DARPA " PALS " The US military’s existing maritime hardware is relatively limited in its sensing capabilities. It has since initiated research projects to counteract possible detection. Advanced schemes like PALS are being explored using 5 marine organisms. By tapping into their innate sensing abilities it can detect underwater threats. These species are highly attuned to their native environment and will respond audibly or visibly to sound, optical, electromagnetic and chemical cues in the waters around them. Through monitoring the marine strata the military hopes to determine if there is a change in this soundscape when an underwater vehicle passes through it. These suspected threats can outwit the military by taking advantage of the vast open oceans. Although through schemes like this, it will have complete authority over the oceans and coastlines. Thus creating an ecosystem of surveillance. This project reverses the agenda of the surveillance to give the sensing back to the marine species.
EMILY CHOOI PORTFOLIO
first year project media studies & thesis undergrad projects pavilion & practice work outside studies
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PORTFOLIO FILM Containing research, interviews full animations with respective audio
https://vimeo.com/564963260
e mily c ho o i / pg 1
GOVERNMENT// BUSINESSPEOPLE Due to its proximity to the Colombian coffee region and the Pacific, the Colombian government has persistently tried to reinstate controversial plans to build a mega shipping port. The Gulf has a unique bathymetry where just 2km from the coast the seabed reaches depths of 20m. Therefore, there would be no limitations to the anchoring and larger ships could potentially dock. The construction and operation of the port will introduce a whole new soundscape of noises including pile driving, seismic testing and shipping. Currently, there is no infrastructure to support the construction of the port so a new network of highways, railway and oil pipelines will need to be built. Duque highlighted the project in his presidential campaign last year. "I won’t rest until I see the Ánimas-Nuquí corridor connected to the Tribugá port. The future of Chocó’s competitiveness, the future of the connection of the Colombian coffee region and the Pacific, combined with port opportunities, will undoubtedly involve Tribugá."
The proposed infrastructure to support the port, new road network, trainline and oil pipelines.
e mily c ho o i / pg 2
LOCAL PEOPLE// INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES However, the Gulf has since been noted as one of the most intact biodiverse hotspots in the world, with a whole host of species inhabiting it. In 2014, it was declared by the local AfroColombian communities as they hope to develop economies based on sustainable tourism capitalising on the area’s biodiversity. Just north of Nuquí is the rich Utría National Park which is surrounded by a mangroves ecosystem. Currently, some families do not even have jobs because they support themselves solely through fishing and ark clam harvesting. Since it’s close to their collective territories, local communities must be consulted on the project.
Local territories, Utría National Park and Mangrove ecosystem
e mily c ho o i / pg 3
ACTIVISTS//SCIENTISTS// CHARITIES Many activists and scientists are opposing the work of the port. They have began work to showcase the areas biodiversity and what a travesty it would be to mess with the Gulf’s natural balance. I have been liaising with a group in the area called PhysiColombia. They are scientists that specialise in recording data of humpback whales and analysing their acoustic behaviour. I have since signed a data sharing agreement with them. That in return for their recordings and information about the area, I will exchange visual representations from my project. The humpack whale audio recordings in the videos are recorded by bioacoustician, Kerri Seger.
HUMPBACK WHALES It has become a breeding haven for the likes of humpback whales. Its bathymetry protects them from diverse oceanographic conditions and predators. Annually, between June and October, 800 whales come to Nuqui to reproduce. Here I have used a national database built from information from various organisations to map the sightings of certain whales and dolphins.
e mily c ho o i / pg 4
PRO JECT
Scheme outline
The project looks at the anthropogenic effects in the ocean and how we have polluted the senses of marine species for our own gain. By using the tools and technology invented by man, I am proposing a network that focuses on aiding and assisting non-human life forms. It is made possible with a series of buoys and mesh networking systems - to analyse the acoustics of their soundscape, as well as aid inhabiting marine species to navigate the seas in order to resist or coexist with the presence of the harbour. So that, if or when the harbour is built and their environment is compromised, they are not fully displaced.
