Permanent Change Plastics in Architecture and Engineering

PERMANENT CHANGE PLASTICS IN ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING

The fourth columbia conference on Architecture, engineering and materials

MARCH 30—APRIL 1, 2011

3 4 5 glass concrete metal plastic light… The Fourth Columbia Scientific Committee Members Felicity Scott Abstract Permanent Change: Plastics In Conference on Architecture, Paola Antonelli Director, Program in Critical, Architecture and Engineering Engineering and Materials Senior Curator, Department Curatorial and Conceptual Practices Permanent Change: Plastics in of Architecture and Design in Architecture, The Graduate Architecture and Engineering is the The Museum of Modern Art, New York School of Architecture, Planning and Plastics have become the most ubiquitous and increasingly perma- fourth in a series of conferences on Preservation, Columbia University nent materials in construction. The material capabilities of plastics architecture, engineering and mate- Michael Bell both as a generic material nomenclature and as specific polymers rials. Each conference explores the Professor, The Graduate School Werner Sobek boundaries between architecture, of Architecture, Planning and Werner Sobek Engineering and Design, and the processes that underlie them suggest a potential to reshape engineering and materials science by Preservation, Columbia University Stuttgart design and the roles of architects and engineers in construction. bringing together a wide range of lead- Director, Institute for Lightweight While plastics are perhaps the most deeply engineered building ing architects, engineers and scholars Jean-Louis Cohen Structures and Conceptual Design materials today, they are still in their nascent stages of understand- in an intensely focused investigation. Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the (ILEK), University of Stuttgart How is a new generation of profession- History of Architecture, ing in terms of their potential applications and uses. Permanent als and manufacturers fusing engineer- Institute of Fine Arts, New York Heiko Trumpf Change sheds new light on these materials and their implications for ing and architectural practices, and University Engineer, Principal the fields of architecture and engineering. how do new materials and material con- Werner Sobek Engineering and Design, Traced through history, plastics in the overarching sense reveal cepts change our professions? Laurie Hawkinson Stuttgart Professor, The Graduate School aspects that are often completely contrary to assumptions. Convened by of Architecture, Planning and Mark Wigley Permanent Change undertakes to reexamine the histories and reas- The Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, Columbia University Dean, The Graduate School sess the futures of polymers, exploring their origins in industry Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) of Architecture, Planning and and science as well as their role in domestic and public realms, up Columbia University Juan Herreros Preservation, Columbia University Mark Wigley, Dean Senior Professor and Design Studio through recent advances in composites and the new forms of fabri- Michael Bell, Professor of Architecture, Chair, Escuela Técnica Superior de cation assembly these portend. Materials that originally anticipated Conference Chair Arquitectura, Madrid easily molded, re-formed shapes have become a permanent measure and control point in design. From their means of production to their In collaboration with Steven Holl Academic partners: Professor, The Graduate School assembly and to their presence in design, polymers have continually The Fu Foundation School of of Architecture, Planning and been redeployed and developed in ways that often do not align with Engineering and Applied Science Preservation, Columbia University either the early scholarship or technical forecasts of their capabili- Department of Civil Engineering and ties. Plastic, as both broad material nomenclature and specific poly- Engineering Mechanics, Columbia Christian Meyer University Professor, Department of Civil mer, may no longer be capable of sustaining the breadth of cultural Feniosky Peña-Mora, Dean Engineering and Engineering ambitions the term has held at various historical points. As a mate- and Mechanics, Columbia University rial that is still being engineered and increasingly leads to composite Institute for Lightweight Structures The conference will be assemblies, how are the multiple histories and mediatic aspects of and Conceptual Design (ILEK) George T. Middleton accompanied by installations: University of Stuttgart, Germany President, George Middleton Plastic Chains its developments being remade? Werner Sobek, Director & Associates Curated by Rosana Rubio Hernández Assisted by adjunct curators Exclusive Sponsor Sylvia Moore Mara Sánchez Llorens and The Vinyl Institute Director of Technical Development, Carlos Fernández Piñar www.vinylinfo.org Shintech, Inc. AirFlow-er and Poly-Columnar www.vinylindesign.com Designed by Yoshiko Sato Jesse Reiser Assisted by Shuning Zhao EXCLUSIVE Media Sponsor Professor, School of Architecture, and John Hooper The Architect’s Newspaper, New York Princeton University On display in Avery Hall, 100 and www.archpaper.com 200 Levels, March 30–April 1, 2011

2 3 Plastic Space: Plastic Material industrial design devices that have became newly personal, bearing private experience. In architecture and engineering the term plastic has historically If the cultural connotations of plastic include artificiality and at referred to aspects of space and form; that is, how building forms times superficiality, the term also connotes all manner of technical become virtually active, complex in shape and contour or visually innovation if not new levels of authentically original modes of expe- compelling as form. In engineering plastic refers to a material’s abil- rience. Plastics are ubiquitous and have increasingly become essen- ity to sustain itself and recover at the limits of its elastic capability. tial to construction and to the entire built world, from transportation Both aspects of the term are deeply historical if not ancient — they to architecture to electronics and equipment. They are as likely to be are fundamental aesthetic and technical aspects of architecture, part of a medical or food production process as embedded in indus- engineering and materials. trial procedures, but they have almost never delivered a capability Yet during the second half of the 19th century, these broader to shape architecture in a fuller sense. In fact, they have seemingly artistic/cultural and technical meanings of the term were essentially become more invisible and have enabled architecture to sublimate revised if not fully replaced. Plastic literally came to mean a new and technical concerns to substrata of performance (weatherproofing, engineered synthetic material rather than the aesthetic or tech- insulation, electrical casing) and consign overall figure and design nical attributes of a material. Polymers dramatically affected the to a host of linguistic signifiers. That is, polymers are doing work historic, i.e., “plastic,” modeling of form, shape and color but also gar- beneath the surface while the surface is free to look like anything it nered the technical capacity afforded by research and development. wants. Yet this is once again changing, as composites — polymers, They are old and unprecedented simultaneously: the hybridization fused with carbon and other materials — are increasingly reshap- of plastic as quality and as as engineered material conflates expe- ing the production of planes and other results of technologically rience and material science and leaves both terms inadequate to sophisticated industrial production, of highly capitalized processes. describe their social meaning and potential.The advent of polymers In these cases we are again at a threshold where polymers are per- and the 100-year evolution of the chemical engineering of polymers haps beginning anew to reshape their own cultural/technical legacy: prior to the 1950s met with a mid-20th-century strain of commer- to revise their promise as both technical and aesthetic revolution cial mass media, mass production and social upheaval that today is in ways that challenge both the design and technical capacities quasi-historical but also still evolving and shaping both culture and of other materials but also the initial waves of design and engi- production. Polymers are everywhere in construction, but they are neering that polymers have activated since the mid-19th century. also not at all evident in architecture in ways that they were prophe- Composites promise change in how things are made and what they sied as recently as the 1950s. What is the state of plastics as both a can do but also in what they look like, what they connote and the net- broader term and also as the more specific strains of polymers that work of professionals who form the development teams. are embedded in building today, and how do the current manifesta- The more precise annotation for what we call plastics, the subset tions relate to the waves of promise that drove much of our last cen- of polymers — vinyl, PVC, resins, to be specific, but more broadly, tury’s fascination with the material? composites and the processes that define their formation — are a With any shape seemingly possible, plastics have often repro- stark contrast to the easy use of the term plastic and the complex duced or mimed existent forms rather than deliver new shapes: range of capabilities for specific materials. Plastics have reshaped aspects of imitation of forms already known (imagine a 1970s car construction, yet the ways in which architects and engineers view dashboard molded in thermoplastic simulating the experience of a their role in construction has been the subject of less scholarship jet-fighter cockpit) have been a component of plastics as the bearer than have materials such as glass or concrete. One reason for this of artificial or contrived experience. But conversely, they have also may be the gap between the promise of plastics at mid-century and allowed and at times prompted newly responsive and ergonomet- its later implementation. In addition, the lack of a technical vantage ric experiences; easily molded with new efficiency, lightness, ease or understanding of the chemical engineering and specific “plastic” of production and, often, durability, they drive a consortium of

4 5 behavior of polymers has slowed architectural design and scholar- Schedule overview ship related to the materials. Plastics still constitute an essentially new genre of materials and while they are perhaps the most deeply engineered building materials today, they are still in their nascent stages of understanding in light of potential applications and uses. When coupled with Wednesday, March 30, 2011 a commensurate rise in research and development, they become 6:30 – 8:00 PM the recipient of a focused and tremendously sophisticated range Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall of innovations. Conference Keynote Lecture Permanent Change brings these materials to a new light: materials Greg Lynn Architect, Greg Lynn FORM, Venice, California that promised tremendous flexibility and complex modeling are now Professor, UCLA and Institute of Architecture, becoming the most ubiquitous and increasingly permanent materials University of Applied Arts, Vienna in construction. From silicones to sheathing, to electrical casing and plumbing, vinyl and PVC — plastics of all types are often the most Thursday, March 31, 2011 long-lasting warranted and tested materials in construction. They also portend a deep set of ecological issues that are only recently 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM becoming fully addressed. Plastics remain the most easily shaped, Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall contoured and aesthetically and functionally formed materials but Presentations / Panel Discussion they are not alone in complex modeling or innovations in chemical 6:30 – 8:00 PM engineering: fiber-reinforced concrete, glazing and new modes of Altschul Auditorium, SIPA laminated glass and coatings, as well as new metal alloys, all have Honorary Keynote Lecture acquired more elastic capabilities and all are less easily identified as Michael Graves michael Graves Design Group discrete from other materials. What then are the futures of plastics michael Graves & Associates in design, and how can we begin a more comprehensive project of Princeton, New Jersey segregating the complex aspects of polymers and the host of issues that they create and portend? Friday, April 1, 2011 Permanent Change: Plastics In Architecture and Engineering is the fourth in a series of conferences convened by Columbia University. 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM The conference includes new participants and also reconvenes lead- Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall ing engineers, architects and scholars from our previous confer- Presentations / Panel Discussion Concluding Discussion ences on glass, concrete and metals.

