Industry experts will gather in Buffalo to explore bioclimatic features of terra cotta facades

We have already seen a number of instances where terra cotta has helped to change the landscape of Buffalo. Most recently, a terra cotta facade was added to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo.

The University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Photo Credit: ©Tim Wilkes

Altogether, Boston Valley affixed 105,000 sq.’ of terra cotta panels to the structure. The ACAW conference attendees will not only explore the design and production facilities in Buffalo (Boston Valley Terra Cotta in Orchard Park, and the UB School of Architecture and Planning’s SMART Lab), they will also get a chance to study some of this city’s architectural marvels, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, and the recently renovated Richardson-Olmsted Campus.

Architecture’s top professionals from SHoP Architects, AECOM, Morphosis, Radical Craft, The Matter Factory, Sasaki, and Studio NYL, will delve into the weeklong workshop, which is supported by the UB Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART). The architects will partake in theoretical and practical challenges, with assistance from faculty and students from the UB School of Architecture and Planning and Alfred University.

“Architects designing with industrially-produced ceramic components may have little material understanding of clay for large scale production, while most artists and designers trained in ceramics may have few opportunities to explore the medium at a scale beyond the individual object,” says International Sales Manager at Boston Valley Terra Cotta. He added, “At the ACAWorkshop, architects, engineers, and educators collaborate with designers and manufacturers in order to deepen their understanding of designing with architectural terra cotta.”

Keynote presentation from Christopher Sharples, Principal of SHoP Architects.

Returning speakers include Dr. William Carty, the John F. McMahon Professor and Chair of Ceramic Engineering at Alfred University, and Anne Currier, sculptor and professor emerita from Alfred University and the 2017 Virginia A. Groot recipient. New speakers to the event include Matthew Krissel, Partner with KieranTimberlake and Craig Copeland, Associate Partner with Pelli Clarke Pelli Associates.

The work put into ACAW will culminate in a final presentation of each teams’ findings on Thursday August 16, 2018. Thursday’s final presentation at the Hotel Henry is open to architectural and ceramic professionals and will be followed by a keynote address and reception. Christopher Sharples’ keynote address will begin at 5:30pm.