Argus Research Studio

DIA Summer Semester 2015

Studio Master  Alexandr Kalachev 

Tutor  Maria Jose Rubira

Studio trip: Paris

This semester we want to challenge the students to develop the project exploring the possibilities of creating an autonomous, non-governmental, climate research station. We are interested in experimenting with building construction methods under extreme environmental conditions. The station must function as an observatory, an expedition hub and an experimentation facility. It can be represented as a single entity or be part of a broader network of research units/clusters, performing a modularity study for a future station expansion.

The program of the station should be following an actual and contemporary debate or research on climate change or the development of new renewable energy resources. In this sense the site will be chosen by the students as the product of an initial research of environmental conditions informing the fabrication methods and building technologies utilized and vice versa. The project must provide flexibility as well as high level of adaptability, which must be reflected in its structure, performance and construction methods. We are interested in design exploration within the field of computational design and robotics as well as the inquiry into the possibilities of creating smart design/organization solutions.

Through the duration of the semester, students will be asked to develop a model of building/structure lifecycle both in digital and physical/ prototypical world, by introducing the theory, the requirements and the design concepts for autonomous adjustable architectural elements of structures or systems in extreme environments. Our main concern is to minimize as much as possible, aiming the obliteration of Co2 emissions produced by the construction process. Therefore, 3D printing technique as well as non-waste fabrication techniques must be used in order to produce the building and its parts. Through the proposed project we are interested in defining our present as much as our future by experimenting within the field of remote architectural design control.

We want to encourage the students to participate in an active dialogue on the matters of architecture as a self-sustainable entity in terms of energy, but with a direct dialogue with its surroundings and a contemporary global discussion. Creating architectural pieces, as well as associated research studies that will allow students to be up to date with the modern tools, technologies and thinking/experimental processes. We are interested in creating spatial compositions reflecting behavior of matter in natural environment. Students will be asked to create protocols describing processes of building production and its lifecycle, conceiving the project as a process and not as a final output.

Enrollment is open now !
Students who are interested, kindly join the studio group and write on the wall (First choice or Second choice)
Studio Group link : http://dia-live.com/se/groupitem/Argus-Climate-Research-Station