Affects of Intricate Mass: The Strange Characteristics of the RMIT Mace and NGV Pavilion

The use of iterative multi-agent algorithms to produce an accretion of intricate mass, rather than predefined form, is a key focus of current research at Roland Snooks 's Melbourne studio. Here the architect and senior lecturer presents two projects, on very different scales, which his practice has developed using this ‘behavioural formation’ process, in collaboration with RMIT University. Defined by complex fibrous assemblages rather than surface or volume, they offer weird and wonderful atmospheric affects.     

100 Year City (Maribor): The Virtual Concourse Reframed

For interactivity, the virtual world so often relies on a physical component, but how might virtual spaces be made more tangible as spatial environments for exchange? Under the direction of architect and RMIT University professor Tom Kovac, in 2012 the 100 Year City project rose to this challenge as part of the Maribor European Capital of Culture programme. Here, Guest-Editor and Deputy Curator of the project, Fleur Watson , describes how this ‘super studio’ incites cross-disciplinary exchange and the sharing of progressive design ideas for sustainable blueprints for our cities. It is an initiative that is to be continued under Kovac's directorship with the 100 Year City-themed Malaysian Biennale in the summer of 2015.     

Detoured Installations: The Policies and Architecture of the Norwegian National Tourist Routes Project

Since its inception in 1994, the Norwegian National Tourist Routes Project has become a flagship for Nordic architecture worldwide, showcasing installations by local practices along a network of historic tourist roads. The former Rector and Professor of Urbanism and Landscape at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), Karl Otto Ellefsen , explains how the initiative has adeptly tapped into sustainability trends ‘with its emphasis on untouched nature and local authenticity’, while also strategically providing a tool for realising wider social, economic and political aims.