Earthly Enquires Colloquium

On the 26/4/2024 CFPR hosted a research colloquium entitled: Earthly Enquires. Organised by Associate Professor Tavs Jorgensen this event aimed to bring together leading researchers in a combined research space of: digital fabrication, clay/ceramic and sustainable design and architecture.

The session included a presentation from Steve Goodhew who is leading research at University of Plymouth into new construction approaches with cob building through the CobBauge project . International researchers also contributed with Flemming Tvede Hansen and Isak Worre Foged (both from the Royal Danish Academy) presenting their work into novel approaches of using extruded ceramics shapes to deliver increased thermal performance of buildings. Priska Falin from Alto University presented work on the creative exploration of geopolymers. The colloquium also included presentations from Emmanuel Vercruysse (Hooke Park/AA), Alejandro Veliz Reyes (Univeristy of Plymouth), Jane Scott (Newcastle University) and Rosa Urbano Gutierrez (University of Liverpool).

The Colloquium marked the end of Tavs’ AHRC funded Leadership Innovation Fellowship which explored several novel innovation opportunities with ceramic extrusion. The last phase of the research was focused on developing new methods for extruding unfired clay and fibre composite bricks for sustainable and low carbon construction. A key objective with the colloquium was to develop a network of leading academics to carry this research forward.