ENIGMA: the construction of portfolio Encoding, Making, and Rethinking
Ke Wang 4th Year HTS Tutor: Sylvia Taher
ARCHITECTURE, MUSIC AND SPONTANEITY Libeskind created two suites of drawings called micromega and chamberworks, which reflected his thinking about the nature of architectural space. It is probably overwhelming to first look at the excessively populated geometries, as if countless possibilities happening at the same time. “An architectural drawing,” as Libeskind has written, “is as much a prospective unfolding of future possibilities as it is a recovery of a particular history, to whose intentions it testifies and whose limits it always challenges. In any case a drawing is more than the shadow of an object, more than a pile of lines, more than a resignation to the inertia of convention.” Deeply rooted in a musician backgroud as a violinist, Libeskind’s work constantly draws indirect references to music. His architectural approach features fragmental yet theatrical elements and complex geometries, organised in a rather poetic way. Micromega and Chamberworks were drawn in the early 1980s, when he was director and principal teacher at the Cranbrook Academy School of Architecture. during that period his creative yet experimental installation and art works (other than architecture) were conceived and constructed, including the Memory Machine, Reading Machine, and Writing Machine. Lebbues Woods describes his machines as ‘Elaborately constructed and enigmatic in purpose’1. These works pay large attention on the spontaneity of devices, which I believe is what he was exploring through these drawings - to rethink architectural space as a frozen moment of endless possibilties generated from some kind of enigmatic mechsnism. His drawings of micromegas was once described as an ‘alternative blueprint’, which chanlleges the conventional architectural drawings that project three dimensional space to create plans and sections. Regardless of the purpose of construction which is to produce, his drawings brings a fourth dimension of time, present a coexistence of parallel universe. Like paintings, music can be sophiscated and emotion stirring, but it is by its nature different from other forms of art. It is appreci-ated across time. Initially it is composed, translated into notes and rythms, and ultimately played on instrument, interpreted by musician. A music sheet is not music itself - it is a ‘drawing’ of music recorded by a language. It is the ‘happening’ that makes music - it requires composer to design, but also musician to interprete. Chamberworks, as one can assume from its name, seems to explore the interaction between architecture and music. lines are dispensed onto paper with contrasts of intensity and blank, rythms expressed through straight lines accompanied with kinks and curvatures, soft and bold strokes added dynamics.
1 LEBBEUS WOODS,. 2009. ‘LEBBEUS WOODS’. https://lebbeuswoods. wordpress.com/.
Daniel Libeskind, the Reading Machine
From a post on the architectural forum “Pushpull Bar”: Early in his career Libeskind produced two suites of drawings which reflected his thinking about the nature of architectural space: Micromegas and Chamberworks. Developed from his interest in geometry, Micromegas could be considered an alternative blueprint, whilst Chamberworks seems to explore the interaction between architecture and music, deeply rooted in his background and arguably one of his greatest influences. Both are clearly the basis on which Libeskind’s theatrical, geometrically complex architecture was developed and it is remarkable how his vision, borne in these drawings, have been realised in his projects.
Daniel Libeskind, Micromega: the dance of sound
REINVENTING MICROMEGAS Upon understanding and studying Libeskind’s machines and drawings in relation to music, I decided to reinvent the drawings by deconstructing, colouring, compositing, and adding the dimension of time - to make the drawing in the format of scrolls so that only a section of it is read at a time. While reading one need to constantly roll the scroll open and take reference from the context.
Display scroll this chamber contains the mechanism for exhibiting the drawing scrolls.
Storage chamber drawing scrolls are stored here on the rack before loaded on to the display chamber
DESIGNING PORTFOLIO After making the drawings as a set of scrolls like music sheets, I took reference from the musical instrument: the barrel organ, in which the music is embedded in the barrel in the form of pins or music sheets, And when playing, the musician only need to roll handles to allow music sheets passing on at a continuous motion. I decided to invent a ‘Enigma machine’: The scrolls which are recreation of Libeskind’s drawings, are to be ‘read’ using the instrument. Conceptually the scrolls display allows simultaneous decoding. It would display the portfolio in a poetic way and keep an elaborate format. The window on the top where the tracker board locates allows viewing, the drawing will be constant flowing when the audience rotates the handle. The drawings are stored in one chamber, it need to be loaded onto the mechanical box on the other side, and by slowly rolling the handle it will be passed on from the ‘decoding’ tracker in the middle, and the result is to be viewed from the window on top of the machine.
Enigma - symbolises the translation and decoding drawings
BARREL ORGAN Rather than being played by an organist, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs. The pieces of music are encoded onto wooden barrels (or cylinders), which are analogous to the keyboard of the traditional pipe organ.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Initially it is composed, translated into notes and rhythms, and ultimately played on instrument, interpreted by musician. A music sheet is not music itself - it is a ‘drawing’ of music recorded by a language. It is the ‘happening’ that makes music - it requires composer to design, but also musician to interpret. trasts of intensity and blank, rythms expressed through straight lines accompanied with kinks and curvatures, soft and bold strokes added dynamics.