Gernot Riether, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Director of the School of Architecture
Digital Design Build Studio
Abstract: This talk will present a series of projects from the Digital Design Build Studio. The talk will use these explorations to discuss a model of operation for architecture schools in the context of a profession that has been disrupted by digital technology. Talking about some projects in more detail will illustrate the findings of the experimentation with different polymers. The discussion will also highlight the social aspect of these interventions and illustrate how coalitions between non-profit organizations, developers, industry and municipalities may benefit and impact their communities.
Bio: Gernot Riether is the Director of the School of Architecture and Associate Professor at the College of Architecture and Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). In his Digital Design-Build Studio he and his students are researching new novel computer controlled fabrication and manufacturing methods. He previously taught at Kennesaw State University, Ball State University, ENSA Paris-La Villette, Georgia Tech, NYIT and Barnard College at Columbia University and is lecturing internationally.
His Digital Design Build Studio won competitions such as the design of the AIA Pavilion for the American Institute of Architects in New Orleans with a hydroponic spherical enclosure made of environmentally friendly polymers. The studio was commissioned for projects such as a public installation for the Nuit Blanche Festival in Paris where he took cues from biology to digitally create a lightweight structural envelope for a pavilion in which interactive art projects were displayed.