Bad Mesh & Naked Edges
David Azrieli School of Architecture, Tel Aviv University
25 July–4 August 2010
AA CSI 2010 was the second of three annual summer workshops focused on developing innovative methods for synthesising drawing and 3D printing. Working with Objet Geometries high resolution, multi-material liquid 3D printing technology, participants were involved in an intensive ten-day programme of making and testing 2D, ‘thick 2D’ and 3D digital printing techniques to invent architectural surfaces. The workshop programme was inspired by British pioneers of art and architectural representation – Joseph Gandy, Robert Adam, James Stirling, David Hockney and John Outram – and informed by Israel’s unique cultural heritage of textiles and ceramics.
The workshop tested ground for AA Intermediate Unit 9’s ongoing experiments to blur the boundary between drawing and 3D printing. The objet trouvé, exquisite corpse and other Surrealist and Dadaist techniques formed the basis for these investigations. The workshop’s objective was to deliver an atlas of prints (working with measured drawings from non-architectural disciplines) from each participant (a ‘3D takeaway’) that they incorporated into future projects and publications, giving the workshop a wide-ranging material and intellectual influence. Participants worked in at least two
of four different AA-led design units over the ten days. The teaching staff also included Eran Neuman and Aaron
Sprecher of Open Source Architecture. In addition to advanced software tuition, there were regular evening lectures (invited speakers included Neri Oxman and Erez Ella) and workshops included a hands-on working session with Objet Geometries chief software engineer, Yossi Abu. The final jury was a day-long presentation/exhibition at the ZeZeZe Gallery in the Tel Aviv port.
Directors
Christopher Pierce studied at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and gained a PhD from Edinburgh University. He formed Mis-Architecture with Chris Matthews in 2000 and together they teach Intermediate Unit 9 at the AA.
Christopher Matthews is principal of Pastina Matthews Architects (PMA). For nearly a decade he worked with James Stirling, Michael Wilford and Associates on projects including the Singapore Arts Centre, the Lowry Centre and No 1 Poultry before setting up PMA in 2000.