Immersive Stereotomy
Description
This exhibit engages with the material and industrial context of Hong Kong and Shenzhen by reflecting on contemporary design and manufacturing practices surrounding stone. Despite the rich ecosystem of stone distribution and processing in the Greater Bay Area, design, material production and experience often remain disconnected. Responding to this gap, the exhibit proposes an alternative approach to stone design that reintroduces the body into the design process. Through virtual reality (VR) and motion capture, the project establishes a workflow that translates bodily gestures into digital data and, ultimately, into physical forms through robotic fabrication, creating a direct link between spatial experience and material outcome.
Biography
Jasmy Chieh-Hsuan Chen is an architect and researcher based in Austria. Her work examines emerging design methods between physical and digital interactions. In 2025, she joined i.sd at the University of Innsbruck as a researcher and PhD candidate within the SFB subproject “Computational Immediacy”. Prior to this, Jasmy has worked at Front and Najjar-Tochev Innovation, specializing in computational workflows, fabrication methods, and material research.
Alex Cheung Chun Hin graduated with a Master of Architecture from the University of Hong Kong in 2021 and became a Registered Architect in 2023. He has worked on diverse projects in Hong Kong, including housing, care homes, churches, and science parks, and he aspires to apply digital technology for social and communal design.
Tod Jiqi Zhu is an interdisciplinary professional in AEC industry. He studied computers science at HKU, architecture at Harvard GSD, and bamboo scaffolding construction at HKIC. He is now working on data center construction at DPR.
Materials
Item 1 - Model: EPS foam, filler; Item 2 – Video Display: screen; Item 3, 4, 5, 6 – Print: paper, MDF; Item 7, 8, 9, 10 – Video Display: tablet; Item 11 – Material Sample: marble; Item 12 – VR experience: screen & VR headset, controllers; Item 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 – Model: resin; Item 21, 22, 23 – Model: resin
Organisation
University of Innsbruck, Faculty of Architecture, i.sd Structure and Design
Acknowledgments
This exhibit builds upon the author's master's thesis, Immersive Stereotomy, completed in June 2024 at Studio Greg Lynn, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna (die Angewandte), under the supervision of Prof. Greg Lynn, with the assistance of Kaiho Yu, Bence Pap, and Maja Ozvaldic. Special thanks are extended to Afshin Koupaei (DDPLab), Ana Maria Chiriac, Markus Lagler, Chien-Hua Huang, Philipp Ma, Emiliano Pérez, Max Groos and Martin Sepp for their support.