6:00 – 7:00 PM Michael Bell Wood Auditorium, Avery Hall Professor, GSAPP, Columbia University Reception Conference Chair

6 7 Wednesday THURSDAY March 30 march 31

6:30 – 8:00 PM Welcoming Remarks CONFERENCE Keynote Lecture 9:30 – 10:00 AM INTRODUCTION to THE CONFERENCE

Mark Wigley Greg Lynn Mark Wigley Dean, GSAPP, Columbia University Architect, Greg Lynn FORM, Dean, GSAPP, Columbia University Venice, California Remarks on behalf Professor, UCLA and Institute Raimondo Betti of The Vinyl Institute of Architecture, University of Chair, Department of Civil Engineering Applied Arts, Vienna and Engineering Mechanics The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University

Michael BelL Professor, GSAPP, Columbia University, Conference Chair

8 9 10:00 – 11:30 AM The Emergence of Polymers: 11:45 – 1:15 PM Permanent Change: How Long Does a Flexible Material Last? Natural Material — Industrial Material 1:15 – 2:15 Pm BREAK

Michael Bell moderator The emergence of polymers since the material, media and branding seems George Wheeler moderator Plastics have promised deeply engi- partner materials in new forms of dura- Professor, GSAPP, Columbia University middle of the 19th century occurred to increasingly present polymers Director of Conservation, Historic neered parameters that assure mate- tion: window gaskets suspending glaz- in specific phases of development and as almost without history and with- Preservation, GSAPP, Columbia rial stability and described if not ing in a differential time span; metals Craig Buckley within a broad range of relationships to out origin — as unbreakable, infinitely University; Chemist, Metropolitan warranted parameters for degradation sustained by polymers in acrylic paints. Director of Print Publications, natural sources as well as to the seem- formable and as segregate from and Museum of Art over time. Yet plastics have also often Polymers have altered the relation- GSAPP, Columbia University ing and actual inorganic aspects of the thereby safe from contaminating part- been understood to inevitably offer a ships of given materials and thereby urban and industrial world. The natural ner materials and contagions. Did poly- Jan Knippers component of aesthetics or stylistic re-engendered their properties and Billie Faircloth origins of polymers seem to be virtually mers’ relationship to nature decline or Engineer, Knippers Helbig Advanced change — any shape is achievable and architectural meaning. Research Director, KieranTimberlake forgotten today, at least in terms of the was their participatory relationship to Engineering plastics are understood to offer both How do polymers alter the readings popular perception of plastics as arti- their environment simply modified? tremendous flexibility but also defined of permanence in building and what if Lydia Kallipoliti ficial or lifeless, but at the outset poly- Craig Konyk limits. Are plastics different from any relationship exists between his- Assistant Adjunct Professor, mers such as vulcanized rubber existed Adjunct Assistant Professor, GSAPP, other materials in terms of life spans in torical values associated with the term The Cooper Union, Irwin S. Chanin at a precipice between industry and Columbia University building; are they tested, documented permanence and the performance of School of Architecture nature. They conflated the industrial and adhered to for safety and invest- polymers today? and natural in ways that today seem Werner Preusker ment parameters in unique ways? Do Theodore H.M. Prudon misunderstood if not simply forgot- Attorney, AG PVC und Umwelt e.V., the wider public or legislative bod- Adjunct Associate Professor, ten. Is it possible to still see polymers Bonn ies understand plastics well enough to Historic Preservation, GSAPP, as natural, or have they migrated so far gauge their safety, their uses or post- Columbia University from these beginnings that they have Rita Schenck consumer potentials? become something else altogether? Executive Director, Institute for Degradation, loss of elasticity, loss What is the outcome of how these Environmental Research and Education of color — these are all aspects of a materials are understood historically; material’s commodity value and lia- has the history of polymers been irre- bility determinations. What are the coverably lost? design limits of plastics in this realm? Charles Goodyear’s patent on vul- Is there a cleft between life span engi- canization in 1844 paved the way for neering and formal pliancy that one a new industrial procedure for rubber assumes with plastics? Are there long- that would lie at the heart of the auto- term attributes to plastics that alter mobile industry and paved the way for their environmental determinants; or vulcanized rubber becoming intrin- applications and quantities of use and sic to urban landscapes. What aspects implementation that register in how a of the history of polymers have been polymer performs in relation to pub- deflected, undervalued or misrepre- lic health, reuse or recycling? How do sented, if not simply lost, in the ensu- these attributes come together in plas- ing period leading up to the 1950s, tics in ways that are unique or different when one encounters plastics in the full from concrete, wood, metals or glass as both material and as a spectacular where life span and design potential component of modernization? are also often highly managed? The first 100 years of polymers Plastics have promised a unique seem distinct from the postwar relationship to history — altering the American and European period dur- life span of building components but ing which a conflation of polymers as also surprisingly engaged in keeping

10 11 2:15 – 3:45 PM Architecture: Plastic Life, Life of Plastics 4:00 – 5:30 PM Cultural Material: Counter-Cultural Material

Galia Solomonoff moderator In an era of harvesting energy, push- Brian Kane moderator The 1950s and ’60s iconic images Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Associate Professor, GSAPP, Columbia ing boundaries, recovering lost energy Assistant Professor of Music, of plastic architecture such as the Inevitable forecast the totalizing University and convening new means of cross fer- Yale University Monsanto House of the Future had a aspects of plastics as a pan-environ- tilization if not purposeful conflation corollary in the pervasive yet nonfig- ment of countless ready-mades; a Anna Dyson of means, do plastics add a particular Hernan Diaz Alonso ural uses of plastics in plumbing, elec- seemingly endless supply of branded Director, CASE, RPI/CASE SOM, value or are they one of many newly liq- Graduate Programs Chair, trical wiring and waterproofing. If this differences that were in the end as New York uid materials in the fields of design and SCI-Arc; GSAPP, Columbia University; is a divide that perhaps some saw in homogenous as they were total. The engineering? Has the status of the archi- University of Applied Arts, Vienna advance, it seems to have also cast the environment was plastic: distributed Winka Dubbeldam tectural work gained or lost distinction project of a plastic architecture — a plastics. Professor of Practice, University in this regard — that is, is there an overt Felicity Scott figural plastic/plasticity — into a kind What has changed in regard to the of Pennsylvania architectural significance to plastics Director, Program in Critical, of nostalgic kitsch approached as a sig- word and associated aspects of the today, or are they so fully embedded in Curatorial and Conceptual Practices nal of a nascent but unrealized former term plastic since the post-‘60s era? Sheila Kennedy work that they assume a less overt but in Architecture, GSAPP, Columbia future. The House of the Future seems How has its meaning or potential Professor of Practice, MIT School nonetheless more pervasive role? University to be received today as a figural as well migrated? What work set up the explo- of Architecture + Planning Are current designers more beholden as material prophecy come undone — sion of connotations and is it possible to performance or strategic purpose Chip Lord a trajectory that lost ground in light of plastic has become both more and less William Pearson than in prior generations and do plas- Artist, Founding member, Ant Farm other imperatives. In its place, have we pervasive? Technical Director, North Sails One tics today signify something far more realized a world of plastic versions of Are we still concerned with the term Design International Ltd. distributed and codified; or are plastics Beatriz Colomina previous building components — that plastic and its negative aspects and simply purposed as other materials with Professor of Architecture and Director is, vinyl-clad wood windows, vinyl ver- would we even concern ourselves with their own unique design instincts and of the Program in Media and Modernity, sions of wood siding, etc.? Plastics are these connotations today — or ever? parameters? Princeton University employed in ways that sustain former In the mid-1950s the promise of plas- vernaculars and our gaze is cast for- tics took on a utopian guise but also a ward materially and backward formally full-fledged image of total design: is it in time. possible that plastics heralded an era There seems to be little overt, i.e., of synthetic and ultimately engineered expressive, plastic architecture today, design whose concrete image and form but polymers such as vinyl are called betrayed the flexibility and dexterity upon increasingly to abet an array of that plastics represented at a techni- design strategies. As opposed to being cal (chemical) level? Did the image of the the manifest strategy of both mean- ‘50s utopian house of the future become ing and form, plastics enclose former too unilateral and too closed even as it meanings in airtight containers. The was first envisioned to corral or signify deep and pervasive use of polymers in the torrents of heterogeneous practices building mechanics and discrete sys- that were beneath, within and around tems — from paint and coatings to these new engineered materials? Does wire casing, plumbing, windows and design find itself outside of these prac- siding — seem to continually reveal a tices, or possibly within them? divide where plastics migrate to prag- matic architectural problems rather then expressive proposals of form or shape.

