TxA Interactive

Call for Papers
TxA Interactive is an initiative to bring experimental research and exploration among academics and practitioners to a broad audience of designers, practicing architects, construction industry executives, building products manufacturers, students, and other researchers. It takes advantage of the collection of over 2000 representatives of these fields at the Texas Society of Architects Convention and Design Expo to create a forum for sharing new ideas being formulated in Schools of Architecture and elsewhere.

Selected academics and researchers will have the opportunity to present their papers at three 90-minute sessions at the 2013 Texas Society of Architects Convention and Design Expo, taking place November 7-9 at the Fort Worth Convention Center. After the Convention, the full papers will be printed in an annual publication. Chaired by Kory Bieg, assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, this opportunity is open to everyone – all educators and members, including Academic Members, can submit to TxA Interactive.

The focus for this inaugural TxA Interactive will be developments in Digital Technology that inform design and fabrication in architecture and building. Topics that are of interest include (but are not limited to):

Digital fabrication and rapid prototyping
Robotic craft and assembly
Integrated design tools
Computational models of building performance
Composite and synthetic materials
Responsive environments
Digital design theory
Submitting Your Paper
*see link above for more information.

Designer: Farooq Khayyat
School: M.Arch at the Academy of Art University
Location: San Francisco, CA

Proposal: “Design Rhizome – A Design Collaboration Center”
Rhizome
“Open-ended and indeterminate characteristics can be linked to the process-form of the rhizome. Unlike trees or their roots,… the rhizome connects any point to any other point…It has neither beginning nor end, but always a middle (milieu) from which it grows and overspills, [constituting] linear multiplicities. In contrast to centric or tree-like, hierarchical systems, the rhizome is acentered, non-hierarchical and continually expanding across multiplicitous terrains.” [3]

Innovation is the result of combined ideas. Design Rhizome is a place where design professionals and novices alike join in spontaneous interaction and collaboration to give life to the ideas of tomorrow. Proximity, exchange of ideas, shared resources are the key ingredients for practical creativity and innovation. [8]

The architects, interior designers, product designers, and other creatives can unite in a supportive space with the tech, finance, and government leaders of the day to awaken and strengthen the community.

During pre-civilization, long-distance transportation was a deadly foreign concept. Tribes lived scattered throughout the Earth, isolated from the advancements of others. The boat, the bow and arrow, the bowl; these concepts and inventions took thousands of years to emerge from their primitive design. It was only as cities and the nation-state took hold that innovations proliferated at an exponential rate. It was the proximity of diverse, yet like-minded people that laid the foundation for creativity and innovation. When individuals with similar interests come together, radical breakthroughs and ideas flow naturally. [8]

Design Rhizome keeps this collaborative spirit at the core of its mission. This spirit is enhanced through the lessons of the Parisian cafe and the Beaux-Arts movement. During the nineteenth century, Parisian society was captivated by the Beaux-Arts movement. Wide-eyed artists longed to work with the best masters in the world. Through structured and rigid ateliers (workshops), up-and-coming apprentices gained status and recognition in a highly competitive art community. In contrast to the academia of Beaux-Arts, the Parisian cafe provided an informal and spontaneous arena for free thought and experiences. The Masters regularly gathered at the table of their students to casually discuss and exchange theories and techniques. When the annual Salon exhibited its exceptional collection of Beaux-Arts pieces, the cafes became the true forum for liberal critique. Design Rhizome celebrates the Parisian cafes, using its characteristics and freedom of thought to generate better design. [4]

Design Rhizome is located in the heart of San Francisco’s complex urban network. The Mission and Market St. corridors are the vital arteries for transit, commerce, civic engagement, and creative expression. Rhizome operates as the city’s fulcrum; leveraging the ideas of design leaders, students, creators, and change makers with the needs of educators, entrepreneurs, and local food merchants. Through exposure, proximity, and shared resources, diverse generations of designers can intrinsically learn about emerging ideas and established practices alike.

