This lecture presents ongoing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the design of innovative structures and the engineering analysis of existing buildings. By collaborating with engineers, architects, historians, and computer scientists, it is possible to achieve a better understanding of historical monuments, and to discover new forms for the future. The lecture will present new approaches developed by the Structural Design Lab at MIT, as well as recently built structures demonstrating the deployment of research into design practice.
On Friday, January 23, the Center for American Architecture and Design hosted Richard Cleary as part of the Friday Lunch Forum series. He presented "Fields of Play."
FRIDAY LUNCH FORUM
Roughly every other Friday during the fall and spring semesters, the Center hosts the Friday Lunch Forum Series. The aim of the series is for faculty, staff, and students to meet in an informal atmosphere to debate topics and to share ideas about history, practice, theory, and new directions for architecture. Recordings of each forum will be posted as they become available.
There has been increasing interest in the history of construction as a discipline within the field of architecture, and this focus has generated special attention for studies on the transference of building technologies from Europe to Americas in the sixteenth century—specifically, ribbed stone vaults.
Curated by Assistant Professor Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla, the exhibit focuses on the complex vaults of three sixteenth-century churches in the Mixteca region in Western Oaxaca, Mexico.
On Friday, December 5, the Center for American Architecture and Design hosted Elihu Rubin as part of the Friday Lunch Forum series. He presented "Ghost Town: City Building, Abandonment, and Memory."
FRIDAY LUNCH FORUM
Presenter:Josh Lerner, Executive Director, Participatory Budgeting Project
For this workshop, assistant professor Igor Siddiqui shared his recent work on made-from-scratch biodegradable plastics. Siddiqui has refined a technique that combines high and low technologies to create intricately patterned forms from 100% edible, compostable materials, cast in CNC-routed acrylic molds. Participants observed and participated in the process of mixing, cooking, and casting the material; the outcome of the workshop was a large-scale light installation for a reading corner of the Materials Lab.
On Friday, November 14, the Center for American Architecture and Design hosted Gabriel Diaz Montemayor as part of the Friday Lunch Forum series. He presented "What Do You See Out There?"
FRIDAY LUNCH FORUM
ENRIC BATLLE I DURANY lectures at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) since 1982. He is coordinator and teacher of the UPC Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture, and teacher at the Department of Urbanism and Territorial Planning at the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV-UPC), where he coordinates the school’s Architecture & Projects Workshop IV, landscape & environment themed.
INSTALLATION ARCHITECTURE
Matt Fajkus Architecture
Materials Lab