Assa Ashuach

Biography

Assa Ashuach is the director of Assa Studio Limited and Course Leader for the MA Design for Industry 5.0 programme at Central Saint Martins in London.

Assa has been at the forefront of exploring the creative potential of digital industrial design and additive manufacturing since the early 2000s. Assa Studio has worked closely with multinational companies such as Nike, Panasonic, Samsung, and large retailers such as Amazon, Argos, and Target, among others. With his innovative approach, Ashuach has gained recognition and acclaim, exhibiting his work in major international galleries and having it included in numerous public museum collections.

Throughout his career, Assa has continuously pushed the boundaries of design possibilities. He has played a pivotal role in the development of mass-market 3D-printed products, establishing himself as a pioneer in this domain. His designs are distinguished by their integration of sensors, artificial intelligence, and captivating bio-inspired forms and mechanisms, blending the realms of technology, nature, and functionality.

In addition to his studio activity, Assa co-founded Digital Forming®, a co-design technology powered by 3D software and urban decentralised manufacturing networks. This endeavour has revolutionised the way design is approached and executed, making it more accessible and personalised.

Over the years, Assa has engaged in extensive research collaborations. Notably, his collaboration with macromolecular and biomaterial scientists at the Kyoto D-Lab, located at KIT Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan, resulted in groundbreaking bio-inspired 3D autonomously generated design methodologies. These methodologies demonstrate remarkable additive manufacturing efficiencies applicable to both industrial design and architecture.

Assa's latest project received EU research funding through the S+T+ARTS ReFream programme. The project resulted in a new evolutionary design methodology that leverages embedded user ergonomic and biometric sensor data. Through this approach, objects' functionality and durability can evolve and improve over time, aligning with Assa's forward-thinking perspective on objects' personalisation and 'time-based' evolutionary design.

Assa is a visiting lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture, the Royal College of Art, and Imperial College in London.