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In UCLA's 'Fit for the Future' research studio, Julia Koerner and AUD students navigate the intersection of 3D printing, architecture, and climate change

2023-09-22T08:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by UCLA Architecture and Urban Design, an Archinect Partner School

Our infrastructure is aging, and as it does, we face dilemmas around what to do with it. Renovate? Replace? Eliminate?

Today, these age-old questions are complicated by the climate crisis: threats like rising, warming seas, and–evidenced vividly this summer–wildfires and extreme heat call for innovation in how we treat our aging buildings and cities. While architects mull these questions, they are also considering their field's contributions to the climate crisis–emissions and carbon footprints, material waste, and environmental displacement.

Dilemmas abound, but Julia Koerner sees immense opportunity around 3D printing at the scale of buildings and houses. It’s an area she has been investigating for years as a professor, architect, researcher, and designer. Koerner teaches at UCLA AUD as an Associate Adjunct Professor and directs AUD's Summer Programs; through her personal practice, JK De...

Trans.figure: Reflecting on UCLA's IDEAS Campus Summer Exhibition

2019-11-01T18:29:00-04:00

With the summer season behind us and a new term just started, Archinect takes a moment to showcase the work of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design's IDEAS campus located near Culver City, Calif. The campus is an incubator for exploration of various examples of digital design software, fabrication techniques, and other tools to help students during their introduction to the post-professional Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design program.

Work presented at the UCLA IDEAS Summer Exhibition 2019. Image courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

At the IDEAS campus, students are able to work and collaborate with faculty while examining four areas of research within the architecture profession: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy.

Work presented at the UCLA IDEAS Summer Exhibition 2019. Image courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

For this year's exhibition, the studio explored and experimented with objects curated from contemporary sculptures f...

Architect Julia Koerner blends design, technology, and fashion to help Black Panther win an Oscar in best costume design

2019-02-25T14:43:00-05:00

Beyond the silver screen buzz and Hollywood glam, the Oscars highlight professionals in non-acting categories like best original soundtrack, set design, and costume design. This year, a film, which received several awards and nominations, shined through its use of 3D printing and architectural design concepts. In the film Black Panther, architect Julia Koerner used traditional techniques combined with digital technologies to create the intricate accessories worn by Queen Ramonda.

Left, a Zulu woman in the traditional headdress of a married woman; center, a conceptual costume sketch by Ms. Carter (design) and Ryan Meinerding and his team (concept artists); and right, the headdress as worn by Angela Bassett designed by Julia Koerner and Ruth Carter. Credit Getty Images; Marvel; Marvel/Disney

Inspired by African patterns presented in the initial design sketches of Ruth Carter, Koerner's Zulu hat and shoulder mantle were designed to look as though it were created by technology from the f...