Digital design, craft and fabrication

Air to Surface: Thermally Sculpted Surfaces

Principal Investigator: Joel Chappell, Senior Lecturer

Air to Surface looks at the affordances the capturing of both thermal and photogrammetric data from organic (non-synthetic ) sources such as animals and plants can have on the design of thermally effective ceramic tiles. The advancements in 3D digital capture and 3D prototyping enable a greater opportunity to look at the possibilities of ceramic tiles with respect to their thermal properties.

Impact

The project seeks to extend upon current research on thermal tile design but combines thermal sculpting with thermal finishing to extend and advance the scope of the tile. Thermal performance and comfort are increasingly higher on the agenda for the built environment. By considering tiles which perform without additional resource input such as electric to function, the research looks towards a dynamic yet passive approach towards design.

Problem-worrying vs. problem-solving: A preliminary study on the impact of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) on architectural design students

Principal Investigator: Dr Ran Xiao, Senior Research Fellow and Adam Holloway, Lecturer

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) provides architects with a potentially powerful way to create high quality imagery using text prompts. However, the impact of AIGC may be subtle and highly complex. For example, it may inspire the user, providing concrete formal expressions based on abstract concepts, and does so in the matter of minutes. But it may also supplant the user’s imagination with the ability to generate highly sophisticated imagery, and affect the user’s own creativity and sense of agency.

The current project will conduct a series of experiments with students as participants, trialling the use of AIGC in a design studio environment. The design and thinking process of the participants will be studied to understand the impact of such tools. The research aims to:

Characterise the potential roles of AIGC in the architectural design process.
Inform the development of better pedagogy in the design studio that incorporates AIGC.

Impact

Nicholas Negroponte (1975), a pioneer in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) in architecture, predicted that computers would eventually replace architects, with machine intelligence directly responding to users’ needs. The recent years have seen the emergence of artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) tools such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, which has made Negroponte’s vision seemingly more realistic. This has reignited the debate about why or how architects should work with AI. The research project will contribute to the debate with empirical evidence and in-depth analysis around challenging questions. Its findings will inform and empower architectural educators and practitioners, by gaining a better understanding and a voice in a rapidly changing landscape with the advent of AIGC.

Outputs

Xiao, R. (2021). Comparing and clustering residential layouts using a novel measure of grating difference. Nexus Network Journal, 23(1), 187-208.
Xiao, R. (2022) Hopes and fears: the rise of robot architects. Scroope Journal, 30

Mixed reality fabrication methodologies for dry stone masonry

Principal Investigator: Adam Holloway, Lecturer

This research project aims to explore how mixed reality fabrication (using Augmented Reality (AR) glasses) can advance craft methodologies in dry stone masonry. Through the use of both traditional and contemporary processes the project will explore possibilities for further research development and the application of these methods in the construction industry.

Impact

This research project aims to explore how the use of digital templates in mixed reality fabrication can explore not just the complex formal affordance of digital design, but the ways that live digital information at 1:1 can enable and level-up creative expression in endangered or marginalised building crafts.