The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) conference is considered a premiere venue for the dissemination of cutting-edge work focusing on advanced computation and digital fabrication techniques, and Archinect is proud to be a media sponsor for the workshop portion of the event. A yearly event that attracts top-tier instructors and participants from around the globe, the 2016 workshops will take place from October 24-26th at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Organized around the conference title “Posthuman Frontiers: Data, Designers and Cognitive Machines”, seven workshops will spend three days exploring design philosophies in which computation, fabrication, material science, and sensory feedback are integrated into cohesive processes that exert their agency in the physical realm.

As part of its coverage of the ACADIA workshops Archinect has invited students from Taubman College to share their experience as participants. Nada Elsonni, Drishti Haria, Isabelle Leysens, and Layth Mahdi, all currently enrolled in the college’s post-professional Masters of Science program, will give us a behind-the-scenes look at the work unfolding in three of the workshops. Viola Ago, the current Muschenheim Fellow at Taubman College, will conclude the coverage with her reflections on the FABRICATED panel, a candid discussion among four of the workshop leaders about their ongoing research and its value to the profession.

As part of my writing for Archinect’s Matters of Scale series I’ve had the opportunity to interview individuals from high-profile specialty architectural fabricators. From the large-scale metal façade systems of A. Zahner to the experimental 3D-printed formwork of Branch Technologies, the practices I’ve talked with have all integrated digital computation tools tightly into their fabrication processes to help them realize increasingly complex spatial constructions. And while these businesses work with different materials at different scales, a recurring topic touched upon in the conversations has been the role architecture school graduates play in these practices.

By bringing the ability to navigate the interplay of design, materiality, and fabrication, these architecture graduates enable contractors to engage their clients during the design process, rather than after. Participating in this model of practice requires more than just a passing familiarity with the digital tools that bring these topics together in a sophisticated manner. Although design computation and digital fabrication have become increasingly common in academia, they are far from ubiquitous, and the quality of instruction can vary wildly across institutions. For those looking to gain their first exposure to these tools or further develop existing abilities, workshops provide an opportunity to learn specific skills from recognized experts.

One of the beauties of architecture is its ability to accommodate a wide range of interests: formal studies, technology, social agency, and many other topics all have equal validity within the profession’s discourse. Pedagogically, workshops respond to this multidimensionality—they are vehicles of inclusivity, a chance for individuals at any stage of their career to expand upon and refine their personal definition of ‘architecture’. As topical immersions, workshops may strive to do little more than move the participants through their novitiate, but the experience of the workshop imparts a methodology that allows them to continue their explorations on their own.

The primary motivation of workshops is typically the development of new skills, but they also provide opportunities that extend beyond the individual participant. They serve as a point of entry into global communities of like-minded practitioners, providing a network that can be accessed long after the workshop’s conclusion. Members of these communities are more than professional acquaintances—they provide guidance, critique, and exultation when their peers share their activities. For those embarking into new territory, participating in these communities can play an important role in the success of their efforts.

Perhaps the most definitive characteristics of the workshop model is the relationship between the instructor and the participant. The two are located alongside one another as collaborators, exploring a topic brought to the workshop as part of the instructor’s contribution to the effort. Knowledge flows openly between instructor and participant, a striking contrast to the one-way movement of information found in the formal lecture environment. True to the use of ‘workshop’ as a verb, participants contribute to the topic’s intellectual development, forwarding it along possibly unexpected trajectories.

While the core elements of architecture remain constant, the how and why of our means of working with them continue to evolve. Workshops like those offered at the ACADIA conference provide an opportunity for students and professionals to immerse themselves in emerging methodologies that challenge the capabilities of the profession and its associated industries. Workshops maintain the permeability of the profession’s intellectual boundaries, providing the necessary context for participants to formulate an opinion regarding a given methodology. Whether they incorporate or reject it as part of their definition of architecture is irrelevant—what matters is that they’ve opted to engage the change taking place around them rather than disregard it outright.

For more info on this year's ACADIA conference, check out our One-to-One #42 with ACADIA workshop co-chairs Catie Newell and Wes McGee.