Concrete approximations: material responsiveness for an augmented experience of space

Through the lens of a specific material, concrete, and the interaction with its active properties, the research focuses on alternative procedures of construction that challenge typical generic forms of building. In developing unique methods of fabrication, the aim is to create designs that have the potential to impact and influence the monotony of mainstream construction systems. Each design is considered as a prototype that adheres to the limitations of material and structural logics, as a productive space for design-research innovations.<br>  <br>The research work begins with laboratory experiments with concrete material on smaller size objects. It then applies knowledge gained from different types of material experiments and prototyping techniques and tests their ability to scale up via design-build structures. The projects further investigate the capacity for some of the invented prototypes to address and influence the building of larger size projects, either through the actual industrial production practices found in the Pearl River Delta or through site-specific architecture projects related to particular building cultures and technologies.  The research begins with a series of nine columns, extends to design-built structures and concludes with a house currently under construction.<br><br>The overarching research trajectory, spanning from material to spatial responsiveness, is driven by how some of the conducted material experiments and invented prototyping techniques are able to intensify the spatial experience of built architecture, demonstrated in the building of a live project; a house titled `Casa Trevo' (`Trefoil House') sited in Lisbon, Portugal.