Lars Hesselgren at the ssark medialab seminar

As the second event of this week, Lars Hesselgren, research director at KPF Associates, presented at a seminar hosted by ssark medialab. This was part of a series of seminars on Architecture and Technology I am arranging as the director of the ssark medialab, with invited guests from many Stockholm offices. My hope is here to establish an informed critical discussion of digital design processes within practice.

We also had presentations from local architects. Raimo Joss from White presented Stockholm Waterfront, where a parametric thinking was implemented in the project development. Olof Philipsson and Pär Thunberg presented their diploma thesis, where an office building is acting as a case through early phase collaborations between architects and engineers are explored. Benjamin Melin Mandre and Björn Ekelundpresented a cross disciplinary research project developing alternate designs for power lines, using tensigrity structures.

Lars Hesselgren at the presentation in the sky bar of the former tax office, Stockholm

As the first session of three arranged by ssark medialab, Lars Hesselgren, the research director of KPF Associates presented work developed with GenerativeComponents to Swedish clients and contractors. I concluded the presentation by introducing the ongoing work to implement parametric principles at Scheiwiller Svensson Architects.

Professor Örjan Wikforss introducing the seminar

I presented my research based on the licentiate thesis Architectural Prototypes , international references and recent developments in Industrialized production within the building industry in this first in a series of seminars arranged by Forum för Industriell Byggnadskonst (The Forum for industrialized architecture and building). The seminar was held at Project Communication / KTH School of Industrial Engineering and Management (IndEk) 4th of February 2009.

Participants included representatives from IndEk, the KTH School of Architecture as well as practitioners. Interesting issues brought up related to parameter theory in economics, production of short series, the definition of parameters as well as the prototype compared to the working model.

thesis cover

My licentiate thesis Architectural Prototypes is now available for purchase in the Konstig bookstore in Stockholm. Very limited number of copies.

I was an invited critic in the Performative Design studio at the KTH School of Architecture. The work was quite impressive, with proposals for a Marine Biology Field Station, and a strong focus on geometry, parametric systems and fabrication. The very suggestive proposals allowed a in-depth discussion on issues of project specific system development. Other invited guests included Tim Anstey, Johanna Bruce and Mats Brodén. The studio share the site in Simrishamn with AA Dip16, but we will introduce the brief after the christmas holidays.

Excerpts from the brief:

3D print of detail from one of the proposals

In the context of a Marine Biology Field Station that mediates and acts as an interface between sea and land, student groups will develop a theory of superficial depth operating at multiple scales in their proposals primarily through the use, transformation and exploration of selected surface geometries. Superficial depth, a modulation of surfaces moving from the smooth and undifferentiated to those that are infused with substantive qualities, will be used to generate a series of microclimatic regions in the project. A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. Each group will introduce microclimates as sites of exchange in the project and each proposal will consider issues of programmatic (spatial and temporal organization), formal (pattern, texture, color, aperture, shape and mass), structural (material tolerance, load bearing capacity) and environmental (microclimatic modulation capacities, thermal, water, light and acoustic modulation) performance.

Studio Responsible: Prof. Marcelyn Gow and Prof. Ulrika Karlsson
Teacher Assistants: Jonah Fritzell and Adam Lind

Background image PARCEL parametric variations

As part of the education for engineers focusing on component design,  I talked on the topic of Architecture and Technology at the University of Jönköping. The lecture was divided in two parts. In the firs half, I presented Swedish and international references of work in the field of parametric design as well as industrial production and Building Information Modeling. In the second half, I presented two Krets projects, and my own continued research based on these projects, as part of my licientiate thesis. Later the same day, I had another presentation for Design students from Jönköping and Växjö, at the office of Vandalorum in Värnamo.

The image Mark himself considers the most important; parallel work in physical and digital media, and strong collaboration between engineers and architects.

Mark Burry lectured on Gaudi as part of the current Sagrada Familia exhibition at the museum (also curated by  him). As always, Mark´s lecture was packed with so many interesting issues of the Sagrada Familia development, from Gaudi´s times to now. The work is certainly very relevant today, as digital tools recreate the previously unseen models of Gaudi, and production of stone is advancing through 7 axis robots (5+2). The visual material presented by Mark communicates the potential pf parametric geometries in a very legible way, of course with a focus on the very particular geometries of the cathedral. They are now moving into a part of the project that has been described very little by Gaudi, but the principles of geometry have been set to the extents that the design work can be innovative yet conceptually follow his ideas.

As this lecture coincided with the Patterns lecture the day before, we had the opportunity to meet for dinner afterwards as a SA / Arkitekturmuseet joint thing, which provided the opportunity for in depth discussions also on the more social and political aspects of the Sagrada Familia project.

Marcelo Spina

I hosted Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich of LA based Patterns, who lectured at the KTH School of Architecture as part of the SA lecture program. Marcelo  presented their work, with an emphasis on formal development, and physical prototyping. As many other young firms, they have been able to push their work by being part of ecxhibitions, often displaying material studies of formal variation. Most recently they also curated the Matters of Sensation show at the Artists Space in New york, featuring a number of practices of their generation. I found it interesting to discuss whether they would continue to use tha exhibition/gallery space as a venue, as part of their practice, or if this is becoming obsolete as they are moving into more built work. I believe they did recognize other aspects in these venues, as part of a discourse and experimnetaion, but it was also clear that building was very much in their agenda at the moment.

Networks and Environments

Krets projects PARCEL and SplineGraft are featured in Networks and Environments, a monograph on Servo published by DAMIDI Architecture Publishing CO, Korea.

damdi.co.kr/dd27.html

Krets projects PARCEL and SplineGraft are featured in Hatch: The New Architectural Generation.

“Hatch” showcases 114 architects who will define the physical fabric of our cities for the next 30 years, as well as the theoretical and interpretive background of architectural practice worldwide. These are practitioners for whom the old categories do not hold, and for whom modernism is no longer the orthodoxy. As the role of architects in cities changes, young practitioners pursue a range of work as writers, critics, curators, teachers, fashion designers, computer programmers, club promoters, materials experts, engineers, installation artists, developers and builders. Critically selected, the work of each architect, writer and photographer in “Hatch” is examined in detail to uncover the approaches that will reach their full fruition in the coming years and decades. In this work, 800 photographs and drawings of projects give more than just eye candy. With this book you can decide for yourself how good these young stars are.

Hatch: The New Architectural Generation, Kieran Long, Laurence King Publishing, 2008