Studio 15


Tecno Poesia

Dominik Holzer

This studio is available to students enrolled in ABPL90142 Studio C, ABPL90143 Studio D, and ABPL90115 Studio E.

Studio Description

This studio will explore imaginative ways of using existing design technology in support of creative design processes. Students will be given a fixed site within Melbourne to explore different ways to resolve a multi-use program (a community centre with additional functions). The emphasis thereby lies on a conscious and continuous conversation between the tool and the designer, and between tools used for disruption and those for gaining control. Digital and non-digital tools will be used and combined as a matter of course. In some instances, tools will be used ‘against the grain’ in ways not envisaged by their makers to unearth possibilities for inherent poetry.

Technology in question may address physical building performance (structural, environmental & more), constructability, morphology, or any other aesthetic aspects of the project). It is highly important that students understand the technology choices they make to help them in achieving their design goals.

Studio Outcomes

This studio is geared towards students who are advanced in their understanding of design technology and its opportunities in developing a distinct design (approach). Technology is thereby never the driver, frequently an enabler, yet most certainly a useful ally for exploring design ideas that correspond to a student’s curiosity and desired approach. This studio will help them to firm up their conceptual thinking assisted by technology and critically reflect on its use to develop poetic design responses. Throughout the semester we will interrogate the relationship between the designer and the technology available to them, both via literature review, guest presentations, and discussions. The chosen site and program of the Community Centre will provide a testbed for ideas and students will develop it in greater detail via plans/sections/animations and models in the second half of semester.

Studio Leader

A/Prof Dominik Holzer joined the MsD in 2013 after years working in practice in the field of Computational Design, BIM, and Design Technology. His key areas of interest relate to the nexus between design, research and praxis, with a strong emphasis on digital tools and associated processes. Dominik regularly teaches CDE studios and he recently oversaw the ‘Integrated Design Studios’ that were delivered jointly across Architecture and Engineering at the UoM. His work shows that: as much as software/tools are often foregrounded when considering design technology, individual style, first principles and a conscious engagement with process are equally relevant.

Readings & References

  • Menges, A. & Ahlquist, S. (2011), Computational Design Thinking: Computation Design Thinking (AD Reader) Wiley
  • Haeusler, M. H. and Gardiner, N. (2019), Computational Design: From Promise to Practice, avedition
  • Menges, A. (2012), Material Computation: Higher Integration in Morphogenetic Design Architectural Design, (AD Reader) Wiley
  • Maeda, J. (2019), How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us (Portfolio)
  • Mitchell, B.,Mitchell_Thinking_in_BIM (Links to an external site.), Architectural Transformations via BIM, A+U Publishing, Tokyo, 2009.
  • Blandini L. and Nirei, G. (2020) ENGINEERING AND FABRICATION OF A COMPLEX PARAMETRIC MEGASTRUCTURE - Fabricate Conference Proceedings
  • Shelden, D. (2020) Entrepreneurial Practice, New Possibilities for a Reconfiguring Profession Architectural Design AD, Special Issue: The Disruptors, John Wiley & Sons, Volume 90, Issue 2, 2020, pp. 6-13
  • Deutsch, R. 2017 Convergence: The Redesign of Design, Wiley 2017

Schedule Mondays 15:15-18:15 and Thursdays 09:00-12:00

Contact Handbook

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