rC8 Towards a MulTi-MaTerial arChiTeCTure

Design: Kostas Grigoriadis technical: Samuel Esses, Alvaro lopez Rodriguez theory: Ilaria Di Carlo

Research Cluster 8’s main research focus is multi-material design, and the wider implications that the use of multi-materials will have on architecture and building construction. We explore new procedures of designing and building with material gradients, aiming to rethink component-based assembly and the standard practice of twentieth century mechanical connectivity. In previous years, the Cluster investigated the use of robotic fabrication for the in-situ 3D printing of building facades and the fusion of materials such as metal and glass to generate component-less, materially continuous envelopes. This year students researched into the origins of the materials that make up larger multi-material topologies from recycled sources, and the end-of-life strategy of the buildings and structures that will be deployed across London.