a+u

a+u’s July issue showcases post-digitality in architecture. Recent years have seen significant changes in architectural practice, driven by the evolving zeitgeist of the 2010s and beyond, where digital technology is widespread and commonplace – a condition referred to as “post-digital.” Technological and ecological disruptions are forcing architects to adapt and restrategize. This issue presents architectural research and education institutions where such explorations are being actively pursued: Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich. These institutions are at the forefront of incorporating cutting-edge technology into their curricula and research projects, creating environments that foster new ideas to apply in the real world. This issue examines the advanced research and educational programs offered by these institutions, introducing pioneering projects by architects and spin-off companies that push the boundaries in their respective fields. Through this lens, we explore the urgent challenges posed by technology and ecology, and feature the evolving practice and profession of architecture being redefined by the post-digital context. (a+u)

Essay: Computerization as “Routine”
Toshikatsu Kiuchi

SCI-Arc

Interview: Navigating the Edge
David Ruy

EDGE Program:
Synthetic Landscape
Architectural Technologies
Fiction and Entertainment

Ruy Klein
Apophenia

Studio MMR
NN_CITY / Infinite Resolution

Interview: From GANs to Diffusion Models
M. Casey Rehm

Liam Young
Planet City / Where the City Can’t See /
The Great Endeavor / Seoul City Machine

Interview: Redefining Architectural Practice
Through Storytelling
Liam Young

Lifeforms.io
Discovery / Planet Garden

Interview: Games and Worldmaking
Damjan Jovanovic

Essay: The Far Side of Excess Disruption
Toshiki Hirano

The Bartlett

B-Pro Program:
Monumental Wastelands (RC1)
Videogame Urbanism (RC12)

Pareid
Decommissioned Gamified / Foll(i)cle

You+Pea
Playing the Picturesque /
London Developers Toolkit

Interview:
The Intersection of Architecture and Gaming
Déborah López, Hadin Charbel, Sandra Youkhana, and Luke Pearson

B-Pro Program:
Living Architecture Lab (RC3)

Interview:
Autonomous Ecologies of Construction
Tyson Hosmer, Octavian Gheorghiu

AUAR
Robotic Micro-Factory

Interview:
From Discrete to Micro Factories
Mollie Claypool, Gilles Retsin, and Manuel Jimenez Garcia

Essay: Generative AI, Imitation Learning, and the Automation of Tacit Knowledge
Mario Carpo

ETH Zürich

Interview:
Institute of Technology in Architecture
Matthias Kohler

Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zürich
Impact Printing

Interview:
Gramazio Kohler Research
Fabio Gramazio, Matthias Kohler

Benjamin Dillenburger, Michael Hansmeyer
Tor Alva

Interview:
Form-Works / Form and Performance
Benjamin Dillenburger

ETH Spin-off: VAULTED
Rippmann Floor System

Interview: From Cathedral Vaults to Circular Floors in Concrete
Philippe Block

Meteora – “I Play with the Plenty”

Interview: AI as a Climate
Ludger Hovestadt

ETH Spin-offs:
SAEKI
MESH
Gravis Robotics

Interview: Adapting to Inherent Complexity
Ryan Luke Johns