Status

Completed

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Location

Kuwait City, Kuwait​

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Photographer

Houssam Flayhan ​

While teaching in Kuwait University in the studio led by Dr. Hussain Dashti, Mohammed Makki from MSSM Associates has discovered that the University have invested very little into the implementation of parametric design, and therefore, parametric design tools, for students to use throughout its 5-year architecture program. As a result, introducing 4th year architecture students to tools that lead to completely new approaches to design was received by the students as both exciting as well as intimidating.

 

The course brief was to design and construct two 1:1 scale pavilions using either biomimetics, fractals or folding techniques as design systems. The students had to use Rhino and Grasshopper in their design process, however the software were not to be used only as modeling aids, but as design tools that would help develop their project.

 

During the initial design phase, the students designing the OV Pavilion were originally inspired by the ‘snail’. However, rather than attempting to simply imitate the snail’s geometry, they were more interested in the snail’s ability to rather than hear sound, feel the vibrations in the sound waves; thus it was this particular trait that the students wanted to illustrate in their pavilion.