Behavioral tectonics: agentBody prototypes and the compression of tectonics

Abstract

This research demonstrates the development of a tectonic approach to architecture through an experimental, iterative methodology. It is a synthetic approach where tectonics and form are engaged in a non-hierarchical negotiation. An architecture where expression, ornament, structure and their spatial consequences are intertwined and inseparable.The design research posited here has been conducted over the past nine years through the sustained development of a series of architectural tectonic experiments called the agentBody Prototypes. These prototypes reify an ambition to compress surface, structure and ornament into a single irreducible assemblage. The agentBody Prototypes are a series of fourteen proto-architectural projects, or fragments, with lead design by Roland Snooks, and research, development and fabrication by the RMIT Architecture | Tectonic Formation Lab.The paper describes the wider context of this work and includes a brief chronological overview of this trajectory, followed by a series of observations drawn from critical reflection. This paper attempts to draw out the architectural design implications that have emerged through a specific interaction of algorithmic design, and robotic fabrication.