ACAWorkshop 2019, Boston Valley Terra Cotta, University at Buffalo

The ACAWorkshop furthers the design and development of new technologies for architectural terra cotta facades. Each year the event has grown in scale, bringing new participants, ideas and approaches to the design of architectural ceramic assemblies.

BUFFALO, NY — The fourth consecutive Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop will take place August 12–15, 2019. ACAW is an industry-academic collaboration hosted by Boston Valley Terra Cotta and the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning to broaden the knowledge of architects and engineers about the performance of terra cotta facades. Guided by manufacturers, educators, and ceramicists, participants gain hands-on learning experience exploring the materiality and production of architectural terra cotta. The event will conclude with a public presentation of each team’s propositions and is highlighted with a keynote speech by Annabelle Selldorf, principal of Selldorf Architects.

Teams are comprised of industry professionals from HKS Architects, KieranTimberlake, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Payette, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Studios Architecture, Studio NYL, SHoP Architects, Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, and educators from Alfred University and University at Buffalo. Work began earlier this year in the studio and glaze lab at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, where theoretical and practical challenges were tackled, designs were developed, and prototypes were produced to ensure that each design is manufacturable.

The UB Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART) Community of Excellence supports the workshop with student assistants and space for teams to test and assemble prototypes.

“This workshop reintroduces the fabricated prototype as a part of the design thinking,”

says Omar Khan, Co Director, SMART CoE; Associate Professor, Department of Architecture,

“This allows for risk sharing and a shared intelligence between the designer and the manufacturer, with the aim of encouraging better designs and less uncertainty in the execution of construction.”

By focusing on the design of building envelopes simultaneously with the development and production of the assembly, architects and designers will walk away from this experience knowing how the manufacturing process can be utilized to create building skins that take advantage of terra cotta’s natural properties.

John Krouse, CEO at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, adds

“Teams will leave with a better understanding of the material, having learned more about the possibilities of terra cotta and how fabrication can enhance its performance.”

The ACAW final presentation Thursday, August 15, at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, New York is open to the public.

For more details and sponsorship information, please visit the event’s website.