Akee Clay Programme. Sara Ayoub: From Ancestral to Digital

Contemporary architecture is increasingly returning to material as a starting point for thinking. Among the wide range of materials in use today, clay stands out for its ability to operate across multiple roles at once – as a structural system, as a surface, as a binding agent, and as a carrier of cultural memory. Historically, it has shaped both everyday objects and entire architectural landscapes. Today, it is regaining relevance in response to evolving building regulations, technological developments, and the need to rethink both construction and creative processes.

The programme takes its point of departure in the traditions of earthen construction and folk art that developed in Northern Lithuania, traces of which remain visible in the region’s landscape and material heritage. Rather than restoring or reproducing these traditions, the programme seeks to continue the conversation within a contemporary context. Here, clay becomes a medium through which relationships between territory, technology, and architectural imagination are formed. It opens up a space to reconsider how knowledge of building and design can be transmitted, transformed, and applied today.

Structured as a three-part programme across Vilnius and Aleknaičiai, it brings together different approaches to working with clay – from digital fabrication and 3D printing to ceramics and earth construction. The programme invites architects, designers, artists, and researchers to engage with clay as a point where material understanding, technological processes, and cultural contexts intersect. In this way, clay becomes not only a means of construction, but also a way to articulate the questions of contemporary architecture.

From Ancestral to Digital: 3D Printing in Architecture – Workshop and Public Lecture at Vilnius Academy of Arts

The programme begins on April 23–24 with a workshop and lecture by architect Sara Ayoub at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The two-day workshop explores earth as a building material, bringing together vernacular knowledge and digital fabrication. Through a combination of material testing, observation, and design exercises, participants are invited to investigate how earth behaves in extrusion processes and to approach 3D printing as a continuation of traditional construction methods through contemporary design tools.

Sara Ayoub is an architect graduated from ENSA Paris-La Villette. She develops a practice at the intersection of architecture, scenography, and material research. Her work explores the reinterpretation of vernacular construction techniques in contemporary contexts through hybrid approaches that combine craftsmanship and digital tools.

She designed the scenography for the exhibition Archéologies at the Dar Bellarj Foundation in Marrakech and contributed to the research and construction of the 3D-printed earth prototype Teixit within the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) 3DPA program, presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The public lecture on April 23 at 18:30 is open to everyone – no registration required.

The workshop on April 23–24 is open to architecture students (from the 3rd year onwards), MA students, and practicing architects with basic knowledge of 3D modeling software.
Register here:

PROGRAMME

APRIL 23RD

Location: Vilnius Academy of Arts (Maironio st. 6, Vilnius), Department of Ceramics, Room 006 (basement)

09:00–10:00
Introduction to Sara Ayoub’s practice across architecture, research, and digital fabrication

10:30–11:00
Lecture: Matter

This session introduces earth as a building material, focusing on its composition (clay, silt, sand), the role of water (plasticity and shrinkage), and the use of additives such as fibers and stabilizers. Through practical examples, participants will explore how different mixtures affect material behavior, including resistance, cracking, and structural performance. Simple tests (cigar, bottle, and extrusion) will be demonstrated to better understand how earth reacts during forming and construction processes.

11:00–13:00
 Earth Material testing

A hands-on session where participants experiment with different earth mixtures and test their properties. The behavior of the material – including plasticity, cracking, texture, and response to forming – will be observed. Results will be documented through sketches or photographs.

12:15–13:00
Discussion: Understanding earth composition and its behavior in extrusion

18:30
Public lecture: 3D Printing Architecture with Earth: Bridging Ancestral Know-how and Post-Industrial Craft
Co-written research with Edouard Cabay and Alexandre Dubord, Iaac/3dpa, Barcelona.
Location: “Titanikas”, Room 112, Maironio St. 3, Vilnius

3dPA Forest Campus, IAAC, Barcelona

Left: Integration of protruding stones into the walls of earthen houses in the Asir region (Arabia). Photo © Eric Lafforgue. Section drawing of an Asir house by Aslinur Taskin, 2021. Right: Textured earthen wall functioning as erosion protection, created by M. Harrak, N. Khaloian, and M. Laalou Mouad (IAAC 3dPA 2021/22). Photo © Iwan Baan, drawing – IAAC 3dPA.wan Baan, brėžinys – IAAC 3dPA.

The lecture presents earth as a construction system – from vernacular architecture to its re-emergence through mechanical and digital technologies. Based on collaborative research at IAAC, it explores how traditional construction logics are reinterpreted through digital fabrication, and presents the development process of the 3D-printed prototype Teixit, created within the 3DPA program in Barcelona.

May 24th

Location: Vilnius Academy of Arts (Maironio St. 6, Vilnius), Department of Ceramics, Room 006 (basement)

10:00–11:00
Lecture: Responding to Light: From Ancestral to Digital – Porosity and Architectural Form

Left: Hassan Fathy’s work with the moucharabieh (mashrabiya) element, using adobe bricks in New Gourna.
Right: Photograph of the 3D-printed wall “Teixit” with openings of varying sizes. Drawing and photograph: 3DPA, 2024.

11:00–13:00
Design assignment: development of a 3D-printable objects

14:00–16:00
3D printing tests

16:00–17:00
Discussion and presentation of results

Curators: Rokas Dovydėnas, Gabrielė Šimkutė, Vilius Vaitiekūnas
Graphic design: Herman Drowning
Communication: Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė
Partner: Vilnius Academy of Arts

The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture