In the context of the ArTeC 2020 internationale chaire, the research group Soft Matters, Ensadlab will have the pleasure to welcome Prof. Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, artitect, head of the Centre for IT & Architecture (CITA), Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design & Conservation, DK for an inaugural lecture on Monday the 16th of novembre from 14h to 17h. The conference is entitled “Computing biology: bio design for architecture” and will discuss a bio based material paradigm for architecture. Bio-based materials are fundamentally different to current building materials being characterised by their complex heterogeneity, unpredictable behaviours and limited lifespans. This talk presents a framework for thinking bio based materials in architecture, their tradition and future digital practice. By presenting examples from the CITA research group I will exemplify this framework and discuss future research perspectives. This English-spoken conference will be online due to the covid-19 context and will be followed by a time of exchange and questions. It will be extended by the venue of Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen in Ecole des Arts Décos next spring.

Bio – Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen examines the intersections between architecture and new computational design processes. During the last 15 years her focus has been on the profound changes that digital technologies instigate in the way architecture is thought, designed and built. In 2005 she founded the Centre for IT and Architecture research group (CITA) at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation where she has piloted a special research focus on the new digital-material relations that digital technologies bring forth. Investigating advanced computer modelling, digital fabrication and material specification CITA has been central in the forming of an international research field examining the changes to material practice in architecture. This has been led by a series of research investigations developing concepts and technologies as well as strategic projects such as the international Marie Curie ITN network Innochain that fosters interdisciplinary sharing and dissemination of expertise and supports new collaborations in the fields of architecture, engineering and fabrication and the Sapere Aude Advanced Grant Complex Modelling examining new modelling paradigms in computational design.