e mily c ho o i / pg 5
BIO -TAGGING Bio-tags are suction-cupped to whales with integrated hydrophones and GPS systems from athletic watches. D tagging is the future generation and these bio-tags will have a camera installed to associate acoustic behaviour responses with a visual representation. This will track the animal’s well-being and through an integrated underwater speaker, it can actively communicate with the whale through sound. Informing whales on positions of nearby ships by prompting the whales to avoid
them in the long term and short. Our passive technology of sensors is not enough anymore as animals cannot keep up with the rate in which we are destroying their habitats. Bio tags already exist but the technology of actively communicating is still in the phase of research.
e mily c ho o i / pg 6
The moored data buoys are laid out in an array - collecting acoustic samples when the species who are tracked come into proximity with it. Having an array can locate the whale calls and all of this real-time data can be collected to a data server. Low tech initiatives are proposed to mitigate the impact of noise from a new port with more advanced pieces of equipment. On land, watchtowers will be placed among the mountain foothills to survey the ocean manually at a bird’s eye view. Off-site in control rooms, recordings collected with existing AIS data can be filtered with the help of algo-
rithms. Propagation models analyse the space reduction and how ships sound spreads and whether it overlaps with the whale’s communication space. Machine learning software can identify recordings by picking out different song units when there is overlapping sound. Using classification and detection to produce a training set that will record future predictions on the impact on the population. We don’t speak the whales’ language, therefore technology is vital in enabling the translation of their songs into coherent sounds. The control rooms will host navigation systems of both vessels and marine species to ensure that they are within safe distances away from one another.
e mily c ho o i / pg 7
HUMAN BUOYS Acoustic communication works over long distances but it can only transmit limited amounts of data with long delays. There are holes in data when using satellite systems to pick up information from buoys along the coastline. Therefore it will be a backup system to the primary manual data collection.
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Instead of a lightkeeper, there are data keepers where local fishermen navigate around the coastal buoys during their fishing trips to retrieve data from hard drives stored. The government claims there will be many jobs with the arrival of the port but they would be low-level work that would only available for the duration of its construction. The area will be completely changed and the gentrification will destroy the livelihoods of the people that live there.
At the moment, the community receives a certain allotment of power from the government from 2 pm to 10 pm so energy is a desired commodity. Besides that, they would need to buy their own generator and collect fuel. The buoys generate power from waves below and solar power panels above. The buoyancy of the waves moving pistons up and down will create hydraulic power that can be converted to electrical. When collecting the hard drives, fishermen also collect the harvested energy in batteries that can be used for themselves and also redistributed. e mily c ho o i / pg 8
NON-HUMAN BUOYS The buoys furthest from the shore are designed for non-human interaction and can be connected to the coastal buoys via a mesh network. The variation in buoys establish boundaries between the humans and the species. Instead of a large platform and canopy for the fishermen, smaller platforms with vegetation are stacked for extra landing spots for birds. Underneath the surface, sounds can be broadcasted to attract fish larvae to keep stock-recruitment high enough for a healthy fish population. All of these initiatives encourage habitats further from the port and further from humans.
The ships coming into dock at the port will remove a variety of mangroves and reefs. If reefs cannot sit on the sea bed surface then a mirror image of them can be replicated on the surface. The underwater exterior of the buoys has peaks and valleys, acting like an upside-down coral reef to encourage greater diversity to settle and hide from predators. The water dynamics created from the surface variation will enhance fouling communities and encourage the growth of a variety of creatures.
