Plastic Stereotomy wins TEX-FAB's Plasticity competition

TEX-FAB's Plasticity is the fourth annual competition that focuses on connecting experimental design practices with industry leaders, while also promoting innovative research in the architectural applications of digital fabrication and parametric design.

Out of four finalists selected from round one, "Plastic Stereotomy" by Justin Diles -- an assistant professor at The Knowlton School of Architecture -- was announced as the winner during the ACADIA 2014 conference that took place at the USC School of Architecture in Los Angeles late last week.

Diles will be commissioned by and receive fabrication support from TEX-FAB to build a full-scale installation of his project. The installation will then travel to Houston, Texas in Spring 2015 and be exhibited at the TEX-FAB 2015 conference.

Read more about the winning proposal below.

Project description: " Viva plastic! Plastic Stereotomy positions plasticity at the beginning of the design process by exploring the multiple, latent volumetric tessellations hidden in simple structural configurations, opening rich possibilities for architectural design and construction. Assisted by FEM software, our project develops strategies for reviving stereotomic masonry assembly with both cut solid and  molded, hollow laminar plastics. Through our design we reimagine a once vital field of knowledge to investigate contemporary formal and aesthetic question s related to the relationships between the subdivision of volumes, constituent materials, surface depth and finishing, and construction  methods. Our proposal argues for the continuing relevance of stereotomy, a rich field of architectural technique that we hope can be reinvigorated by computation and our most intriguing material invention."

"Justin Diles is currently an Assistant Professor at The Knowlton School of Architecture at the The Ohio State University where he previously held the Howard E. LeFevre Emerging Practitioner Fellowship. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and his Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the Faculty Prize for distinguished work. He previously taught at The University of Applied Arts, Vienna in the studio of Greg Lynn and at the University of Pennsylvania as a lecturer in the post-professional program."

Photos courtesy of TEX-FAB.

Click the thumbnails below to see the finalist projects.