions on how to keep up with present technological
requirement. Toni Cumella spontaneously associates craftsmanship with serial production, personalization,
adaptability, history and culture, not necessarily by this order. He sees it all as a use of concepts, techniques
and processes so as to achieve a specific form of life.

Santa&Cole

For 28 years now, Santa & Cole has lived for industrial design, an art consisting of focusing on everyday
objects in order to seek a better use experience, thereby leading us to reflect upon material culture.
Santa&Cole generate elements of domestic and urban furniture and lighting, plant elements (living matter)
and books (likewise alive). A range that is only apparently dispersed, converging upon a single concern: not
to accumulate, but rather to select; not to enjoy quantity, but rather quality. Santa & Cole is organized around
four core themes : 1. Strategy, Structure and Knowledge, 2. Editing Policy, 3. The Importance of Design for
Santa & Cole and 4. Policy Knowledge Management. Read More »

Today we ad the pleasure of Hosting the Open Thesis Fabrication Final Presentations to an international jury consisting in Silvia Bures (agricultural engineer), Joan García (GEMMA UPC), Tomasz Jaskiewicz (TU Delft), Manuel Kretzer (ETH Zurich), Mitchell Joachim (Terreform NY), Alex Sasplugas (CRICURSA), Toni Cumella (CUMELLA CERAMICA), Josep Mª Serra (SATA&COLE), Gemma Pagès (BREINCO), Jordi Ribatallada (ASCAMM), Mònica López (SNABOGADOS), Ignasi Espiell (VOLARTPONS), as well as the IAAC Dean Manuel Gausa, and the resrch line Advisors: Intelligent Building Construction - Areti Markopoulou, Silvia Brandi; Smart Urban Elements - Luís Fraguada; 3D Printing in Architectural Construction - Enrico Dini, Saša Jokic, Petr Novikov; Experts – Guillem Camprodon / Physical Computing Expert, Marc Viader / AI Expert, Victor Arribas / Material Expert.

The researchers preseted their finalised prototypes, and we are happy to say that all prototpes presented were successful. Congratulations to all the researchers!

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This evening the OTF Researchers reviewed their project elaborations and prototypes, insode the research lines of Intelligent Building Constructions and Smart Urban Elements. Advisors of both research lines were present, consisting in Areti Markopoulou, Marc Viader, Silvia Brandi, Victor Iribas and Luis Fraguada, as well as Breinco Executive Director Joan Balagué, and IAAC Faculty Alexandre Dubor and Guillem Camprodon.

The projects and prototypes gave way to an open discussion focusing on the potential outcomes of each OTF project, as well as the potential of envisioning further research on the topics. Read More »

Today the IAAC OTF researchers had the pleasure of a desk crit with Prof. Jeronimidis, checking the development of their projects and helping them with his critics. During the presentations, the researchers discussed their proposals and how these could be further elaborated. Read More »

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?