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Contemporary materials and fabrication techniques – A change inthe way designers think

Ouggrinis Konstantinos-Alketas, Papamanolis Nikolaos

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Summary

The wide “landscape” of contemporary materials increasingly affects the way archi-tects think and consequently design. The abilities that those materials exhibit, influence not only the materiality of architecture but also the forms produced, as these are per-ceived by people. There are two main categories of materials that lead this trend: firstly there are high performance materials that usually consist of diverse matter combina-tions in order to achieve higher attributes, and secondly, there are “smart” materialsthat have the ability to change their molecular structure in order to alter their character-istics and their energy signature. This research and design direction is the subject of the course “Contemporary Materi-als and Fabrication Techniques” that aims to familiarize the students with this expand-ing field. The Watercube’s shell, Blur’s obscure silhouette, Prada’s Epicenter partitions, almost the whole work of Herzog and de Meuron, and many other projects that bring a new “materiality” facilitate the message given. Materials alter the architectural “land-scape” exponentially, both aesthetically and functionally. They can also be responsible for radical, real time morphological changes and even “transparent” interfaces, leading to a totally new spatial experience.The paper presents the teaching approach which mainly focuses on how young stu-dents can control and exploit this potential. It analyzes the parameters architects should think of prior to implementing the appropriate material combinations and, moreover, the design specifications that would preferably lead to the creation of a new one. The educational goal lies in that students understand the field in its broader sense, being exposed to the types of materials and their attributes, their ability to be combined, as well as techniques of fabrication and assembly. The goal is to incite the interest and un-derstand the know-how in order for students to develop their own relationship with this field. The paper presents the way the course is set and what its impact has been on the students so far.

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