Some spatial experiments: student work exploring intersections between computing, biological and semiotic theory through architecture

The MSc Bio-Digital Architecture at Kent School of Architecture & Planning is a post-professional program developing a specialist approach to architectural thinking and design execution, encouraging students to engage with broader theoretical debates that are pertinent to contemporary practice. The program emphasizes the conundrum of “what is space” and provokes students to explore the concept of space and the problem of configuring space in architecture. Taking an interdisciplinary approach (spanning theoretical biology, social science, systems theory, cybernetics, semiotics and computation) students are expected to establish ways and means of rethinking and designing architectural space. In the current situation, where the integrity and primary role of architecture is seriously challenged by specialized research and partial interpretations of the discipline, there is a growing need to articulate a body of knowledge and understanding capable of reconciling the fragmented areas of knowledge within the given reality of current contemporary architectural practice. The aim of the course is to establish a comprehensive understanding of architecture rooted in the humanities, with an emphasis on the digital turn in architectural discourse and theory, to integrate knowledge of specialized disciplines into a unified and meaningful whole. The integrative nature of the student investigation’s opens the possibility to come to terms with the situational structure of architecture and can serve at the same time as a foundation for a more fully developed human ecology.