2020-2021 - Automata
Students studying MSc Advanced Architectural Design at The Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment were asked to develop a series of forward-looking projects for the North East of Scotland under this year's overarching theme “Automata”.
Automation in the built environment is enabling disciplines to advance in unprecedented rate, creating possibilities for an unparalleled increase in productivity. Within architecture, digitization and automation technologies have the potential to allow for a reinvention of architectural design, by reconnecting the designer with fabrication and construction directly, creating buildings which are better built, extremely functional and of superior aesthetics.
Students designed hyperloop (an ultra-high-speed ground transportation system for passengers and cargo), vertiport stations (a type of station for unmanned aerial vehicles to land and take off vertically), high-rise towers and community centres in Aberdeen to address future challenges, with a focus on zero-carbon issues. In Semester 1, the students developed a feasibility study where they researched and assessed the workability of their proposed design. In Semester 2, the students developed their design, allowing them to create new operational models for architectural designers. During a week-long focused workshop in Semester 2, students worked conceptually on decentralised architecture, enabled by blockchain technologies, allowing them to create models that empower decentralised communities.
Non-Fungible Tokens
The students will be among the first in the world to release their work as Non-Fungible Tokens on the OpenSea.io NFT marketplace. NFTs are unique digital assets including drawings, photos, music and videos, hosted on a blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies, providing a platform for architectural designers to break through previously inaccessible markets.