Come join us in CCA’s Digital Craft Lab for an evening of exploration during the Architecture + the City Festival. Lab Directors Jason Kelly Johnson and Negar Kalantar will share a brief overview of the lab’s work—ranging from advanced robotic fabrication and computational design to biomaterials research and experimental prototyping—and demonstrate some of the equipment we use for teaching and research. Visitors will see recent student and faculty projects, learn about ongoing research initiatives, and experience how emerging technologies are shaping the future of architecture and design at CCA.

CCA’s Digital Craft Lab supports and promotes advanced research in architectural design, digital fabrication, material science, data visualization and robotics. The work of the lab sits at the intersection of the arts and sciences and is committed to engaging the pressing issues of our time through experimentation, pedagogy and outreach. The lab routinely collaborates with engineers, scientists, artists, architects and designers to develop innovative frameworks and prototypes for engaging important issues related to sustainable building practices, ecology, material innovation, and entrepreneurship. The DCL works with industry partners, sponsors and collaborators to support the activities of the lab. Associated design studios, seminars and the post-professional MAAD Digital Craft degree focus on contemporary digital design technologies.

Dr. Negar Kalantar is an associate professor and Co-Director of the Digital Craft Lab. Her research and practice blend architecture, science, and engineering, focusing on transformable design principles to create adaptive building components and spaces that respond to users and environments in real-time. Her current work explores additive manufacturing (3D printing) and robotics as catalysts for innovation in interactive and responsive environments. By bridging advancements in additive manufacturing with large-scale structures, her research aims to revolutionize not only how infrastructures are constructed today but also how they are designed and built in the future, from concept to completion.

Jason Kelly Johnson is a professor at CCA, Co-Director of the Digital Craft Lab, and a founding design partner of FUTUREFORMS, a San Francisco-based experimental design and research office. His award-winning work explores the intersections of art, design, public space, and advanced technologies like robotics and responsive systems. Recent projects range from fine art objects and sculptural pavilions to large-scale urban installations, including "Lightweave" in Washington, DC, which received the Architect's Newspaper "Best Of Design" Award and the "Architecture Masterprize" in 2019.

A presentation of CCA Architecture / CCA Digital Craft Lab as part of the 22nd Annual Architecture and the City Festival.