Infractus is a design and exhibition piece consisting of six laser-etched crystal models capturing moments in the life of the post-war housing estate Robin Hood Gardens prior to its demolition in 2019. The project was commissioned by the V&A for A World of Fragile Parts – a re-examination of Henry Cole’s 1867 Convention for Promoting Universal Reproductions of Works of Art – at La Biennale di Venezia, 15th International Architecture Exhibition, 2016. Infractus took an innovative and critical approach to recording and re-presenting architectural elements, using LiDAR scanning and laser-etching techniques.

This research-based design investigates the limits and potentials of digital processes as records of built cultural heritage; how digital tools can contribute to and extend existing techniques of preservation and reproduction in museum environments; and alternative creative and constructive approaches to digital copying, asking how these might perpetuate a material culture for public audiences, now and in the future.