Open to all ARC students
Instructor: Owen Duross
As novel building technologies expand the possibilities of architectural construction, complex geometries move from production practices that were historically labor and material intensive to components that are finely-tuned and fabrication-ready. Contemporary methods for producing dynamic shapes follow a trajectory of inventive form-making techniques, using advanced materials capable of being more easily shaped and assembled with digital fabrication. From thin shell concrete surfaces to lightweight volumes of rigid urethane, these practices reconsider relationships between structure and material to create engaging form.
Embracing a growing industry of composite design, formal building elements can operate in ways that challenge the conventional approach to construction, evolving from their technical application as coatings and sealants to more comprehensive design as fully-reinforced structures. With manufacturing processes that offer versatility and precision, these engineered parts can achieve connections that are tectonically customized—tactically shaping solid figures to fit together at a large scale. Through drawing, digital modeling, and physical prototyping, the seminar focuses on joints, edges, profiles, and connectors as active agents of formal invention.
Rather than treating formal assembly as being an accumulation of discrete parts, students will investigate how connections can operate as generative mechanisms, producing emergent structures through embedded logics and material interactions. Students will synthesize these concepts through a series of abstract exercises that progressively develop their individual investigations on tectonic design. The seminar will operate as an experimental lab, composing models and drawings alongside research as part of a collective exhibition at the end of the semester.