Atelier MAKING considers architecture to be an act of enrichment in the fabric of our environment and ecology. We instrumentalise making as the primary mode of design enquiry and we place importance on experience - active and purposeful engagement with materiality, environment and architecture (in exploring site and context as well as in reviewing and testing design proposals in studio). Our approach reflects the increasingly important role that modelling plays in architectural design, communication and collaboration in the profession.
Projects in Atelier MAKING aim to explore and advance contemporary issues and priorities of architecture, both social and technological. This year, atelier projects began with open-ended experimentation with material and form alongside an introduction to design theory and frameworks. These led into a diverse range of thesis and building design projects where students were encouraged to identify a research question or impetus for their enquiry and a position on contemporary architectural design.
Thesis projects ranged from adaptive re-use, virtual and augmented reality in gestural generative design, material computation and form-finding in timber and textiles to projects that decompose and biodegrade over time.
