TOPOLOGY VS. TOPOGRAPHY
This was an exploration into techniques of digital fabrication. As a class, we began by studying different topographies, not with the goal of replicating them, but researching their means of formation and using the digital medium to explore manipulation of fields in a 3D space. I chose to study the formations of sand caused by natural (wind) and unnatural (footsteps) forces. By analyzing the cause and effect patterns on these nomadic topographical shifts, I hoped to find a means to create an original pattern and apply into a spatial and faรงadal medium. Initially, the goal was to apply these learned techniques into a physical context: a shipping container space in which we were allowed to envelope the interior or puncture the exterior in whichever way we chose. The setting was meant to take place during the internationally renown Art Basel, so the focus shifted to spatial formulation with a specific series of programs, which would include space for display, seating, and interaction. However the proposed surfaces were more than a series of pushes and pulls. It became a series of responses to external influences. People passing by, varied lines of sight and height, larger areas for display versus smaller viewports, etc. With the ideal parameters set, the next step was to create a series of iterations that would eventually transform into an overall envelope. Initially, the overall surface consisted of a single panel with a simple Voronoi-type pattern. The ideal behind the surface condition was that it would adapt to the different programs inherent in an art gallery setting. This meant the pattern would need to transform over a period of time over the span of the surface. The techniques learned in the initial typological studies, specifically the blend, proved critical to the overall prototype. The process of creating the skin was in itself a learning process, researching how actual skin folds and shifts to stimuli and adapts to circumstances. One pattern led to another, one row was sewn onto another, and the end result became an aggregated facade.
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