Arthur Mamou-Mani and Anne Asensio discuss the potential of computational design in this live talk which launches Dezeen's Design for Life collaboration with French design software brand Dassault Systèmes.
Mamou-Mani, founder of London-based studio Mamou-Mani Architects, and Asensio, vice president of design experience at Dassault Systèmes, spoke to Dezeen's founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about how science and technology can empower designers to build a better, more sustainable world.
The pair also introduced a sustainability-focussed experimental installation that Mamou-Mani is developing in collaboration with Dassault Systèmes.
The installation, which was planned to be installed at Milan design week earlier this year and will be built at a later date, is intended to demonstrate how architects can use recyclable materials and emergent technologies like 3D-printing to create architectural projects that contribute to a circular economy and minimise their impact on the environment.
The talk is the first part of Design for Life, a content collaboration between Dezeen and Dassault Systémes featuring talks, videos and workshops highlighting designers who are using technology and scientific expertise to build a better world.
The collaboration will also feature a live workshop hosted by Mamou-Mani, in which he will demonstrate some of the methods and processes he has developed for designing sustainably.
Mamou-Mani will also feature as part of a series of six videos profiling a selection of cutting-edge designers who are using computational design tools and empirical research to envision a more sustainable and human-centric future.
The series is based on Dassault Systèmes' Design For Life ethos, which is rooted in the belief that design and technology can combine to solve some of the world's most pressing issues.
Mamou-Mani is a French architect based in London who experiments with alternative materials and methods of construction.
In 2019, he designed and built a structure made from 700 3D-printed bioplastic bricks for fashion brand COS' annual installation for Milan design week.
He was also part of a panel on using post-plastic materials in architecture and design at the inaugural Dezeen Day and hosted a live virtual reality tour of his designs for the Burning Man Festival as part of Dezeen's Virtual Design Festival.
Asensio joined Dassault Systèmes in 2008 as vice president of design experience after working as a design director at General Motors and Renault. In her current role, she guides the brand's strategy and connects it with designers to help them generate and realise projects using Dassault Systèmes' technology.
Dassault Systèmes offers a suite of 3D software for designers, architects and engineers called 3DExperience, which includes well known CAD products such as Solidworks, as well as virtual reality tools that are used in a wide range of industries.
The brand hosted an exhibition at Milan design week in 2018 named Design in the Age of Experience exploring how design and technology can be used to create sustainable solutions for air pollution.
The exhibition featured an air-purifying installation designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma called Breath/ng, which was made from large suspended coils of a special pollution-neutralising fabric.