Initiative 99: Design of a 3D-Printed Affordable Housing Prototype
Instructors: Melodie Yashar / Boer Deng / Can Cakmak / Yoana Taseva
Dates: July 24, July 25, July 26, July 27, July 28
Themes: Computational Design, Housing, 3D-printing
Software: Rhino, Grasshopper. Revit, Enscape or equivalent rendering tools recommended.
Number of Students: 60
Workshop is full please refer to live stream during and after the workshops
Description:
The vision of a home with construction costs under $99,000 has inspired and motivated city planners, developers, government officials, and non-profit organizations for decades. And yet clear barriers exist to realizing truly affordable housing prototypes at-scale within communities that need them most. The current approach to homebuilding is simply not working. At ICON, our belief is that architecture, design, robotics, and sustainability can be harnessed to serve humanity and address the global housing crisis.
In this workshop, key ICON stakeholders introduce Initiative 99, a design prompt and competition challenging the global design community to not only design affordable 3D-printed prototypes, but to ensure that these homes are accessible, beautiful, and dignified—places anyone would be proud to call home.
Throughout the workshop, students will be introduced to ICON’s technology, examples of affordable housing projects constructed by ICON and others in industry, in addition to formally investigating the development of a 3D-printed home that can be printed and finished for under $99,000. The design prompt for the workshop aims to reinvigorate the discussion and the future of affordable housing by leveraging the efficiencies only enabled and achievable through 3D printing. Participants will have an opportunity to work with and learn from key ICON stakeholders. A selection of winning designs submitted to the Initiative 99 competition will be built by ICON and showcased as a model for the future of affordable housing.
Workshop Objectives:
- The workshop is a crash-course in designing large-scale additively manufactured structures. In the workshop, key ICON stakeholders will introduce print parameters and constraints of ICON’s technology, in addition to introducing ICON’s high-level project delivery process.
- The workshop is intended to accelerate thinking on affordable housing design strategies and methodologies, and reinvigorate a stagnant discussion on how architecture might enable the rapid deployment of affordable housing solutions at scale.
- Participants will be encouraged to explore how affordable housing strategies might leverage generative and parametric computational tools to create highly customized and bespoke details without added cost or time from a construction perspective.
- Participants will be encouraged to explore how 3D-printing enables rapid economies of scale in production homebuilding, making affordable housing solutions more feasible to implement in various jurisdictions.
Learning Outcomes & Activities:
- Participants will gain an understanding of design-to-print workflows as well as printability constraints, parameters, and building performance benefits relevant to large-scale additive construction using ICON Technology.
- Participants will gain an understanding of the history, needs, and requirements relevant to the deployment of affordable housing solutions in multiple jurisdictions.
- Participants will utilize parametric and computational tools to design avant-garde and highly optimized home designs, in which the printed wall comprises both the structural system as well as the interior architecture. Participants will be encouraged to leverage design strategies typical of small spaces.
Detailed Schedule:
July 24, Day 1: Introduction (11am-1pm Central daylight time)
- Introduction to ICON (15 min)
- Introduction to Initiative 99 (30 min)
- Guest Lecture: Affordable Housing (30 min)
- Lecture: Printability Constraints (15 min)
- Introduce workshop assignment, Q&A (30 mins + Questions)
July 25, Day 2 – Designing for 3D printing (11am-12:30pm Central daylight time)
- Review Initiative 99 Rules (30 min + Questions)
- Guest Lecture: Design for Small Spaces (30 min)
- Lecture: Designing Advanced Wall Geometries (30 min)
July 26, Day 3: Desk crits / office hours (9am-11am Central daylight time)
- Small breakout groups for desk crits / office hours
July 27, Day 4: Desk crits / office hours (9am-11am Central daylight time)
- Small breakout groups for desk crits / office hours
July 28, Day 5: Workshop Presentations (9am-12pm Central daylight time)
- Final design presentations and critique
Melodie Yashar, VP Building Design & Performance, ICON:
Melodie Yashar is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally-performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. Melodie teaches at Art Center College of Design. In previous roles Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames, a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), and a Professor in Architecture at Pratt Institute. Her background is in industrial design, architecture, and human-computer interaction with an emphasis in robotics.
Boer Deng, AIA (Senior Architectural Technologist, ICON):
Boer Deng is a Senior Architectural Technologist at ICON Technology, where she explores technological solutions and workflow improvements to streamline the translation of design intentions into printed products. Boer received her M.Arch from Columbia University. And prior to ICON, Boer was a senior architect at Skidmore Owings & Merrill where she specialized in institution design. With a strong foundation in BIM strategizing and management, technical architectural design, and an extensive understanding of architectural documentation, her experiences have fostered a keen awareness of challenges and opportunities in digital construction and architectural productization.
Can Cakmak (Design Technologist, ICON)
Can Cakmak is a Design Technologist at ICON and focuses on design, R&D, workflows, and optimized construction processes. Can holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and brings a diverse experience of work from firms like Zaha Hadid Architects, Rafael Vinoly Architects, ADU-focused start-up Cottage, and more. As a former lead project designer, architectural consultant, and co-founder of a product company, he offers a unique perspective at the intersection of design and productization of architecture. Can’s ultimate passion lies in making an impact on the global housing crisis and creating dignified affordable housing through additive manufacturing.
Yoana Taseva (Design Technologist, ICON)
As a Design Technologist at the Building Design & Performance Department at ICON, Yoana oversees ICON’s built work, investigates computational workflows, and develops design tools for 3D-printed construction. Yoana obtained a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture and Digital Fabrication from ETH, Zurich. Prior to ICON, Yoana has worked at Flad Architects, Digital Building Technologies at ETH Zurich and Autodesk Technology Center Boston. Yoana is passionate about computational design, robotics and design to fabrication workflows. She can assist with questions related to complex geometry and parameters specific to ICON’s proprietary technology.