12 13 FRIDAY April 1

6:30 – 8:00 PM HONORARY Keynote Lecture 9:30 – 11:00 AM Plastic Environments: Environmental Plastics

Honorary Keynote Lecture Heiko Trumpf moderator What is the future of polymers in or to reengineer what would otherwise Michael Graves Werner Sobek Engineering and Design, regard to expected and forecast poten- be unusable polymers? Are there tech- Michael Graves Design Group Stuttgart tials in the chemical engineering of niques that will keep polymers out of Michael Graves & Associates polymers and also as building materials landfills altogether: can they be reengi- Princeton, New Jersey Erik Olsen in a wider sense? Will polymers offer neered and thus transform the expec- TRANSSOLAR a future malleability that allows one tations for what would have been Stuttgart and New York to alter their chemical structure after discarded material? production: that is, can we reengineer William F. Carroll polymers and extend, alter or reroute · The reuse of polymeric building mate- Vice President, Industry Issues, their post-consumer uses? Are there rials is usually done within a thermal Occidental Chemical Corporation financial or economic imperatives that recycling process; the melting, grind- could sustain or thwart taking poly- ing and washing of polymeric materials Jack R. Armstrong mers back to their atomic origins: to prior to re-forming has limits and sets BASF, Leader, Construction Markets returning the material to chemical ori- parameters for polymer reuse, reappli- North America gins for reassembly or purpose? cation and recycling. Polymers gain strength and are Hartmut Sinkwitz shaped by way of initial thermal pro- · What aspects of polymers — either Director, Interior Design Center cesses and exhibit properties of by way of chemical engineering or of Competence, Daimler AG entropy prior to applications of heat: the limits imparted by initial chemi- while thermoplastics can be heated cal engineering — will be critical to the and given shape and then melted again future environmental factors of poly- to be re-formed, thermoset polymers mers? How are these stages as applied cannot be reshaped after their ini- to polymers different from metals or tial formation. Thermosetting of poly- other predominant building materials? mers induces molecular cross-linking; once formed the molecular structure becomes permanent, giving the material strength but also the inability to be re-formed. The thermosetting and its inherent cross-linking effectively block the flow of one molecule past another, thwarting potential reuses. Thermoset polymers are not as easy to either reuse or reengineer — to recycle.

· How does design affect the post- production use of polymers?

· Will the future environmental implications of polymers involve a renewed attempt to alter the chemical structure of discarded polymeric materials

14 15 11:15 AM – 12:45 PM Structural Aspects of Polymers 2:00 – 3:30 PM Plastic Bodies 12:45 – 2:00 PM BREAK

Laurie Hawkinson moderator Designers tend to portray polymers as · The structural properties of polymers Paola Antonelli moderator Plastic has long signified cultural Professor, GSAPP, Columbia University infinitely moldable and easily shaped, achieved by thermosetting, cross- Senior Curator, Department change and contemporary life: but what but their limits are highly defined and linking and other chemical engineer- of Architecture and Design, are the term’s other uses today? Mark Goulthorpe as such are perhaps more ambiguous ing techniques are rarely discussed The Museum of Modern Art, New York Does plastic space still survive as a Associate Professor, MIT School and misunderstood by architects and in architectural design, but they com- useful term or does the term and facts of Architecture + Planning designers than are metals, concrete prise a unique component and strain Sanford Kwinter of plastics cast us into a very different or glass. Are there tectonic aspects to of plastics that is distinctly different Professor of Architectural Theory contemporary world of ecological con- Johan Bettum plastics and do they follow and abide from thermoplastics. Polymers tend and Criticism, Harvard University cern and transformed meaning of what Professor of Architecture by the attributes of metals and other to be discussed in generic terms and/ Graduate School of Design was once the material of the future? and Program Director, ductile materials? How do polymeric or with degrees of strength, flexibil- What is the emergent role of bio- Städelschule Architecture Class materials alter our basic concept of ity and other parameters. They often George Jeronimidis plastics in design and how do these architectural or engineering struc- seem to moderate other material con- Professor Emeritus and Director, materials alter the relationship of Heiko Trumpf ture and dislocate the work and the ditions more then serve as distinct Centre for Biomimetics, University plastics to the body and to the long- Werner Sobek Engineering potential of architectural design and components. Are polymers a subset of Reading, UK held popular image of plastics? and Design, Stuttgart experience? of construction or can they be seen as Materials such as vinyl have long held Increasingly, aspects of polymers emerging as central to it? Fabian Marcaccio a role in all modes of design related to Ignaas Verpoest and composites are present in heavy Artist, New York the body — from seating to automobile Department of Metallurgy construction and operate in a realm · Composites are increasingly seen interiors — but what new roles do poly- and Materials Engineering, where steel or other metals once pre- as the heir to a wide range of his- François Roche mers play in more invasive or medical/ Katholieke Universiteit Leuven dominated. That is, polymers are taking toric building materials such as met- Architect, R&Sie(n), Paris biological roles in regard to bodies? on plastic attributes of steel — or join- als and concrete and in some ways Have we passed a threshold ing with steel and concrete — but with have already changed the discussion where the bodily or haptic aspects a completely unique array of structural of tectonics and assembly in architec- of plastics — from the ergonometric techniques, both at the level of assem- tural design and engineering: do you of the hand-held, to electronic circuitry bly and by way of chemical engineering. expect to see a wider range of com- or the pervasive use of plastics in food But polymers also shape a vast array of posites in design? packaging — actually comprise a for- other building components where pli- mer frontier whose effects, while far ancy and movement are critical. from certain, are more traceable or directly corporeal when compared · Has plastic been a component of your to the bio-engineering of plastics we practice in ways that are beyond inte- see today? gral use in plumbing, electrical casing or waterproofing? Do you see a new role for plastics and in particular for vinyl or PVC and other materials seemingly relegated to issues of artificiality or lack of historical authority? PVC and other plastics are capable of being engineered for a tremendous range of properties, including heat resistance and stiffness. Do you foresee new uses for plastics in structural engineering?

16 17 3:45 – 5:15 PM Plastic Abstraction: Concept or Material 5:15 – 6:00 PM Concluding Discussion Plastics, Vinyl, Composites and Engineered Materials: The Future of Plastics in Architecture

Juan Herreros moderator Is plastic the first material for which it Mark Wigley Visiting Professor, GSAPP, Columbia is possible to claim that material pre- Dean, GSAPP, Columbia University University; Senior Professor, Escuela cedes concept — did plastic emerge Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, without a mandate or with seemingly Steven Holl Madrid eased constraints compared to wood, Professor, GSAPP, Columbia University stone, glass or metals? That is, does Michael Meredith the term plastic as an adjective or Sylvia Lavin Associate Professor, Harvard material nomenclature fail to live up to Professor and Director of Critical University Graduate School of Design what the material could have been or Studies and MA / Ph.D. programs in could have prompted? Architecture, UCLA Jorge Otero-Pailos Embodied in polymers, the aspects, Assistant Professor, effects and qualities of luster, reflec- Werner Sobek Historic Preservation, GSAPP, tion, surface or even weight all seem to Werner Sobek Engineering and Design, Columbia University have been often seen in light of other Stuttgart more historically qualified materials: do Hilary Sample plastics need an entirely new language Professor, Yale School of Architecture of art history, of artistic qualities? Have plastics found the depth of Mark Wigley their potential or were they short-cir- Dean, GSAPP, Columbia University cuited by applications of earlier man- dates, or earlier material constraints on Sylvia Lavin image, shape and design? Are plastics Professor and Director of Critical still today a material in search of Studies and MA/ Ph.D. programs in a concept? Architecture, UCLA Reception To follow

