Wed, November 30, 2016 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM PETER WALL INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES. Free. Joe Dahmen will present recent architectural installations exploring softness. The move toward soft, regenerative systems has important implications for the way we design architectural materials and environments in the Anthropocene. This talk will look at the effects of physical and operational softness on the experience of architectural space through the lens of recent public space installations by AFJD, the design firm of Joe Dahmen and Amber Frid-Jimenez. The projects draw on a diverse range of materials, including mushrooms, recycled polystyrene, and soil. Collectively, they suggest a future in which dynamic architectural environments contribute to local ecosystems and engage with temporality in new and productive ways.
Joe Dahmen is a Wall Scholar and Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at UBC. He is an expert on building technology whose research and design projects create a more sustainable future in architecture. His research provides pathways for emergent materials derived from regionally specific biological and geological processes to enter architectural practice. These materials offer new expressive capabilities to architects while positively affecting local ecosystems.
Reception to follow.