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RMIT University’s Design Research Institute is collaborating with Materfad to bring the Smart Flexibility: Advanced Materials and Technologies exhibition to Australia for the first time.
Being organised as part of RMIT’s inaugural Design for Impact Festival, Smart Flexibility will present international projects on advanced materials and technologies, developed by universities and firms from 10 different countries. The exhibition will also include three projects from some of RMIT’s design research leaders.
The international touring exhibition opens on Friday 24 July and runs until Sunday 9 August in Project Rooms 1 and 2, Level 2 of RMIT Design Hub in Carlton.
In addition to exploring the current capabilities provided by structures and materials designed to raise awareness and adapt architecture to its environment, the Smart Flexibility exhibition also investigates the flexibility and intrinsic reactivity of specific materials and advanced technologies.
Materfad is a Materials Centre based in Barcelona, Spain that performs research and technological surveillance in the field of new materials.
Materfad Materials Library Manager, Valérie Bergeron explains that the Smart Flexibility Exhibition illustrates the result of combining flexible structures and active materials to form systems that interact with the environment and/or the user.
Noting that the exhibition includes three projects from RMIT – Lumina, Penumbra and Aesthetics of Air, she explains that the appeal of travelling exhibitions is to grow throughout the various phases of the tour through local curator partners.
Ms Bergeron added that bringing the exhibition to Melbourne was a great opportunity for further research in the field of Smart Flexibility; the exhibition also represented a key collaboration for Materfad with a prestigious Australian university of technology and design.
Associate Professor Phil Ayres from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ Centre of Information Technology and Architecture, Copenhagen and his exhibit Persistent Model #3 will be in Melbourne for the opening as well as a Materfad/RMIT Sketcha Kucha event followed by a public lecture on 24 July.
The Smart Flexibility exhibition is curated by Valérie Bergeron and Javier Peña from Materfad.
Programme
What: Smart Flexibility – Advanced Materials and Technologies exhibition
When: Friday 24 July to Sunday 9 August 2015
Where: Project Rooms 1 and 2, Level 2, Design Hub, Building 100, corner of Victoria and Swanston Streets, Carlton
The Smart Flexibility Opening Celebration will take place on Thursday 23 July 2015, 6pm to 8pm.
This event is part of RMIT’s Design Research Institute Design for Impact Festival and is also supported by Materfad, Open House Melbourne and RMIT University.
