The publication is a reflection. SHIFT, it is a critical word and one that is increasingly relevant yet under-utilised. SHIFT is gradual, Shift is procedural, but so often it is captured only in hindsight. This publication is a collection, of thoughts, design thinking and documentation in an attempt to capture shift, a snapshot the processes concencered with understanding and having conversations around the anthropological aspects and tipping motives pushing it forward through design specific thinking. this publication so far is a mess, it is confused but hopes that in the confusion there will be some sort of clarity that emerges from it, invisible threads which connect seemingly unrelated studies and events through the task of curation. This publication so far has been one of chance, rationalisation and pleasant coincidence, its a puzzle im trying to figure out, a collection of progressing thoughts and an archive. it looks at work, both leisure and professional. health and the environment, both physical and mental
there is an overarching theme of classicism in this publication, this isn’t one of solely of stylistic significance, but this publication attempts to draw parallels between known stories, known symbols and re-present them in adjacency with the current. each symbol is of relevance to the topic at hand, Each sculpture is aware of that which we are searching for, Shift is cyclical, what we are experiencing is not new, it is generational. shift is interested in th re-reading of the present with the past, not the inverse...although perhaps thats inevitable. SHIFT will look and question progression. I’ve taken specific interest in the work of the class as i feel like everyone is bringing a collection of thoughts and attitudes towards the prompts, this publication is a personal collection, however a collective collection is far more interesting to me, hopefully this publication can bring together seemingly disjointed pieces through out the semester and create a collective narrative, it acts as a container. one that communicates an unpredictable point .
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SHIF-T
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WORK
A collection about work, the spectacle of it and the coping mechanisms when disrupted
CLIMATE
a passive discussion about climate and the current role in addressing the SHIFT in our climate, naturally and anthropolog-
TECHNO
Rave eat Repeat. technology and the cyclical impact it has both positively and negatively in the sphere of design.
Artwork by TOPE
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Shif-t concerns itself with designing the future, like everything should. It is not fixed, it is not speculative, it is not clear, it is not convoluted, it deals with the cards it’s dealt. The future is merely mutations of the past, gleaning from the ruins, reappropriating for the present and iterating proved outcomes. Shif-t is not an exercise in nostalgia. Shif-t is not searching for a “garden of Eden�, fossilised agendas, or a new Babylon, instead it will be looking at the relevant context through Kairos, not Chronos. Shif-t is anthropological more than historical, reflective more than imposing, observant rather than obvious. Perhaps Shift is only identified in hindsight, this publication follows the trajectory, for now it is ambiguous. The method is the project, the Shif-t is the outcome.
SHIF-T
Pre-workism nostalgia,\\ Architecture as it is inches closer and closer to Architecture as we know it, Vitruvius says “...there are those two points: the thing signified and that which gives it significance. .� currently architecture may be drifting more and more towards the obsolete, the role of the architect is constantly being signified by that of its classical predecessor, abstaining from the reality of that in a capitalist system which gives it its significance. In the capitalist system, the architecture becomes one of two things; mandatory regulation or concerned with designing the aesthetic of fleeting interaction.
Artwork by TOPE
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an architecture of social trends\\ Architecture in modernism signified both the height and the death of the architect. Historically we have understood architecture and the rules that govern it through the cultural and technological systems it was conceived in.
SHIF-T
Unlike the other Isms….Classicism, revivalism, Oriental-ism and modernism, post -modernism, which followed, was not a style based on striving towards something, it was the first of its kind to strive against its predecessors. In the rejection of the icon, it became one of iconography. but what happens in a fast-paced society when icons and motif are always in flux? Social trends happen cyclically. Morality revivals live and die with the reputation of the individual at its spearhead.… The rise in technology and accessibility through the Internet has only made these cycles smaller, so what the becomes of architecture? To the architect, the pace of technology isn’t the threat, it is the ambiguity of the social foundational principles addressing it that harms it. When a society flips and rejects and idea as quickly as it adopts it , perhaps our architecture can no longer reflect shared values such as the development of the sociological, religious or technological phenomena like the other isms of the past, it simply cant. The world moves on quicker than the rate of our building process. Generally ideas and technological innovation in architecture don’t sell, the representation of an idea is what does, capitalism proves time and time again that unless
Directly in correlation with profit, ideas must solely be a shroud, a campaign, lest it be too risky and expensive. What were left with is a diagram, an icon. Baudrilliard says “ Theory is the diagram of the singular object of architecture..” The result of this is a blank, synthetic architecture, one that is introspective, narrow in its field of influence and dialogues with only itself, much like a number of our pages on social media. work, technology and us become a self-perpetuating representation of iconography. The design, like that of the data center becomes a symbol, a singular object that draws parallels back to the roots of Venturi’s decorated shed, it isn’t concerned with designing for function, rather representing it. In a culture of headline architecture, billboard architecture, and archi-porn algorithms.,we move towards an architecture of motif one that sells, the quest now is not to be closer to God, to accurately design for machines or to show the progression of intellect and technology, rather one that is marketable, instagramable and profit-able. The architecture of post-anthropocentric looks like that of whatever sells, not dissimilar to any design, the aesthetic formal representation of technology in our architecture is irrelevant unless it hints at a progression, the suggestion of change and movement becomes the icon, rather than genuine innovation. why? the world and technology moves too quickly to pay it any mind in built form, Technology, technology. with rapid progression comes the fear of rapidly becoming redundant. in-action in a capitalist economy trumps becoming outdated.