REFRENCES:

12. “Urban Prototyping Festival Oct 20.” UP San Francisco. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. Weinstock, Michael. The Architecture of Emergence:
The Evolution of Form in Nature and Civilisation. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Designers: Yoonsun Hwang + Lois Soo Kyung Suh
Location: PA, USA

Proposal: HYDROPOLIS
Hydropolis provokes the existing typology of a skyscraper set in the densest metropolis: Hong Kong. Accumulating diverse attributes of the city at multiple economic and social scales and translations, the tower yields transforming facade, structure and circulation system, from intricate to ludicrous. The project challenges the aggressive attitude of land reclamation by embracing the harbor front as a crucial part of the project, operating closely with water.The agglomeration of landscape, water, infrastructure and architecture creates a dynamic and efficient network that activates open and public space and allows for various pockets of space for distinct programmatic space.

credit: suckerpunchdaily

arizona lottery

Designer: Lynn Fox Collective
Location: UK
website

FC Kahuna “Hayling”
Directed/Produced by: LynnFox
Production Company: Colonel Blimp
Commisioner: John Hassay
Record Company: City Rockets
Post-production by: LynnFox

Designer(s): Jensen Liu + Sally Hsu
Firm name: San-Architecture
Location: Beijing, China
web

Proposal: Aurora Borealis Arctic Observatory – The wings of the dawn goddess

Siivet aurora, the Aurora Borealis Arctic Observatory is an architectural project situated in argument between the historic mystic of the northern lights and the urban landmark of Rovaniemi. The stories of the aurora phenomenon may now have a scientific explanation, this has not diminish the fascination for this seasonal event, nature’s most fascinating live painting continues to attract countless trekkers to search for this phenomenal experience, for that we have designed a hotel to capture and enrich this priceless journey.

Through years of evolution the architectural design and construction has yet to proceed greatly in the use of technology. The architectural discipline continues to be a step behind the technological advancement of the modern age. This proposal signifies a desire to challenge the use of technology in architecture, not for merely convenience but an all-round addition to form and function. How does architecture embrace the primitive desire of its occupant to immerse in a mysterious fantasy yet also project forward into the future way of living? This proposal explores the awakening moment of the Eos (the goddess of dawn). The awakening enhances a natural phenomenon that continues to amaze audiences.

The project believes sustainability should not be a implemented merely due to society’s expectation on green architecture. Sustainability encourages precise consideration of the site context. An efficient sustainable system helps minimize the disturbance of the site and more important implemented as a feature that adds to the architecture not just functionally but also formally. The aurora is signifying the goddess of dawn splitting open the night sky breaking free of the dark skyline. The architectural design signifies Eos’s wings responding to the natural aurora phenomenon, as the magnetic field and wind undulates, it follows throughout echoing nature’s best painting.

The building has chosen reflective stainless steel to be the façade finish, this reflective surfaces aims to capture the aurora and blend within the context. The architecture sits within the terrain; it minimizes the conflict with the site. This nestling aims to utilize the earth thermal energy to achieve insulation.

The architectural proposals established upon the Eos’s wings responding to the natural aurora phenomenon, as the magnetic field and wind undulates, it follows throughout echoing nature’s best painting. The roof top has installed LED light tubes, as the aurora surface, the light tubes will respond to the magnetic forces, creating a spectacle of dance within nature. The architecture nestle within the natural landscape, the building center has a seamless water surface that is able to seamlessly connect with the horizon ahead, creating the sensation of reaching into the sky.

The architecture has installed a lighting pool with the function of a skylight in the entrance foyer of the building. In the cold harsh winter, the visitors and occupants within the interior can still enjoy a panorama scenery and rich daylight. This installment act as insulation, the interior temperature will be able to be maintained for comfort. This is ensures the visual experiences does not lesson the comfort within the building.

The use of geothermal energy assists the sustainability implementation of the architecture.The extracted geothermal energy is transformed into electricity and heat, this provides for the heating requirement of the building and the hot springs leisure space within, this also contributes to the energy required to power the roof top façade during the aurora season.

To ensure the building is sufficient and sustainable, geothermal energy is captured to transform into electricity for the generation of a magnetic field. This power is used to generate the magnetic field required to active the façade of the building. The force field allows the LED wings to undulate respond to the Aurora and the force all around. The water collected from snow and rain will be recycled to be used within the building in all leisure hot springs and water features.

The building site is chosen in the middle axis of the river, to avoid light contamination from the city and provide best viewing opportunities for the visitors.