Archinect - Städelschule Architecture Class (Frankfurt, Germany)

008 2 used from EUR 822.39

2013-03-17T19:41:34-04:00

short analysis of Morpho-ecologies intro...

Morpho-ecologies: Towards Heterogeneous Space in Architectural Design

It would be of importance to address the role of function and program, and their meaning in this Morpho-Ecological (ME) context, since the last reference that architects bear strongly in their minds pertains to the long-by project of Modernism. Early Modernism and Functionalism drove the word function into high-priority status in the design process with epigrams such as Louis Sullivan’s “form follows function” giving a sense that aesthetics and other architectural tenets stem from function organically. Conversely, now at days the word function is divorced with its classical associations and disciplinary weight. As Jesse Reiser notes: “Only architects think that there exists a tight relationship between how spaces are labeled and what happens inside them” explaining the fact that human activities do not necessarily follow architectural boundaries with exactitud...

007 SAC projects 2012

2012-10-31T11:07:00-04:00

Presented here to you are some of the projects of note from the last academic year.

As usual from our small Frankfurt-based production house, these projects do not only try to bear contemporary intentions (the academic avant-garde we always pursue), but also are born and thought within geometrical rigour and deep, concomitant design research.

Lerpong Rewtrakulpaiboon

First Year Final Project

Philipp Mecke

Specialization: Architecture and Performative Design

Nemanja Kordic

Specialization: Advanced Architectural Design

006 Sir PETER COOK lecture

2012-06-22T09:06:00-04:00

Great night yesterday at SAC. Our dean Ben Van Berkel gave way to a former dean of the Staedelschule Architecture Class: Sir Peter Cook.

Delivering a magistral lecture on his current projects with CRAB ( which stands for Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau) with his signature wit and unashamed explications.

I think Archigram would have been enough legacy for Peter to have a Steve Wozniak moment and leave the discipline, yet some geniuses don't rest and remain active looking for intellectual continuation. By being still engaged with architecture schools like SCI-ARC, he keeps shaping countless generations of architects with his visions that only an exceptional architect and decorative artist like him could produce.

Yesterday's air felt nostalgic as we see the man grow old and even deeper into his English roots. Some alumni came around to say hi to their old professor, what an honor!

005 SAC Switzerland trip

2012-06-04T14:07:00-04:00

ZURICH

On our trip to Switzerland we had the opportunity to visit ETH's architecture department in Zurich. We had a talk with Fabio Gramazio (Gramazio & Kohler) about some of their completed projects and about their research in digital fabrication (book: digital materiality)

(http://www.gramaziokohler.com/)

Additionally, we had a small lecture by Fabian Scheurer (designtoproduction) about his ongoing projects and the nitty-gritty aspects in the use of machinery in parametric facade systems and complex geometry, specifically the Kilden Performing Arts Center in Norway.

(http://www.designtoproduction.ch)

LAUSANNE

In the city of Lausanne We visited the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and the SANAA's Rolex Learning Center.
Here are some instances of the vaulted spaces in the exterior of this double-decked supersurface. A building of picturesque moments that had it attended a different program (such as a kindergarten) would have been more ...

004 SAC 2nd year students final review

2012-03-26T10:56:00-04:00

Specialization: ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

'The Life of Buildings'

Presented here are the AAD's systematic inquiries on formal exploration through surface articulation and formation. The brief for this task was to pay attention to surface conditions, structuring events and spatial organization through generic, scaleless and dexterous models.

'Protocols and Domain' by Sirivat Phasug

'Field of Play' by Liana Liong

Specialization: ARCHITECTURE AND PERFORMATIVE DESIGN

'Interlocking Modular Assemblies'

APD students attempted to construct a kinematic system made out of interlocking elements (Kinematic systems are defined here as bodies that function as a singular one). Structural soundness is achieved by each unit constraining one another in an interlaced fashion; somewhat redolent of stone arch construction, this system offers formal variance through reversible and re-configurable arrangements.

'An Adaptive geometry integr...

003 Rundgang SAC Exhibition

2012-03-02T10:45:00-05:00

Here at SAC, the first year students were asked to do an interactive exhibition with dynamic-smart materials. The experiments involved nichrome wire, shape memory alloy metals, Arduino boards, thermochromic ink and environmental conditions such as steam / humidity.

Here are the results:

The SAC's Rundgang exhibition was part of a collaborative month-long workshop between SAC, Bollinger+Grohmann Ingenieure (Frankfurt), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Grimshaw Architects (London).

Thank you!

Ayax

002 Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley visit the SAC

2012-01-19T09:50:00-05:00

As a second post we have some of the final work we produced from our 3rd episode of the 'Physical Episodes in the Construction of Space' series. We had a small jury comprised by Johan Bettum, Oliver Tessman, Anton Savov and Christian Veddeler from UN Studio.

On the first week of January 2012 some of our student body visited Munich, Germany in order to join Mark Wigley, Dean of the GSAPP Columbia in New York City and architectural theorist Beatriz Colomina, who jointly curate the exposition: "Maniera Moderna" . An exhibition about the work of the Italian architect Carlo Mollino at the Haus Der Kunst...

Here we are back at the SAC with Mark Wigley.

Also, Beatriz Colomina delivered a lecture about Architectural Manifestos and "pre-building" practices through publications, a work captured though her exhibition: Clip/Stamp/Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X – 197X.

"An explosion of architectural little magazines ...

001 TLDR

2011-12-08T14:58:12-05:00

Hi everyone, this is the first post of "Der Architectural Amanuensis". A blog entitled to document, through personal impressions, the line of research, theory, experiments, and lectures currently happening at the Städelschule Architecture Class.

(I will also try to 'abuse' the platform that Archinect supposes to launch the relatively modest status of our beloved SAC through a conversation with architecture students worldwide...)

First off, here are some pictures of salient work from our 3rd episode of the 'Physical Episodes in the Construction of Space' series. An exercise we are having with Johan Bettum about Advanced Architectural Design.

(Work by Kiwoo Kim, Peter Khraptovich, Anand Jariwala and Melissa Swick)

"The work consists of physical modelling and drawing exercises - the first of which comprise the making generic and scale-less objects ..."

This is part of our 1st year education in 'Advanced Architectural Design' in which the year is divided. Later we wi...