Erosion in architecture: a tactile design process fostering biophilia

This design research explores the physical and poetic relation between architecture and climate by introducing a combined tactile and numerical approach to creation. Through a graduate design studio experience based on a conceptual framework, it is structured in several steps and exploration methods to address the following questions: How does the structure of space regulate environmental forces such as sun and wind to increase the hedonic experience of place? How does material change in response to environmental flows of wind, sun, rain and snow? How can physical model experiences inspire architects and engineers to engage in a more tactile' reflection on natural phenomena? How can eroded matter create new typologies best adapted to a given environment? The project innovates at three levels: its unique corpus of erosion typologies, its combined analogical and numerical simulation methodology, and the representation of the dynamic nature of erosion into architectural morphology.