Student Profile

Publication: Evolo-Arch, Online – 2011; Location: Brooklyn, New York Program: Museum of Genetic Museum Design Research Experiments: The Architectonics of Origami navigates between realms of architectural practice and imagination. The investigations pursue origami as a structural, formal, material logic with an open trajectory for architectural development, where the analogue, the digital, and the computational overlap, and material, mathematics, and sublime meet. Computational Origami, Folds: Analogue physical models were tested to form variations in formal possibilities. The internal logic of folding was codified to form definitions and codes, simulating under computational parameters. Fall 2010, Design B: Origami Studio Instructors: Karl S. Chu / Jim Williamson
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Location: High Line, New York City Program: Whitney Museum of American Art Unboxed was a challenge to reconsider the architecture of the big box art museum. Through a range of digitally driven aggregation and distribution techniques initial investigations were performed to develop abstract formal systems and evaluate their performative and organizational potential for an evolved museum typology. The abstract tectonic system articulated the surface of the envelope through its thickness, mass, and component logic, establishing a clear tectonic expression via a repetitive, but varied organization of arrayed distributions. Massing concepts that negotiate between site conditions and interior configuration follows the articulation of the enclosure at multiple scales and allows potential intricacies of the program to be addressed and in turn generating porosity and interplay between the interior and exterior of the museum. Modulating and manipulating the light and views were done through systematic transformation of porosity and transparency. Instructors: Lise Ann Couture (Asymptote), Design C_ Unboxed Studio / Visiting Assistant Professor Dana Cupkova Coauthor: Qiaolun Huang
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Eco Skin is designed as an environmentally responsive surface prototype, which behaves as a panelized facade system. It absorbs and collects rainwater, and regulates heat and light intensity within the building. It generates functional exterior spaces along the vertical surface of the building that functions as micro-climatic zones, leisure areas, spill over space of the interiors, as well as vertical farming. Material Testing: The initial phase involved performing material tests and experiments. A comprehensive material library was developed. The elements of air, water, light, and heat were analyzed and material properties were related through the functions performed — separation, absorption, filtration, and drainage. This provided the basis for test models for water absorption and transmission. Memory wire responsible for opening modulation of the component was tested for reactivity towards heat. Test models: The first series of physical models were documented under different climatic conditions. A dynamic computational model was developed in Grasshopper to simulate different environmental situations. Co-authors: Qiaolun Huang, Karbi Yuet Chan, James Sherman
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M.Arch.2 2011

aj346@cornell.edu

Aurgho Jyoti is currently a Masters in Design Studies candidate at Harvard Graduate School of Design with a concentration in design and technology. During his time at Harvard, he has been involved in Modular Transformable Housing System research with the Changing Places Group (formerly Smart Cities) at MIT Media Lab. He received his M.Arch.2 at AAP as a Tata scholar, mentored by Neil Denari, Asymptote/ Lise Ann Couture, and Karl Chu. He has a bachelor in architecture with distinction from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Aurgho’s research interest lies in architectural geometry and materiality. He perceives architecture as a cultural construct with inter-dependencies of formal and performative systems, engaging evolved tectonics driven by material, fabrication, environmental, and computational logic. His current research involves multi-objective architectural design optimization as a form finding process and contemporary building system experiments through tropical materials.

Aurgho has worked for offices of internationally acclaimed firms which include Gehry Technologies, Los Angeles; Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)/ Rem Koolhaas, Hong Kong; Massimiliano Fuksas Architetto, Rome; 3 Gatti Architecture Studio, Shanghai; and Morphogenesis Architecture Studio, New Delhi.

Aurgho has served as a graduate teaching assistant at Harvard GSD for Parametric and Generative Modelling and at AAP for Architectural Drawing and Digital Media in Architecture. He has been a guest critic for the International Computational Design Workshop at University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Architecture. As a visiting lecturer he has taught geometry at the College of Arts, New Delhi. Aurgho has been one of the Cluster Champions for Ceramic 2.0 at Material Intensities - Smart Geometry 2012. His research experience as a research assistant at Harvard GSD includes built environment material research for Material Collection and architectural parametric analysis for the Gulf Sustainable Urbanism project. His works have been published in Housing for the 21st Century (New York), Changing Lanes (Cornell University), and Better Interiors (India); exhibited at ISARC 2012 – Eindhoven, CEVISAMA 2012 - Valencia, Harvard GSD Protosurfaces, a Cornell AAP Exhibit, Urban Habitat Forum, New Delhi and selected for ACADIA 2012 San Francisco; International Conference for Geometry and Graphics 2012 Montreal; Design Computing and Cognition 2012 Austin. Aurgho has been a 2011 SOM Prize Finalist and has received a Special Mention in Evolo International Competition, New York.