dis|integration[loops]

dis/integration[loops], inspired by the composer William Basinski’s seminal works of the same name, explores the limitations of digital processes in our world – and the chaos that can unfold from overreliance on them.

A towering array is assembled from recursive fragments of an inherently destructive process. It explores the tension that exists between the digital and physical realms; challenging an immortal, digital world, the glorious ruin of the analogue realm confronts the perceived perfection of the artificial.

Existing in a state of intended incompleteness, dis/integration[loops] eschews vanity in favour of exhibiting procedural rawness; the power of ruinous accident reveals itself through the tarnishing of idyllic digitalism.

Pressure-laminated plywood modules, form-found through iterative casting experiments, connect to form a pervious, fragmented structure; it’s transcience and impermanence exaggerated as night follows day.

In the same way that Basinski’s fragile recordings were destroyed upon being processed by the human ear, dis/integration[loops] exists in a contented, lush and shimmering state prior to being activated by human presence.

Proximity-controlled LED lighting impregnates the structure. When combined with sounds inspired by those Basinski’s (de)generative process created, this affords a level of animated deconstruction upon activation; visually and sonically, the imperfect presence of humanity causes dis/integration[loops] to be engulfed in chaotic ripples of distortion.

It’s most perfect (yet still decidedly imperfect) state is one in which it lies dormant and peaceful, undiscovered by the presence of people. It experientially disintegrates upon activation.

The fragmented structure exaggerates ever-changing natural light conditions and provides shelter, as well as an intimate, tactile space withi it’s permeable walls.

‘And then as the last crackle faded and the music was no more, I took in my surroundings and looked around at the faces and I was right there with everybody and we were alive.’

dis/integration[loops] is a reminder than everything we encounter eventually falls apart and returns to dust. It challenges the perfect, edited, occularcentrism that blights our social lives, explores the sound of decay, and the beauty that can exist in destruction. It is a meditation on death and loss, and exploration on a theme that some things are better left untouched.

The experience of life – a gradual disintegration – is simultaneously enriched and eroded by the imperfect nature of our encounters; pristine digitalism deserves a tarnished, ruinous quality symbolic of our experiences.

‘and I was right there with everybody and we were alive.’

Fractured Cosmos

Truth is a personal conquest which one attains through a mystery.

The Burning Man festival has evolved from a simple gathering of people on a beach in San Francisco into a spectacular spectacle. Burners travel from all over the world to meet in the Black Rock desert of Nevada where they form a city of temporary structures and burn a huge towering figure of a man. The theme of the 2017 burning man event will be Radical Ritual, an attempt to reinvent ritual in our post-post-modern world disregarding assertions of belief and concentrating instead on the immediate experience of play. Fractured cosmos seeks to provide this year’s burners with an edible artwork experience in the playa, a crystalline structure made from hard boiled sugar candy.

Fractured Cosmos draws the inspiration for its form from the Shri Yantra Mandala, a mystical diagram used in the Shri Vidya school of Hindu Tantra. The diagram, nine Isosceles triangles interlaced to form 43 smaller triangles, is said to be symbolic of the entire cosmos. The geometry of this symbol, usually depicted as a flat, two-dimensional construct, has been inclined, distorted and fractalized out of its two-dimensional plane to create a series of inclined planes for Burners to inhabit and play within.

Those cultures which meditate using the Shri Yantra symbol believe life exists between two planes, that of Samsara, this earth plane, and Nirvana, a perfect heavenly plane. One transcends from Samsara to Nirvana when they have gained enough genuine insight into impermanence and non-self reality. This notion has been reinterpreted as a series of transparent colourful planes on the playa, casting colourful light onto the ground beneath our feet. Each of the planes will be made from coloured rock candy, offering burners the opportunity to perceive an altered sweeter perspective of the world, as well as a delicious treat if they’re brave enough to lick it.

The use of hard boiled candy as the structural material for the pavilion means the structure will be made by mixing sugar, liquid glucose and Creme de Tartar with water. This concoction will be boiled to a temperature of 145 degrees celsius before pouring into formwork to cure. Waterproof LED lights will be added once the liquid has cooled to a sufficient temperature, and these will be used to light the structure at night.

The plinth of Fractured Cosmos must be strong enough to support the weight of the candy structure above plus the added weight of any burners, tie the structure down, capture any waste which falls off the structure as it is consumed and house the power source for the night time lighting. This has been designed using the same method of recursion as the candy structure to create a plinth using the mandala’s cosmic gate element as its inspiration. the final form generates a climbable podium for burners to ascend before inspecting and consuming.

Prototyping Architecture Conference at the Building Centre

Very inspiring conference today at the Building Centre.
The conference runs for 3 days (21st until 23rd of February). It brings together the work of architects, engineers, manufacturers, product designers, academics and artists to explore the importance of prototypes in the delivery of high quality contemporary design. Placing a particular emphasis on research and experimentation. Prototyping Architecture forms a bridge between architecture, engineering and art, with exhibits that are inventive, purposeful and beautiful.

