Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 31
Occupation: Designer and engineer.
Instagram: @studio_ini
Hometown: Athens, Greece.
Studio location: Athens and London.
Describe what you make: I strive to discover and create an Augmented Materiality (AM), a physical reality where a new interactive dynamic is embedded in material-driven systems to bring matter closer to human perception and interest. I disobey the notion that architecture should be static. This manifests in both new methods of creating/fabricating and new kinetic environments that envelop human activity.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The importance doesn’t lie in the final “thing,” but in the discoveries that occur within each process, so I can’t single out one piece of work. These discoveries help develop our research towards an AM and inform the trajectory of our practice.
Describe the problem your work solves: To me, our AM is a material one; it addresses our need for transformation. In this AM, technologies apply ideas derived from digital design to the physical, material world—whereas the more commonly known augmented reality or virtual reality focuses on simulations. AM abstracts convoluted systems of digital and physical layers down to an entirely material and human-actuated interface. It evolves from digital augmentations to material ones by embedding new dynamic capability in matter itself rather than overlay content on its static. It aims to connect the material world directly to human perception.
Describe the project you are working on now: In our urban environments, space is constructed through static boundaries—the definitive forms and unmovable walls that we inhabit. In this static plan and unresponsive landscape, our presence is often muted instead of amplified or celebrated. In nature, the human self is both part of an ecosystem and an architect of the constructed space. This natural space is inclusive of the human self and evokes a sense of belonging. It raises the question: What constitutes a new type of urbanism in which the mind and body can both be present? With Urban Imprint, we ask visitors to immerse themselves in a human-actuated installation. We hope to inspire the notion of a self that is fulfilled, empowered, and energized by being present in the physical realm.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Urban Imprint at A/D/O, which opens to the public during NYCxDesign on May 17.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Materials and no fixed element. Every element in the studio must be completely moveable and reconfigurable to respond to the ever-evolving and changing needs of our work.
What you do when you’re not working: Sleep!
Sources of creative envy: Leonardo da Vinci. The true anti-disciplinary inventor.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Indulgence in endless possibility and procrastinating on eliminating options.
Concrete or marble? Concrete with marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? The transition from dark to light.
