Romanian architect Vlad Tenu was  awarded the first price in the Tex-Fab Repeat Competition for his project ‘Minimal Complexity’ which along with its aesthetic beauty, technical superiority and elegance of detailing, the proposal was chosen because it employs structural robustness, material efficiency and an inherent logic of assembly. A minimal periodic surface structure is created with the repetition of only 16 different components. A macro-scaled modular cellular pattern emerges through symmetry that is infinitely expandable and open-ended while becoming differentiated at its edges. Ornament functions as a simultaneous expression of the whole and the part working in dynamic equilibrium.

‘Minimal Complexity’ was exhibited for three months as part of Constructing Realities Exhibition at the ARUP Phase2 Gallery in London in summer 2010. Additionally, Vlad presented a paper entitled ‘Minimal Surfaces as Self-Organising Systems’ at the ACADIA Conference which took place at the Cooper Union in New York in October 2010.

Vlad is involved in teaching at the Bartlett as an assistant for the Embodied and Embedded Technologies module within the Msc AAC. HIs professional experience covers a wide range of projects and competitions. Currently Vlad is working with Surface Architects, an award winning design practice based in London.

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