“Emotional Structures”, Facing material limitation

Abstract

This communication pretends to explain the experience of a workshop on the theme of construction of light structures. This workshop was carried out by the authors as visiting professors at the China Academy of Art (CAA). The workshop represents an action-oriented learning process known as learning by doing, that enhances creativity through a more empirical alternative towards the generation of a Architectural Design Project. The texts shares the work that has motivated students approach towards experimentation with wood, in this case bamboo and pine as a local resource in China. The text explains design processes that departs from an artistic base that confronts physical realities such as gravity, weight, resistance, fragment and mechanical joints, to mention some. The communication shows design exercises that parallely potenciates the structural and plastic possibilities of the material, and that are tested by finally constructing them at 1:1 scale.