An international team of teachers
CONFLUENCE Institute proposes to mobilize all its resources, to build a team of experts in the fields of architecture, robotics, design, virtual reality, anthropology, and digital manufacturing, to reflect during 15 weeks on the Moon Village project.
• Odile Decq, Architect, and founder of CONFLUENCE, France
• Jacques Rougerie, Architect, and a specialist in the speculative project, France
• Aaron Sprecher, Architect, and a specialist in digital fabrication, Israel
• Elisabeth Bacon, Researcher in cognitive psychopathology, France
• Chandler Ahrens, Architect, and a specialist in computational design, United States
• Tom Shaked, Architect, and a specialist in robotic, Israel
• Jacques Sautereau, Architect, France
• Romain Viricel, Designer, France
• Andrea Blum, Artist, United States
The school will develop a series of scenarios capable of addressing the issues raised by life in space. Organized around seminars and intensive workshops, this transversal experiment will use the full potential of architecture to question the key challenges of such a project:
• How to think of a new form of construction in space? > Robotic experimentation
• How to build with the material of the Moon itself? > 3D Print Experimentation
• How to design a remote-construction the process between the Earth and the Moon > VR Experimentation
• How to design interiors and objects out of gravity? > Experimentation design
• How to organize an “extra-terrestrial” collective life and the uses that accompany it? > Anthropological experimentation
These questions will converge in the architecture of the future Moon Village and will allow us to rethink more generally our way of living and building together.
2019 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first step on the moon.
At the same time, a large number of projects such as SpaceX, Moon Express, Google Xprize renew with the old dream of space conquest and mark a historic turning point in the evolution of humanity.
Space is undeniably our new frontier. And the Moon, the first base camp of our future migrations. Unlike the first lunar missions, it will no longer be a matter of staying there for a few hours, but of living there. It will not only be a question of exploration and staying there for a short time. It will decidedly a matter of settlement. To live together. Even if only temporarily before migrating towards new territories.
It is therefore important for us to imagine how to build the first human village out of Earth. A village that will not be reduced to its basic functional use but will demonstrate our capacity to transform the moon’s sterile environment into a new place of life, experimentation, tourism, research, education, art, and art. ‘architecture. CONFLUENCE Institute proposes to mobilize all its resources, to build a team of experts in the fields of architecture, robotics, design, virtual reality, anthropology, and digital manufacturing, to reflect during 15 weeks on the Moon Village project.
For the 2018 edition of the Festival of Lights, CONFLUENCE and the Bullukian Foundation team up once again to offer “Polyfolies”: a luminous installation created by students in architecture.
On the occasion of the studio “Create a material, create a light” organized at CONFLUENCE Insitute by Juan Velasquez, lighting architect, and Domitille Roy, architect, the students had to imagine and propose an innovative and relevant lighting installation. This installation aims to be a reflection of the pedagogy developed at CONFLUENCE: “Learning by doing: manufacturing and experimentation”.
Of the eleven projects presented, the jury, composed of Odile Decq-director of Confluence Institute, Nicolas Hannequin-teacher at Confluence, Fanny Robin-project manager at the Bullukian Foundation and Romain Tamayo-project manager at the Festival of Lights, has selected the winning project: “Polyfolies” proposed by Meriem Benkirane, a third-year student at CONFLUENCE
“It is the sea that comes back to us in this winter time. After crossing a narrow gate, we discover an illuminated courtyard. Petals are molded, deformed, multiplied to create this enchanting environment. Strident beams of light pass through the petals and dilute. Thanks to the strength of the wind, the reflection of the petals vibrates and undulates on the floor and facades of the courtyard. This mysterious light envelops us and our shadow mingles with multiple reflections.
Formerly intended to illustrate the wealth of its occupants, the court acted as theatrical scenery, place of representation and projection. This project proposes to stage the court of the Bullukian Foundation using the processes of enchantment. Sublimate the environment, shape reality and create an atmosphere where our emotions can ignite.”
Partners:
• IGuzzini
• La ville de Lyon
Intensive workshop with Charles Ober from September 29th to October 8th, 2019
At the heart of this collaborative project, students from the school of CONFLUENCE are led to the design and co-build space proposal. The project is based on the idea of “pioneers”: insects, plants, birds, which often in uninhabited territories are the only ones and first occupants. These pioneers are shaping the territory.
From this bio-mimetic parallel students will have to extract principles, processes, forms, methods from their observations on these pioneers. We will look at how, these principles, become spatial mechanisms, manufacturing processes, organization assembly methods, second skin, grafting…
At the heart of their experiments and research, students will establish a scenario for this unusual place.
At first, they will define the ecosystem of the project, make interactions between the different actors, the events, the neighborhood, and its inhabitants. But also, in a second time in the form of prototypes, manufacturing tests, constructive details …
More generally, during this workshop, we will examine the relationship between design techniques and manufacturing methods, and how they interrogate and inform each other.
This Diploma work investigates integrating textile technologies in architecture to create responsive, dynamic spaces. It explores textiles’ role in the architectural fabrication process, utilizing digital tools and additive manufacturing. This involves experimenting with textile flexibility, strength, and its potential as a constructive element through various tests and practical applications. The research is framed within a hybrid theoretical and practice-based approach, pushing the boundaries of traditional architectural methods and concepts. Key case studies include developing permeable structures that adapt to changing environmental and social conditions. The outcome emphasizes textiles not just as materials but as integral, functional elements in building environments that are constantly evolving and adapting.