18 19 PARTICIPANTS seismic response of bridges, active, and also Adjunct Professor of and art exhibitions, including the 2004 passive and hybrid control systems Chemistry at Indiana University. Caroll Venice Biennale, “Metamorphose”; for the vibration control of structures is a past President (2005) of the Archilab, Orleans, France; “The Naked subjected to earthquake and/or wind American Chemical Society, a Fellow City,” Beijing Biennale; “Glamour,” excitation and damage detection for of the Royal Society of Chemistry and San Francisco Museum of Modern bridges using data correlation analy- chair or member of a number of com- Art (SFMoMA); and in 2003, “Virus,” Paola Antonelli Team of the Plastics Division of the Essays and Projects on the City (2004) sis. He is a member of the Earthquake mittees for the National Research Universidad de Costa Rica. His work Paola Antonelli is Senior Curator in American Chemistry Council. and Slow Space (1998). Engineering Research Institute, the Council of the National Academy of is part of the permanent collections of the Department of Architecture and Bell has taught at the University American Society of Civil Engineers Sciences. He has served on expert FRAC, Orleans, France (Architecture Design at The Museum of Modern Michael Bell of California at Berkeley and Rice and Sigma Xi. groups for the United Nations Collection) and SFMoMA. Art, New York (MoMA), where she Michael Bell is an architect and University, and has been a visiting pro- Environment Programme, the US has worked since 1994. Through her a Professor of Architecture at fessor at Harvard University Graduate Johan Bettum Environmental Protection Agency and Winka Dubbeldam exhibitions — including “Design and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Design and at the University Johan Bettum is Professor of three states. Winka Dubbeldam is the principal of the Elastic Mind,” 2008 — teaching School of Architecture, Planning of Michigan where he held the Saarinen Architecture and Program Director of Archi-Tectonics, New York, which she and writing, she strives to promote and Preservation (GSAPP). Bell is Professorship in Architecture. Michael the Städelschule Architecture Class Beatriz Colomina founded in 1994. Archi-Tectonics a deeper understanding of design’s the founding Chair of the Columbia Bell Architecture was established in in Frankfurt. He has taught and lec- Beatriz Colomina is Professor of is created as an open network — a transformative and constructive influ- Conference on Architecture, 1989 and specializes in housing and tured at the Architectural Association Architecture and Director of the inter- team of highly qualified architects ence on the world. She is particu- Engineering and Materials; a urban redevelopment where hous- in London, UCLA, the Berlage Institute disciplinary Program in Media and and designers, with a close connec- larly proud of a recent acquisition for GSAPP collaboration with The Fu ing is a key component. In 2001, Bell and Innsbruck University, among Modernity at Princeton University. She tion to Dubbeldam’s team of engi- MoMA’s Permanent Collection: the @ Foundation School of Engineering led a team of architects who provided many other institutions, and is cur- is the author of Domesticity at War neers and consultants. The team spirit sign. She is working on several exhibi- and Applied Science, and the Institute research, planning and design for rently also a guest professor at the (Actar and MIT Press, 2007), Privacy expresses itself in an aim to rethink, tion concepts and on the book Design for Lightweight Structures and 2,100 units of housing on a 100-acre EPFL in Lausanne. He studied at the and Publicity: Modern Architecture reinvestigate and reinterpret all proj- Bites, about basic foods as examples of Conceptual Design (ILEK), University parcel of oceanfront land owned by Architectural Association after receiv- as Mass Media (MIT Press, 1994) ect details. Archi-Tectonics’ recent outstanding design. of Stuttgart, Germany. the New York Department of Housing ing a Bachelor of Arts degree with and Sexuality and Space (Princeton built work includes the 80,000-square- At Columbia, Bell directs the Master Preservation and Development a major in biology from Princeton Architectural Press, 1992). Her foot mixed-use GW 497 build- Jack Armstrong of Architecture Program Core Design (NYHPD). The project was commis- University. From 1998 to 2002, most recent book is Clip/Stamp/Fold: ing in New York City, the 15-story Jack Armstrong, Leader of BASF— Studios and also leads the school’s sioned by the Architectural League of Bettum was a research fellow at The Radical Architecture of Little American Loft tower in Philadelphia, The Chemical Company’s Construction housing design studios. New York and the NYHPD as a research the Oslo School of Architecture and Magazines 196X–197X (Actar, 2010), the 2500-square-foot GT residence Markets for North America, graduated Bell’s architectural design work proposal to help shape city planning. headed a nationally funded research co-edited with Craig Buckley. and guesthouse in upstate New York with a degree in chemical engineering has been exhibited at The Museum Bell is a partner in the design firm project on polymer composite materi- and the 3000-square-foot Prefab from the University of Texas and began of Modern Art, New York; the Visible Weather with Eunjeong Seong. als in architecture; his doctoral thesis Hernan Diaz Alonso Dub Residence in Rotterdam. Current working for BASF in 1989. His posts Venice Biennale; the Yale School focuses on architecture and fiber-rein- Hernan Diaz Alonso is the principal projects under construction are the have included Regional Marketing of Architecture; the University Art Raimondo Betti forced composites. and founder of Xefirotarch, an award- nine-story residential Vestry Street Manager for BASF South America, Museum, Berkeley and at Archilab, Raimondo Betti is Professor of Civil winning design firm in Architecture, building, the LRH mixed-use build- Brazil for Acrylic Functional Polymers, Orleans, France. Bell has received four Engineering in the Department of Craig Buckley Product and Digital Motion based in ing and a townhouse in Chelsea, all for General Manager for Polyurethane Progressive Architecture Awards and Civil Engineering and Engineering Craig Buckley is the Director of Print Los Angeles. He received his archi- in New York City. Commercial work Systems, Americas (based in Brussels, his work is also included in the perma- Mechanics, of which he is Chair, at The Publications at Columbia University’s tecture degrees from the National includes the flagship stores for Ports Belgium) and Business Manager for nent collection of the San Francisco Fu Foundation School of Engineering Graduate School of Architecture University of Rosario, Argentina, 1961in London, Paris and Shanghai, Styropor Expandable Polystyrene Museum of Modern Art. His recently and Applied Science, Columbia Planning and Preservation, where he and from Columbia University’s AAD and a school /orphanage in Liberia. Foams, for North America. completed Binocular House is fea- University. He specializes in the areas is also Adjunct Assistant Professor. Program, from which he graduated The work of Archi-Tectonics has been His current responsibilities focus on tured in Kenneth Frampton’s American of structural dynamics and earth- He is the coeditor of Clip/Stamp/Fold: with honors. Currently, he is a stu- exhibited recently at The Museum of combining BASF’s high-performance Masterworks: Houses of the 20th quake engineering with particular The Radical Architecture of Little dio design and visual studies profes- Modern Art, New York; the Museum building products into integrated sys- and 21st Century (2008). Books by emphasis on the analysis of dynamic Magazines 196X-197X, Solid States: sor and is the Graduate Programs of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; tems that result in a whole greater than Bell include Post Ductility: Metals in soil-structure interaction effects for Concrete in Transition and Utopie: Chair at SCI-Arc, Los Angeles. Diaz the Venice Biennale and the Tel Aviv the sum of its parts. BASF’s goal is to Architecture and Engineering (2011); horizontally extended structures. His Texts and Projects 1967–1978. Alonso is also a design studio profes- Museum of Art. be the undisputed leader as the brand Solid States: Concrete in Transition research interests include the dynamic sor at Columbia University’s Graduate Dubbeldam’s role as Professor of of sustainable solutions. (2009); Engineered Transparency: The response of embedded foundations William F. Carroll School of Architecture, Planning and Practice and the Director of the Post- Armstrong currently serves on the Technical, Visual, and Spatial Effects to earthquake excitation, analysis and William F. Carroll holds a Ph.D. in Preservation, and a visiting profes- Professional Program at the University board of directors of the Sustainable of Glass (2008); 16 Houses: Designing determination of Green’s functions organic chemistry from Indiana sor at the University of Applied Arts, of Pennsylvania and her teaching at Building Industries Council, The the Public’s Private House (2004); for homogeneous and layered semi- University, Bloomington. He is cur- Vienna. His architecture designs have Columbia University and Harvard Structural Insulated Panel Association Michael Bell: Space Replaces Us: infinite domains, effects of the spa- rently Vice President, Industry Issues, received numerous awards and have University further assist in the con- and the Building and Construction tial variation of ground motion on the for Occidental Chemical Corporation been exhibited in both architecture stant innovation for which the office

