Søren Sørensen
This talk pursues the notion of informed non-standard architecture, which arises in the intersection between performance-oriented and non-standard architecture.
In the context of the built environment, hard systems approaches and performance approaches have gone hand in hand since the 1960s. However, the introduction of a mixed systems approach in conjunction with design-thinking and research by design significantly changed the take on this and introduced a wider scope of understanding as to what performance and agency in architecture might entail. This entails three conceptual and operational aspects: [i] design and production of architectures, the design of which is informed by specific performance criteria, [ii] the notion of location and condition-range-specific design systems that take a middle position between universally applied designs and entirely bespoke architectures, and [iii] the development of a related design method entitled information-based design.
The 1990s witnessed increased experimentation with and intensification of computational design in architecture. This went hand-in-hand with the development of means of industrial production, especially in computer-aided fabrication, which began to be employed in architecture to facilitate the design and construction of complex geometries engendered by computer-aided design. At around the same time, computer-aided design and computer-aided analysis were coupled in the attempt to capture, develop and utilize performative capacities, culminating in a series of publications on performance-oriented architecture and significant changes in architectural design and production.
This talk will show systemic research by design activities that focus on two types of design systems, one lightweight and adaptable to local conditions, and another that is massive that co-adapts with landscapes. This research is undertaken at the Research Center for Architecture and Tectonics and the Advanced Computational Design Laboratory at the Oslo School of Architecture.
