ARTIFICIAL LANDS: exploring desires through an ever changing garden of pleasure
Gamrot Alexandra Studio02
THE EXTRACT
Extracting from Term1 the idea of a journey throughout the rolling shape of the landscape remains ever present. The interest of a changing topography, a unique experience, evolved and lead the project towards the introduced Site – Devil’s Dyke - and the column.
Journeys through landscapes
FIELD STUDY I - Devils‘s Dyke
The focus of the project is to explore the concept of the path leading the promenader to discover rather than a simple pathway and as such the positioning of the site has been chosen to carefully reflect this.
The “agricultural� device allows the user to extract a reading of the geography at the site, the poles are then aligned with the topography of the measured line, subsequently the poles reflect the landscape they assess. The column represents the physical interaction between the landscape and the device itself as the two intertwine to become a singular project. Back in the studio this reflection allows the reader to partly attach the device to the drawing table and reproduce an accurate representation of the natural features of the site.
Device on site.
the construction
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1. elavation 2. plan 3. section 4. detail
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laminated wood legs
Individually customised parts
Measuring device.
On site projection of the curves.
Reproduction of the reading.
FIELD STUDY II - New Haven Forthill
In order to properly explore the concepts conceived with the measuring device the decision was made that a second site was necessary to fulfil the objectives of the project, specifically the steps within the borders of the Forthill were selected to conduct further investigation.
Device on site.
SITE INVESTIGATIONS
On site investigations were a key step as they examine the series of interest and the exact exploration of certain aspects: the changing landscape provides a powerful symbol of a changing world, especially looking into the transition between the stable man made conditions of the surface compared to the rugged terrain of the natural landscape, the evaluation of the conditions below and the projection above.
Transition into the stable condition.
The evaluation of the conditions below and the projection above.
Above the surface
The idea of changing landscapes became central to the concept of the device, inspiring an investigation into how to best explore an intimate relationship between the device and the terrain. The physical capability of the device to dig into the land in order to alter the geography to the user’s desire provides a unique interpretation of changing landscapes and perceptions
The desire of changing land
The interaction
Measuring the transition into to the shafts
SINKING; CARVING; CUTTING
A series of investigations were conducted in order to identify the most appropriate method of altering the current chalk surface found at Devil’s Dyke to a malleable state where the device could have a meaningful impact. It is also possible to cut into the chalk: hand carving would create a smooth delicate surface of the excavated sites and may be controlled in an exceptionally precise manner to create an ex-act environment for the device to work from. Otherwise the shafts may be created through drilling to form a smooth, man-made surface within the chalk. However there is a high probabil-ity that drilling the terrain would lead to the chalk splitting around the drill sites.
Hand carved
cutting into the land
Cut
Conversely , chalk itself is a steadfast material in its natural state meaning that creating “chalk mud� using water to at first soften the chalk to allow the weights to sink in naturally, as the water then drains the imprint of the sunken weight remains, providing a lasting impact on the landscape.
Sinking and the imprint.
SINKING GROUND
The device itself interacts with the landscape through the use of weights sinking into the terrain and effecting the land around it, this change in the landscape is the principle concept of the design allowing the device to not only reflect the topography on which the core design is based but also influence the landscape and contribute to the geography upon which the project is formed.
The shafts constructed through the weights sinking, or otherwise allowing to be dug in or drown, transform the landscape and create a symbiotic relationship between the device and the environment in which it inhabits.
SITE CONSTRUCTION - The Skin
Once all investigations were conducted the data gathered was reviewed, recreating the measured landscape of the site although using an artificial silicone skin to allow the weights chosen to sink more easily into the ground. Recordings and test results from sites at both Devil’s Dyke and New Haven appear to support this decision.
The constructed site.
Skin laying upon the ribs.
The skin allows the device to interact as desired. Simulating the sinking of the weights and the changes of the landscape.
THE WEIGHTS
The sinking weights were developed through a careful process in order to allow the weights to be inhabited, the construction process involved defining negatively constructed space through a silicone mesh wrapped around a wax base, allowing the sphere to widen and creating openings within the weights. All based around a grid that works as a structural support before dipping the design into plaster chalk and melting the wax within to create an inhabitable cavity.
The construction
Materiality: A chalk based plaster dipping
The constructed weights sinking into the ground can be entered only if they are touching the skin. As they sink deeper into the land the programmatic use is - besides the recreation of a changing landscape experienced through the sinking and adaptation of the supple ground - allowing optimal conditions for life to begin, specifically the growth of a vineyard.
The sinking system
To ensure this it is necessary for the site to have a functional drainage system to allow the water to flow to the vineyard as well as interact with the changing landscapes created by the shifting weights. As well as this sunlight must be able to enter the site in order to provide nourishment for the horticulture within, this system would be constantly effected by the movement of the weights, controlled from the inside of the cocoon itself.
The pleasure of ever changing experience
The weight
The conditions within the Weight
In cut.
THE ARTIFITIAL LANDSCAPE
As part of the site construction an artificial landscape will be necessary at Devil’s Dyke, due to the natural ground conditions proving too stable to allow the weights to sink in easily and effect the topography through natural means. The artificial landscape consists of a silicon skin cushion, filled with chalk, mud and soil to create optimal conditions, not only for the weights to alter the terrain but crucially to allow vegetation to grow
The construction of the artifitial lands
The silicon may not necessarily be homogenous throughout the device but may in fact vary in thickness as well as creating gaps in the skin, allowing a more natural progression of the landscape changing
The materiality as the detail former
The changes of landscape through sinking
Construction of spaces underneath
The device – the architecture would be the primary cause of any alterations found in the landscape as is the purpose of the device to create such substantial shifts through the different poles individual moment, making a unique choreography between the components of the device itself as well as the interaction with the earth itself. The independence of the relationships between each weight and the respective sections of artificial skin is highlighted as thinner parts of the skin may tear as the skin reaches its elastic limits.
The weights in relation to the artifitial land
To provide a greater understanding of the relationships between the skin and the weights an imitation of the interaction was created. The result allowed for far more detailed analysis of the skin’s response to the weights’ sinking and cutting, ergo a more comprehensive knowledge of how the device would behave in a natural environment.
Resoinse of skin to sinking weights
Focusing on the behaviour of the skin as it approached the limits of its elasticity, the changes that took place to the skin as it experiences greater stress. Particular attention was paid to the changes taking place on the inner layer of skin as this would have a more direct impact on the conditions of the natural environment below, a continuation of this theme persisted with attention regarding the effects of a permanent cut on the skin itself, whether the skins elasticity was maintained throughout
The construction of the proposed landscape created using the measurements taken from the device and applied to create a representation from a silicone skin.