TEX-FAB recently announced that the APPLIED Research Through Fabrication competition completed its first round at the beginning of the week. A total of 68 entries from 13 countries on 4 Continents in the Continuing and Speculative Research categories with roughly an even split between the two were received. Proposals dealing with acoustics, material structure, ambient light occlusion and movement monitoring through haptic and sensory relays all bid to proceed to the second round with $1000 in funding. In the end four proposals were chosen that satisfied the competition brief and proved to entertain the jury with intriguing and potentially unknown outcomes. More on the finalists’ proposals after the break.
‘Spin Valence’ by Emily Baker
The jury’s comments ranged over time from disinterest to support as this underdog, with just one initial vote, gained more appeal and finally was narrowed down as a finalist. Noted during the deliberation as having a thorough understanding on the means and methods of its potential, despite its overtly ‘simplistic’ process, Spin-Valence ultimately garnered quite a lot of praise in its ‘technique not developed to rationalize a complex form, rather the technique imposes an advanced structural integrity of a flat surface without cost implications of additive structural members’.
‘FAB POD’by Jane Burry and Nicholas Williams
Fab Pod proved to be a clear choice for the jury as little deliberation was needed to narrow down its strengths as a finalist. Noted by the jury, ‘the use of the digital tools to create a true performative surface, that is not about shading, is refreshing. Acoustics in architecture is highly mathematical, often understood by only those in the discipline of acoustic sciences, and often the expressions of performance are lost in the overall design of acoustically performin spaces. This project is one of a new breed of digitally related expressions where form and performance are seeking equal ground.’