PRODUCTIVITY
Artwork by TOPE
CTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY SHIF-T Maybe we’ll check on our grandparents now we know how it feels to have a house that feels like a home for the wrong reasons - Rhael (LIONHEART)
PRODUCTIVITY PRODU
Y PRODUCTIVITY PRODU
11 UCTIVITY PRODUCTIVIArtwork by TOPE
TAKE A BREAK
Photography by TOPE
RODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY
I’ve found myself falling into a “performative pro-
ductivity” where both labor and leisure has become performative, not theatrical, but performative, almost as a way of coping with the times. but it is okay not to be productive at home, its okay to be a slouch, even in a capitalist system. Deal with it how you can. bake that sourdough, start that brand; but also binge that season of kath and kim. Forget what day it is, deal with it how you can. - TOPE
CTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY PRODUC
We do need to address the current conditions we’re in. The aesthetic of work has seeped into the home, when there is no physical border between work and home
ITS OKAY TO REST IN T PRODUCTIVITY
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MIDST OF A GLOBAL P
THE MIDST OF A GLOB Pre-workism nostalgia,\\ “...it would be fair to also say that it’s a sense of
individual control, as now our only ‘self ’ is very compromised...so the idea of gourmet baking or bloody jump squats is our own way of taking control of the idea of ‘self ’ at this time...? but its interesting how people identify themselves by their instagram behavior. i think change is the common factor, especially on social media, people love to show that they are thriving with change, especially when the change is collective or shared, it’s just the nature of the digital scene” - Holly Shannon in response to TOPE
SHIF-T
17 PANDEMIC. IT’S OKAY
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SHIF-T
Artwork by TOPE
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B
eyond Our Bones / Ditorted Dreams is a story of how our ecology is becoming more and more imbalanced; urban activities, mainly consumerism, have caused significant detrimental impacts to the environment and with it, the abuse and exploitation of animals. Sadly, deceptive marketing allows some of us to still think that the earth is doing just fine and its beauty doesn’t need further protection (hence the lush foliage framing the art like a utopian facade but the central focus we see is the deer’s blooded body constructed of concrete blocks -- symbolizing the rise of urban metropolis skyscrapers and the invasion of industrialization deeper into the forest, disrupting the symbiosis). The amount of people not caring enough to do more for our beautiful planet is heart-breaking; some couldn’t care less while some others even believing global warming is nothing but fake propaganda or mere political bias.
There is no denying that our human activities will always come at a cost But we can still do our best to do it responsibly, ethically, morally, to the best of our abilities. Our planet can live without us, but we can’t live without it. This is not some catastrophic alarmist message, rather, an encouragement to act now, care now, make a difference now–– so those beyond our burned bones can have a home. - LEVINA CHRISTY
Interview with Artist Levina Christy 29.04.20
Words and illustration by Jack Murray composition and image by TOPE
SHIF-T
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You submerge yourself. Your bodies dirt turns the water as grey as the walls. As your head slips under the water and your eyelids shut, you remember. You remember bringing your ghost white hands to bear on it.
IFTH
Wrapping your fingers around the glass, soft edges, the seductive glare off its curves. Stroke your thumb on it. Down the street above you a heaviness with a bin bag blackness inside, you recognise its presence. Its cyborg edges clicking on the pavement. And then, before the key hits the lock, your hands all thumbs and with a click. The door falls away to black. The edges sharpen to nothingness. Knife edge beckoning, all geometries, no form. Turning to the street, windows fall away into the black, streetlights start emitting. Waves of garbled neo-babylonian jargon. The edges of the street a slipway to infinity. As the world around you distorts and shifts, the one certainty is the heaviness above, its rain-cloud curve and wires like a naturalists laboratory caress you. Holding you back from the threatening-to-fall of it all. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re inside your house anymore – you already are, and were, and won’t be. The world is an endless matrix of could’ve-beens and never-was’s, all looked over with a machinic glare.
