Architecture Department of the University of Nicosia [ARC], HUB Design+Engineering Platform, Pavlides Marbles

Διαγωνισμός – Νικητήρια Πρόταση

Competition Poster

The advancement and proliferation of Digital Design tools and Fabrication methods calls for re-evaluation of current design and building processes. Within the above context, the AUTO-Mason design competition has been initiated to explore the potential of CAD-CAM applications in the construction sector and promote collaboration between academia and industry on the island of Cyprus.  AUTO-Mason-13 has focused on industrial 7-axis CNC machines, specialized in stone and marble carving. Industrial Robotic Arms have been a fascinating challenge for designers that have been recently establishing new ways of communication with these relatively old but generic machines. As an increased number of such robots escape the automotive and aerospace industry into the building construction sector, designers are called to push the boundaries and explore the possibilities of what looks like an industry changing technology.

In the light of the above, Pavlides Marbles in collaboration with the Architecture Department of the University of Nicosia [ARC] and HUB Design+Engineering Platform, invited architecture, interior design students and young architects to submit their design proposals for the first AUTO-Mason Design Competition.  Contestants were called to design a linear assembly of 41 Stone Panels which will form the main boundary wall of Pavlides Industrial estate in Dali, Nicosia.

The winning proposal, by Sam Welham, Matthew Gilbert and Era Savvides, has successfully fulfilled most of the competition aims and satisfied all technical and technological requirements of AUTO-Mason13 brief. The team has managed to achieve a fresh and aesthetically unique result, which demonstrated inherent digital fabrication logic. The propagating rippled surface of the project created a visually interesting outcome which was further celebrated by the choice of simple curving tools. The project admirably reflects rocky costal landscapes and natural geological formations often encountered in the eastern Mediterranean region. As a result, the jury consented, that the proposal formulated an iconic solution, well suited to Pavlides Marbles Estate.

The winning project will be fabricated using Pavlides’s Marbles 7-axis CNC machine and when assembled it is expected to be the largest digitally fabricated assembly on the island of Cyprus. The first of the panels will be fabricated and showcased at the upcoming IDEAL HOME exhibition which will be held at Nicosia International Exhibition Centre from the 8th to the 10th of November 2013.

Winning Entry, © Sam Welham, Matthew Gilbert, Era Savvides

Winning Entry: TEETH[ING]

Design Team: Sam Welham, Matthew Gilbert and Era Savvides

Competition Organisers: Architecture Department University of Nicosia [ARC], HUB Design+Engineering Platform

Industrial Partner-Sponsor: Pavlides Marbles

Fabrication

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