Material Simulacra

9 units · Undergraduate

All Semesters: 9 units This fabrication-based course interprets Jean Baudrillard's ideas of "panic-stricken production of the real and the referential, above and parallel to the panic of material production." Serial mold-generated surface studies activated by material properties, behavior, intuition, and expression ask how our perceptions of the real is mediated by language of the made artifact. Structured as the tripartite investigation: TheoryResearch-Craft, this seminar's pedagogy is centered on the cultural, historical, ethical, aesthetic and tectonic values of architectural materialism to arrive at an awareness of what a material conveys. Analog and digital techniques and simulations engage the technological and intellectual roles of the craftsperson. Course Website: http://soa.cmu.edu