Polyvalent Matter: An Additive Manufactured Architecture

The studio will investigate an additive manufactured architecture. Design research will involve development of industrial robot additive manufacturing methods in the ARI Robotics Lab that leverage material dynamics and novel approaches to temporary formwork in order to produce prototypical scaled building elements. Extending Venturi Scott-Brown’s double-functioning chimney-stair principle, the studio will challenge established roles and thresholds between architectural elements by proposing polyvalence – adding additional attributes or functions to building parts as bi-products of building activity or physical adjacencies. Industrial architecture will be recast as a polyvalent, engaging, urban condition that incorporates both production and community activities, and articulates a mass-customized, high-resolution material order.