Some highlights of today’s talks:

– Sean Ahlquist‘s research MATERIAL EQUILIBRIA, which consists in the delicate and simultaneous relationship of articulated material behavior and differentiated structural form. This specific study investigates the variegation of knitted textiles, a jacquard weave of shifting densities, as it influences the structuring of a tensile spatial surface

– Manuel Kretzer’s Open Matter(s) network at   http://materiability.com/

– The beautiful Shi Ling Bridge by Mike Tonkin, Tonkin Liu and Ed Clark http://www.arup.com/News/Events_and_exhibitions/Previous/ShiLingBridge.aspx

– Maquette’s, models and full-scale sample productions in the exhibition

Harmonograph | Sand

A series of experiments tracing the movement of a freely oscillating pendulum in a layer of sand.

The pendulum’s centre of gravity is slightly off-centre, meaning that the the x and y components of its movement oscillate at very slightly different frequencies; the harmonic relationship between these frequencies causes remains constant as the amplitude decreases rapidly due to friction between the pendulum and the sand. The rate of decay of the amplitude can be controlled by the depth to when the pendulum penetrates the layer of sand.

Casts of these forms were made by pouring liquid plaster carefully over the sand once it had been held in place with a light coating of sprayed acrylic varnish.

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For more infomation please visit www.dandodds.co.uk

WikiWax

This project looked to understand and develop a construction set that could be open source such as the WikiHouse CNC construction set. Through the material research done, I have predominately focused on the use of wax in construction. Experiments have explored its use as a form-finder, form-work and as a composite material. To apply this system as a Wiki, I strived to develop potential products, along with build information, which could then be open source. However the nature of the research, the complexity of the processes, and the functionality of the final products led me to question whether the Wiki route would be feasible. As an alternative, I have begun to explore taking the system along a business route, whilst considering making parts open source for individuals.

Weighing up the options:

1. Open Source
If someone wants to make an item then they have the information available to do so. This could be particularly relevant for the environmental products which could act as cheap DIY alternatives for those that can afford to buy specialist systems.

2. Private copyrighted business
The nature of the WikiWax processes makes it difficult to replicate, they are also not items of necessity nor would they be built as a collective. These are just some of the reasons why the systems developed don’t naturally lend themselves to be open source. As beautiful items they could instead be made into unique designer products and sold.

3. Open Source but protected form big companies
This approach allows for both systems to operate. Individuals can make their own table for example or develop and modify the processes, allowing for innovation and growth. But also products can be patented and sold. Through this strategy architecture is open to 100% of the population rather than the 1% if limited to sale only.

For further information on my research and material experiments see my portfolio

Latex & Thread Skin Model 02

This model takes the Latex & Thread Skin Model 01 to a larger scale developing the minimal system and forming a 1:20 fragment of a potential skin. The result is an intricate but surprisingly strong web.

Latex & Thread Skin Model 01

This small scale model attempts to create cleaner intersections between threads of the minimal system by using latex instead of resin, previously explored. The latex forms a web like surface joining the threads smoothly. This model is made by cross referencing all points i.e. each pin is connected to all other pins by the thread. The latex is then applied and the model is then relaxed to allow the overlength of thread to form find its minimal path.

BLOOD GLUE – FIRST EXPERIMENTS

 
Here are the results of my initial experiments in developing a blood based glue for used as a structural binding agent. Unfortunately the glue was not entirely successful due to its setting by water loss as opposed to chemical reaction. On to round 2…

FULL DUNE CREST POURING

The culmination of the crest pouring and component diversion technique… The pouring of a full dune in RealFlow to create the superstructure of the building. On the south facade large components create circular openings in the structure which are able to house fresnel concentration lenses. On the north facade smaller components create a thickened bottom edge to diffuse light back into the interior space.

PLUG-IN – Endemic Intertices

PLUG-IN (Endemic Interstices) is a research group within the Architectural Association’s School of Architctures DRL. The group is formed of Alexandre Kuroda, Dağhan Çam, Karoly Markos,
Ulak Ha, supported by their tutors Alisa Andrasek (Biothing) / Jose Sanchez
 and technical advisor Riccardo Merello (Arup). The team have been working on this project for more than a year and on the 20th January 2012 held their final public jury at the AA. The thesis simulates the cracks with a particle-spring system using processing and partly soft image. Their documentation of their project explains the transition from a natural rule system, into a digital presentation of form, control and behaviour, developing their interpretation of the natural systems/rules of cracked mud into an architectural form.

The main driver of the thesis is a nonlinear fabrication technique that utilises cracks in clay soil as a formwork for casting intricate structures. By programming the material behaviour and exposing it to certain environmental condition we are able to control the emergence of a wide range of crack patterns which are responsible for different performative qualities such as structural stability, solar shading and airflow modulation consequent to their morphological features of different size, density and porosity. The deployment of the system on site employes earth works protocols and Top Down construction techniques in order to achieve a temporary scaffold.

http://pluginarchitects.com/