Kinetic Architecture Design Seminar (UO ARCH 407/507)

Instructor
Stephen Duff
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
Course Description
Four credits - Graded or Pass/No Pass.In this seminar, you will explore the world of architecture-in-motion. Apart from windows, doors and vertical conveyances, most buildings have few moving parts and are conceived of and built as static artifacts. Driven by issues of sustainability and the desire for adaptive control of building environments, kinetic architecture has emerged as an exciting sub-discipline in design and construction communities. Course work will include in-class presentations, site visits and field trips, and case studies. The core assignment will be the integrated design of an operable mechanism for a building. Design tools will include both virtual (Solidworks/Softimage) and physical 3D modeling as well as traditional 2D design media. Design teams must pay careful attention to the complete range of technical concerns: construction, engineering, enclosure, environment and climate. While so doing, the principle focus will remain on aesthetic issues: the sculptural qualities of the mechanism, light, materials, and the poetic qualities of motion. Students from Emily Carr University of Art and Design will be participating in this course, and you will have the option of working individually or in groups. This Kinetic Architecture Seminar satisfies the UO Department of Architecture advanced technical elective requirement.