Freeform + Deform, a creative collective from New York, shared with us their project ‘First Principle: Earth as Material”, presented at the Input_Output: Adaptive Materials and Mediated Environments symposium hosted by Temple University. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Ontology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the most fundamental categories and principles of existence. In the philosophy of mind, first principles constitute our most basic framework for understanding the world. The inclusion of first principles in the title of our submission, when taken in the context of architecture, reflects our assumption that architecture distills no further than how the individual or architect engages the earth via environment, site and landscape and how these elements in turn engage the individual or architect. The earth’s vegetation and natural landscapes or rather land forms: valleys, plateaus, caves and tree canopies define the most basic idea of inhabitable architecture.
With this in mind, we set out to utilize the earth itself as the primary source for our architecture: structurally, aesthetically and materially. We carefully sliced and peeled away the earth to reveal programmatic elements for several adaptable and environmentally minimal park facilities that could be implemented widely. For each facility, we have investigated and identified various approaches to the green construction of the specific design.
