BACKGROUND:

The interest around Stereotomy started to reawaken in the early 1990s, within the researches about the History of Construction. This new favourable cultural climate has allowed rediscovering the discipline, both for its historical value and the unexpressed design possibilities. The diffusion of parametric modelling and digital fabrication tools creates the ideal conditions to design and build new stereotomic prototypes, which are typically characterized by considerable architectural and geometric complexity. Stereotomy today is no longer a historical discipline relegated to the distant past, but it is returned to being the subject of study in several research centres in the world.

COMPETITION AND WORKSHOP:

The competition of ideas is part of the event: STEREOTOMY 2.0 and Digital Construction Tools (WORKSHOP - SYMPOSIUM - EXHIBITION) 16-29 April 2018, co-organized by Giuseppe Fallacara and Christian Pongratz as a collaboration between the School of Architecture and Design, the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Education, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the School of Health Professions at New York Institute of Technology and Par ExcellenceNY Gallery and Showroom (The French Savoir-faire in New-York). The project is to design a small bionic pavilion, where stone is implented in innovative ways, underlining the design concept asking broader societal questions in how we should rethink sustainability from an interdisciplinary systems standpoint.Consider material performance and structural symbiosis driven by biological generative systems thereby highlighting latest fabrication and construction technologies. The pavillion concept should be developed with the goal in mind that its location and design is strenghtening and reinforcing links between the various medical programs of the immediate surrounding schools and serve as a means to increase transdisciplinary encounters and holistic discussions on a broader scale. The project will mark a new place on campus to encourage casual meets such as during lunch hours or in other free timesbut also provide a space for outdoor social gatherings. At NYIT (New York Institute of Technology), we have always had an intimate relationship with technology. NYIT sponsored the first National Technology Awards, was the first to introduce “teaching machines” in the 1950s, and was home to the revolutionary computer animation research and development lab that ultimately led to Dreamworks and Pixar. Today, we provide a technology-infused education to 12,000 students from all 50 states and 125 countries. Cutting-edge research in areas such as data visualization, digital fabrication and robotics, cybersecurity, and bioengineering is guided by larger concerns like sustainability and how to create a better urban environment—topics demonstrated by university events like the International Water Conference at the U.N. and our annual Energy and Cybersecurity conferences. At NYIT, we develop solutions for students, a different kind of education, where students are deeply involved in project based learning, share creative ideas in team work, and move fluidly between state-of-the-art facilities and innovation labs. Students engage in hands-on activities and generate solutions through design and systems thinking for our partners in communities and industries

The aim of the workshop is to disseminate theoretical and practical culture related to stereotomic architecture, from the sixteenth century origins to the latest design applications. The objective will be pursued in two ways:

• through lectures and lectures;
• through practical design applications and elaborations.

Lessons will be more theoretical and will be effectively structured to transfer the fundamental concepts inherent in the theme. The workshop is mainly aimed at developing the project proposals rewarded during the competition.

COMPETITION AND WORKSHOP:

The aim of the exhibition is to show some prototypes of stone architecture: from ancient stereotomic construction systems to the most modern stone experiments for architecture and interior design. Prototypes will be made available by different institutions and leading companies in the world of training and stone