Perez

This month brings two editions of the “Art of Architecture” lecture series.  Tomorrow night (Tuesday, January 17), Santiago R. Perez will discuss Fabcraft: Crafting the Future with Digital Fabrication.  The program begins at 6:00pm in the lecture hall of the Arkansas Arts Center.

Santiago R. Pérez is the 21st Century Chair in Integrated Practice and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.  He will discuss recent work emerging from the new advanced fabrication, or FabLab, facility, which Pérez directs, at the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The FabLab is under development in conjunction with the acquisition of new computer-controlled equipment, including a 5-axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) mill and steel plasma cutter, and the anticipated arrival of a fully articulated robot. These new initiatives are part of the ongoing research and teaching focus of Perez, who joined the school’s faculty in fall 2010.

Pérez will introduce the public to emerging digital fabrication projects, methods and tools, highlighting both current projects and recently exhibited or published work. The presentation will focus on innovation utilizing digital fabrication, computer numerically controlled tools and rapid prototyping. In particular, Pérez will discuss the relationship between traditional craft culture and making, and advanced, computationally assisted fabrication, toward a new confluence that he has termed “fabcraft.”

The term fabcraft can be understood as a new merger of craft and fabrication that combines the best of both worlds – the insights gained from knowledge of traditional craft processes, mixed with computational design and digital fabrication. The emergence of these robotic and computationally assisted tools in architecture is revolutionizing both the teaching and practice of architecture, and the increasing academic focus on making as an integral part of the design process.

The 2011-2012 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.