Material form panel discussion
Join us for an engaging panel discussion with:
Greg LYNN (Greg Lynn FORM; Los Angeles)
Roland SNOOKS (Studio Roland Snooks; Melbourne)
Toby WHITFIELD (ShapeShift, MouldCam; Brisbane)
Robert BESON (AR-MA; Sydney)
Moderator: Donald Bates
New materials, new fabrication techniques, new design processes – transformations in the production of form, spatial order and effects. What is possible now and what will become possible into the coming years? How is this changing the ways in which we think of architecture, design and the environment? How spectacular is our speculation?
Greg Lynn
The buildings, projects, publications, teachings and writings associated with Greg Lynn's office have been influential in the acceptance and use of advanced materials and technologies for design and fabrication. As design opportunities today extend across multiple scales and media, his studio Greg Lynn FORM continues to define the cutting edge of design in a variety of fields. His work is in the permanent collections of the most important design and architecture museums in the world including the CCA, SFMoMA, ICA Chicago and MoMA. Because of his early studies in philosophy and architecture he has been involved in combining the realities of design and construction with the speculative, theoretical and experimental potentials of writing and teaching. In addition to designing consumer products utilizing new materials and manufacturing technologies with companies like Vitra, Alessi, Nike and Swarovski he is also a co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Boston based intelligent lightweight mobility company Piaggio Fast Forward.
Roland Snooks
Roland Snooks is the director of the architecture practice Studio Roland Snooks and research lab Kokkugia. He is a senior lecturer at RMIT University having previously taught in the US at Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, SCI-Arc and the Pratt Institute. Roland's research is focused on the development of behavioral processes of formation that draw from the logic of swarm intelligence and the operation of multi-agent algorithms. He received a PhD from RMIT and holds a master in advanced architectural design from Columbia University where he studied on a Fulbright scholarship. In addition to Roland's work with algorithmic design he directs the Architectural Robotics Lab at RMIT University.
Toby Whitfield
Toby Whitfield is the CEO of the ShapeShift Technologies group, which incorporates mouldCAM, a digital manufacturing business, and ShapeShell, who make composite facade systems. The group’s collaborative and “fearless” approach has attracted progressive architects, and some of Melbourne’s most iconic buildings owe their features to the group’s work: RMIT’s ‘Green Brain’, Swanston Square’s towering portrait of Wurundjeri-willam elder Edward Barak, the new VCCC Hospital facade, and the creative collaboration with Sterling Award winning architect Amanda Levete that was the MPavailion.
Toby—who credits the group’s ability to maintain design intent by delivering every step of the process in-house—has a background in advanced composites and large-format 3D CAD/CAM manufacturing technology. This experience came via a decade of full time competition on the professional yachting circuit where he won multiple world Championships as well as circumnavigating the globe along the way.
Robert Beson
Robert Beson is an architect and founding director of AR-MA. Robert has led AR-MA as a transdisciplinary architectural practice, merging award-winning design with proven expertise in the delivery of challenging buildings. This mixture responds to changing supply chains affecting how we design, manage and manufacture buildings for construction.
Throughout his career, Robert has been involved in architectural research and teaching. He has taught at various architecture schools in Australia since 2006, and continues to lecture worldwide.
Robert studied architecture at the University of Sydney, where he received his Bachelor of Design (Architecture), and the University of Technology Sydney, where he received his Master of Architecture. Prior to studying architecture, Robert studied Classics (Latin and Greek) at the Colorado College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 2000.