ANCHORS These buoys are then non conventionally anchored to artificial 3D printed reefs. Coral begins its life cycle as drifting larvae and will attach itself onto these structures. Introducing new habitats will hopefully encourage the likes of snapping shrimp to inhabit these crevices. At depths of less than a few tens of metres, they can act as a bio line of defence close to the harbour to help screen some of the noise pollutions. Even though sound adds, the snapping is a natural noise that will help mask artificial noise. These new habitats will focus on a more than human approach. When this technology becomes obsolete it will, in turn, leave a positive footprint.
e mily c ho o i / pg 9
CONSTRUCTION
The topography is designed digitally in grasshopper. This is to achieve the optimum design through environmental tests. CNC Robot to carves the positive of the structure out of expanded polystyrene foam. The robot allows for flexibility and control in movement for a more precise geometry.
The underside structure is flipped and mounted onto a support frame. The outer pistons are bolted onto the metal plate , the lattice structure is then attached to the pistons.
A metal mesh is applied over the foam. This foam mould can be reused for construction of the other buoys.
Buoyancy tanks are arranged in a grid Steel rods welded to cap the rail at the top of the platform. This sandwiches the tanks together and holds them in place.
The mesh is fixed onto a metal base with a triangular frame to support the deeper peaks.
The artificial roots are fitted into the holes of the cloth. This will hopefully encourage the growth of other bio-materials.
As the rest of the structure can be made on site, the support moulds is placed carefully in crates. The moulds protect the roots so they are not squished. They are then craned onto open lorries.
Outlined and hardware cloth is stretched over the exterior and interior. It is pasted with cement mixture and that when it dries it will become stiff.
Whilst the cement is still wet, waste materials like grapes, foam, fruit netting are added to create the organic textural variation.
The buoys are completed and placed on smaller cargo boats. It is important to not add to the noise pollution in the area when placing them in the water. The moulds are then removed in water and professional divers will attach them to coral anchors.
e mily c ho o i / pg 10
THESIS My thesis focused on the meaning of home and finding a negotiated space of belonging. The idea that home is the physical embodiment of the very nature of people. A vessel of your most prized possessions. A space curated with the objects or people you hold dear. Refugees do not get the choice of home and experience forced displacement. They must move from home to host, resetting and attempt to (re)establish identities. This questions whether refugees retain or obtain a sense of home through an absence or presence of their possessions.
A DICTIONARY OF OBJECTS My media studies explored the mediation of human displacement and their possessions becoming collateral ‘accidental migrants’. How they transition from their native home into a foreign environment with only their objects anchoring them to familiarity. When an object is removed from one country to another, its dislocation establishes a new relationship between object and owners sense of identity. This archi-val practice of documentation displays senti-mental testimonies and memories to give each artifact a narrative. Each one of these objects were items my mother took with her when she was a Vietnamese refugee. They were re-created with a level of transparency to exhibit the fragmented memories. e mily c ho o i / pg 11
UNDERGRADUATE WORK -
THE MAKING OF PL ACE
SHEFFIELD
SCARBOROUGH STONE MASONRY
[borough.[’br].noun.fortied sett lement] The basis of my special study was about creating a closed looped cycle with products. Ultimately, increasing the consumers awareness with what they use and its effect by living in a house made of reused and recycled goods. I made about 40 sheets of paper using recycled work that I ripped and turned to pulp by blending it with water. Then I spread it out onto a screen and dried out till there was no more excess water. Printing on this paper proved difficult but I wanted to prove that instead of having to create something new, is there a way of making it go further by working with something that is already there?