20 21 strives. Dubbeldam is a graduate of on emerging construction and fabrica- a number of times at the Venice and History and the NYC 2012 Olympic and established Steven Holl Architects Department of Mechanical Engineering the Faculty of Architecture, Rotterdam tion technologies. Faircloth received a Beijing Biennales. Village. She is a member of the Board in New York City. of Zhengzhou University, China. (1990); she received an M.Arch.AAD Bachelor of Architecture degree from of Directors of the Wooster Group He has realized cultural, civic, aca- Jeronimidis was born in Rome, from Columbia University in 1992. North Carolina State University and a Michael Graves and serves on the Contemporary Arts demic and residential projects both Italy, and received a Ph.D. in Physical Master of Architecture with Distinction Michael Graves, the founder of Michael Council of The Museum of Modern Art. in the United States and internation- Chemistry from the University of Rome Anna Dyson from Harvard University. Graves & Associates and Michael ally. Notable work includes the Kiasma in 1970. His previous academic posi- Anna Dyson teaches design, tech- Graves Design Group, is credited with Juan Herreros Museum of Contemporary Art in tions include Scientific Officer at nology and theory at the School of Mark Goulthorpe broadening the role of the architect in Juan Herreros, an architect and Helsinki, Finland (1998), the Chapel Laboratorio su Tecnologie dei Polimeri Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Mark Goulthorpe is an Associate society and raising public interest in Ph.D., is Design Studio Chair, Senior of St. Ignatius, Seattle, Washington e Reologia, CNR, Naples (1970–75), Institute. She is Director of The Professor in the Department of good design as essential to the quality Professor and Director of the Thesis (1997) and the Nelson-Atkins Museum Research Fellow in Department of Center for Architecture, Science and Architecture at MIT School of of everyday life. Graves has received Program at the Escuela Técnica of Art (2007). Most recently com- Engineering, University of Reading Ecology (CASE), which hosts the Built Architecture + Planning, where he many prestigious awards, including Superior de Arquitectura, Madrid, pleted are the Linked Hybrid mixed-use (1975–80) and Lecturer and Senior Ecologies graduate program. Dyson teaches in undergraduate, gradu- the 1999 National Medal of Arts, the as well as a Visiting Professor at complex in Beijing, China (2009)— Lecturer in the Department of received a Baccalauréat Général from ate and post-graduate programs, and 2001 Gold Medal from the American Columbia University’s Graduate named Best Tall Building Overall for Engineering, University of Reading Université Laval and an M.Arch. from conducts ongoing research in digi- Institute of Architects and the 2010 School of Architecture. Planning and 2009 by the Council on Tall Buildings— (1980–95). Yale University. She has worked as a tal design and fabrication. His current Topaz Medallion from the AIA and the Preservation. He has previously taught and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), the Knut design architect and product designer research centers on robotic fabrication Association of Collegiate Schools at the EPFL (Lausanne), Architectural Hamsun Center in Hamarøy, Norway Lydia Kallipoliti in several offices in Canada, Europe and a variety of composite fabrication of Architecture, in recognition of his Association (London), Princeton (2009), the Herning Museum of Lydia Kallipoliti is Assistant Adjunct and the United States. As Director of methodologies. 39-year teaching career at Princeton University School of Architecture and Contemporary Art in Herning, Denmark Professor at the Cooper Union, Irwin Materialab and then CASE, she has He is the author of two books: University. Graves was cited by Paul Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1984 (2009) and the Horizontal Skyscraper S. Chanin School of Architecture, directed interdisciplinary systems Autoplastic to Alloplastic (Hyx/ Goldberger, former New York Times he founded, together with Iñaki Abalos, in Shenzhen, China (2009), one of the and a practicing architect, engineer research sponsored by the US DOE, Pompidou), which examines the critic, as “the most truly original voice the firm Abalos & Herreros; in 1992 the first LEED Platinum rated buildings in and theorist living in New York. She NYSTAR and NYSERDA. Dyson has shifts in design methodology occa- American architecture has produced in Multimedia International League, LMI; Southern China. holds architecture degrees from the received numerous design awards and sioned by digital technologies; and some time.” and in 2006 his current firm, Herreros Steven Holl is a tenured Professor Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in holds multiple international patents for The Possibility of (an) Architecture Arquitectos, through which he pursues at Columbia University’s Graduate Greece, MIT and Princeton University building systems inventions. (Routledge), which theorizes the broad Laurie Hawkinson his professional and pedagogical activ- School of Architecture, Planning and School of Architecture. Kallipoliti implications of a digital paradigm for Laurie Hawkinson received her Master ity. His most notable publications are Preservation. He has lectured and is the editor of “EcoRedux: Design Billie Faircloth architecture. A forthcoming book, of Fine Arts degree from the University Tower & Office (with Iñaki Abalos, MIT exhibited widely and has published Remedies for an Ailing Planet,” a spe- Billie Faircloth is Research Director Paramorph, foregrounds the design of California at Berkeley, attended Press), Isla Ciudad (Actar), Palacios numerous books, including Anchoring cial issue of Architectural Design (AD) at KieranTimberlake, an internation- and fabrication research that lies the Whitney Museum of American Art de la Diversión (Mairea), PTb-Cedric (1989), Parallax (2000), Idea and magazine. She is also the author ally recognized architecture firm behind the evolving projects. Independent Study Program in New Price (Ministerio de Fomento — COAM), Phenomena (2002), Luminosity/ of the EcoRedux online nonprofit edu- noted for its commitment to research, Goulthorpe is also a practicing archi- York and received her Professional Vivienda SXXI (Actar) and various Porosity (2006), House: Black Swan cational resource for ecological exper- innovation and invention. She leads tect, working with diverse teams Degree in Architecture from The monographs. Herreros Arquitectos is Theory (2007) and Architecture iments during the postwar period, a trans-disciplinary research team under the rubric dECOi. Current proj- Cooper Union. She is Professor of currently working on projects in Spain, Spoken (2007). Most recently pub- which received an honor at the 14th that conspires to advance building ects include a fully CNC-milled office Architecture with tenure at Columbia Norway, Belgium, Panama, Mexico and lished is his book, Urbanisms: International Webby Awards and a sil- design practices through material, interior for C Change Investments University and is currently the Uruguay. Herreros has received the Working With Doubt (Princeton ver medal at the W3 awards from the system, process and environment- (Cambridge, MA), a carbon-fiber pent- Director of the Advanced Studios at RIBA International Fellowship (Royal Architectural Press). International Academy of Digital Arts driven questions. She fosters collab- house as an extension to a tower top the Graduate School of Architecture, Institute of British Architects), the and Sciences. Her design and theoreti- oration between disciplines, trades adjacent to Tate Modern (London); and Planning and Preservation. Significant Medal of Fine Arts from the city of San George Jeronimidis cal work has been published and exhib- and industries and their disparate bod- a Zero+ thermoplastic housing initia- completed projects include the Lorenzo de El Escorial, the 2009 AD George Jeronimidis is Director of ited internationally. ies of knowledge. In her professional tive. The dECOi atelier was named one Corning Museum of Glass, the Wall Architecture Award and was nominated the Centre for Biomimetics, at the and academic research Faircloth pur- of the Architectural League of New Street Ferry Terminal, “Strategic Open for the 2010 Medal from the American University of Reading, U.K., where Brian Kane sues an answer to the question “Why York’s “Emerging Voices” in 2006, Space: Public Improvement Strategy Academy of Arts and Letters. he is also Professor Emeritus, and Brian Kane is an assistant professor of do we build the way that we do?” Prior selected for the “Design Vanguard” for Lower Manhattan” and the new Co-Director of the EmTech Programme, music at Yale University. His research to joining KieranTimberlake, she was an by Architectural Record in 2005, won Land Ports of Entry at Champlain and Steven Holl Architectural Association School of explores the intersection of music the- assistant professor at the University of the FEIDAD award for digital design in Massena, New York, as well as cur- Steven Holl was born in 1947 in Architecture, London. He has taught ory, philosophy and contemporary Texas at Austin School of Architecture 2004 (Miran Galerie, Paris) and 2000 rent ongoing projects such as the new Bremerton, Washington. He gradu- Composite Materials Engineering in the music with a particular focus on sound, where she instructed design research (Aegis Hyposurface), was selected Emergency Medical Services building ated from the University of Washington School of Construction Management signification, the senses, phenomenol- studios at the graduate and undergrad- for the exhibition “New Trends of for the City of New York. Collaborative and pursued architecture studies in and Engineering, University of ogy and critical theory. His work has uate level in exploring applications for Architecture” for the European Capital projects include the North Carolina Rome in 1970. In 1976 he attended the Reading, and is Visiting Professor been published in qui parle, Current conventional and emerging material of Culture in 2004 and has exhibited Museum of Art Amphitheater and Site Architectural Association in London at the Dipartimento di Architettura, Musicology, Contemporary Music technologies, and conducted seminars Master Plan, the Museum of Women’s Politecnico di Bari, Italy, and Review, The Journal of Visual Culture,

