January 2, 2026 - Surjan Super School Weekly Newsletter

SURJAN SUPER SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2026

Theme: The Year of Fluid Stone & The Waffle Hearth

INTRODUCTION: 2026 — MAKE IT HEAVY, MAKE IT SOFT

Happy New Year.

If 2025 was about the "image," 2026 is going to be about the "material."

We often associate AI and parametric design with weightlessness—shiny plastics, impossible cantilevers, and thin meshes. But the most compelling work coming out of our studio this week explores the opposite: Mass.

We are asking a specific question: Can we make a brick wall behave like a silk curtain?

The studies we generated over the break suggest that the future of the "AI Vernacular" isn't about escaping gravity, but about manipulating it. We are looking at silver-dipped masonry, woven facades, and timber ceilings that act as artificial skies.

01. THE TEXTILE MASONRY

(Ref: The "Brick Drapery" Studies)

The standout exploration this week is the Fluid Brick Facade.

Traditionally, a brick wall is a barrier. It is static and rigid. But these animations propose a "Textile Masonry."

• The Lift: Notice how the brick skin "lifts" at the corner, creating a parabolic arch that feels like a hemline being pulled up.

• The Weave: The brick bond is not just stacked; it is porous. The gradient from solid wall to open latticework allows light to filter through, dematerializing the heavy stone into something that looks like lace.

This is the definition of a Material Oxymoron: A wall that is heavy enough to hold up a building, but visually light enough to blow in the wind.

02. CHROME & CLAY

(Ref: The Porthole Facade)

We also explored a collision of eras in the Silver Porthole Project.

Here, we see a juxtaposition of:

1. Industrial Repetition: The large, metallic, deep-set circular windows (reminiscent of Jean Prouvé).

2. Handcrafted Texture: The adjacent "pixelated" brick screen that curves organically into the alleyway.

It suggests a renovation strategy where the new doesn't just sit on top of the old—it melts into it. The reflection of the street in the silver frames creates a dynamic engagement with the city, while the brick screen offers privacy.

03. THE WAFFLE HEARTH

(Ref: The Timber Interiors)

Moving inside, we are obsessing over the "Public Family Room" typology.

The ceiling is the protagonist here. We utilized a Deep Waffle Grid—a structural timber system that acts as a canopy, diffusing the light and warming the acoustics.

• The Topography: The floor is not flat; it is a landscape. The brick terracing creates informal seating, turning the lobby into an amphitheater.

• The Light: The sun enters through the timber grid, casting shifting geometric shadows throughout the day. It feels collegiate, institutional, yet incredibly domestic.

04. THE MASQUE OF MEASUREMENT

(Ref: The Linear Assemblage Animation)

Finally, we end with a nod to the speculative. The "Linear Assemblage" video is a love letter to John Hejduk’s "Masques."

The animation transitions from a photorealistic render to a technical line drawing, revealing the dimensions of these "architectural characters"—the House on V-Legs, the Conical Funnel, the Silver Box.

This reminds us that even our wildest hallucinations must eventually be measured, dimensioned, and built. The magic lies in the translation from the dream to the blueprint.

FINAL THOUGHT: TACTILITY OVER RESOLUTION

For the first charrette of 2026, I want you to focus on Texture.

Don't just generate a "wall." Generate a specific bond. Is it Flemish? Is it stack? Is it silver? Is it woven? When we zoom in, we shouldn't see pixels. We should see the grain of the wood and the mortar between the bricks.

Let's make this year tactile.

Surjan

Professor of Practice, ASU

Founder, Surjan Super School