A contemporary fort in the seaside town of Scarborough On an exposed site overlooking the coast, I proposed a new apprenticeship college for stonemasonry. It is a dwindling craft and due to its complexity to work with, it is being undermined by faster construction methods. This contemporary fort will hopefully reinstate the skill by inspiring a variety of ages. From schoolchildren who will visit as part of an outreach scheme, to artists who reside there for shorter periods. Responding to both the art of stone carving and the traditional historic skill of it, this building houses the two so that they live harmoniously with one another.
e mily c ho o i / pg 12
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sh owi n g th e tac ti l i t y o f u si n g th read an d th e sp o radi c n atu re o f i t weavi n g i n an d o u t o f o n e an o th er
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W E AV E M U S E U M
PROGRAMME OF RUNNING MACHINES TO SHOW PROCESS
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W E AV E M U S E U M
1:500 MASSING MODEL ON A STITCH MAP
THE INSIDE OUT MUSEUM
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LEEDS MUSEUM OF WEAVE
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Starting from the object of weaving I worked inside out around this narrative to create the museum. Based in Southbank which is a part of Leeds that is currently undergoing regeneration, the museums concept was about stitching the old and the new together. To create a place of history that showcases the excitement of the new. It is a playful building with rooms of looms and spinning wheels that celebrate Leeds textiles past. Bringing it to present day with displays of weaved fabric donated by the people of Leeds, that is then fashioned into art. 2
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CO N S T R U C T I ON
We ave d s pace s c ut i nto one anothe r and al s o the atr i um s howi ng the outd oor roof g ard e n above the proce s s of m ak i ng thre ad. A jour ne y of yar n bom be d s c ul pture s and s c rap fabr i c that ove r l ook the c anal and c an be vi s i bl e from the trai n i nto Le e d s. I have us e d both s pace s on top wi th the pl ayground und e r ne ath. The re i s ad d i ti onal outd oor s e ati ng for the c afe wi th a c anti l e ve re d wal k way to acce s s the roof g ard e n.
S E C T I ON
Ne w ram pe d br i d g e put i n pl ace wi th a we ave d rai s e d d e c k i ng fol l ow the route s pe opl e woul d tak e throug h the und e rc rof t. The be d d i ng al ong the c anal i s rai s e d to c re ate te r r i tor y and an e ntrance i nto the s i te.
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W E AV E M U S E U M
3 Ac t iv it y of w hat occu rs w it hin t he space ma p p ed out on t he plans. Blu e represent ing t he at r i u m w hic h is consistent in ever y plan. O ver lapping s p a ce is t he core w hic h is s hown
EXTERNAL VIEW FROM THE CANAL
e mily c ho o i / pg 13
SCALE RULE Last year I was part of the design team from Grimshaw alongside AKT II . We organised workshops for years 9-11 to generate designs for a pavilion. The brief of the pavilion was to celebrate the site’s rich history. The winning design was developed and constructed by us at full scale for the duration of Clerkenwell Design Week. The materials were donated to Extinction Rebellions community garden as well as other various furniture and craft projects. The photo below shows the workshop with the 65 students from multiple schools across London We gave talks about architecture and engineering and the process of designing. Throughout the day we tutored them and taught them about architectural drawings and testing out ideas by modelling. The second day they presented their ideas to a selected panel of judges. The winning idea is drawn by me (top right) with a dome like structure fragmented through colour and reflecting the ceiling in the site it was placed in. The other photos are professional, taken during Clerkenwell Design Week.
PE RS ON AL WORK SCALE R U LE
None of the photos are my ow n Hand sketch is my wor k
PRACTICE WORK Throughout my three years at Grimshaw I have worked on a variety of infrastructure, masterplanning and commercial buildings. I have been reliant upon for my illustrating skills, creating many diagrams and renders by hand. I’ve worked on early design stages of National Rail and Manchester Central Complex and the final stages of London Bridge Station. Throughout my time I have been involved with the Sustainability Team in the practice, organising talks and workshops. They have been very accommodating as I have maintained working one day a week during my Masters and selected me to receive one of their bursaries on the condition that I return for a year after the degree.
e mily c ho o i / pg 14
ART WORK I n my spa re t i m e I h ave e n j oy p a i nt i n g w i t h qu i ck l aye re d b r u s h s t rok e s, b e l ow i s a col l e c t i on of con ce p t u a l a nd m o re re a li st i c p i e ce s. Th e t wo con ce p t u a l on e s a re i n s p i re d by cou p l e s w i t h t wo d i s t i n c t fi g u re s i n e a c h o ne. The f i r st i s more con ce p t u a l w i t h a “crowd ” of p e op l e b e h i n d a n d t h e s e con d i s a cou p l e wa l k i n g t hro u gh nat u re.
