Material Behaviour: Embedding Physical Properties in Computational Design Processes

Material behaviour computes form. In the physical world, material form is always inseparably connected to internal constraints and external forces; in the virtual space of digital design, though, form and force are usually treated as separate entities – divided into processes of geometric form generation and subsequent engineering simulation. Using the example of the interdisciplinary ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion, constructed at the University of Stuttgart in 2010, Moritz Fleischmann, Jan Knippers, Julian Lienhard, Achim Menges and Simon Schleicher explain how feedback between computational design, advanced simulation and robotic fabrication expands the design space towards previously unexplored architectural possibilities. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Iran in the Regional Context

For much of its history, Iran was part of an extensive empire with far-reaching trade and cultural networks. The current political situation, however, has often led to a misplaced patriotism that has emphasised the heritage of the nation state over its connections across the region. Farrokh Derakhshani flags up the danger of appropriating a wider common heritage from a local rather than a global perspective, and looks at Iran in the wider context of its immediate neighbours.