Mark West is founding Director of the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology (CAST) and Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
CAST is the first research laboratory in the world dedicated to the development and testing of fabric formwork and fabric-formed concrete structures and provides a unique facility for interdisciplinary research involving architects, engineers, and industry.
Mark West studied architecture at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York (1980) and Carleton University, Ontario (1996).
His work merges the disciplines of sculpture, architectural design, structural engineering and drawing, and has received wide recognition through publications, awards, lectures, and exhibitions in North America, Asia, and Europe.
His current research projects are in two areas: the design and production of pre-cast, fabric-formed, compression vault and shell panels; and the design of the first fabric-formed building.
Mark West received the Holcim Award Bronze for region North America in 2005 for his project Material Reduction - Efficient Fabric-Formed Concrete. He was a member of the Holcim Awards jury for region North America in 2008 and 2011.
[last updated 19-Jul-11]