22 23 Journal of Music Theory and Music together with Thorsten Helbig in 2001 was honored with a 2010 New York Expo,” JANM, Los Angeles; “Craig the United States in the American Fabian Marcaccio Theory Spectrum. He is currently writ- in Stuttgart and in 2009 in New York Chapter AIA Design Merit Award for Hodgetts: Playmaker” (ACE Pavilion, and at the Venice 11th Fabian Marcaccio is an artist based ing a book on acousmatic sound. City. The focus of their work is on effi- its sustainable Urban Design proposal Galleries); “Take Note,” exploring the International Architecture Exhibition in New York. His work investigates cient structural design for interna- “Urban Aeration.” relationship between architecture and in 2008 for which he was awarded the whether the traditional medium of Sheila Kennedy tional and architecturally demanding writing, at the Canadian Centre for Golden Lion. His work is in the perma- painting can survive in the digital age. Sheila Kennedy is Professor of projects. Jan Knippers specializes in Sanford Kwinter Architecture, Montreal; and a new proj- nent collections of CCA, SFMoMA and He has used printmaking and trans- Practice, MIT School of Architecture + complex parametrical generated geom- Sanford Kwinter is Professor of ect based series of exhibits on archi- MoMA and has been exhibited at the fer techniques to make paintings and Planning and a Principal of KVA MATx, etries for roof and facade structures, Architectural Theory and Criticism at tecture and design at the Hammer Centre Pompidou, Fondation Beyeler, became well known in the 1990s for an interdisciplinary design practice as well as the use of innovative mate- Harvard Graduate School of Design. Museum, Los Angeles. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design his manipulations of the conventions of with projects in architecture, eco-infra- rials such as glass-fiber reinforced A writer and editor, he received his Museum, MAK, MoCA, Netherlands painting. More recently, he has relied structure, digital technologies and plastics. Since 2000, he has headed Ph.D. from Columbia University. He Chip Lord Architecture Institute, Carnegie on digital and industrial techniques to the emergent public realm. Current the Institute for Building Structures has taught at MIT and at Columbia and Chip Lord is a media artist and a Museum of Art, ICA and Secession infuse his painting process with spatial work includes the IBA-Hamburg SOFT and Structural Design, Faculty of Rice universities, and was co-founder Professor Emeritus in the Film and Museum, among other venues. and temporal concerns. The results are Housing in Germany, the Minneapolis Architecture and Urban Design at the and editor of the journal Zone and Digital Media Department at U.C. Lynn, who founded the firm Greg Lynn environmental paintings, animations Riverfront Design Project and the East University of Stuttgart and is involved Zone Books for 20 years. He has writ- Santa Cruz. He has an M.Arch from FORM in 1994, holds degrees in archi- and “Paintants,” which combine digi- 34th Street Public Ferry Terminal in many research projects on plastics in ten widely on philosophical issues of Tulane University and as a found- tecture and philosophy and received tally manipulated imagery, sculptural in New York. Kennedy directs KVA’s architecture. design, architecture and urbanism and ing partner of Ant Farm (1968–78), an Honorary Doctorate degree from form and three-dimensional painted material research division, MATx, was an editorial member of the ANY Lord produced the video art classics the Academy of Fine Arts and Design surfaces. which has created designs for DuPont, Craig Konyk conferences and publications as well Media Burn and The Eternal Frame as in Bratislava. He was the Professor of Marcaccio was born in 1963 in Siemens, OSRAM, Herman Miller, Craig Konyk is an architect and Adjunct as of Assemblage. He is the author of well as the sculpture Cadillac Ranch Spatial Conception and Exploration Rosario, Argentina, where he attended Procter & Gamble, The North Face Assistant Professor of Architecture in several articles and books, including in Amarillo, Texas. Ant Farm designed at the ETHZ (Swiss Federal Institute the University of Philosophy. He has and the United States Department of the Graduate School of Architecture, Architectures of Time: Toward a Theory and built inflatable structures and pro- of Technology Zurich) and in 2002 exhibited widely throughout the United Energy. Planning and Preservation at Columbia of the Event in Modernist Culture (MIT duced the Inflatocookbook in 1971. became an Ordentlicher University States, Europe and South America. The MATx Portable Light Project, University, where he most recently co- Press, 2001), Far From Equilibrium: Ant Farm received a Progressive Professor at the University of Applied In 2004 a retrospective of his work a nonprofit global initiative to cre- taught with Jorge Otero-Pailos a Joint Essays on Technology and Design Architecture Design Citation in 1973 Arts, Vienna. He is a tenured Professor was organized by the Kunstmuseum ate energy-harvesting textiles, is Preservation and Design Studio-X, Culture (Actar, 2008) and Requiem: For for the House of the Century in Texas. at UCLA’s School of Architecture and Liechtenstein, the same year that a 2011 Buckminster Fuller Award which traveled to Rio de Janeiro. the City at the Turn of the Millennium. Lord’s practice in video straddles Urban Design where he is currently a solo exhibition of his work was Finalist, and the recipient of a 2009 Konyk was invited to participate in the He is currently at work on a book on documentary and experimental genres, spearheading the development of an mounted at the Miami Art Museum. U.S. Congressional Award and a History Channel’s “City of the Future” Africa and the origin of form. often mixing the two, and this work has experimental research robotics lab. In He regularly exhibits with galleries in 2009 Energy Globe Award for tech- Design Challenge where he presented been shown widely at film and video addition, he is the Davenport Visiting New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Cologne nology that benefits humanity. The “Cloud 09,” an information-based work/ Sylvia Lavin festivals and at museums. Since 1991 Professor at Yale University. and Barcelona. He has participated in work of KVA MATx has been exhibited recreation proposal for Manhattan. Sylvia Lavin, Professor and Director he has produced a series of works In 2001, Time magazine named Greg numerous group exhibitions, includ- at the National Design Museum, the His design for the UP!house (originally of Critical Studies and MA/Ph.D. pro- related to urban geography and pub- Lynn one of 100 of the most innova- ing the 44th Biennial Exhibition of Rotterdam Biennial, the Vitra Design commissioned by Dwell magazine and grams at UCLA and a visiting profes- lic space. His project Movie Map was tive people in the world for the 21st Contemporary American Painting, Museum, the TED conference and The sponsored by The Vinyl Institute), a sor at Princeton University School of shown in the group exhibition Auto: century. In 2003, he received an Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, Museum of Modern Art, New York. prototype prefab house that incorpo- Architecture, is known both for her Sueño y Materia in Gijon and Madrid, Architecture Award from the American DC in 1995; Summer Projects at PS1 Kennedy’s work appears in journals of rates innovative translucent vinyl wall/ scholarship and her criticism in con- Spain, in 2009 and a career survey of Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2005, Contemporary Art Center, New York architecture and design culture and ceiling/floor panels, was selected for temporary architecture and design. his video work was shown at the Museo Forbes magazine named him one of in 2002 and Documenta 11, Kassel, on National Public Radio, BBC World inclusion in the Cooper-Hewitt National She received a 2011 Arts and Letters Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía the ten most influential living archi- Germany in 2002. His multidisciplinary News, CBS News and CNN Principal Design Triennial of 2006, a survey of Award in Architecture. She has twice in Madrid in 2005. He recently com- tects. In 2010, he was awarded a fel- collaborations include projects with Voices and in Wired, Science News, the best in American design of the pre- been a Getty Research Institute pleted a 25-channel video installation, lowship from United States Artists. the architect Greg Lynn that resulted Elle Magazine, The Economist, the Wall vious three years. Scholar and writes for an international To and From LAX, commissioned by Los Lynn has received numerous AIA and in an exhibition at the Wexner Center Street Journal, Business Week and the Konyk’s urban design proposal for spectrum of journals. Her most recent Angeles Airport.” Progressive Architecture professional for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, in 2001 New York Times. anchoring Brooklyn’s DUMBO neigh- book is Kissing Architecture, pub- awards, and his Korean Presbyterian and projects with composer Claudio borhood was exhibited as part of lished by Princeton University Press Greg Lynn Church in New York was officially Baroni creating animated operas and a Jan Knippers BKLYN DESIGNS 2010. Konyk’s instal- (April 2011). She is currently com- Greg Lynn is a leading pioneer at the listed by the New York City Landmarks 2005 scored, paintball performance at Jan Knippers, Prof. Dr. Ing., is a part- lation (co-sponsored by Supima), enti- pleting her next book, The Flash in the intersection of computing, design Preservation Commission as one of the Weston Hall in Toronto. ner in Knippers Helbig Advanced tled “FlatField,” was open to the public Pan and Other Forms of Architectural and architecture. His architectural 30 most important buildings built in the Engineering. He completed his engi- from September 15 to November Contemporaneity. Lavin is also a cura- designs have been exhibited interna- city in the last 30 years. Michael Meredith neering studies at the Technische 15, 2010, under the High Line in tor of experimental work in archi- tionally at both architecture and art Michael Meredith is a principal in Universität Berlin in 1992, receiv- Manhattan at HL23. Konyk’s firm. tecture and design: recent and venues, including the 2000 Venice the architecture firm MOS and an ing a Ph.D., and founded his own firm kOnyk Architecture, most recently forthcoming exhibitions include “Ultra Biennale where he represented Associate Professor at Harvard

