The approach of "Informing Architecture by Materiality" opens the way to an innovative use of materials in the design professions. Taking material qualities and properties such as texture, elasticity, transparency and fluidity as a point of departure, the concept described and employed here transcends the conventional definitions of building materials. Instead, the focus is on a multitude of material operations, like folding and bending, carving and cutting, weaving and knitting, mirroring and screening.

The featured design strategies and methods address established and "new" materials alike. They are applied both to the scale of the detail and the entire building. The examples comprise prototype structures as well as large building projects.

Eight chapters deal with surfaces and layers, joints and juctions, weaving and texturing, nanoscale transformations, responsiveness, the integration of ephemeral factors like wind and light as well as material collections providing professional resources. Written by renowned experts in this field, the book features many examples from international contemporary architecture.

The introductory part provides the conceptual background, while a final chapter describes consequences for pressing issues of today, like sustainability or life cycle assessment.

Table of Contents

The Alternative Approach: Observation, Speculation, Experimentation

Difficult Synthesis

Aggregation

Joints and Junctions

Weaving

Modulation

Responsive Materials

Ephemeral Phenomena

Encoding

The Future of Material Design

Thomas Schröpfer is Associate Professor and Programme Director of Architecture at Singapore University of Technology and Design SUTD. James Carpenter is principal of James Carpenter Design Associates in New York. Sheila Kennedy is principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture in Boston and teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Toshiko Mori is principal of Toshiko Mori Architect in New York and teaches at the Hardvard University Graduate School of Design. Liat Margolis is a landscape architect and teaches at the John Daniels Architecture School of the University of Toronto. Nader Tehrani is principal of Office dA in Boston and Head of the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Peter Yeadon is principal of Decker Yeadon in New York and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. Erwin Viray is an architect and teaches at the National University of Singapore