Digital Craft
Fabricating the Virtual in the 21st Century
Advanced fabrication technologies, once dominated by other disciplines, are now not only a major component in architectural schools and related research labs all around the world, but have now become an integral part of a contemporary architectural practice.
Research within the realm of architecture is no longer exclusive to the academic environment, both by having been domesticated by practitioners and by gaining prominence as an intellectual project within its own right. Rapidprototyping and CNC based technologies permeate between industry, academia and practice. Simultaneously, smart geometry groups act as both internal specialists and external consultants; meanwhile software developers/designers, have become an integral component in transforming the landscape of architectural activity. The discipline of architecture is reaching out more than ever to the fields of art and design; recently there has been even stronger correlation towards various engineering industries, implementing collaboration at an early stage in the design process to overcome the challenges of intricate architectural problems. Architects have become “hybrid practitioners” and the complex production process is a cloud of mixed expertise which work together to push the boundaries of the discipline.
In this upcoming lecture series we want to emphasize our attention and curiosity on formal engineering challenges under the title "Digital Craft Fabricating the Virtual in the 21st Century" inviting practitioners, engineers, theoreticians, and artist who work in their networks and meander between different disciplines to exchange knowledge, discuss, invent, and most importantly, produce.
