PAS2011 by Eva Chen

P A S

erformative rchitecture tudio

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Table of Content Precedent Research Set Tasks Individual Proposal VLS Competition Group Installation Reflection

PERFORMATIVE ARCHITECTURE STUDIO, 2011 STUDIO LEADERS: STANISLAV ROUDAVSKI, GWYLLIM JAHN, ROGER ALSOP STUDENT: EVA CHEN 324134

PROLOGUE - a retrospect, body, space, and technology What is Performative Architecture? This is a question being explored throughout whole semester. In retrospect, the definition and understanding of Performative Architecture has changed and deepened through the learning process in this architectural studio. I have always been interested in installation art. Three dimensional exhibition space and real scale fascinate me. Walking through the dark curtains into an exhibition space, the mechanical intallational works moving around the space just like robots. At a sudden, we start to stare at them and feeling immersed into another world, our senses are activated, we hear, we smell, we view. Such a space does not belong to a time frame, but it is there to recall another mind. Digital design is totally a new field to me. Previous knowledge on creating a performative space is emphasis on materiality and sensibility, creating an emotional journey and unique experience. The intergration of graphic design, interactive sound and light system, parametric form together into one project completely broadens my view towards contemporary intallation art. The body of visitor, the space of installation, and the techonology involved are the performing narratives in this show.

Inflatable structure is another interesting component in this studio. The nature of such a structure is simple and different, however instantly creates an spatial atomsphere. It challenges the definition of a traditional architectural space, adds a sense of dynamics. Even without live projection, the lightness of inflatable structure allows movements and sound to be produced from itself and being alive. The other techniques we learnt from this course, such as video mapping, MAX/MSP interactive system, Maya natural dynamic modelling assist to reveal the interactions. I guess the aim of this studio is to explore and experiment spaces that perform as interfaces between users and the art world, and the relationships between individual perception of space and exsiting digital information.

two minds Architecture & Art

PRECEDENT RESEARCH SWAS TENT

D - TOWER

This bubble structure designed by Tie Fan is a conceptual design for emergency inflatable shelter. The design consists of a double-walled tent, which is inflated and kept rigid by a solar-powered fan. The geometry of the structure, informed by the principle of natural ventilation, helps to cool the internal space during the day.

Architecture becomes part of larger interactive system of relationship. The project consists of a physical structure, a questionnaire deals with daily emotions and a website. At night, the computer concludes all the repsonses and lights the D-tower in the color cooresponding to that emotion.

translucent material luminous organic form

MATERIALITY

ARCHITECTS OF AIR The vast ‘luminarium’ is made of thin, grey plastic with colourful translucent seams, to create a unique sensory experience of light and sound. The luminaria are dazzling mazes of winding paths and soaring domes inspired by pure forms of geometry & nature. light & shadow sound

luminous interactive

LIGHTING

DJ LIGHT INSTALLATION, LIMA This light installation conducted by Cinimod Studio brints an exhilarating and interactive experience which gives visitors the power to orchestrate a performance of light and sound across public space. The concpet is that anyperson can control of 85 giant globes of LED-powered light as a ‘guest DJ’. Their gestures are detected and translated at real-time into beautiful movements of light and sound across the entire space.

PRECEDENT RESEARCH BOTOX CLOUD

LIGHT RAIN

This reactive modular lighting system propagating like cloud structure is an exploration of architectual pluralism. Each paper modular are folded and cut in a certain way, lights are intalled inside an react with visitor movement. In this project, the complexities of weather are demonstrated through the abstract composition of paper models.

This interactive installation is designed by visual design studio WOW. With the theme of water, audience physicially enters and experiences the file. Raindrops fall with a variety of rhythms, contacting the audience’s shadows and bursting with beautiful tones. This is made with Processing and OSC communication.

modular materiality

GEOMETRY SNOW

Feathers fly around this 15 meterlong tank installed by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka. The concept of this project is to integrate the phenomena and low of the nature into design. ‘Seeing the hundreds kilograms of light feather blown all over and falling down slowly, the memory of the snowscape would lie within people’s heart would be bubbled up.’ nature phenomenon

motion detection

INTERACTIVE

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT This interactive wall-mounted installation by German media artist is mainly made out of ordinary garbabe bags. Controlled by a microcontroller each of them is selectively inflated and deflated in turn by two cooling fans. It reacts by drawing back and tentatively following the movements of the observer. motion detection inflatable

