SE.1 – TWO-TERM Elective Seminar
DATA INFORMED STRUCTURES
Mushrooms: The structural collective of a specific environment.
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Faculty: Manja van de Worp
Fabrication expert: Raimund Krenmüeller
Student assistant: Cesar Arroyo

These structural mushrooms form a network of strategies aiming to reinforce primary human values within the context of the modern city as a human living environment.  We explore the specific yet conceptual conditions of where mushrooms occur, as they grow in certain conditions and can be taken on the body or spread over a certain area.
Where do these 1:1 mushrooms pop up – what is the “climate” they live in? Do they share material system? Do they have a specific social engagement or link to the site?
These 1:1 Mushroom Structures will all be related, have something unique they share in common, something that relates them not only to structure but also to site and environmental aspects.
We explore the notion of Architecture as living systems which relate and are in conversation with their environment. In this realm we aim to create these living systems that relate and create a dialogue as an environment themselves.

Learning Objectives
During the course we will use Karamba [ Structural engineering plugin to rhino] to understand structural analysis concepts and typologies, under the umbrella of Mushrooms, i.e. Families in design. We will identify specific natures of variation in multi performance.

In term 1 we will also continue discussions about the Architectural design intent of these Mushrooms.

“Mushroom” Structural design strategies [ Term 1]
In term 1: we will explore the notion of;
A] Same amount of material yet different forms (For far can you “stretch a material and what is efficiency of form)
B] Same form: but different material system (connections + material performance)
C] Same performance – yet different manipulation constraints – Going from 50 % utilisation to 100 % material utilisation
Linking Structural design / Material fabrication: 3 related structural prototypes [ Term 1]

Workshop 1: We will link the structural performance strategies to Fabrication techniques and your design for the 3 Mushrooms, presenting three linked scale prototypes (~ 1 m3).

Linking Structural design / Fabrication + Environmental design [Term 2]
Density, material or size of elements also relates to potential shading mechanisms or other skin or inhabitation performance.
Workshop 2: Develop a single material system further in three variations with the enhanced integrated performance of an environmental constraint.
Workshop 3: Design & Build in 3 sub-teams the 1:1 mushrooms. Each team will work on their own 1:1 installation and execution of one of the prototypes.
During the course you will work in teams of 2, 4 or 6 students, linking Architectural Design & Structural Analysis.

Social Structural Environmental Mushrooms
1 – Forests of Venice Installation Architecture Biennale
2 – dRMM Babushka Boxes
3 – Amanda Levette- The Wave V&A Entrance
4 – The Pavilion of Czech Republic and Slovakia