Agentware is a seven-day workshop in Rovinj, Croatia directed by Alisa Andrasek of Biothing and Jose Sanchez of Genware. Its focus is generative algorithmic design, in particular multi-agent computational systems that can read external feedback for applications in complex design ecologies. The workshop will be followed by a two-day symposium entitled Proto/e/co/logics. The symposium will bind together ideas of speculative realism in philosophy, expanding developments in science, and shifting modes of production as it pertains to design – all working towards a redefinition of materiality and adaptation in complex environments. Invited speakers include Wolf Prix, Patrik Schumacher, Reza Negarestani, Sanford Kwinter, Francois Roche, Sylvia Lavin, Ed Keller, Tom Kovac, Adrian Lahoud, Brett Steele, Jeff Kipnis, Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Usman Haque and others.

Imminent future developments within still largely untouched stretches of Adriatic Coast offer opportunities for speculative approaches to ecological exploration in architecture. Specifically, these studies aim to go beyond innocent and reductive approaches to ecology such as notions of “sustainability” and “green.” In relation to increased computational intelligence with the introduction of adaptive agent-based systems and large data sets in architecture, the workshop will explore rewriting material and organizational protocols within design and planning sequences. This specific focus will push the design output towards a larger sensitivity to host ecologies. Speculative agent-based proposals will be tested through pilot locations found within rich cultural and natural resources of Istria. Read the rest of this entry »

Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish have recently completed a traveling installation dedicated to Muhammad Ali.

From the Designers: “Designed as collaboration between Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish, this traveling installation is built as a tribute to the life and cultural significance of Muhammad Ali.  The project is aimed at exposing a new generation to this larger than life character by building an appreciation for the nuanced emotional, aesthetic, and technical principles that collectively form experience – a concept that holds true as much for human persona as it does for architecture.

Conceived of as an experiential 2-D image, the core of the project is a seemingly random field of 1300 boxing speed bags that, when viewed from a single vantage point, form a pixilated image of the face of Muhammad Ali.  The structure is designed with the intention of simultaneously supporting the clarity and focus from that vantage point, while enriching the experience of the piece from all others, through a combination of dense structural bundles, material effects, and geometrical repetition.

The need for viewing the image from a single vantage point set in motion a series of essential design decisions.  First, the overall form of the piece is defined by the cone of vision between the viewer and the image, growing from front to back both in plan and in section.  In order to minimize the impact of the structure from that vantage point, its form from that location can be seen only as a simple frame that surrounds the image- one that is careful not to detract from that likeness.  Once the viewer moves away from that location, even the slightest, the bags explode into an unrecognizable array, with the surrounding structure serving as a complimentary and integral part of the system.

As a way of further highlighting the 3-dimensionality of the field of bags, the structure is split down the middle, with half of the bags pulled forward and the other half pushed backward, effectively elongating the field of bags.  Similarly, the structure is divided in such a way as to cantilever both forward and back, creating the rotational effect of the overall form.  In addition to supporting the bags, this strategy allows for portions of the bags to be viewed separately from the structure in elevation. Read the rest of this entry »

Moritz Mombour has designed a music pavilion for the Karmelitermarkt in Vienna. The concept for the project revolves around the notion that qualities typically deemed as un-architectural can be purposefully employed in order to abandon the typical ambition of creating and preserving a perfect aesthetic moment. Attributes such as decay, tenuousness and collapse are harnessed to produce an atmosphere that can embrace emotions ranging from the uncertain to the romantic. The cellular logic of the project allows for continuous expansion and, in turn, a continuous evolution of these qualities and emotions. Read the rest of this entry »

Bittertang has won the 2011 City of Dreams Pavilion Competition in New York City. Their entry, Burble Bup, will be constructed using an assemblage of tubular earthen walls and a canopy of aggregated, inflatable “Bups,” which will be erected in the courtyard of Liggett Hall for the summer festivities on Governors Island. Over a period of four months Burble Bup will act as the central gathering point for various art and cultural activities, while also housing an ongoing internal program of performance and interaction.

The intent of Burble Bup is to provide a tactile retreat for its users and will, in turn, include a sumptuous interior that encourages both leisure and interaction.  Instead of simply encasing these functions, the pavilion will actively seek to both enhance and embody them.

From the designers: “Bittertang envisions strangers lounging and mingling comfortably within the tactile embrace of Burble Bup’s earthen walls.  Enticed by its colorful inflatable canopy, people will be lured into its soft and magical interior, where they will rest, socializing among new friends and upon plush soil tubes.” Read the rest of this entry »

As urban densities continue to intensify, architects are seeing an increased demand for designs that must fit within the preexisting frame of large, vertical buildings that are both designed and constructed by other architects. More often than not, the projects that evolve out of this situation end up manifesting images of fragmentation and flatness – disparate spaces that act as featureless framing devices for life. Complexity becomes embodied in what is impermanent, with the cohesion and dynamism of place being contained within the user, not the architecture. Tregunter, a recent project by Davidclovers, inverts this condition through the harnessing of precisely what typically hinders this type of project: the architectural constraints created by the encasing building.

From the architect: “Nestled amongst a forest of towers on Old Peak Road above Central Hong Kong, the Tregunter tower holds unique layered views of Victoria Harbor.  The abundance of bay windows, structural walls and beams that are common to residential towers would appear to constrain the possibilities of the apartment. However, by turning constraints into opportunities, davidclovers re-works the volumes of this apartment by using the ceiling and the floor.  Subtly elongating, pressing upward, and sloping downward, the ceiling produces variable sensations of compression and expansion – making the apartment seem larger than it is, drawing delicate lines that separate dining from living. Skillfully dodging and maneuvering around air-conditioning units and structural beams, the ceiling integrates artificial light and various materials – re-orienting the apartment toward the exterior. Read the rest of this entry »