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Materiality and digital technologies: concrete experiments for the built environment

Carla Aramouny (Department of Architecture and Design, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon)

Archnet-IJAR

ISSN: 2631-6862

Article publication date: 30 April 2021

Issue publication date: 28 October 2021

151

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents the applied research and design work on innovative and sustainable building products developed by an undergraduate architecture seminar course. It presents the case for innovative uses of cement-based products, while framing the proposals within a global shift toward environmentally responsive and bio-integrated materials.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology utilizes a process of hybridization between digital fabrication and analog making methods that is framed within the larger design discourse and that intersects the digital design process with material know-how. The approach engages local problematics and applies advanced technology and the integration of natural behaviors to develop a rich applied design method.

Findings

Through the presented work and proposed building products, critical findings and outcomes emerge, ones that relate to the design process itself and others to the designed products.

Originality/value

The research presented here proposes novel approaches to cement-based building systems utilizing digital and analog fabrication, and original design solutions that engage with their context and provide active and crucial environmental performance.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The research and work in this paper were developed as part of the advanced elective “New Territories” taught by the author at the Department of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut.This paper is a revised and fully developed version from an earlier draft published in SDBE 2018 under the title: New Territories: Digital Materiality from Natural systems to Environmental Impact.

Citation

Aramouny, C. (2021), "Materiality and digital technologies: concrete experiments for the built environment", Archnet-IJAR, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 872-886. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-11-2020-0256

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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