How My Journey Began

I was initially inspired to pursue this journey of discovery into the progressive digital culture of design and manufacturing in architecture by Dr Matthew Mindrup, a well-respected professor in my Bachelor’s degree. At the genesis of my project Dr Mindrup gave me two books to read: ‘The Eyes of the Skin’ by Juhani Pallasmaa, and ‘Maufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture’ by Kevin Klinger and Branko Kolarevic. The combination of these books had a profound impact on my preconceived ideals of the evocative quality imbedded within architectural expression. Although each text explores radical positions of opposing informed processes and design repercussions in architecture, I was able to view them with a creative mind and found an opportunity to coalesce the material together to form a grounding for my research topic.

By synergising Pallasmaa’s philosophy - which outlines the significance of the senses in architecture and places ‘the body in the centre’ of all existential experiences - with the prodigious insight provided by Klinger and Kolarevic into the technological capacities emerging from within the realm of digital fabrication in architecture, I was able to develop a strong basis for my research topic. Thus, I began my journey into the exploration of the transformative process of design concerning the physical, sensory and cognitive domains, and their parameters of interface within digitally designed environments.

Over the last couple of months I have been working under the supervision of an incredibly talented professional, Ann Cleary, who continues to inspire and endow the novelty of my research in this field. Together, we were able to refine my research topic down to a single question:

“Can Digitally Derived Architecture Elicit Multi-Sensory Responses?”

Although the research question is open to change, we are both every excited at the prospect of exploring two independent fields within the architectural discourse – the philosophy of phenomenology, and digital fabrication – and bringing them together.

It goes without saying that a great deal of work has gone into developing and refining the research topic to reach this point, and a continual amount of effort will be required to see the project through in a couple months time. I am now entering the sprint phase of the marathon journey I began in February, and I am excited to make new discoveries along the way – all fun times ahead!

Thank you for your support!

Catherine K

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