Innovation fosters collaboration, and at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design important and exciting cross-university dialogues are always taking place. Leire Asensio-Villoria’s “Ceramic Materials Formations” exhibition is a case in point. Asensio-Villoria, lecturer in architecture and landscape architecture, led the project with Felix Raspall, noting, “this year we placed a strong emphasis on working with the inherent thermal properties of ceramics.” Students worked with the Harvard Ceramics Program to develop their research: “The positive input from Kathy King, Shawn Panepinto, and Kyla Toomey from the ceramics lab was an important factor in the development of these prototypes and made the dialogue between our expertise and their knowledge a rewarding and fruitful one.”
Discussing the research, Asensio-Villoria described the elemental approach she and students took: “We focused the research on the development of tectonic prototypes able to produce a series of construction elements that, when assembled into larger architectural elements, would respond and react to environmental conditions, while also creating compelling material effects that invite engagement. We developed prototypes that are intended to cultivate a series of microclimates through evaporative cooling and other techniques, leveraging the material properties of ceramics.”
Now on view at Gallery 224 at the ceramics studio in Allston, the work is a beautiful display of the meeting of craft, technology, and experimentation. The closing reception will take place on February 27, 2015, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.