1 minute read
F.L.O.R.A
by roshni
FOREST LAB FOR OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH
AND ANALYSIS draws it inspiration from a camouflaged hunter in hiding observing his surroundings. The contrast between the man-made world of orthogonal regularities and organic but controlled geometris creates a liminality where the two can interract harmoniously.
Advertisement
It aims to allow humans to learn from the nature without drastically distrubing it.
Architecture- The 8m high structure sits atop 4 timber colums. The solid core encloses all the technical equipments attached to F.L.O.R.A- cameras, sound recorders and weather station to give live feedbacks to the system. The walkways attached to the core are wrapped in a lattice net mesh that is designed to host climbing Ivys and create the camouflage for people to see the outside without being seen.
It was concived as a cell with a central enclosed nucleus and a semi-exterior interractive space.
Functionality- Funtionally inspired from the idea of integrating humans into nature in order to understand it better. It comprises of a small but acommodative cabin for biologists and other bio-diversity enthusiasts .The walkways facilitate acess to all the stratas of a tree- canopies, trunks and roots. The light net mesh creates a visual enclosure for the users.
Materiality- Largely made of timber, the structure uses timber in its various capacities. Solid raw wood members form the footing and supporting diagonals. The core is made of CLT panels while the bridge beams use GLT in order to optimise the strength with material saving. The lattice net is a nylon net mesh stitched from 4 parts. The form of the net is derived through a process of minimal surface generation for relaxed meshes.
Fabrication- The trees slected based on the ideas of ‘forestry management’ were brought back to the facility to be sliced into planks and let dry. The planks were processed into CLT walls and GLT beams spanning upto 12m in length. While chunky structural elements were processed raw wood elements. The foundations of F.L.O.R.A are laid in lime-crete mix prepared on site by the students.
