Novedge: Tell us a bit about who you are and
what you do
Andrei Hakhovich: I’m Andrei Hakhovich, a designer and
founder of Gradient Matter, a design and
applied-research studio. My design agenda and research interests lay
in materiality research and spatial constructs that have an impact on
the users, built with the sensorial, public and ecological
environmental as a focus. I was born and raised in Minsk, Belarus and
have dual educational background in both architecture and
engineering. I received my BS in Civil Engineering from Belarusian
National Technic University and my Master's Degree in Architecture from
California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Prior to
establishing my own practice, I’ve worked at a number of prominent
offices as an architect, interior designer and innovative façade
consultant.
Novedge: What is it like to work at
the Tech Shop?
Andrei Hakhovich: Techshop is a great dynamic prototyping
environment. There is a very rich cross-disciplinary crowd of members
that work at the Techshop. I’m always curious to see new and
unexpected takes on problem-solving that come from makers and
designers who are different from me. At the
California College of the Arts I had the opportunity to take many
courses and establish connections with other departments like
furniture/industrial and interaction design. Techshop is very similar
in that regard. People who go there range from science
engineers to hobbyists and you never know who you will meet next. It
is very motivating to see people working in so many
different scales from small objects to large public art
installations. I always keep an eye and exchange contacts with people
who are great in areas that are outside of my expertise.
Novedge: Where do you find inspiration for
your work?
Andrei Hakhovich: Daly urban life and natural processes
are the biggest inspirations for me. Designers can learn a lot from other
disciplines like biology, material science, and mechanical
engineering.
Novedge: What are some recent projects
that you worked on?
Andrei Hakhovich: My latest project is called Vorticity, which is a large scale interior installation for the
office of Transparent House, a creative digital agency which is
located downtown San Francisco. The installation operates under the
guise of perception through the altering of one’s awareness via
modes of reflection, integration, and repositioning. The installation
focuses the gallery visitors' attention on three main display
screens that highlight the work of Transparent House. As you move
around the room you capture glimpses of change, reflecting light
under different angles, transforming the spectrum as it bounces
through the smoky panels. The staggered panels twist and turn around
the LCD screens expressing movement and dislocation, fragments of the
masonry wall behind promenade their way through the installation, at
moments revealed, sometimes hidden. The installation allowed me to
test some of the ideas that I’m currently developing for a future
architectural project
Branching Table – custom digitally
fabricated coffee table that pushes CNC fabrication and joints
research
Fiberglass composite building façade
components (in collaboration with Bret Walters)
Novedge: What software do you use?
Andrei Hakhovich: I use a combination of Rhino, Grasshopper and V-Ray.
Rhino is a very versatile and affordable
3D platform that can be extended through additional plugins. I like
the intuitive interface. McNeel came a long way in developing the
latest version, which is capable of producing drawings, quick study
rendering and animation, as well as fabrication output. I use
grasshopper heavily, a plug-in which converts Rhino into fully
parametric software.
Novedge: What matters to you the most in
design?
Andrei Hakhovich: The ability to explore, innovate and
understand the world around me through challenging myself.
Novedge: What innovations do you find most
exciting in your field?
Andrei Hakhovich: I think innovation in material
research and fabrication methods are the most fascinating, and will
be able to radically transform the discipline of design and
architecture, especially super lightweight composites and materials that generate
energy, communicate and store information.
To see more of Andrei's work, check out his website.
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