proteus

from Architectural Design & Visualization

making spirits bright

The goal of this project was not made clear from the beginning. This studio project was an incremental progression through individualistic exercises that involved writing a letter to yourself, forming a graphic/map out of that letter, printing the graphic full-size and then cutting and shaping that graphic into 3D forms, first out of the paper that the map was printed on and then superimposed onto balsa wood. After our 3D models were formed, we were asked to research what a “nomad” was and to find a type of nomad that we wanted to craft this project around. In doing so, we would find a way to relate the 3D forms we made in the first three exercises to the subject of the project that we were designing for.

Having multiple nationalities and empathizing with the subject I researched, I targeted a theoretical group known as the “hybridized neonomads.” These nomads are people who belong to more than one culture but cannot claim either. Their “physical shelter” is broken down to the only layer that they can take with them as they travel: their skin. Since I could not travel during the semester, I used a virutal environment with open parameters to create a portotypical journey as a hybridized neonomad. I recorded my movements, created simple line diagrams out of each video, and superimposed them onto one another to create a theoretical, virtual map that would help become the base of my design.

Proteus is a migrating, neo-nomadic memory tool. It leaves behind relics for people to continue to record their thoughts and memories so that, when it returns, it can share in their experiences. Proteus’ walls are made of a conglomeration of different fabrics and materials it has collected from the locals of all the places it has traveled, embedded into a steel structure that can be taken apart and remade. Its guests are invited to participate in making their very own mark on its colorful skin.

Though Proteus moves around all over the world, the hardscape that forms when it sets into its new temporary home remains and so do the simple obelisks that the site’s visitors can interact with. The caretakers of the structure leave blank journals and allow visitors to make their marks on them. These journals travel with Proteus and become part of its story and evolution. The obelisks allow people to sit, conteplate, write, read or even take shelter during a vulnerable moment. Visitors can also build upon previous visitors’ entries.