antifragile

Antifragile is a speculative design studio concerned with the relationship between computational models and design creativity, natural and built environments, fictional scenarios and design activism. In an effort to critique predominant notions of environmentalism and sustainability, we will consider design propositions and scenarios that gain from vectors of environmental change and instability (both beneficial and harmful) rather than attempting to be efficiently resilient to them.

These scenarios will be investigated in pairs through short esquisses culminating in a submission for the Field Constructs competition. During the second half of semester we will develop designs for a small urban observation center and educational facility for monitoring environmental change and simulating fictional responsive scenarios.

The studio will emphasise design iteration and extend skills from Architectural Communications 3. Students will develop generative models capable of simulating complex change and working with some autonomy in the exploration and expression of colour, texture, pattern and form. The studio will provide the opportunity to build simple hardware prototypes for sensing and interacting with specific environmental conditions and urban habitats.