Experiments, Disruptions, Affordances: Practices for Future Innovations

Members of the newly established Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication (ADD+F) research hub at the University of Melbourne's Melbourne School of Design join Australian and international experts to discuss “Experiments, Disruptions, Affordances - Practices for Future Innovations.”

Research undertaken by panelists ranges from material innovation and fabrication, robotics and machine learning to technology and ecology, artificial intelligence and urban data. The panel discusses questions related to design and innovation: what are the processes and methods that lead to innovation? What are the different experiences of innovating and making discoveries?

Panelists include:
Dr Areti Markopoulou from the Institute for Advanced Architecture Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona, and Associate Professor Paul Nicholas from the Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA) at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen; Professor Flora Salim from the Centre for Information Discovery and Data Analytics (CIDDA) at RMIT University, and Dr Gergana Rusenova from Swinburne University of Technology, both in Melbourne.

From the Melbourne School of Design, Advanced Digital Design + Fabrication research hub co-directors Associate Professor Rochus Hinkel, Dr Paul Loh, and Leire Asensio-Villoria as well as researchers Associate Professor Dominik Holzer and Dr Djordje Stojanovic join the discussion.

A recording of the panel discussion will be available on-demand via our website from September 22.

The Advanced Digital Design + Fabrication hub seeks innovative and sustainable solutions that apply to industries—ranging from construction to health and wellbeing and from collections and museums to creative practices in arts and design.

The hub brings together academics and expert technicians from diverse fields, including data-driven design and construction, robotics, 3D printing and mixed reality environments.

Housed in the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne, the hub instigates innovation through a collaborative and cross-technological approach, applying design thinking and experimentation.

Academics in the hub have the capacity to supervise PhD research projects, especially those with a design and creative practice focus. Potential candidates find further information about the PhD program here.

Key current projects undertaken by researchers in the ADD+F Research Hub include:

Prosthetic nests for the powerful owl
Responding to ongoing degradation of the environment and the resultant decline in biodiversity, prosthetic habitats reinstate absent habitat opportunities by grafting remedial elements onto existing structures, helping to rebalance urban ecologies.

The Doppelgänger - Explorations on the Original and the Copy in the post-digital age
Explores the opportunities and limitations digital technologies offer in augmenting our experience of objects and spaces for cultural storytelling, exhibitions, archives and heritage.

ROOM: Digital design to fabrication in temporary accomodation options for youth homelessness
ROOM harnesses digital design to digital fabrication techniques and building system optimisation to produce a customised performance-efficient and low cost “self-build” independent external living space as reusable temporary accommodation.

Parametric Adjustable Mould
PAM is a patented computer numerically controlled (CNC) mould frame designed to produce double curvature concrete panels with a single mould frame. This robotic concrete fabrication techniques aims to reduce waste in construction.

To see the full range of current research projects underway, visit the ADD+F website.