Volumetric Robotics Exhibition Opening

Please join us for the opening of the exhibition titled Volumetric Robotics on March 19 at 6pm at the BSA Space in Boston. For more information on the opening, please visit the BSA Space website.

While some hold on to notions of alien intervention, Brandon Clifford, Belluschi Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and curator of the exhibition Volumetric Robotics, argues that ancient civilizations like the Inca were much more advanced in their knowledge of volumetric construction than we are today. It is a rare occasion when we construct with massive blocks of stone these days.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the design industry has favored economically friendly, often thin veneers for the cladding of structural volumes. Such an assumption about efficiency neglects the potential of various ancient and lost methods to produce superior external skins. This is why we are in awe of the Inca: We simply can’t explain how their work was possible.

The show includes a “cabinet of curiosities” containing artifacts and tools, footage of a robotic arm carving volumetrically, and prototypes of walls and columns fabricated by the same robot. Also included is new research from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning that explores ways to recapture methods of carving stone in the digital era.

Range now On Sale

Range is now on Sale! Visit our online store here to get your copy of Range today for only $19.95.

Range compiles the work of Matter Design by project from the years 2008-2013 in reverse chronological order. Each project contains a descriptive text, but some also compile previously published articles and are noted as such. The structure of this catalog is simple—reference image on the left with a project image on the right. This simple structure has allowed the possibility of focusing in on details, or illustrating multiple references. While each spread is simplistic and often didactic, the confluence of references for each project speak to the range, breadth, and complexity of the work.

Architectural League Prize: Range Exhibition

Matter Design to lecture tonight at the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers: Range opening at Parsons starting at 7pm. Come join us for the exhibition to follow.

This exhibition also coincides with the launch of our online store where you will be able to purchase our products, as well as our new limited edition book titled "Range"

Click here for more information.

Introducing Range

We are pleased to introduce our new book--Range. Click here to order your own copy.

Range compiles the work of Matter Design by project from the years 2008-2013 in reverse chronological order. Each project contains a descriptive text, but some also compile previously published articles and are noted as such. The structure of this catalog is simple—reference image on the left with a project image on the right. This simple structure has allowed the possibility of focusing in on details, or illustrating multiple references. While each spread is simplistic and often didactic, the confluence of references for each project speak to the range, breadth, and complexity of the work.
This catalog is produced for the 2013 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers exhibition and funded with generous support by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture + Planning and the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning.
Published Date: June 25, 2012
Dimensions: 6"x6" | 256 pgs | B&W | Softcover

Cumulus - Soft Launch

Matter Design is excited to announce the soft launch of our first line of jewelry titled Cumulus.

We have been working on this extensive line of rings, cufflinks, and other items for about a year and are happy to release this passion of ours to the public. This soft launch contains many of the current ring and cufflink designs. While we have received incredible responses from our physical prototypes, we would love to hear what you think. For the limited time of this soft launch, we are offering all of the current designs directly from our manufacturer (they will make the products to order and ship directly to you) allowing us a better understanding of which designs are most prone to stock ourselves, as well as promote to retail locations. We thank you for your help and for this reason we have aggressively priced these items to reward early adopters. We are very proud of these designs and we hope you enjoy them as well.

To see the full array of designs and pur­chase your own Cumu­lus, please visit our online shop. If you are interested to carry Cumu­lus in your retail loca­tion, please email brandon[at]matterdesignstudio[dot]com

Cumu­lus is a fam­ily of designed objects rem­i­nis­cent of cloud formations—not only for its rhetor­i­cal appear­ance, but for it’s capac­ity to morph, adapt, and change. Clouds are often per­ceived to carry sig­nif­i­cance beyond their phys­i­cal states. While some indi­vid­ual items in the Cumu­lus fam­ily appear famil­iar as a known type—for instance the pearl—the same sys­tem trans­forms, mutates, mul­ti­plies, and evolves into a fam­ily of solu­tions, each pro­duc­ing their own iden­tity within the large fam­ily of cloud formations.

Volume Price Reduction

Our publisher has informed us that that Vol­ume: Bring­ing Sur­face into Ques­tion has received a price reduction and will now be on sale for $64.53. To purchase your own copy, please visit our online book­store. We hope you enjoy it.

In addition, we are offering a discount until March 31st of $10 off Volume! Just use the code SHARE10 upon checkout.

Brandon Clifford Appointed to Belluschi Lectureship

Brandon Clifford has been appointed first holder of the Belluschi Lectureship in MIT's, School of Architecture and Planning, Department of Architecture, a new three-year teaching and research post named for Pietro Belluschi, Dean of the School from 1951 to 1965, in recognition of his generous guidance of young practitioners and scholars.

Organically Emerging Hardware

Here is an example of the 5-axis milling used to extract the organically modeled door hardware produced at the past Oganic Fab­ri­ca­tions Work­shop at the Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan Taub­man Col­lege. More examples to come soon.

Organic Fabrications Workshop 2

Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee are to instruct the Oganic Fabrications Workshop at the University of Michigan Taubman College on Saturday and Sunday January 28-29, 2012.

This second installment in the workshop will build on work done in the first workshop, though participation in the first is not a per-requisite for attending.  The Organic Fabrications workshop is dedicated to advancing complex modeling and making of organic geometries.  We will understand the principles of surface curvature, as well as promote the control of these principles to resolve our geometries with constraints.  The workshop will then translate these principles into fabrication methods.  T-Splines for Rhino will serve as the platform for these operations.

If you are a member of the TCAUP community and would like to attend, please sign up here.  Space is limited.

Organic Fabrications Workshop

Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee are to instruct the Oganic Fabrications Workshop at the University of Michigan Taubman College on Saturday October 29, 2011.

This workshop is dedicated to advancing complex modeling and making of organic geometries.  We will understand the principles of surface curvature, as well as promote the control of these principles to resolve our geometries with constraints.  The workshop will then translate these principles into fabrication methods.  T-Splines for Rhino will serve as the platform for these operations.

If you are a member of the TCAUP community and would like to attend, please sign up here.  Space is limited.

Brandon Clifford Wins SOM Prize

We are proud to announce, Brandon has been selected as this years winner of the 2011 SOM Prize by the SOM Foundation and will recieve a funded travel fellowship.  He will use this opportunity to expand the current research in stereotomy.  To learn more click here.

the Malleablists to present at Center for Architecture

The Malleablists (members of the Archiprix International team Malleable Manhattan, lead by Brandon Clifford) have been selected to present their manifesto at the Center for Architecture this Friday, June 8th at 4:30 pm.  The Malleablists movement is dedicated to re-imagining the role of the architect in an ever changing society.

(top) rendering by Melanie Hammer | (bottom) detail by Rodrigo Rodrigo García González