Finding Form

The exhibition Finding Form was developed by students at 'Architectural Technology' and is the result of an investigation into how form emerges through material processes.

The exhibition draws from a long tradition of physical formfinding, from Robert Hooke’s hanging chain experiments to Heinz Isler’s pioneering use of suspended models to explore new shapes for shells and to design large scale shell structures. While computational tools have largely replaced analogue techniques, this work explores how the two can be combined to reveal unexpected examples of structural morphology. This opens up questions as to the kinds of forms that are materially efficient, how they relate to material properties, and ultimately a more effective construction practice.