WA
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Neo-Babylon arrives from the future without a sound, louder than bells. Flicking an augmented switch to turn off one set of lights and turn on another. A different light that blows open the home. Blows open the self. Leaves us all floating like rain held in stasis. Walking home from the shops feels different now. The air is static and you don’t pass anyone. The lights are dimmer, you can’t hear the same background white noise as before. You feel the rain before you’re allowed to see it, and the icicle pinpricks on your skin don’t bother you so much anymore. The haze on the glass is vaporized instantly as you walk forward. The coat is starting to stick to your skin now as you smell the first drops of second-hand water, dripped through the blackness. They smell like petrol and compressed air.
The world is an endless matrix of could’ve-beens and never-was’s, all looked over with a machinic glare. Words and illustration by Jack Murray
SHIF-T
Breaking the fifth wall occurs when the actors/narrators reference their previous works, or their lives outside of the performance. This was a performance, here is a personal project review - TOPE
SHIF-T
The Periphery is chaotic, seemingly lonely and decievingly self sustaining. How ever its a complex system, a finely tuned machine, each part relying on each other, creating informal relationships out of necessity and functionalism.
RIPHERY ENT
TER PERIPH-
Despite flux and constant change the periphery isn’t one of flexibilty or optimisation.It’s not about creating an economic blank canvas in which program can plug in and plug out as will. Periphery is about residue, what remains after the program is out of rotation (flux). The periphery leaves behind. The periphery is everlasting-ish. The periphery does not knock down and rebuild. the periphery adds. It does not take away, it morphs. The periphery can be uprooted but leaves footprints behind. The periphery architecture leaves stains, a clean cloth in which stains absorb into the pattern. How do we design architecture which morphs? Which leaves stains, or suggests residue.How do we design architecture which reads independently of program after vacancy or contributing to the not so built form ? Periphery is an architecture of functionalist residue.... functionalist in its lifetime, economic in its construction....conservative in its demeanor, opulent in its impact. How do we grasp the concept of residue? How do you design for the end of a lifetime.
This site will be consumed by the rapidly approaching city, Craigiebourne, Micklham and Sunbury.. how can we design for residue? Perhaps one way is to Attach to infrastructure? Why do bridges last a lifetime? Why do factory chimneys stay on site? Why do windmills or turbines stay? Architecture Residue relies on two things, its relationship to infrastructure and its sculptural quality..... The residual as a sculpture needs to be of a manageable scale.
SHIF-T
The residual of infrastructure needs to inconvenient to demolish.. rigid, one strategically placed. Periphery architecture is not the periphery....the periphery is built on residue. periphery architecture is a nodal point, a residue on the site attracts attention from redevelopment, more than an empty plain.
ER PERIPHER
ENTER PERIP
RY ENTER PE In anticipation for a wave of development, my proposal for periphery architecture is one that functions on the programmatic, but upon dismantling and demolition functions as nodal points curating or potentially agitating the surrounding developments to come.
Periphery architecture is a folly, a Marquette, a sculpture. The architecture in the periphery is generic, borrowed and not specific. The periphery is a place out of site from the glaring eyes of the city.
PHERY ENTE
SHIF-T Concept by Isobel Moy Composition by TOPE
SHIF-T Homo sapiens, (Latin: “wise man/woman”) My initial reading of Isobel Moy’s work interpretes the homo-cellular man as one not so concered with wisdom, instead substitues the quest for wisdom for the quest of information and excess, one deviod of connection. the Homo cellular man/ woman has reduced the cosmos to the size of a palm, ignoring the lessons of sentience that comes from ‘bein(g)’ in its moment.
HOMOCELLU
SHIF-T
ULAR HOMOC Concept by Isobel Moy Composition by TOPE
SHIF-T
nd Our Bones / Distorted Dreams is a story of our ecology is becoming more and more imbald; urban activities, mainly consumerism, have d significant detrimental impacts to the enviment and with it, the abuse and exploitation of als. Sadly, deceptive marketing allows some of still think that the earth is doing just fine and auty doesn’t need further protection (hence the foliage framing the art like a utopian facade but entral focus we see is the deer’s blooded body ructed of concrete blocks -- symbolizing the rise ban metropolis skyscrapers and the invasion of strialization deeper into the forest, disrupting the iosis).
mount of people not caring enough to do more ur beautiful planet is heart-breaking; some dn’t care less while some others even believing l warming is nothing but fake propaganda or political bias. There is no denying that our huactivities will always come at a cost - but we can do our best to do it responsibly, ethically, morally, e best of our abilities. Our planet can live without ut we can’t live without it. This is not some catahic alarmist message, rather, an encouragement t now, care now, make a difference now–– so beyond our burned bones can have a home.
