Karen El Asmar

In this paper, we discuss a new tool pipeline that aims to re-integrate lateral thinking strategies in computational tools of architecture. We present a 4-step AI-driven pipeline, based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), that draws from the ability to access the latent space of a machine and use this space as a digital design environment. We demonstrate examples of navigating in this space using vector arithmetic and interpolations as a method to generate a series of images that are… Show more

In this paper, we discuss a new tool pipeline that aims to re-integrate lateral thinking strategies in computational tools of architecture. We present a 4-step AI-driven pipeline, based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), that draws from the ability to access the latent space of a machine and use this space as a digital design environment. We demonstrate examples of navigating in this space using vector arithmetic and interpolations as a method to generate a series of images that are then translated to 3D voxel structures. Through a gallery of forms, we show how this series of techniques could result in unexpected spaces and outputs beyond what could be produced by human capability alone. Show less

In this paper, I speculate on a future where our need to socialize physically is solely to exchange bacteria. With our biological data being in the hands of private companies and governments and our environments’ microbiomes becoming less diverse, our social systems, social identities and social interactions are redefined and reinvented to adapt to this new reality.
In this world, everyone wears a “social microbial prosthesis” that analyzes their microbial composition from their breath and… Show more

In this paper, I speculate on a future where our need to socialize physically is solely to exchange bacteria. With our biological data being in the hands of private companies and governments and our environments’ microbiomes becoming less diverse, our social systems, social identities and social interactions are redefined and reinvented to adapt to this new reality.
In this world, everyone wears a “social microbial prosthesis” that analyzes their microbial composition from their breath and reveals sensitive information on their chest. The microbial prosthesis would be able to give off information not only on the microbial composition but also on the mental and physical health of a person.
This second skin plays a role in controlling communication and interaction between people, where one is able to, by inspecting surrounding people’s prosthesis, take careful considerations of who to interact with and who to avoid.
Social Microbial Prosthesis is a critique of the race of private companies and governments to collect our biological data, the role of commercializing such data in shaping and changing our social identities and a response to the loss of microbial diversity in our environments due to our modern lifestyles and surroundings.
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Thesis explores new ways in which infrastructure can be designed to achieve longevity. It takes the oil and gas industry in Lebanon as a case and proposes new ways this industry can be designed for more than the mono-function it is intended for and for greater social, spatial, economic and ecological benefits. Design interventions take place on both, the macro-and the micro- scale and occur from the very start of the industry rather than as an afterthought when the system becomes obsolete.