When architecture students are designing a building, they have to visualize how different building materials will work in their designs. A new collection at the Gunnin Architecture Library allows them to see and feel samples of those materials, as well as learn more information about what the materials are made of, how they are made, and other properties.
The Material ConneXion collection has more than 200 material samples available for students, faculty and staff to check out. Samples are mounted on boards, and each board has a QR code that users can scan to access more information about the material.
A variety of material samples are available and are categorized into “families” — polymers, naturals, process, metals, glass, ceramics, cement-based and carbon based.
“I am excited that we can offer this substantial new materials collection for students to use in their creative design process,” said Ann Holderfield, art and architecture librarian and director of the Gunnin Architecture Library. “We hope that these unusual and innovative materials will be inspirational and will further help prepare students for working with new materials in their careers.”
While the materials may be of most interest to students and faculty in fields like architecture, construction science and management or art, they are available to students, faculty and staff in any major or department.
“Purchasing a collection curated by Materials Connexion allows us to offer a contemporary, cutting-edge, experimental, and relevant materials collection that did not require extensive cataloging on our part, and it connects to a very comprehensive database that would have taken us years to create on our own,” said Christopher Chapman, manager of the Gunnin Library.
The collection is now available for check out at the Gunnin Library. For more information, visit the Material ConneXion guide.