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SHIF-T Nature is very expansive, it is disruptive in scale and im concerned with the framing of it “the implantation of these constructions wi” at the intersection of that which is neither architecture nor sculpture
FRYERST VISITED F WAS ALM OF TRAN PLACE. T SIGNS OF ALMOST ONLY BY TAKE TUR
R EPHEM What is phenomenology in an pedestrian context. One nor based on light touch Learning from alberti in the context, he looked at 6 things. The region, Seat or platform, Compartiion, The walling, The covering, The apertures Windows and vents
so what is the value of representation of these things?Potentially look at understanding geographical elements which confers a kind of legitimacy. Microcosmic reflection of divine order. Can it Go beyond taste and preference....into what people see as absolute truths. Does this it Transcend objective taste?
ENTER EP
Architectural elements clarify order.... Ie.. column spacing.....window size, could it be in reverse….natural elements clarify architecture Orders call our proportion system, what how do I understand natural proportion systems. A pattern language
“The quality that we call beauty, however, must always grow from the realities of life, and our FRYERSancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presTOWN ulently came to discover beauty in shadows, timately to guide shadows towards beauty’s ends.” ― Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
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TOWN, DURING THE DAYS I FRYERS TOWN, THERE MOST AN EERIE SENSE NQUILITY ABOUT THIS THE STATE SHOWING F LIFE BUT OTHERWISE A GHOST TOWN. PIERCED THE SHADOWS AS THEY RNS MARKING THE LAND.
MERAL CLIMATE
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This project was an exploration of the word Porousity, from investigating the small town of Fryerstown and its history, i set out to create an Artist residence based off the Squatting history of Fryerstown. This Whole project for me was an exploration of the term Ephemeral, and how/ if one can create architecture which is relevant and site specific, yet “ephemeral”, one which promises movement. The artist residence is part of a proposal to create a series of cloth-like drape which extend through the site to highlight the ondulation in the Landscape while capturing and projecting shadows on to the site, these drapes morph into seats, canopies and an outdoor cinema. it was more of an experimental process designing first the micro which when combined create a subtle yet present masterplan for the activities held in Fryerstown.
1:500
ENTER EPHE Every new work of architecture intervenes in a specific historical situation. It is essential to the quality of the intervention in that the new building should embrace qualities which can enter into a meaningful dialogue with the existing situation. - Peter Zumthor This project was an exploration of the word Porosity, from investigating the small town of Fryerstown and its history, i set out to create an Artist residence based off the Squatting history of Fryers-town. This Whole project for me was an exploration of the term Ephemeral, and how/ if one can create architecture which is relevant and site specific, yet “ephemeral”, one which promises movement. the artist residence is part of a proposal to create a series of cloth-like drape which extend through the site to highlight the undulation in the Landscape while cap-
“Context is so important, n but to become part of the pl ed a building that acknowle roundings.” David Adjaye
turing and projecting shadows on to the site, these drapes morph into seats, canopies and an outdoor cinema. It was more of an experimental process designing first the micro which when combined to create a subtle yet present master-plan for the activities held in Fryerstown.
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not to mimic lace. I wantedges its sur-
Currently the majority only experience architectural design through visual representation. We don’t know why a building is good, we just see style iterations. and judge it by its appearance. So how do we make a sentience architecture that also educates the public in the benefits of good design. Good design is not a facade. Good design is not a visual
style, good design is not empty representation. Good design is a mindset. One of integration and optimization. One of intensity, one that Intensify.... good and bad. interventions, but not interventions. Design for the context, site specific. Site intensifying, site embracing. Beautiful, beauty is often read thought the ability to intellectually engage with the object.
TER EPHEME SHIF-T
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HEMERAL CLIMATE
SHIF-T Re-Reading of Homo-cellular The past few weeks has changed my reading of isobel Moy’s work “Homo-cellular” this alternate reading discards wisdom, but treasures information and the dispersion of it, the cellular that arguable brings out the humanity in homo sapiens. “Racism isn’t getting worse, it’s getting filmed” - Will Smith
Image by Isobel Moy
TAKE A BREAK
Photo by TOPE
SHIF-T Image by TOPE
NEXT ON SHIFT
THIS IS A SHIFT