Ubiquitous Matter and the Responsive Habitat
Selina Korban Theatre, Byblos campus
The Department of Architecture and Interior Design is hosting a lecture on Ubiquitous Matter and the Responsive Habitat, presented by Areti Markopoulou.
Markopoulou is a Greek architect, educator and researcher working on the intersection between architecture and digital technologies. She is currently the academic director at IAAC in Barcelona, one of the leading international platforms for education, and under her direction, IAAC offers renowned programs such as the Master’s in Advanced Architecture and the Master’s in City & Technology. Areti is leading the Digital Matter-Intelligent Constructions [DMIC] Research, a pioneer research line on material, computational and artificial intelligence for generating new techniques of digitally fabricating responsive environments and adaptive construction systems. She has been developing urban projects and guidelines with the City Council of Barcelona and the Municipal Institute of Information for the implementation of ICT in the public space and the implementation of renewable energy technologies in buildings and open spaces.
They key to 21st century challenges generated by global urbanization, economic instability and particularly the increasing awareness related to the environmental crisis will be the development of high efficient “products” with increasing levels of functionality. Our buildings and cities will need new interfaces to communicate with the environment and embedded systems of performance that do not rely on existing urban infrastructures.
Material intelligence and interactive technologies, together with sensors, actuators, as well as bio-mimetic and digital manufacturing innovations will play a critical role in this development providing revolutionary ideas on growth adaptability, repair, and energy savings in architecture. Should we continue constructing rigid and fixed structures? Or can buildings and cities begin to think?