Transformative Trends
CoForum and the Chapel of Many : De-Sign and the Role of Radical Craft in the Public Realm View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sebastian Hicks
De-Sign: to avert the use of signs; to erase the creators signature; to embrace ambiguity. The kinematic, ambiguous, crafted object, placed into the hands of the public, is an act of trust that is reciprocated by those who interact with the structure and each other. The care with which the structure is crafted, stimulates an equal response of care. The public realm is re-invented as one of responsive respect, rather than robust anonymity. Traversing the scale between furniture and building, reconciling the hand-constructed artefact, at human scale, with the built environment. We explore this direct line between natural material, hand assemblage and the architectural building, which facilitates the direct agency of the individual as a co-curator, not only in the constructed space but also in the object production.
Dalma Isle Unveiled: Revealing Architecture through Visual Deconstruction View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ilze Eklsa (Loza)
The design and research project delves into the heritage of the United Arab Emirates, specifically focusing on the architecture of Dalma Island situated on the western coast. Inhabited for over 7,000 years, Dalma Island holds a significant place in history as one of the Arabian Gulf's foremost pearl-diving centers. The island boasts a collection of some of the oldest buildings in the UAE, spanning the modern heritage period, characterized by their resplendent beauty and intricate details in textures, front doors, door aisles, window designs, and overall architectural structures. The primary objective of this proposed project is to immortalize and document a selection of architecturally distinguished examples from the local neighborhoods on Dalma Island through the medium of digital photography. Subsequently, the plan is to employ visual deconstruction and collage techniques to craft design and art pieces that explore the visual elements of these architectural systems. The project's foundation draws inspiration from the theoretical concept of visually deconstructing structural systems. As a mode of representation, the deconstruction method scrutinizes the arrangement and composition of distinct elements within a system, thereby creating diverse classification structures that highlight various functions through the resultant imagery engendered in my creative endeavor. The creative segment of the project, is created utilizing digital media, aided by visual manipulation software in conjunction with applied art techniques. The photographs sourced from Dalma Island undergo digital deconstruction during the post-production phase, subsequently finding their place on canvas through the utilization of collage techniques.
Unfolding the Vertical: Architecture as a Open Field of Interactions View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Eda Yeyman, Ayse Sentürer
Understanding architecture through relationality and interactions allows open-ended cosmic potentials and flexible perception of the material world. This understanding not only alters the relationship between architecture and materials but also, by shifting the emphasis from architecture itself to invisible forces enabling its existence, prompts architects to contemplate interventions in the physiological, biological, chemical layers within the space. This shift signifies the emergence of an architecture capable of accommodating the microscopic, biological and atmospheric. It relies on novel material configurations based on the metabolic models of bacteria, microorganisms, evolving into a 'cosmic narrative' through interactions across different scales, rendering the relationship between bacteria and planets visible. In this context, the paper explores the transscalability of architecture through verticality, prompting non-cartographic scale considerations and originating not from the desires of an architect but from micro-subatomic dimensions. Verticality goes beyond establishing relationships between adjacent scales; it signifies a jump, discontinuity into an entirely different scale, deemed necessary to 'establish during the moments of resolution.' To illustrate this concept, the paper delves into two practical cases where the configuration of the subatomic level is associated with the establishment of architecture, revealing verticality: Louvre Lens Museum (Catherine Mosbach); Living architecture (Rachel Armstrong). The critical aspect is identifying filters of a novel reading method defining scale conditions, aiming to stimulate new design processes. This study seeks to understand the infiltration of synaptic capacities establishing verticality in unconventional scales, unveiling a new toolset for architecture and reshaping contemporary practices by forming relays between scales, agents, and fields.
