Níall McLaughlin
Architects

ARCHITECTURE AS AN INSTRUCTION-BASED ART – HARVARD UNIVERSITY EXHIBITION

SEPTEMBER 2024

An exhibition has opened at the Druker Design Gallery at Harvard University titled ‘Architecture as an Instruction-Based Art’. The exhibition is a selection of drawings which are used to coordinate the process of construction, that is, drawings which reflect the nature of architecture as an “instruction-based” art. We selected a drawing from our International Rugby Experience project in Ireland that shows the complex co-ordination and layering of construction from ceiling to roof level. Here each bay of the sculptural ceiling transitions upwards from an expansive oculus aligned with the building axes, twisting through 20 degrees to accommodate eye-shaped north-facing skylights and bespoke solar shades at roof level.

The exhibition has been curated by the Farshid Moussavi and runs until the 15^th October. More information can be found on the Harvard website here.

OLYMPIC HOUSING WINS CREATIVITY IN CONCRETE AWARD

NOVEMBER 2012

The practice has been awarded the BPCF 2012 Creativity in Concrete Award for their treatment of the facade for the Athletes’ Housing Block N15 within the Olympic Village. The precast cladding panels sample fragments of the Elgin Marbles, which were scanned digitally from the British Museum in London. The scans were used to make fibreboard positives using a 5-axis router, which then became the formwork for the latex moulds from which the panels were cast.