Performative Morphology Studio

Within this ITECH Studio, we will further investigate how textile morphologies can respond to external stimuli and be modified through distributed robotics (multiple small, responsive agents rather than centralized mechanism). Building on the research and design investigations conducted in the winter semester, the developed concepts will form the conceptual and technical basis for a shift towards the realization of an ITECH Research Demonstrator.

The project offers students the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary and integrative design researcher that bridges computation design, planning, simulation and production methods. The studio will include design development, manufacturing and on-site assembly. The students will work in groups covering topics from design and adaptivity scenarios, computation and simulation, distributed robotics, to custom net fabrication. Material testing, large-scale prototyping, hands-on fabrication and development of new robotic fabrication processes, as well as sensor integration and robotic mechanism development, will support the translation of digital models into an actuated built structure.

The outcome of the semester will be the successful realization and actuation of a sculptural interior installation where small, localized actions lead to large-scale, coordinated transformations, and where minimal actuation achieves maximum architectural and spatial effect.

The studio team includes IntCDC Visiting Professor Janet Echelman and Daniel Alexander Smith, whose monumental installations redefine the relationship between structure, motion, and perception, and whose art work served as one of the inspirations in the first semester.