Sky Russell | spring 2018 HAA 96A Transformations studio
Through successive iterations in distinct materials, this project brings together explorations of pure form and inhabitable architecture. The design process was directed by discoveries made through building physical models and representation in drawing– though the project stemmed from the prompt perforation, it evolved to revolve around explorations of aperture, variation, and optical play. Working through transparent and opaque media, the challenge was in maintaining a clear logical thread through the objects. The flexibility of the paper model manifested as the curvature in the acrylic. The optical mirage in the acrylic became a gradation of layer spacing in the chipboard. The exaggerated steps of the chipboard were revisited in the concept drawing of the laser-cut paper. The project culminated in a full-scale pavilion design that drew elements from previous steps: the pavilion interjects in the public park, which is very closely neighbored by residences, as an optical and inhabitable structure. The pavilion is an aggregation of similar modules that stretch and squeeze to act as windows, pillars, enclosures, and canopy. The design concept is rooted firmly in the preceding lineage of pure scaleless forms but also begins to ground itself in concrete ideas of architecture and inhabitation.
