The Living: Amphibious Architecture

Amphibious Architecture by The Living is a a floating installation in New York waterways that glows and blinks to provide an interface between life above water and life below. Citizens can text message the fish, receive real-time information about the river, and contribute to a display of collective interest in the environment.

Instead of treating the rivers with a “do-not-disturb” approach, the project encourages curiosity and engagement. Instead of treating the water as a reflective surface to mirror our own image and our own architecture, the project establishes a two-way interface between environments of land and water. In two different neighborhoods of New York, the installation creates a dynamic and captivating layer of light above the surface of the river. It makes visible the invisible, mapping a new ecology of people, marine life, buildings, and public space and sparking public interest and discussion.

Exhibition: Power of Making at the V & A

from the V & A website:

"Power of Making is a cabinet of curiosities showing works by both amateurs and leading makers from around the world to present a snapshot of making in our time.

The exhibition showcases works made using a diverse range of skills and explores how materials can be used in imaginative and spectacular ways, whether for medical innovation, entertainment, social networking or artistic endeavour.

Making is the most powerful way that we solve problems, express ideas and shape our world. What and how we make defines who we are, and communicates who we want to be."

The Power of Making Exhibition runs until January 2nd at the Victoria and Albert Museum and it is FREE.  

Large Scale Wrappings: Christo and Jeane-Claude

Christo and Jeane-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art. Although their work is visually impressive and often controversial as a result of its scale, the artists have repeatedly denied that their projects contain any deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic impact. The purpose of their art, they contend, is simply to create works of art or joy and beauty and to create new ways of seeing familiar landscapes. Art critic David Bourdon has described Christo's wrappings as a "revelation through concealment."

For the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris, 40,000 m2 of sand-colored polyamide fabric was needed. The wrapping began on 25 August 1985 and was completed on 22 September. In the next two weeks over three million people visited the project.

wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin,1995

The drawing/collages they make to illustrate their projects (which can take years to gather funds and support for) are necessarily gorgeous and effective in presenting their ambitious ideas.  

And of course these larger scale works started with kernels of smaller ideas:

There are many more interesting projects to be found at:


http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

Conrad Shawcross

Conrad Shawcross

'Winnowing Oar' 2003
Oak, spruce, ash / 226 x 28 x 13 cm



Imbued with an appearance of scientific rationality, Conrad Shawcross's sculptures explore subjects that lie on the borders of geometry and philosophy, physics and metaphysics. Attracted by failed quests for knowledge in the past, he often appropriates redundant theories and methodologies to create ambitious structural and mechanical montages, using a wide variety of materials and media, and working on an epic scale. Different technologies - nautical and audio-visual - and different natural forces inspire his forms, but his mysterious machines and structures remain enigmatic, filled with paradox and wonder. Some have an absurdist melancholy feel, while others tend to the sublime.


More recently, with another group of works, Conrad Shawcross has begun to experiment with ideal geometries and topologies; these constructions are conceived as systems, sometimes modular, sometimes mechanical, which could be theoretically extended infinitely into space. In these and other sculptures, Shawcross pays tribute to some of the great pioneers and analysts, and considers a specific moment or figure from the past. Paradigm (Ode to the Difference Engine) (2006) references the life of Charles Babbage, Space Trumpet (2007) is inspired by the history of early acoustic mapping, while Slow Arc Inside a Cube (2008) takes its inspiration from the scientist Dorothy Hodgkin's discovery of the structure of pig insulin.

Born in 1977 in London, where he currently resides and works, Shawcross is currently Artist in Residence at the Science Museum, London.

Text provided by Victoria Miro Gallery, London.

Conrad Shawcross

'Light Perpetual ' 2004
Mixed media 225 x 300 x 250 cm

Conrad Shawcross

'Small Arc Inside A Cube' 2008

Conrad Shawcross 'Pre-Retroscope VI'

“Pre-Retroscope VI—Gowanus Journey,” by British artist Conrad Shawcross documents an expedition undertaken along the length of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal using a specially adapted rowboat.

Pre-Retroscope VI is a hand-built boat carrying a special device for capturing 360-degree panoramic videos on bodies of water. During voyages, a motor-driven platform holds a camera that takes in the full view of its surroundings as it slowly moves around a circular track mounted to the top of the small craft. Reconfigured in the gallery to accommodate a projector, this same revolving apparatus then “re-tells” the voyage by projecting the resulting footage on a small screen that moves in synchronization with it. The form of Pre-Retroscope VI’s transmission—evoking the rotation of a lighthouse beacon—suggests the impossibility of a comprehensive understanding of our surroundings.

The most recent in a series of expeditions that began with a trip last summer on the River Lea in London, “Pre-Retroscope VI—Gowanus Journey” represents the first of Shawcross’s explorations of New York City’s little-known inland canal systems.

Mapping: An illustrated guide to graphic navigational systems

By Roger Fawcett-Tang and William Owen, this exhibition catalogue shows innovative ways of mapping space and journey.
http://www.struktur.co.uk/books/mapping.html

Long Exposure Photographs: AppuruPai

"AppuruPai made these beautiful long exposure shots on the Yurikamome rail transit, an automated guideway train that connects Odaiba with Tokyo."

from 'greater than' blog

Upcoming Talk: 'New Atlantis' Project

On Thursday 13 October 10:30 AM Hui Ye will come to speak to us about her model of her "New Atlantis" project that was recently exhibited in the Bartlett Masters Show.  Not to be missed.

More on the work of Hui Ye's research group, M.A.R.S., here.  