24 25 University Graduate School of Design. firm, in charge of technology and global Confederation of the German Chemical and biological become a dynamic ele- in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Element politics published quarterly by MIT The work of MOS has been widely pub- materials development. He has over- Industry (1983–89). ment. The firm is currently under- House in New Mexico. Press since Fall 2000. In addition to lished and received numerous awards. seen the development of the firm’s one- taking a critical experiment with new Sample was a visiting scholar at the publishing numerous articles in jour- In 2009, MOS was awarded the PS1/ piece molded sails (3DL), and its most Theodore H.M. Prudon warping technologies to prompt archi- Centre for Canadian Architecture in nals, magazines and edited anthol- MoMA Summer Pavilion. recent development of fiber/resin com- Theodore H.M. Prudon, a prac- tectural “scenarios” of cartographic Montreal. Her research focuses on the ogies, she has written the books posite sails (3Di). With North Sails he ticing architect in New York City, distortion, substitution and genetic intersection of architecture, health, Architecture or Techno-Utopia: Politics Erik Olsen has been at the forefront of the inter- received master’s degrees in archi- territorial mutations. R&Sie(n)’s proj- environments, technology and design. After Modernism (MIT Press, 2007) Erik Olsen is a climate engineer known section between textiles, composites tecture from the University of Delft ects have been exhibited at the She is currently completing a book enti- and Living Archive 7: Ant Farm (Actar, for his passionate focus on high-com- and fibrous systems for performance in the Netherlands and Columbia Tate Modern, London; Columbia tled Sick City: A Global Investigation 2008). She recently completed the fort, low-impact environments. As applications, and has a keen interest University, where he also obtained University; UCLA; ICA, London; into Urbanism, Infrastructure and manuscript for a book on the Austrian Managing Director of TRANSSOLAR in pursuing cross-platform applica- his Ph.D. He has been on the faculty Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Centre Disease. She received a B.Arch. from émigré architect Bernard Rudofsky, Climate Engineering’s New York office, tions. A trained sailmaker and a former of the Historic Preservation Program Georges Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Syracuse University and an M.Arch. entitled “Cartographies of Drift: he works collaboratively with clients, professional yachtsman, Pearson has of Columbia University’s Graduate Moderne, Paris; Pavillon de l’Arsenal, from Princeton University School of Bernard Rudofsky’s Encounters with architects and other engineers world- competed in most of the world’s major School of Architecture, Planning and Paris; Orléans/ArchiLab International Architecture. Modernity.” wide to develop and validate low- ocean races, including the Whitbread Preservation for several decades. He Architectural Conference; and the energy, architecturally integrated Around the World Race, and a num- is a Fellow of the American Institute of Venice Biennale. Roche has taught Rita Schenck Hartmut Oliver Sinkwitz indoor climate and energy concepts. ber of sailing expeditions to remote Architects. at the Bartlett School, London; TU, Rita Schenck earned her doctorate Hartmut Oliver Sinkwitz is the His work ranges from the completely parts of the world. He has worked with Prudon is the author of more than 70 Vienna; ESARQ, Barcelona; ESA, Paris; in oceanography from the University Director of the Interior Design Center passive Raising Malawi Academy for North Sails for 21 years in many capac- articles in both domestic and interna- and the University of Pennsylvania’s of Rhode Island. She worked as an of Competence at Daimler AG (since Girls to the groundbreaking Angelos ities internationally. Pearson has a BS tional professional and trade journals Department of Architecture. He environmental manager in indus- 2008). He leads all relevant activities Law Center at the University of in Management from the University of dealing with preservation. His book has taught at Columbia University’s try for many years before leaving to from Advanced Design and Production Baltimore. In addition to his specialist South Carolina, and currently divides Preservation of Modern Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture, found the Institute for Environmental Design to C&T Design. Prior to joining work at TRANSSOLAR, he has worked his time between San Francisco and published in 2008 by John Wiley, Planning and Preservation as an Research and Education, of which the Mercedes-Benz Design Team he as a consulting mechanical engineer Incline Village, Nevada. received the Lee Nelson Book Award Assistant Visiting Professor. she is currently Executive Director, worked as Car Designer at the Mazda on a wide variety of building types from the Association for Preservation an independent nonprofit that sup- Design Center in Frankfurt (1991– and launched and directed the City of Werner Preusker Technology International. A Japanese- Hilary Sample ports fact-based environmental deci- 95). He joined Mercedes-Benz Design Chicago’s Green Permit Program. Werner Preusker is an attorney language edition of the book will Hilary Sample is a Professor at the Yale sion making. Schenck represented in 1995 and was Senior Car Designer and is the Managing Director of appear in the fall of 2011. School of Architecture. Prior to join- the U.S. in negotiating the interna- (1995–2000) before becoming Chief Jorge Otero-Pailos the PVC and Environment Working At present, he serves on the ing Yale, Hilary Sample taught at SUNY tional standards on life cycle assess- Designer for Smart at Mercedes-Benz, Jorge Otero-Pailos is a New York- Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft PVC Executive Committee of The Buffalo, where she was awarded the ment, and the American Center for Life where he led the design of a number based architect, artist and theo- und Umwelt—AgPU) based in Bonn, Netherland-America Foundation and is Reyner Banham Teaching Fellowship, Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the flag- of microcars, including the Roadster, rist specializing in experimental Germany. AgPU has expertise in envi- active in DOCOMOMO. He is the pres- and at the University of Toronto. She ship program of the Institute. Among ForFour, ForTwo, Crossblade and sev- forms of preservation. He teaches in ronmental and consumer protection in ident of DOCOMOMO US, is a board is a founding principal with Michael other projects, Schenck developed pro- eral show cars. the Historic Preservation Program relation to the PVC industry. More than member of DOCOMOMO International Meredith of MOS, an interdisciplinary grams in community energy indepen- at Columbia University’s Graduate 60 companies in the PVC supply chain in Barcelona and chairs the orga- architecture and design practice based dence, green collar job education and Werner Sobek School of Architecture, Planning and support the goals of the AgPU through nization’s International Scientific in New York City. Projects designed in Environmental Product Declarations, Werner Sobek is Mies van der Rohe Preservation. He is the founder and their membership. As a service part- Committee on Theory and Education. her office have been published widely; an LCA-based Eco-label. She speaks Professor at the Illinois Institute of editor of the journal Future Anterior. ner, the AgPU advises its member com- have been exhibited at the Venice and writes extensively on environmen- Technology and head of the Institute His works and writings have been fea- panies on the environment, sustainable François Roche Biennale, The Museum of Modern tal sustainability and policy and the for Lightweight Structures and tured in international publications development and consumer protection. François Roche is a licensed archi- Art, New York and the Art Institute of need for science in environmental deci- Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the such as Artforum, Art in America and It creates dialogue with decision mak- tect (DPLG) in France and received a Chicago; and have received numerous sion making. University of Stuttgart, which special- Architectural Record, as well as in aca- ers from politics, trade, the economy diploma in architecture from Versailles, awards, including a Design Award from izes in research into new materials and demic books and journals. His work and NGOs. Preusker is also the spokes- U.P.A. no. 3. in 1987. In 1989 he Progressive Architecture and New York Felicity Scott new concepts for lightweight and adap- rethinks preservation as a powerful person of PVC+, a PVC information ini- founded R&Sie(n) with Stéphanie City Architectural League Emerging Felicity D. Scott is Director of the tive structures. Sobek studied archi- countercultural practice that creates tiative supported by companies that Lavaux and Jean Navarro, based in Voices. In 2010, Sample received an Program in Critical, Curatorial and tecture and structural engineering at alternative futures for our collective produce PVC, additives, products such Paris. The organic, oppositional archi- Academy Award in Architecture from Conceptual Practices in Architecture the University of Stuttgart in Germany. world heritage. windows profiles, pipe, film, flooring tectural projects of the firm explore the American Academy of Arts and of the Graduate School of Architecture, His firm, Werner Sobek Engineering and roofing, or recycle PVC products. the bond between building, context Letters. Built projects include PS1/ Planning and Preservation, Columbia and Design, is one of the leading engi- William Pearson Previously, he served as Assistant and human relations. R&Sie(n) con- MoMA Afterparty, Hill House and the University, where she is Assistant neering consultancies in Europe. It William Pearson is Technical Director to the Council of Environmental siders architectural identity to be an Floating House. Current work includes Professor. She is also a founding co- excels through excellent engineering of North Sails One Design International Advisers (1980–83) and worked in unstable concept, defined through a villa in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, a com- editor of Grey Room, a quarterly jour- combined with first-rate design of con- Ltd., the world’s largest sailmaking the Environmental Department of the temporary forms in which the vegetal munity center in Uganda, a teen center nal of architecture, art, media and structional elements and sophisticated

26 27 concepts for sustainable buildings. In 2004 he graduated as a European at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a Organizing Institutions Werner Sobek has offices in Stuttgart, and International Welding Engineer. research scientist, a position he contin- AND EVENT SPONSORS Cairo, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, After receiving his Dipl.-Ing. in Civil ues to hold part-time. He has published Moscow, New York and São Paulo. Engineering at Hanover University in extensively in the field of conservation, 1997, Trumpf worked as a project man- including his recent book Alkoxysilanes Galia Solomonoff ager at Boeger + Jaeckle Consulting and the Consolidation of Stone, Galia Solomonoff is a licensed archi- Engineers. Since 2007, he has been a issued by the Getty Conservation The Graduate School four concentrations: structural engi- approach focuses on the optimization tect and principal of SAS/Solomonoff lecturer at the Institute of Lightweight Institute. Wheeler is a Fellow of the of Architecture, Planning neering, geotechnical engineering, of form and construction with respect Architecture Studio, based in Structures and Conceptual Design American Institute for Conservation, and Preservation (GSAPP) construction engineering and man- to material and energy use, durability Manhattan. Recent projects range (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart. the International Institute for The Graduate School of Architecture, agement and water resources and and reliability, recyclability and envi- from Dia:Beacon a 300,000-square- Conservation, and winner of the 1997 Planning and Preservation at Columbia environmental engineering. On the ronmental sustainability. The results foot contemporary art museum, Ignaas Verpoest Rome Prize in conservation. He holds University (GSAPP) offers six mas- graduate level, the department offers of this work are published in the bilin- to residences and artist’s lofts. Ignaas Verpoest earned a Master’s a Ph.D. in Chemistry from New York ter’s degree programs: Master of programs leading to the M.S. degree, gual (German/English) serial from the Solomonoff earned an M.Arch. from Degree (1972) and a Ph.D. (1982) University, a Graduate Certificate in Architecture, Master of Science the professional degrees of Civil Institute or published individually in Columbia University (1994), where in Materials Engineering from the Conservation from the Institute of in Advanced Architectural Design, Engineer or Mechanics Engineer and special research reports on particu- she was awarded the McKim Prize for Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Fine Arts and a Master’s Degree in Art Architecture and Urban Design, Urban the Doctor of Engineering Science lar topics. ILEK offers undergraduate Excellence in Design, and a William (Belgium). A full professor since 1990 History from Hunter College-CUNY. Planning, Historic Preservation and (EngScD) and Doctor of Philosophy and postgraduate classes to students Kinne Fellows Prize. She received a in the Department of Metallurgy Real Estate Development. With an (Ph.D.) degrees. These programs are in Architecture and Civil Engineering. Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Materials Engineering at the Mark Wigley enrollment of 650 students from some flexible and allow for concentrations Students from the two sectors work degree from City College, City Katholieke Universiteit, he directs a Mark Wigley is Dean of Columbia 55 countries, the School serves as in structures, construction engineer- jointly on common projects, thus University of New York (1991), from group of eight postdoctoral research- University’s Graduate School a leading laboratory for testing new ing, reliability and random processes, enabling them to overcome traditional which she graduated magna cum laude. ers and 20 Ph.D. students, carrying of Architecture, Planning and ideas about the environmental design- soil mechanics, fluid mechanics, hydro- barriers between the disciplines. Originally from Argentina, Solomonoff out research in the areas of mesome- Preservation. An accomplished er’s role in a global society. It culti- geology, continuum mechanics, finite www.uni-stuttgart.de/ilek has lived in New York since 1987. She chanics of textile-based composites, scholar and design teacher, he has vates an atmosphere in which all of the element methods, computational is currently Associate Professor of nano-engineered composites, natu- written extensively on the the- disciplines devoted to the built envi- mechanics, experimental mechan- The Vinyl Institute Architecture at Columbia University’s ral-fiber reinforced biopolymers and ory and practice of architecture ronment are invited to think differ- ics, acoustics, vibrations and dynam- The Vinyl Institute (VI), founded in Graduate School of Architecture, advanced production methods for com- and is the author of Constant’s New ently, to move beyond the highest level ics and earthquake engineering, or any 1982, is a U.S. trade association rep- Planning and Preservation and is, posites. He is the author of more then Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of professional training, opening a cre- combination thereof, such as fluid- resenting the leading manufacturers together with artist Liam Gillick, lead- 140 journal papers, close to 400 con- of Desire (1998); White Walls, ative space within which the disci- structure interaction. of vinyl, vinyl chloride monomer, vinyl ing a design/build pavilion studio in ference papers and 3 books, and holds Designer Dresses: The Fashioning plines can rethink themselves in order www.civil.columbia.edu additives and modifiers and vinyl pack- spring 2011. 12 patents. of Modern Architecture (1995) and to find new settings and new forms of aging materials. Working to ensure Verpoest is past President of the The Architecture of Deconstruction: professional, scholarly, technical and The Institute for Lightweight vinyl is the global plastic of choice for Heiko Trumpf European Society for Composite Derrida’s Haunt (1993). He co-edited ethical practice. Structures and Conceptual infrastructure and diverse applica- Currently a Principal at Werner Sobek Materials, and of the International The Activist Drawing: Retracing www.arch.columbia.edu Design (ILEK) tions, the mission of the VI is to advo- Engineering and Design in New York Committee on Composite Materials. He Situationist Architectures from Both in its research and teaching, the cate the responsible manufacture of and Stuttgart, Heiko Trumpf joined has won several awards, most recently Constant’s New Babylon to Beyond The Department of Civil Institute for Lightweight Structures vinyl resins, the life cycle manage- Werner Sobek Group in 2006 after the Descartes Prize for Science (2001). Wigley has served as curator Engineering and Engineering and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the ment of vinyl products and the pro- finishing his Ph.D. dissertation on Communication from the European for widely attended exhibitions at The Mechanics at the Fu Foundation University of Stuttgart unites the motion of the value of vinyl to society. the “stability of pultruded glass- Commission (2004), the International Museum of Modern Art, New York; The School of Engineering and aspect of design with a focus on anal- Specifically, the VI is committed to fiber reinforced polymer profiles” at Fellowship of the Society for the Drawing Center, New York; Canadian Applied Science ysis and construction usually associ- working with architects and engineers the Institute of Steel Structures at Advancement of Materials Processing Centre for Architecture, Montreal; and The Department of Civil Engineering ated with structural engineering and to demonstrate the range of solu- Aachen University (RWTH Aachen). He and Engineering (2009), and an award Witte de With Museum, Rotterdam. and Engineering Mechanics is the materials sciences. On the basis of tions vinyl provides for the design chal- has completed a wide range of inter- from the International Committee on He received both his Bachelor of one of nine departments in The Fu a goal-oriented and interdisciplinary lenges of today and tomorrow. For national projects, including bridges, Composite Materials (2009). Architecture (1979) and his Ph.D. Foundation School of Engineering approach, the Institute is concerned information about vinyl—its benefits, high-rises and office buildings, with a (1987) degrees from the University of and Applied Science at Columbia with the conceptual development of all uses, and issues. passion for outstanding structures, George Wheeler Auckland, New Zealand. University. Offering undergraduate types of construction and load-bearing www.vinylinfo.org or lightweight design and new materials. George Wheeler is Director of programs in civil engineering and engi- structures, using all types of materials. www.vinylindesign.com In addition, he has worked on several Conservation in the Historic neering mechanics, it provides stu- The areas of focus span construction international research and develop- Preservation Program of the Graduate dents with a firm technical basis while with textiles and glass all the way to ment projects together with companies School of Architecture, Planning and nurturing decision-making and lead- new structures in reinforced and pre- and universities. Preservation at Columbia University. ership potential. The civil engineer- stressed concrete. From the individ- He joined the program after 25 years ing program, accredited by ABET, has ual details to the whole structure, the