THEATRE WORK
Alongside university I designed and constructed numerous sets for an independent theatre company in Sheffield (subsequently in London). Each brief was entirely different with a minimal budget so I had to use my ingenuity with the materials and supplies I could source. Set design is crucial to the narrative of the musicals, enhancing the audience’s overall visual experience. The most successful original musical I designed the set for is called Buried. It toured 4 different cities in the UK including the Fringe and at the New York Musical Festival. At the moment, I am mainly working as their graphical designer for any promotional needs they may have had. This includes their new show which also ran in the Fringe and will be in the Other Palace Theatre next year in London.
ART WORK In my spare time I have enjoy painting with quick layered brush strokes, below is a collection of conceptual and more realistic pieces. The two conceptual ones are inspired by couples with two distinct figures in each one. The first is more conceptual with a “crowd” of people behind and the second is a couple walking through nature.
ᰠ吀䠀䔀 伀刀䤀䜀䤀一䄀䰀 匀䌀伀刀䔀 䈀夀 䌀伀刀䐀䔀䰀䤀䄀 伀ᤠ䐀刀䤀匀䌀伀䰀䰀 䤀匀 伀一䔀 伀䘀 吀䠀䔀 䈀䔀匀吀 吀 䠀 䄀吀 䤀 ᤠ 嘀 䔀 䠀 䔀 䄀 刀 䐀 䄀吀 吀 䠀 䔀 䘀 刀 䤀 一 䜀 䔀 匀 伀 䘀䄀 刀 ᴠ ⴀ 吀 䠀 䔀 匀 吀䄀 䜀 䔀
䌀伀䰀䰀䄀 嘀伀䌀䔀 吀䠀䔀䄀吀刀䔀 倀刀䔀匀䔀一吀匀
䄀 一䔀圀 䴀唀匀䤀䌀䄀䰀 䈀夀 吀伀䴀 圀䤀䰀䰀䤀䄀䴀匀 䄀一䐀 䌀伀刀䐀䔀䰀䤀䄀 伀ᤠ䐀刀䤀匀䌀伀䰀䰀
匀漀甀渀搀琀爀愀挀欀 愀瘀愀椀氀愀戀氀攀 漀 渀 匀 瀀 漀 琀 椀 昀 礀Ⰰ 椀 吀甀 渀 攀 猀 愀渀搀 䌀䐀
唀 一 䐀 䔀 刀 䈀 䔀 䰀 䰀夀 䈀刀䤀匀吀伀 匀儀唀䄀刀䔀
⌀䈀甀爀椀攀搀㈀ 㠀
㔀⸀ 倀䴀 ⠀㘀⸀㈀㔀倀䴀⤀
e mily c ho o i / pg 15
ⴀ ㈀㜀 䄀唀䜀 ㈀ 㠀 ⠀一伀吀 ⤀
䀀䌀漀氀氀愀嘀漀挀攀匀栀攀昀 䀀挀漀氀氀愀瘀漀挀攀猀栀攀昀 䌀漀氀氀愀瘀漀挀攀琀栀攀愀琀爀攀
䘀刀䤀一䜀䔀䜀唀刀唀
䴀 唀 匀 䤀 䌀 䄀 䰀 吀 䠀 䔀 䄀吀 刀 䔀 刀䔀嘀䤀䔀圀
伀一䔀㐀刀䔀嘀䤀䔀圀
䈀 刀 伀 䄀 䐀 圀䄀夀 䈀 䄀 䈀 夀
䔀䐀䤀一䈀唀刀䜀䠀 䜀唀䤀䐀䔀