Integrated Digital Tools I _AS 15

AS 15 – A Summer Stage in the Park of the Accademia

Lecturer: Jean-Lucien Gay
Assistant: Francesco Pusterla
School: Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio
Date: Autumn Semester 2015

The course introduces students to a range of digital tools and conceptual techniques emerging in the profession of architecture without being subsumed in a digital-only world. It adopts a pragmatic attitude toward new digital tools and focuses on the bridges between analog and digital techniques. The course is based on the software Rhino – an application widely used in contemporary design practices, which has established itself as a platform for numerous advanced plug-ins and scripts. On a theoretical level, the class focuses on the use of digital technologies in the avant-garde architecture of the last 20 years, illustrating the evolution of computer-based techniques from NURBS modeling to parametric design.  

The iteration process between analog techniques and digital modeling, from the real to the virtual model and back, constitutes the core of the class. Each student proceeds through a series of tutorials and design sprints to familiarize themselves with digital production techniques. On an intuitive level, the course encourages the students to use the computer as creative tool by complementing established methods and giving surprising glimpses at new ones. On a professional level, it gives the students a technical toolkit to manage complex architectural projects in practice. The course aims to facilitate transfers between computational and conventional methods that could be quickly and intuitively integrated into each student’s normal working patterns.

Students:
Arpa Anna*
Bianchi Lisa*
Biasca Carolina*
Bonanno Agnese
Carlon Giulio*
Catrambone Paolo
Casalini Tommaso
Dagsson Johannes Ørn
Doz Elisa
Gandini Giovanni Arjuna
Garabelli Federica*
Giordano Lorenzo*
Giuriani Riccardo
Guerriero Mike*
Lourenço Dos Santos João Miguel
Matthews Hannah Elizabeth*
Mignosa Sebastiano
Minussi Alessandro
Murray-Vaughan Dominic
Prendeville Tomás*
Tentori Pietro
Valsangiacomo Michele
Vitali Rocco*
Vodenicharska Olesya

*student works shown in the selection

Photographs:
© Jean-Lucien Gay