2024-05-16T02:50:55-04:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/150354750/beauty-is-a-measure-of-ecological-intelligence-a-conversation-with-ecologicstudio-founders-claudia-pasquero-and-marco-poletto Niall Patrick Walsh 2023-07-31T09:00:00-04:00 >2023-07-28T21:24:06-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/26/26da40d563134f45a825015f4474aef3.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney, Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto articulate a refreshing call to adventure. The two <a href="https://archinect.com/firms/cover/98219524/ecologicstudio" target="_blank">ecoLogicStudio</a> founders have built their professional and academic careers at the intersection of computation and biology, allowing them to articulate a vision of artificial intelligence that, in their words, "is more like a slime mold, a spider's web, a microalgae colony, or a mycelium network." Here, the computational and biological find common ground in their use of patterns as meta-language; a commonality that, when pushed, invites both human and non-human designers to shape the built environment as an organism itself rather than a static entity enlivened only by our own mechanics. </p> <p>For Pasquero and Poletto, this is no theoretical exercise. ecoLogicStudio has already won wide acclaim for its real-world applications of ecological systems in the built environment while also articulating ...</p> https://archinect.com/features/article/150209394/university-of-florida-graduates-mani-karami-and-drew-kauffman-create-photobioreactor-facade-systems-for-algae-architecture Katherine Guimapang 2020-07-30T13:27:00-04:00 >2020-07-30T13:27:51-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/aa/aa7d0309cb648b8f6342b643dd910e89.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>In their project <em>Biokinetics</em>,&nbsp;<a href="https://archinect.com/schools/cover/26133/university-of-florida" target="_blank">University of Florida School of Architecture</a> M.Arch graduates Drew Kauffman and Mani Karami explore kinetic design systems as they apply to photobioreactor facade systems powered by algae growth. The duo, working under their project advisors&nbsp;Professor Lee-Su Huang (chair) and Professor Jason Alread (co-chair), experiment with a series of material studies to help create this new system.</p> <p>They share, "With an emphasis on digital fabrication technologies including thermoforming, 3D printing, and CNC routing, <em>Biokinetics </em>advances the complementary disciplines of algae cultivation and facade design." Archinect connected with the two as they discuss the details of their research as well as their entrance into professional practice after graduating during a pandemic.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://archinect.com/features/tag/1582910/2020-thesis" target="_blank">Archinect's Spotlight on 2020 Thesis Projects</a></strong>:&nbsp;<em>2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year for architecture graduates. Students were displaced as schools shut down, academic communities had t...</em></p>