Video: 3D Drawing Machine

from archdaily:

Two young artists Ryan and Trevor Oakes have introduced a unique way for drawing using a 3D drawing machine that assists in re-presenting the view in front of one’s eyes. The machine was developed as an exploration of the nature of vision with a goal to recreate realism in the correct proportions and perspective. The artists explain how the machine works; by limiting vision of the scene to one eye and the other to plot the image on concave paper, an illusion occurs where the paper becomes transparent, rendering an effect that you are simply tracing the scene in front of you. It is an interesting take on creating artwork with amazingly accurate results. Check out the video for their presentation.

Gordon Matta-Clark: 'Splitting'

From the Met Museum website:

In the decade between receiving his B.A. in architecture from Cornell University and his death in 1978, Matta-Clark was a key member of the New York avant-garde. His work, like that of Dennis Oppenheim and Robert Smithson, was formed outside the parameters of gallery presentation, and as with many artists who matured in the 1960s, his subversive activities were rooted in a critique of bourgeois American culture.

Compelled to focus attention on the dehumanization of the modern world, Matta-Clark developed a personal idiom that combined Minimalism and Surrealism with urban architecture. Using abandoned buildings for his medium and wielding a chainsaw as his instrument, he cut into the structures, creating unexpected apertures and incisions.

In 1974, Matta-Clark operated on a two-story home in New Jersey slated for demolition, effectively splitting it down the middle. The light from the incision invaded the interior and united the rooms with a swath of brilliance. The artist photographed his work and created a collage of prints, the unconventional disposition of which re-creates the disorienting experience of the unprecedented destruction.

All images from Gordon Matta-Clark's project, Splitting, 1974

Collage/Model Hybrids: CJ Lim

CJ Lim is an architect based in London.


He says "My architecture is spatial storytelling and employs narratives in creating visions and innovative architecture, landscape and urban design focusing on interpretations of cultural programmes."


He uses collages and models to generate narrative structures that guide his work. See below:

more at: http://www.cjlim-studio8.com/

Sketchbooks: Smout and Allen

Mark Smout and Laura Allen are Senior Lecturers at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.  They say: 

"Our work takes two routes, architectural competitions, where the particular rigour of the competition brief, site and program provide the basis for new investigations and, conceptual design projects which test out the agenda and methodology of the design research practice. We focus on the dynamic relationship between the natural and the man made and how this can be revealed to enhance the experience of the architectural landscape."

(from http://www.smoutallen.com/)

Images of some of their sketchbook pages:

Above: Sketchbook pages, Prototypes for an Envirographic Architecture: Lanzanrote

Source: PETER COOK: The London Eight at Lebbeus Woods BLOG

Above: more pages from Smout and Allen sketchbooks. Source:  bldngblog.

Envisioning information

Edward Rolf Tufte (born 1942) is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization. His books are great sources for examples of how to visualize and present data.

Tufte's website: http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/


A few images from Tufte's books:

Above: Probably the best statistical graphic ever drawn, this map by Charles Joseph Minard portrays the losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812. Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band shows the size of the army at each position. The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower band, which is tied to temperature and time scales.

(from http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters)

above: Timetable for Java Railroad line, 1937. In Tufte 1990. (from seeing complexity blog)

not in Tufte's book but also of interest:

above: map by Olivier H. Beauchesne from: http://scimaps.org/maps/browse/ (lots of great examples at this site)

I find that the New York Times often has fantastic 'infographics' that show data in very clear and fascinating ways, such as:

above: visualizations show the top organizations and personalities for every year from 1985 to 2001. Connections between these people & organizations are indicated by lines. (from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blprnt/sets/72157613381549987/)

frequency of words used by political candidates

For more NYT infographics, see http://www.smallmeans.com/new-york-times-infographics/

David Hockney: 'Joiners'

from 5magazine:

"Born on July 9, 1937 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, David Hockney is considered one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century.

Hockney’s creation of the “joiners” occurred accidentally. He noticed in the late sixties that photographers were using cameras with wide-angle lenses to take pictures. He did not like such photographs because they always came out somewhat distorted. Working on a painting of a living room and terrace in Los Angeles, he took Polaroid shots of the living room and glued them together as a preparatory work, not intending for them to be a composition on their own. Upon looking at the final composition, he realized it created a narrative, as if the viewer was moving through the room. He began to work more and more with photography after this discovery and even stopped painting for a period of time to exclusively pursue this new style of photography."

The Desk, July 1st 1984.

Robert Smithson

Floating Island to Travel Around Manhattan Island

New York, NY 1970/2005

Robert Smithson (1938-1973) was an internationally renowned American artist.

from http://www.robertsmithson.com/introduction/introduction.htm:

"He utilized non-traditional art materials such as language, mirrors, maps, dump trucks, abandoned quarries, hotels, contractors, and earth to produce his radical sculptures, photographs, films, and earthworks.

On looking for sites he stated 'I began in a very primitive way;..started taking trips in 1965; certain sites would appeal to me more--sites that had been in some way disrupted...pulverized. I was really looking for a denaturalization rather than built up scenic beauty...when you take a trip you need precise data& I would often use quadrangle maps; mapping followed traveling'"

Site studies from Hotel Palenque work:

On-site piece using mirrors:

"Sixth Mirror Displacement, from Yucatan Mirror Displacements (1-9)," by Robert Smithson, 1969,

9 chromogenic-development slides (exhibition prints, 2000), 12 x 12 inches, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York,

Photo courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, © Robert Smithson Estate

more at: http://www.robertsmithson.com/