SET TASKS

PROCESSING WWW.OPENPROCESSING.ORG

Agent Behavior Processing Sketch

In the start of this semester, we are introduced to two digital graphic and multi-media softwares - Processing and Max/MSP. Small tasks have been set weekly to learn the digital toos, and to understand the basic language of graphic and visual coding. The approach of digital design is a thinking process of decomposing and assembly. Thus it tends to have more flexible, dynamic and reasoned outcomes.

single object property

add motion & variable

- color - shape - initial position

- speed - color change - form change

array & matrix create repetition of a single object in certain defined database.

interaction

multiple elements interact and affect each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behaviors - complex modeling. parametric control; 3D motion visualizing; biomimetic behavior modeling;

MAX 5.0 HTTP://CYCLING74.COM message object toggle

message

INPUT

OUTPUT

preview window display attributes

2.1

SET TASKS TASK 2.1 ATTRACTOR POINT SKETCH This processing sketch varies the size and vertical position of a grid of 2D shapes based on their proximity to the mouse. General Process: * Define Global Variables * Setup * Draw Loops ( key steps: diameter = mousePos. dist (shapePos); pushMatrix; popMatrix -> shift coordinates )

Modified sketch Besides Processingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own learning reference, browsing through openprocessing forum is also a way to learn from other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s codes, and get inspirations. This modified version changes original color mode into a sequence of neon colors, decrease the transparency value and rotates 90 degrees.

RIGHT: Attractor Point modified sketch

2.2

SET TASKS

TASK 2.1 FLOCKING BEHAVIOR Process: * create a class (Agent) * define the variables of this agent * create functions for this class * create a arraylist of this class * create a loop to pull out the agents from arraylist * run the agent function

CREATIVE EXPLORATION

TASK 2.1 GENERATIVE ART Different forms of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;agentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are experimented in those sketches to explore the effect of generative art. The codes of rotating lines (left) and noise curves (right) are cited from Generative Gestaltung. Parameters/global variables are adjusted/contrained within the set range as an elaboration of the original flocking behavior. // ALIGN if (agentDist < align) { PVector addVec = a.velocity.get(); addVec.mult(falloff/agentDist); velocity.add(addVec); velocity.normalize(); }

// AVOID if (agentDist < avoid) { PVector addVec = a.location.get(); addVec.sub(location); addVec.mult(falloff/agentDist); velocity.sub(addVec); velocity.normalize(); }

2.3

SET TASKS

* DELAYED VIDEO * REAL TIME CAPTURE

TASK 2.3 VIDEO DELAY & REAL TIME VISUAL EFFECT * COMBINED VIDEO

Using MAX to record the real time video record, and setup several windows to adjust visual effects and scales. This could also be done interactively with real time sound or pre-recorded music. Key Messgaes: jit.brcosa

adjust an imageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brightness, saturation and contrast

jit.rota

2-dimensional scaling and rotation for matrices

3.1

INDIVIDUAL INSTALLATION PROPOSAL V1

GROUP WORK WITH YIN LIH THAM

PHENOMENAL CAVERN CONCEPT: ‘Phenomenal Cavern’ is an interactive environment designed in simulation to natural phenomenon (i.e. water environment, raining, draught, and snowing scenarios). The intention behind this installation is to create an ultimate user experience where natural entities are able to interact with human being and responding to the people’s movement. An abstract cavern form of space is deliberated to resemble a natural setting. This scheme seeks to challenge ones illusion and belief, and it is further enhanced with the effect of space distortion created by projections whenever the scene changes. FUNCTION: The presence of a visitor in the cavern is detected by sensors. Agents of natural phenomenal (i.e. water ripples, rain droplets, draught cracks and snowflakes) will react and attracted to the location point of the visitor. The movement of visitors are tracked and followed by the agents with different quality of consequences. Different agents behave in a different manner as according to its natural characteristics in the real world. The agents will however attracted to a point when scene changes and moving away from visitors.

physical setting

normal projection

interactive agents

visual distortion

3.2

INDIVIDUAL INSTALLATION PROPOSAL V2

GROUP WORK WITH YIN LIH THAM

WATER BUBBLE NARRATIVE: ‘Water bubble’ is an extended version of our previous ‘phenomenal cave’. Visitors are invited to a ‘total experience’ in the designed setting, to feel, to react, and to meditate in different atomspheres. From physical form to programmed agent system, an abstract nature is portrayed through graphic and sound. GEOMETRY: Dome is the geometry chosen to be the enclosed hosting space. It is a double-layer inflatable structure, with transparent material as the exterior layer and translucent material as the interior layer, filled with contanst air. INTERACTIVE: Interactive appliances are installed inside the dome to detect the hand movements of visitors. Agents move towards the position of detected hand gesture. Sound intensity changes the level of brightness of projection, create a ‘blinking effect’.

