Cellular Complexity - 2013 Faculty Winner of AIA|LA's 2x8 Student Exhibition Design Competition

Following the call for proposals for the recent 2x8 Exhibition Design Competition, the AIA Los Angeles chapter has announced "Cellular Complexity," a project by UCLA lecturer Julia Körner in collaboration with Marie Boltenstern and Kais Al-Rawi, as the winning entry. The Installation will be completed by February 2014, just in time for the 11-year anniversary of the annual 2x8 exhibit.

Körner, Boltenstern and Rawi's proposal for the exhibition design resulted from their ongoing research into complex cellular systems. The team investigates the potential of porous and cellular systems within an architectural context with special focus on efficient structural capabilities and passive performative qualities. Their aim is to assimilate these qualities into a single architectural system which responds to given programmatic conditions.

The design of the installation is meant to display 32 selected student projects from various participating Californian universities, laid out on two twisted surfaces facing each other in a symmetric layout. The system allows for an adaptive design towards the provided exhibition space.

The digital fabrication of this system considers additive manufacturing as well as laser cutting sheet material, allowing for material-efficient production of double-curved geometries within a differentiated component-based system.

About the exhibit designers:

Körner is a lecturer at UCLA's SUPRASTUDIO, led by Greg Lynn. Born in Salzburg, Austria, she holds a Master of Architecture with distinction from the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Further, a Master of Science from the Architectural Association, London. Julia worked with international offices in both New York and London, including Ross Lovegrove Studio. Her most recent collaborations for Additively Manufactured fashion pieces involved Haute Couture fashion designer Iris Van Herpen, and 3D printing company Materialise. She won several awards including the MAK Schindler Architect in Residence scholarship in Los Angeles 2010.

Kais Al-Rawi is a registered architect (JEA). Born in Amman, Jordan and is a Masters graduate from the Architectural Association in London and Ryerson University in Toronto. He is currently based in Los Angeles, working with the award-winning practice Synthesis Design+Architecture. Kais specializes in generative design methodologies involving computation, investigating the potential they hold within architecture and urbanism.

Marie Boltenstern is an Architect currently working with Bollinger & Grohmann Engineering in Paris, within the 3D development department. Born in Vienna, Austria, she is a graduate of University of Technology in Vienna; and the Architectural Association in London. Marie is specialized in parametric design processes and is particularly interested in the convergence of architecture and structural engineering through complex structures.