Advances in digital technology are creating an explosion of possibilities related to the basic building blocks of design: material and form, light, movement, and pattern. Virginia Tech student work featuring 3-D printing, robotics, and dynamic fenestration is currently on display in Clark Nexsen’s office and gallery space in Town Center, Virginia Beach.

Exhibition materials were developed with digital tools in an undergraduate studio called CRD – (trans)LAB at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture and Design. Students from different disciplines explore how the advancement of technological and computational processes can challenge and inform the practice of architecture and design. The exhibition examines how architecture education should change in response to an environment where analog, mechanical, and electronic technologies are being replaced by rapidly emerging digital technologies.

Students participating in the exhibition include Laura Escobar, Ryan Hawkins, Brian Kato, David Kolodziej, Aaron Payne, Stephen Perry, Hannah Utter, and Dan Ventresca. David Clark, a research assistant professor, and Negar Kalantar, an architect and PhD student, directed the CRD – (trans)LAB studio. Nathan King, assistant professor, directed the robotics segment.

The Virginia Tech Center for Design Research, led by Director, Robert Dunay, FAIA, encourages students to collaborate and do research across disciplines to examine and push the boundaries of design and the framework of education.

Clark Nexsen has started a program of exhibitions and performances on the 14th floor of their new corporate headquarters. The digital fabrication exhibition opened on Feb. 4, 2015, and continues through Wednesday, March 18, 2015.  

“We wanted to create a space that would engage our employees and also promote design to the wider Hampton Roads academic and professional community,” said architect Paul Battaglia. “Our architects and engineers have been inspired by the innovative research and ideas from Virginia Tech students and the Center for Design Research in this exhibit.”

The goal of the Center for Design Research at Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies is to exploit the untapped territories of opportunity that lie between disciplines and, in so doing, redefine the role of design education through research and expanded engagement with society. Learn more here.