LAVA — Laboratory for Visionary Architecture: Chris Bosse.
Chris gave an engaging, hour-plus long talk that was illustrated with great visuals to the full theatrette at Tusculum. He spoke of his belief that the rules for contemporary architecture must evolve beyond Palladio’s ‘Four Books’, to the creation of a new set of rules that better reflect the evolution of society. He cited the the example of contemporary hi-rise development — extruded floorplates and attached facades — as an idea that is now outdated, offering that buildings should behave more like organisms, that building skins play a crucial role as a responsive element between inside and outside. He continued, describing his vision for architecture as analogous to the architecture of a coral reef — elements with inherent intelligence that form systems of symbiotic relationships. He warns though against attempting to mimic nature, suggesting that architects would be better served seeking inspiration from the geometries, efficiencies and performance of natural systems.
Reflecting on the emergence of computers within architecture, Chris noted that while it is now easy to draw and produce seductive images and renderings, care must be taken not to neglect fundamental considerations of buildability, functionality, program and performance.
Once buildings are understandable in 3 dimensions and are geometrically and mathematically describable, architects will be better prepared to design for these considerations. To achieve this, the new tools and technologies of digital architecture have allowed more intensive collaborations, and while they have made aspects of design easier they also encourage architects to tackle greater challenges. Chris finds that rather than distancing the architect from the design process, computational design approaches promoting the creation of many rule-based options allows architects to ‘navigate’ many different outcomes, ultimately producing a more intelligent outcome than was previously possible.
Chris presented a range of projects, starting with the oft-presented Watercube from his days at PTW, to more recent work from his own practice LAVA: the Digital Origami workshop with UTS; a bank headquarters in Stuttgart; the unfortunately named Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower in Abu Dhabi; and the Green Void installation at Customs House in Sydney. He finished with the impressively ambitious MASDAR project in Abu Dhabi where LAVA has recently won a commission.
Each of these projects demonstrated LAVA’s desire to ‘put the human back at the centre of design’, through the use of latest 21st century technologies (tools, processes and materials), and spoke clearly of their aim of delivering projects that achieve 3 criteria: to create atmosphere, be novel and exciting spatially; to perform well as an organism (through structure, efficiency, sustainability, light and air), and to perform well as a building (through program and functionality).
All images are photographs of Chris’ presentation