Apertures reflect a current architectural discourse of digital ecologies, emphasizing the relationship between the natural world and advances in digital technology, which leads to a new type of interactive, organic buildings. The installation focuses on a symbiotic relationship between nature, building morphologies, and material expression.
Rooted in Baumgartner+Uriu’s work and ongoing research, Apertures challenges the notion of an architectural opening as a static object. Moreover, it aims to redefine the DNA of a window both in terms of its appearance and materiality, as well as its nature as an object in continuous flux, responding to its environment through movement or sound. The pavilion and its apertures are designed to physically engage the visitor with the architectural work through sensors and sound feedback loops creating an immersive spatial environment in which the visitor can experience their own biorhythms.
The 16‐foot‐tall, thin shell structure was designed to solely rely on its extremely thin surface (1/8”) as support, requiring no additional structural elements. Structure and surface are collapsed into a single component supported through its shape, creased surfaces and material strength only. Each one of the 233 panels is unique in terms of its shape. They are CNC milled from polyurethane foam, heat formed out of thermoplastic polymer resin, and then laminated together into a single object.
Unique to this project is the proposal of building as organism, challenging how architecture can interface with its users and its environment in which the boundary between the human body and architectural object dissolves into an immersive, interactive environment. This entails both the use of technology to augment its performance and a design aesthetic that is incongruous and can incorporate analog features into a digital design process.
Apertures will be on view at the SCI-Arc Gallery until May 18, 2014.
Credits
Design: Baumgartner + Uriu
Sound by: Hannes Köcher‐ Media artist, Vienna, Austria
Structural consultant: Matthew Melnyk
SCI‐Arc exhibitions and public programs are made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs.
Apertures is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
Additional support is generously provided by Coastal Enterprises and Foam Mart.
