Material-integrated variations | Experimenting with low-tech materials

'The typical facade of a building… is made of discrete parts fulfilling distinct functions. Stiff materials provide a protective shell, soft materials provide comfort and insulation, and -in buildings- transparent materials provide connection to the environment. In contrast, human skin utilizes more or less constant material constituents for both barrier functions (small pores, thick skin on own backs) and filtering functions (large pores, thin skin on our face). Barriers and filtering functions are integrated into a single material system that can at any point respond and adapt to its environment.'
Integration over segregation, Neri Oxman (2021)

Inspired by state-of-the-art computational concepts and fabrication techniques, this course aims to work on understanding and exploring material qualities that can be applied in custom structures. Thus, the course will focus on material scale, and more specifically in developing functionally gradedmaterials*. Quality-variations integrated within the volume of a material can be obtained by either using an additional material (e.g. infusion) or by diversifying the deposition of the material itself (e.g. extrusion). The goal is to ‘hack’ existing low-tech materials (materials that can be found in everyday products) to create custom ones with variable properties, such as density and stiffness. In addition, attention will be given in developing custom fabrication techniques, relying on computational design thinking, which will be employed to create heterogeneous 3D experimental structures that could find applications in art and design.
 

* Materials that vary in composition and structure gradually over volume, resulting in corresponding changes in the properties.

Efilena Baseta