As part of the compulsory course Digital Theory and Culture (FS26 Computational Design IV), around 350 D-ARCH bachelor students are introduced to experimental work with point clouds through the teaching project. The high-resolution 3D capture of the HIL building is being used not only for documentation purposes, but also as an active design medium for the first time.
The project focuses on how existing buildings can be creatively transformed. Rather than starting from scratch, the students are working with the HIL’s point cloud as a collection of spatial fragments. This malleable digital material can be cut, extracted, and recomposed using the software Rhino and Blender. Drawing inspiration from Gordon Matta-Clark’s radical interventions in buildings, the students create digital cuts and spatial collages that reveal hidden relationships within the building and enable alternative interpretations of its structure.
The project develops advanced skills in point cloud processing and digital composition, while encouraging theoretical reflection on the potential of adaptive reuse. A comprehensive visual archive of the future is being created for the HIL, comprising 350 far-reaching interventions that demonstrate the transformative potential of its digital twin. In this way, the building becomes an experimental field that opens up new perspectives on how we engage with the spaces we use every day.