Student group AAction hosts a roundtable on material reuse with Elif Erdine and Milad Showkatbakhsh of the AA Emtech Programme along with artist and AAIS graduate Elyssa Sykes Smith as a culmination of the Open Day for the Taught Postgraduate programmes.
Drawing together the common theme of repurposed timber across the two current exhibitions at the AA – the Re-emerge Pavilion by Emtech in collaboration with Hassell Studio on the corner of Bedford Square and the installation Reclaimed Chaos by Elyssa Sykes-Smith in the Front Members Room – the conversation will revolve around the politics of material reuse and its impact in the wider context of the climate crisis as well as economic and design solutions that can advocate for material reuse in art and architecture in the context of these projects.
AAction, initiated in April 2019, is a student led project at the Architectural Association committed to bringing about the necessary pedagogical and cultural shift in architectural education in order to effectively work towards climate justice. In 2019, AAction took a big part in initiating and writing the Architecture Education Declares manifesto. With an inquisitive, continuous and open approach, we delve into pre-established discourses and practices through which architecture engages with climate change.
Elif Erdine, the Director of Emergent Technologies and Design Postgraduate Programme, is an architect and researcher. During 2010-2015, Elif Erdine conducted her PhD at the Architectural Association PhD in Design Programme, titled ‘Generative Processes in Tower Design: Algorithms for the Integration of Tower Subsystems’. Since 2010 she has been directing various AA Visiting School programmes (AA Istanbul VS, AA Summer DLAB), exploring generative design techniques, integration of algorithmic design methods with large-scale digital fabrication tools. Her research interests include the role of the individual building within complex urban systems, the exploration of urban data as design drivers, biomimicry, and robotic design and fabrication. She has presented her research in Design Studies, eCAADe, CAAD Futures, SimAUD, and ACADIA, among others.
Milad Showkatbakhsh, the Studio Master of Emergent Technologies and Design Postgraduate Programme, is an architect and researcher. He holds BSc. in Architectural Engineering from Shahid Beheshti University and M.Arch. from Pratt Institute where he graduated with Sidney Katz award for design excellence in 2015. Milad has worked for several architecture and design firms in Asia, U.S.A and Europe as design technology specialist such as Contemporary Architecture Practice (CAP) amongst others. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Milad is the co-director of the AA Istanbul visiting school with the research focus on integration of algorithmic design methods with large-scale digital fabrication tools. He is the co-founder of ‘Wallacei’, an evolutionary and analytic engine with embedded machine learning algorithms that gives users full control over their evolutionary simulations in Grasshopper 3D.
Elyssa Sykes-Smith is an interprofessional artist working at the intersection of public art, architecture, performance, health and climate psychology research, and education. She holds MFA (Distinction) from the Architectural Association School of Architecture (2021), and BFA (Hons) in Sculpture at The National Art School Sydney (2013). Professional highlights include Next Big Thing TV series on London Live (2021); Sculpture by the Sea inc. (2012-18), Creative Development Fellowship, Create NSW (2019); and public art and corporate commissions including Saatchi & Saatchi, Deloitte, MIRVAC and various Council’s in Australia. In creating art for public space and designing participatory projects Sykes-Smith seeks to distil complex, psychological states into multi-sensory experiences to advocate for human rights and environmental sustainability. The sculpted figure in relation to architecture has been used as a form of communication throughout history and Sykes-Smith’s artwork is a contemporary development of this lineage. Playing on the divide between abstract and representational, physical and digital, her designs allow space for the imagination and recollection.
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