Design and Make MArch

Design + Make explores design at the point of physical production and generates new protocols within the realm of experimental architectural construction. The research we conduct demonstrates a vision for architectural education in which making is central to the act of design itself.

The AA's satellite campus at Hooke Park serves as our central laboratory for architectural research. The large-scale fabrication facilities provide a unique testing ground in which students can devote time to speculative research through the design and fabrication of architectural constructs and building components. Students inhabit this unique environment that combines forest, studio, workshop and building sites.

Our toolbox contains a diverse array of resources that facilitate the design and fabrication of architectural constructs within the park itself. Contemporary technologies, design and fabrication methods - such as 3D scanning, generative modelling, iterative physical modelling and robotic fabrication - combine to optimise manufacturing strategies and provide opportunities to replicate the feedback between natural geometry, material properties and designed form that had previously connected designer, maker and artefact.

We use a hands-on approach, guided by an in-depth material understanding. The core agenda of Design + Make strives to advance the materialisation of architecture through the synthesis of rigorous design strategies, advanced technologies and craft techniques to develop a deeper understanding of material behaviours. This emphasis on design and fabrication maximises the learning opportunities for participants by facilitating the realisation of design intent, practised as designing through making.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Both programmes (MArch & MSc) are structured around a series of hands-on studio projects of increasing scale and sophistication, leading to the production of a large architectural construct (MArch) or full-size timber prototype (MSc). These studios are complemented by seminar courses and workshops in forestry and woodworking and traditional and contemporary building crafts, as well as by lectures and events at Hooke Park and Bedford Square, providing a foundational understanding of the cultural and technological landscape within which a designer must operate.