28 29 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Permanent Change: Plastics in endorsed our shared work and plans tions of scholarship and practice in our Conference on Architecture, Manager. Fabrication Lab: Phillip Exclusive Sponsor Architecture and Engineering is the for the next stages. speakers’ work. Engineering and Materials. Anzalone, Director, and Brigette fourth installment of the Columbia This conference adds the Institute Permanent Change would not have Greg Lynn provided tremendous Borders, Manager. For printing and Conference on Architecture, for Lightweight Structures and been possible without the energy, energy in working with us to build the mailing, we thank Sal Bernardino, Engineering and Materials. The series Conceptual Design (ILEK), University goodwill and intellectual rigor of our conference roster. Sylvia Lavin offered Manager, Columbia University Print of conferences originated with the of Stuttgart, Germany, as a collabo- advisers and collaborators, includ- encouragement in taking on the topic Services; and Sarah Riegelmann of goal of reinvigorating the academic rating academic partner. Directed by ing Johan Bettum, Felicity Scott and of plastics and lent her time and criti- Highroad Press. and professional collaborations Werner Sobek, ILEK has contributed Craig Buckley. Steven Holl, Sanford cal and editorial skills to our planning. Finally and foremost, without the The Vinyl Institute between the Schools of Engineering to bringing a new scope of research Kwinter, Matthias Schuler and Laurie We are grateful to Rosana Rubio vision, curiosity, rigor and goodwill of www.vinylinfo.org and Architecture. In the fall of to the conference. Special thanks go Hawkinson have all been instrumen- Hernández, who has conceived inven- the Conference Chair, Michael Bell, www.vinylindesign.com 2007, Mark Wigley, Dean, Graduate to Heiko Trumpf, of Werner Sobek tal in expanding the scope and con- tive exhibits for each of the four con- Permanent Change and the ongoing School of Architecture, Planning Engineering and Design. text of the conference. David Hinkle, ferences, assisted this year by Mara Columbia Conference on Architecture, EXCLUSIVE Media Sponsor and Preservation (GSAPP); Christian Permanent Change and the entire Associate Dean, GSAPP, has pro- Sánchez Llorens and Carlos Fernández Engineering and Materials series would Meyer, Professor, Department of Columbia Conference on Architecture, vided broad support for the entire Piñar. Our thanks also go to Yoshiko not have achieved its remarkable Civil Engineering and Engineering Engineering and Materials series has series of conferences and related Sato for creating an installation this momentum in challenging assumptions The Architect’s Newspaper, New York Mechanics; and Michael Bell, benefited from the critical insight books. Stephanie Salomon has been year interrogating conference goals, and asking the most penetrating ques- www.archpaper.com Professor of Architecture, organized and ongoing support of Mark Wigley. an invaluable editor for all program assisted by Shuning Zhao and John tions of our shared future. the initial conference as a new model At GSAPP the context of openness text. Benjamin Prosky, Director of Hooper. We thank Stretch Marquees of exchange. The first conference in and experimentation has allowed our Special Events and External Affairs and Fabric Structures as well AZEK for the series, Engineered Transparency, team to reach out to new colleagues at GSAPP, has guided all logistics with in-kind materials and fabrication sup- on glass, established a focus on in academia and industry with cre- his team — Lucia Haladjian and Tong port of Sato’s installation, and Mark materials as a shared substrate of ative energy that has both grounded Tong — and also is central to the fund- Wasiuta, Director, GSAPP galleries, design, academic research, scholar- our work and offered a chance for raising and overall direction of the and his team members, Greg Bugeland ship and industry, and included a wide new momentum. conference. Stefana Simic assisted and Brittany Drapac. group of participants in the profes- Gregory Bocchi, President of The Benjamin Prosky and Michael Bell The following additional members of sional and academic fields of struc- Vinyl Institute as well as George on coordination and editorial goals. the GSAPP community have provided tural and mechanical engineering as Middleton, Sylvia Moore and Kevin William Menking, editor; Diana Darling, wide-ranging assistance and talent for well as architecture, materials sci- Mulvaney, Vice President of Marketing publisher; and Lynne Rowan of The this conference: ence and industry. The second con- and Communications, provided direc- Architect’s Newspaper, our Exclusive Development: Devon Ercolano ference, Solid States, focused on a tion at every stage of planning. Media Sponsor, have supported the Provan, Director, and Julia Fishkin, renewed potential for concrete and William F. Carroll, Vice President, conference series since its inception. Associate Director, who assisted was held at GSAPP in fall 2008. The Industry Issues, Occidental Chemical Mary Kate Murray of Michael in fundraising on the entire confer- third conference, on metals, was held Corporation, generously helped to Graves Design coordinated introduc- ence series; and Danielle Smoller, who at GSAPP in fall 2009. establish new relations with the ing our goals to Michael Graves. Luke worked to secure the optimal facilities Permanent Change represents field of chemical engineering. Judith Bulman and Jessica Young of Thumb for the event. an ongoing collaboration between Nordgren, former Vice President of have again provided the complete Audiovisual assistance: John For more information about GSAPP and The Fu Foundation School Marketing and Communications, initi- visual identity of the conference. Ramahlo, Executive Director GSAPP events, contact: of Engineering and Applied Science. ated our collaboration with The Vinyl Frank Heinlein and Andrea Scheufler of Information Technology; Lou Benjamin Prosky Christian Meyer, professor; and Institute, whose generous support coordinated ILEK and Werner Sobek’s Fernandez, Kevin Allen, Audio Visual Director of Events and External Raimundo Betti, Chair, Department as our Exclusive Sponsor made this contributions. Special thanks go Office; and Student Assistants Affairs, GSAPP, Columbia University of Civil Engineering and Engineering event possible. The Institute’s engage- to the architect Eunjeong Seong, Brendan Sullivan, Michael Christopher 212 854 9248 Mechanics, have each sustained this ment with GSAPP provides a critical who has been an influential critic, Georgopoulos and Kooho Jung. [email protected] partnership during the past year. Dean bridge to industry and was under- researcher and editor on each of the Web design: Gabriel Bach, Manager, www.arch.columbia.edu/events Feniosky Peña-Mora has generously taken with a deep regard for the tradi- four installments of the Columbia GSAPP Online. Woodshop: Mark A. Taylor, Director of Operations, and Conference graphic identity, poster Nathan Carter, Building/Model Shop and program design: Thumb

30 31 The Columbia Conference on Architecture, Engineering and Materials is a multi-year research project.

2007 Engineered Transparency: Glass in Architecture and Structural Engineering

2008 Solid States: Changing Time for Concrete

2009 Post Ductility: Metals In Architecture and Engineering

2011 Permanent Change: Plastics in Architecture and Engineering

2012 Light in Architecture and Engineering

3 4 5 glass concrete metal plastic light…