AURORA
A new dawn for sustainable innovation... by design.
An installation by architect Arthur Mamou-Mani & Dassault Systèmes Design Studio.
Design in the Age of Experience: unveiling the AURORA installation
To coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Design Museum will host an exhibition entitled “Waste Age: What can design do?” showing what design can do to tackle the critical problem of waste and its environmental consequences across the globe.
Dassault Systèmes is proud to be unveiling the AURORA installation for the opening of the exhibition in London. AURORA was born out of a collaboration between Dassault Systèmes Design Studio & Arthur Mamou-Mani, a formidable architect who is passionate about parametric design, experimentation, digital fabrication and sustainable architecture. The perfect mix for our Design for Life program.
Welcome to our 3rd installment of Dassault Systèmes’ Design in the Age of Experience initiative, exposing visitors to design’s transformative power in action. In the past years, we addressed air pollution with Kengo Kuma’s magnificent “Breath/ng” installation, and data-driven design with Morphosis’ “Interfaces,” both revealed at Milan’s Design Week.
AURORA manifests the convergence of art, science and industry, united and empowered by technology, inspiring a new aesthetic for a renewable world. Find out more.
VirtualAURORA Installation
Push the button to launch the experience and discover it as if you were in the museum!
Sustainable design in practice
Discover how our collaboration unfolded… get inspiration for your own transformation for more sustainable innovation processes.
- #MaterialForLIfe
- #DesignForLife
- #FabricationForLife
Switching to Sustainability
Material Sourcing
Our quest for alternatives to fossil-based plastics led us to PLA, a mechanically strong, non-toxic & 100% recyclable thermoplastic derived from renewable and traced resources (potato, wheat & corn starch).
Sustainability intelligence
We took advantage of Life Cycle Assessment tools to evaluate the sustainability impacts of every choice made throughout the design & development process.
3D-Print Testing
PLA is an ideal material for circular experimentation, as it can be crushed and 3D printed repeatedly. From the start, we embraced the inevitable printing irregularities, celebrating their unique aesthetics.
Molecular Analysis
We compared PLA to regular ABS, the most ubiquitous of fossil-based plastics. PLA demonstrates similar mechanical strength and plasticity but requires less energy to produce, thanks to a lower melting temperature.
Material Rendering
We could refine lighting & textures early in the design process. Live Rendering capabilities allowed us to deep dive into a photo-realistic look & feel of our material in context.
New Patterns for assembly & modularity
Upstream Thinking
Identifying disruptive creative propositions that have positive impacts cannot happen in a vacuum. We reached out to our online collaborative communities of innovators to build a comprehensive body of inspirational architectural concepts on shared dashboards.
Generative Design
For us, design is a digital craft. After crafting the modules in 3D, we went on to design the larger architectural system. Our xGenerative Design solution allowed the team to formalise architectural concepts, with a creative focus on assembly, disassembly & modularity.
3DEXPERIENCE Twin
The modules were assembled in a virtual 3D model of the Design Museum, creating a virtual twin experience of AURORA. With the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, we could run precise scientific simulation and Life Cycle Assessment on our artwork-in-progress.
Light Design & Light Simulation
Live Rendering & Ambiance tools made it possible to develop high-end, photo-realistic visuals at any stage of the process, enabling us to make fully informed decisions on colour and material in context.
Airflow & Physical Simulation
Aesthetics and functionality work hand in hand. With PowerFLOW, we simulated the airflow around the structure to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors.
Regeneration, not pollution
3DS Marketplace
AURORA is made in London, courtesy of Mamou-Mani’s fabrication hub FabPub – a member of our 3DEXPERIENCE Marketplace. The marketplace, which operates on the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, connects designers, engineers and production planners with 3D-print and manufacturing service providers.
Reuse and Repurpose
Re-use of a system saves energy and resources, so it is far more efficient than recycling. Our community of makers and designers is working on ways to repurpose modules and allow them to continue delivering value.
Crush & Reprint
Remarkably, PLA can be 3D printed, crushed and printed again… Follow our designers-in-residence, Kate Reed and Jason Pohl, as they use principles of biomimicry to create new forms – in full circular mode.
Compost - A new dawn
PLA is a natural material that also is industrially biodegradable, thanks to a clean-compost process. Modules that cannot be re-used, repurposed or recycled will be turned into biomass — an optimized end of life to our architectural artwork.
A collaboration with Arthur Mamou-Mani
Dassault Systèmes’ Design for Life program aims at exploring and showcasing innovative practices for sustainability by design. We work with forward-looking designers and architects whose work lies at the crossroads of technology, science and nature — for a radically positive impact on today’s world.
In 2019 Dassault Systèmes’ Design Studio started working with London-based architect Arthur Mamou-Mani, together we decided to experiment with circular design practices on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
The AURORA project was born, demonstrating a collaborative exploration and adoption of new processes, tools and solutions, allowing designers and innovators to push the boundaries of what they can do, as they thrive to design for life with meaningful and sustainable innovation.
Circular design and technology
Dezeen has teamed up with Dassault Systèmes to host a live panel discussion exploring circularity in design and the role of technology in transitioning to a circular economy.
Moderated by Dezeen's chief content officer Benedict Hobson, the talk features Anne Asensio, vice president of design experience at Dassault Systèmes, Gemma Curtin, curator at London's Design Museum, and Joe Iles, circular design program lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Titled Design for Life: Circular Design and Technology, the conversation explored what true circularity in design means, how we transition to a circular economy and what role designers and technology have to play.
The AURORA Installation
The awe-inspiring, semi-transparent cloud of 375 3D-printed, bio-sourced modules welcomes public visitors to the Design Museum in London, seemingly floating in its famed atrium, and flooding the floor with a mesmerizing play of light and shadow.
Its design demonstrate the principles of circular architecture using a material - inspired by dried cactus fiber - that can be bio sourced, 3D-printed, crushed, reprinted, and is industrially biodegradable.
Designboom interviews three leading designers of the AURORA collaboration: Carmen hu, architectural designer at Mamou-mani architects; Nicolas Sénémaud, Dassault Systèmes solution architect; and Paul-Emeric Roger from Dassault Systèmes’ DESIGNStudio.
AURORA media gallery
Discover more
Dassault Systèmes & the 3DEXPERIENCE platform
Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE® platform is the catalyst for uniting artists, scientists and makers in a dynamic process of renewable innovation. By collecting and displaying knowledge from dozens of disciplines via virtual twin experiences – scientifically accurate simulations of objects and the world in which they will exist – the platform provides a space for collaboration. For the first time, virtual twin experiences enable us to conceptualise and fully understand our creations’ renewal potential.