3.2

INDIVIDUAL INSTALLATION PROPOSAL V2

GROUP WORK WITH YIN LIH THAM

PROCESSING SKETCH

‘+’

is the replaced agent form in this sketch to resemble water particles. The attractor is meant to be the location of visitor’s hands detected by camera. In the stable mode, the brightness of ‘+’ changes according to the background sound volume (droplet sound creating a blinking visual effect)

high pitch sound

no sound

MAX PATCH ON SOUND AFFECTING IMAGE REFLECTION: Technical issues are the biggest challenges in this proposal. The interactive procedure requires a system connection in between Processing and MAX/MSP. Kinetic detection and positioning of camera and sensors are another difficulties we encountered.

VLS COMPETITION

GROUP WORK WITH YIN LIH THAM NARRATIVE:

PROJECTION MAPPING:

Marching Lines

VLS is a video mapping competition we participate during the semester. The aim is to create narrative motion graphic produced in Processing, cooperating with interactive sound system in MAX, eventually video mapping onto the given geometry in 3D Max and editting the video clip in Adobe After Effects.

Boxes are hiding in the darkness. At a sudden, light evokes the space. Animation of vertical and horizontally lines are mapped on the boxes surface, creating a ‘marching effect’. The second phrase is ‘chaos’, a noise value added into the scipt to produce a crossing-line effect. As music approaches the climate, the third phrase is lines imitate the agent behavior, bloom from the center. Scene darkens again.

Precedent: ENVISION Mapping installation by Alcatel-Lucent for Mobile World Congress

PAS FINAL INSTALLATION “ The first group meeting was during our mid-semester break, one night the studio members gathered together in Room 308. Fabrication team, Geometry team, Processing team, Interactive team and Documentation team feedbacked on the each’s progress... Nothing is there yet...” “Not sure since when level 5 common space becomes our ‘studio workspace’... Sewing machine was running all days to produce the prototypes; the Interactive team members jumped up and down the table to test the camera and sensors...” “That morning’s studio, when geometry team members came with puffy eyes, i knew they spent the whole night in the computer lab to produce the templates...” “17th Oct, 7pm, we finished our 1/2 size model, everyone got inside, lights were setup to give some atomsphere...we knew from that moment, its gonna to be really impressive at the final...” “We walked passed the smoke, squeezed through the 1 diameter wooden rings... lattern looks so virgin on the ground... “ THIS IS MORE THAN ARCHITECTURE. IT IS ART.

PAS FINAL INSTALLATION - FABRICATION TEAM

R.E.F.L.E.C.T.I.O.N. As a whole studio, we gather ideas together, critize problems and design for solutions. It is interesting to learn from each others and share the knowledge from different backgrounds. Mani, Lok and myself form the fabrication team. Instead of sitting in front of computers and try to make the codes working, our team spent the past one and a half month working with our lovely companion -

INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINE, finding precedents, site visiting to present inflatable structure, and working with the TIMBER WORKSHOP for customerized sub-elements.

Making a FULL SCALE MODEL is a great experience. Not only we have to estimate the amount of material required to order, but also to design an effcient fabrication method and procedure based on precendent studies and prototype testing. Every detail needs to be considerated carefully, the fan connection, the entrance, and the cable seams. This requires our team to have a close communication with the Geometry team, feedbacked on the designed patterns and fabrication templates.

MATERIALITY

is also one of the highlights in this studio, inflatable

fabric tends to give people more SENSE of intimacy than hard materials. People feel it, push it with palms, lean against it. Transparent PVC is heavier than translucent nylon, hence the balance in the geometry pattern must be addressed. Last important reflection for our team work is probably the respect for

CRAFTMANSHIP. 80 meter squares of fabrics being cut and stitched together with 3 cm-width seams requires energy but more about sophisicated handcraft skills and understanding the collaboration between material and machine.