The Center for Experimental Structures was founded by Pratt School of Architecture professors William Katavolos and Haresh Lalvani to bridge the gap between advanced and emerging technologies of building with the shaping and making of architectural structures based on the fundamental principles of design in nature and beyond.
Over the years, the founding faculty have explored several unique projects which include hydronics architecture, visual mathematics, origins of order, morphoverse, hyperstructures, fractal structures, hygrostructures, and a new periodic table of chemical elements.
CES research projects by current faculty range from basic explorations in form studies to addressing the climate challenge. These include transformational geometries, structural morphology, minimal surfaces, self-shaping, to name a few. In addition, growing organic structures for cleaning air, capturing carbon, and farming, and machines simulating wind flow for testing new topologies for renewable energy production are being developed. Additionally, the integration of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfM&A) principles is being explored to streamline the production of these innovative structures and technologies for more efficient and sustainable outcomes.
The Center for Experimental Structures is unique within schools of architecture and design in the United States. The Morphology Minor/Concentration, also unique, is the academic component of CES.
Current CES faculty include Ajmal Aqtash, David Burke, Neil Katz, Haresh Lalvani and Robinson Strong.
Former CES faculty include the late William Katavolos, John Gulliford, Molly Mason and Che-Wei Wang.
