This is an archive page for Havana

Forthcoming dates for this school to be announced.

Havana

Monday 6 – Friday 17 August 2012

The Politics of Fabrications Laboratory is a design research initiative which explores politically charged materials in actual city sites. From Max Borges’ double-curvature concrete shells to Alberto Cruz Covarrubias’ poetic wood constructions, Latin American architecture has demonstrated an outstanding vitality in material expression. The capacity of these experimental works to change the relationship between architecture and the public will be used as a key to unlocking creativity in current digital fabrication experiments. 

Our next stop in this series of speculative itinerant workshops is Havana, where we will experiment with architectural structures in brick and concrete. The pearl of the Antilles, a city of infinite wealth in the colonial world, is now a rotting paradise looking for a new future, but it still seduces by demonstrating its otherness in relation to the global condition. Havana traps its visitors in an intense tapestry of smell and touch that provides a different vantage point from which to redefine our idea of material expression. From here we will start opening up ideas for new constructions in the public space.

The Havana workshop will be structured in two one-week segments. In the first part (tools and conceptual scheme), students will learn new software to represent innovative political arguments, experimenting with the relationship between everyday activities and particular material organisations. These experimental propositions will seek to define new models of interaction between the individual and the collective in the public arena. In the second part (fabrication– construction), students will work collaboratively on the implementation of a scheme selected from the initial proposals. Fabricated on site, this temporary prototype will provide a live test of the achievements of the earlier designs.

Applications

The extended deadline for applications is 29 July 2012. All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required. After payment of fees, the AA can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop. A portfolio or CV is not required, only the online application form and payment.

Fees

The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £695 per participant, which includes a £50 Visiting Membership. If you are already a member, the total fee will be reduced automatically by £50 by the online payment system. Fees are non refundable. Fees do not include flights. Accommodation during the workshop is not provided, but advice on accommodation options can be given.

Students need to bring their own laptops, digital equipment and model making tools. Please ensure this equipment is covered by your own insurance as the AA takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen at the workshop.

Eligibility
The workshop is open to architecture and design students and professionals worldwide.