University of Michigan Mid-Term Reviews

Yesterday I had the enjoyable experience of listening to the mid term presentations of the PCI Foundation funded studio at the University of Michigan led by Glenn Wilcox. Sitting in on these presentations was a little bit like having a small window to the future of precast concrete fabrication.

This studio, which is part of the Masters of Science in Digital Technologies, is intended to engage students with the precast industry and is the capstone studio in the post-professional, research-based degree. It is unlike some of our other programs that are more focused on the architectural design rather than the manufacturing process. This studio is poised to consider the design and production of precast architecture as a form of advanced building research. The students use the resources available in the digital lab that allows them to leverage the power of computationally-based design and numerically-controlled machines toward new methodologies, materials, and systems of production. For the precasters involved with this project, Kerkstra Precast and International Precast Solutions, the students work was challenging and engaging - unlike what we typically see produced, but new ideas that can unleash the possibility for new uses of precast concrete.