LAVA

Chris Bosse, Tobias Wallisser and Alexander Rieck founded the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture [LAVA] in 2007. It was established as a network of creative minds with a research and design focus and has offices in Sydney, Shanghai, Stuttgart and Abu Dhabi.

LAVA explores frontiers that merge future technologies with the patterns of organisation found in nature and believes this will result in a smarter, friendlier, more socially and environmentally responsible future.

The potential for naturally evolving systems such as snowflakes, spider webs and soap bubbles for new building typologies and structures has continued to fascinate LAVA – the geometries in nature create both efficiency and beauty. But above all the human is the centre of their investigations.

Structure, material and building skin are three areas LAVA believes that architecture can learn so much from nature. Projects incorporate intelligent systems and skins that can react to external influences such as air pressure, temperature, humidity, solar-radiation and pollution.

LAVA designs everything from pop up installations to master-plans and urban centres, from homes made out of PET bottles to ‘reskinning’ aging 60s icons, from furniture to hotels, houses and airports of the future.

Awards include the Australian Interior Design Awards, UN partnered ZEROprize Re-Skinning Award, I. D. Annual Design Review, IDEA Awards, AAFAB AA London, Cityscape Dubai Award Sustainability; commendations include Well Tech Award and Dedalo Minosse International Prize; and nominations for the Iakov Chernikhov International Prize and the Index Award.

LAVA has a fabulous team working for them:

List all staff of all times: Stephan Markus Albrecht, Areej Al-haj, Aleksandra Anna Apolinarska, Matthew Austin, Clarissa Baldini, Stefan Bassing, Chris Bosse, Tanja Braun, Aaron Brown, David Carmona, Jonathan Cho, Mi Jing Chun, Alessio Coghene, Daniel Coley, Ruis Dervishi, Justus Dietz, Andrea Dorici, Nikolay Dreharov, Tobias Ehl, Jonas Epper, Erik Escalante, Grischa Fischer, Nuno Galvao, Kristof Gavrielides, Matt Gaydon, Jack Gillbanks, Richard Gomez, Teresa Goyarrola, Alana Green, Wei Guo, Kathrin Herbrik, Verena Hoch, Michael Huiss, Sirri EL Jundi, Kadri Kaldam, Rashmi Katkar, Achim Kaufer, Yohhei Kawasaki, Doris Kleinfeld, Carola Knoll, Bum Suk Ko, Jarrod Lamshed, Angela Lempelius, Marek Lipsky, Chang Liu, Patrick Lorenz, Jing Luo, Michael Mader, Alejandro Madero, David Martinez, Dominyka Mineikyte, Mircea Morgan, Alessandra Moschella, Zayad Motlib, Niklas Mühlich, Sven Müller, Kim Ngoc, Halley Ongkosandjojo, Cristina Pellicer, Esan Rahmani, Sarah Regan, Gilles Retsin, Alexander Rieck, Melanie Rieger, Guido Rivai, Eliot Rosenberg, Thomas Rüegger, Thomas Sachs, Jan Saggau, Phillip Scherl, Diana Schlebe, Florian Schlummer, Sebastian Schott, Tim Schreiber, Nicola Schunter, Alexander Simon, Magda Smolinska, Eskandar Suliman, Miroslav Stirgac, Maarten Terberg, Anh-Dao Trinh, Christian Tschersich, Pascal Tures, Angelo Ungarelli, Jan Veselsky, Martin Völkle, Max Vomhof, Tobias Wallisser, Kirk Weisgerber, Leon Wenzel, Simon Wenzel, Leonie Woidt-Wallisser, Queenie Wong, Shuang Zhang, Catherine Zhuang.

LAVA thanks the photographers and visual artists who have brought our projects to life:Michael Anderson, Marcel Aucar, Peter Bennets, David Biene, Patrick Bingham Hall, Chris Bosse, Zooey Braun, Doug and Wolf, Gee-Ly, Tim Griffith, Rocket Mattler, MIR, Peter Murphy, Filippo Patrese, David Simmonds, Dianna Snape, Tommy Voeten, Simon Perry, Silk Road.