They look like sculptures—layered wooden arcs resembling the scales of a fish, angular metal “Zs” bolted together in a mesh, long wooden beams woven like a basket. But imagine these unique concepts as building structures, space dividers or other environment enhancements. They are student architecture projects designed through digital fabrication, an innovative technique that students at the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture are employing for their designs.

The projects will be on view from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 7 – 8 in the Atrium of the College of Architecture. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Digital fabrication refers to objects and prototypes designed and generated on computers using three-dimensional software and specialized equipment. It is attractive for the accuracy and quality of its components and the conservation of time and materials.

“It’s really part of a renaissance in architecture,” Santiago Perez, assistant professor of architecture, said. The projects are part of his studio class, Domestic Fabrication. “This is a marriage of the technical and the artistic, and it is creating a new generation of designers who have artistic vision and computational precision.”

The college soon will open a new facility dedicated to fabrication technology.

For more information on the UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, visit www.arch.uh.edu/home/index.html
For more information of Santiago Perez, visit http://poly-lab.blogspot.com/.

WHAT:	Domestic Fabrication: Student Project Exhibition
WHEN:	9 a.m. – 5 p.m., May 7 – 8
WHERE:	Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, first floor Atrium For directions and parking information, visit www.uh.edu/campus_map/buildings/ARC.html