Concept :: Things within things
We live in a world that operates on bits and bytes; a merging of the material and the immaterial. Our fundamental configurations of physical space all have a layer of technology embedded in them, creating a potential for everything to sense, record and communicate.
I am interested in studying this invisible data around us; the space surrounding the objects we design, in order to understand the aesthetic and functional components of these objects in relationship to their context. I am questioning how we perceive reality today and what it means to be human on the threshold of human-machine interaction in order to reveal the tension between the animated, the inert and the networks they are creating. I have come to a point in my research where my exploration connects two fields: one emerging in the design of future objects and the other in their networks.
I want to imagine future interactions with objects be it in private or public contexts that trigger a debate of what kind of future cities or homes we might want. In this domain of design fiction, I want to take a leap of my imagination and believe that these technologies are going to have a great impact on us and on the cities as we know them today, re-shaping the urban fabrics and transforming our homes, the built environment and how we exist in them. I am now less concerned with projecting near or far dystopian scenarios of urban conditions and more excited to provide concrete present examples around which to organize a kind of future we want. This also opens a window on how to create a language that represents these future landscapes.
To illustrate the concept idea, I selected two examples of urban furniture that point out in two different ways the idea of awareness of the space that surrounds an object.
Motivation :: A Sequel
In 2011, my architecture thesis put forward the hypothesis that there is a potential in the idea of absence in Architecture: there is something of value in building, to see the essence of what is not there. So the main question became finding a methodology to explore this phenomenon of absence. I investigated the areas of cinematic architecture, dematerialization and objects in the city as a process and built a strategy for intervention upon that in order to design the project.
My current thesis project redefines the idea of architects shaping the built environment and questions the profession of architecture in relationship to the technological development of ‘smart’ objects and their networks, within a home or in a more general and public environment.
Concept Inspiration :: Sentient City :: ubiquitous computing, architecture, and the future of urban spaces
The essays and projects that comprise the Sentient City provide concrete examples around the argument that citizens can play as designers and participants in the unfolding techno-social situations of near future urban environments.
The notions and ideas presented in this exhibition brought me back to look more in depth at Archigram’s and Superstudio’s works Living Cities and Continuous moments, where events and situations create networks that are far more important in the shaping of the urban environment than the material demarcation of space.
Argument and Question :: Delirious Objects
My interest in the object is not necessarily a sign for emancipation of the object but rather an interest in turning the subject to the object for lessons on lifestyle, social behavior and our relationship with the environment. If our infrastructure of everyday artifacts was to become capable of sensing and perceiving what it is detecting, how can we make sure the response is shaping the networks of our environments the way we want?
I believe that we are far from being in a world shaped by the Internet of things so I am focusing my research now on the behavior of objects within a concise context as a starting point; looking at networks between these objects and the chains of data they create. The purpose is to envision a future that is shaped by the emerging culture of interconnected things.
I am interested in revealing new levels of perception to an invisible layer of our nowadays objects. The focus is not on representing the reality of this invisible layer, but on the making of a critical proposal with the question: While enhancing, optimizing and improving, is there a possibility to explore other approaches, perhaps less useful but as meaningful; more poetic, humoristic and situationist?
Amphibious Architecture :: Network of floating tubes at Pier 35 in the East River.
Practical Inspiration :: A Rube Goldberg Machine
By creating a confusing system, the machine is over designed and engineered in the most complex way to perform a very simple task in the most complicated way. The system is a chain reaction: a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
