Emotive Assemblies ︎ Tectonics 1
IDES 259
Fall 2019 ︎
Los Angeles
Fall 2019 ︎
Los Angeles
Instructor
Matthew Corbitt
Matthew Corbitt

The role of the interior designer could be described as the practice of orchestrating a spatial design to provide its users with a particular experience. Though architects could take on a similar intention, the process of creating atmosphere is at the base of the interior designer’s task. This could be understood as the practice of enhancing an interior’s aesthetics and ease of use by way of space planning, wall treatments, and furniture and lighting choices, however, these only hint to their potential tool set. By stepping outside of standard practice and taking on the position of the material engineer, designers can access more and more tools to bring their intended vision to life. Similarly, as materials begin to evolve and change shape, having a set of rules with which to evaluate, interpret and design them will become increasingly important.



This class served as a research platform and a testing ground for the continued advancement of the field by investigating the role of material in experiential design. From empirical experimentations of a single material, students gained an understanding of how color, texture and composition offer designers the ability to orchestrate a particular experience. Students researched experiential design concepts, philosophical and psychological theories surrounding matter and materials and finally, invented material assemblies that produce a complexity of sensorial, emotive and experiential spatial designs.











Methodology
This course was designed as both an analogue and digital testing laboratory, investigating the generative values of material testing, exploration of unconventional production techniques, and analytical design practices. With equal emphasis on expanding the designer’s abilities to design through the act of discovery, evaluation and articulation, as well as, the ability to address and add to the field’s discourse. The course looked at a scientific method as a model of inquiry to empirically study the bounds of a material’s intrinsic abilities, optimal mechanisms of production and evaluate its significance. In an effort to encourage the use of empirical study and shed any cognitive assumptions one may have; this course directed its attention to materials and techniques that have very little antecedent service to interior architecture.




Catalog Description
This course provides a studio-based exploration of the impact of materiality and fabrication in both the generation and reading of form and space. This will be addressed through readings, discussions, exercises, and design/build projects. Issues of craft and technique as they affect the design process will be addressed in both two and three dimensions. An intuitive knowledge of material properties and processes will be gained through full-scale hands-on exploration. Detailing, construction, and fabrication methods, and the application of materials in custom elements are studied through individual or group projects closely related to the body in scale or use. Formal, conceptual, and programmatic solutions are studied through a specific design strategy/process as assigned by the instructor, with an emphasis on new or hybrid programs/functions.
This course provides a studio-based exploration of the impact of materiality and fabrication in both the generation and reading of form and space. This will be addressed through readings, discussions, exercises, and design/build projects. Issues of craft and technique as they affect the design process will be addressed in both two and three dimensions. An intuitive knowledge of material properties and processes will be gained through full-scale hands-on exploration. Detailing, construction, and fabrication methods, and the application of materials in custom elements are studied through individual or group projects closely related to the body in scale or use. Formal, conceptual, and programmatic solutions are studied through a specific design strategy/process as assigned by the instructor, with an emphasis on new or hybrid programs/functions.