Today the Digital Matter | Intelligent Constructions Research Line, led by Areti Markopoulou (IAAC Academic Director), had their Mid-Term Reviews with an all-star guest jury. The jury included Skylar Tibbits, Director of the MIT Self-Assembly Lab, Manja van der Worp, NOUS Engineering and IAAC Faculty, Moritz Begle, ETH and IAAC Alumni, Eduard Cabay, Appareil and IAAC Faculty, and finally Carmelo Zappulla, External Reference and IAAC Faculty.

See Students’ projects here.

On Thursday, the projects of the Experimental Structures seminar (Lightweight Structures 1:1 3rd edition) were exhibited at IAAC. Groups of students explored the applications of composite textiles and other lightweight materials in the fabrication of a large sphere, using the principals active tension, tensegrity, and expansion/contraction. Through the designing of a sphere, or its components, the intention was to focus on geometry and structural behavior, rather than habitability or otherwise architectural applications. The students worked transversely between digital and analog methods, using specific digital tooling for fabric pattering in complex geometries and CNC machine hacking. The seminar was lead by IAAC Academic Coordinator Silvia Brandi and assisted by IAAC Alumni Alejandro Martinez del Campo and Robert Douglas McKaye. Composite textile sponsorship was provided by Serge Ferrari. Additional jury members consisted of MAA Coordinator Maria Kupstova and computational faculty Rodrigo Aguirre.

See Students’ projects here.