Fang Shu is an architectural designer currently advancing his graduate studies as an M.Arch 2 student at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Before joining SCI-Arc he was a consistent Dean’s List Class of 2019 student who received his Bachelor of Architecture Degree with honors from Syracuse University School of Architecture. During his time at Syracuse University, he received the Scholarship In Action Merit Award due to his academic merits and became a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society in 2015. His academic work has been exhibited during the 2016 NAAB Exhibition and his competition work, Studio Custom, has been published in Design Class in 2020.
Professionally, Fang practiced architecture in firms such as Amenta Emma Architects, Clive Lonstein, Studio Roberto Rubini, and CAUPD (China Academy of Urban Planning and Design). His professional design works range from architecture design proposals and interior designs to urban planning and art installations.
Continuing his design passion now at SCI-Arc, he hopes to focus his designs and research on blurring the line between reality and the metaphysical.
Course Name: DS1200
Instructor: Rachael McCall
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen
Toy Scale is a project that focuses on creating immersive and interactive landscape by altering the user’s perception of scale using playful objects. By manipulating the scale of toys that children play with, the project transforms the entire school into a big playground, giving us the illusion that we are part of the canvas in this fantasy world of toys.
Our project started with the scaling and meshing of toys to form playful chair like figures for children to play with. For our classroom designs, we continued using this design strategy to form creative spaces using toys such as enlarging balloon whales to create reading domes and big mattress to manipulate how users perceive themselves within our toy scape classrooms.
Classroom Scale
Classroom Drapery
Diorama Scale
Classrooms Arranged
Outdoor Chairs
The outdoor area is divided into two different landscapes. The softer grass and small gardens act as resting places whereas the colorful precast terrazzo landscape act as playground for sporting activities. We also designed the wavelike shape of the grass landscape to compliment the drapery above. The drapery act as both shading and interactive structures, creating resting places and additional creative playgrounds for the students.
The intervention of our elementary school resides within the west portion of the Diamond Ranch High School. The white terrazzo landscape in the center of the elementary school connects the existing parking lot with the football stadium.
Course Name: VS4200
Instructor: William Virgil
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen
The mask hides the identity and liberates the persona. Within the wearer bears a yearning for inner expression in the purest and most flamboyant of forms. The young duke at day transforms himself into the Crimson Duchess of Flame at night. She enters occasional galas, and soirees with her identity concealed, enjoying music and dances while dressing in glamorous outfits that she has designed. Many have wondered who this mysterious fair lady was. However, in the hearts of the few who have witnessed her beauty, they will always remember her as the Crimson Duchess of Flame.
Course Name: VS4200
Instructor: Kumaran Parthiban
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen
Insomnia, the capital city of Harlan’s World, the kingdom of Lucis Harlan, is approximately eighty lightyears from Earth. The city was built upon crystal marrow mining which rapidly evolved its industry and technological power. On the surface of the city’s glamour, the disparity between the poor and the rich drastically increased. Insomnia and its hunger for growth has no regard for the weak. The outdated things are simply built on top of or discarded into the depth of the slums. A city filled with opportunities, built for the strong willed and the rich, is there really time to sleep?
Terraforming or terraformation is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography, or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life.
This visual studies section will explore a small but essential part of world-building environment design and actively transgressing its principles to create fantastic immersive landscapes. Rather than creating a sense of grounded realism, we will work in the realm of nonlogic, with flexible rules and the unknown.
Course Name: VS4200
Instructor: Rachael McCall
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen
Taking on the work from the previous two projects, project three will focus on post-production and compositing: imbuing, concealing, and revealing new layers and visual narrative in the work. This project will work with layering and dynamics in form, multiple opacities within materials, as well as focus on masking, sequences, and adjacencies in post-production software. The work will oscillate between 2D and 3D worlds, the virtual, augmented, and real. As much as post-production and overlaying is a process of refinement, there are always opportunities in filtering for percolation, over-flow, escape and new oozeness in the project.
Sleeping Dancer
Course Name: AS3200
Instructor: Randy Jefferson + Dwayne Oyler
In Collaboration with: Jenny Cook + Kristoff Fink + Felix Reyes
This structure project focuses on the tectonic and materiality of the building envelope. Choosing The Darling Exchange as our precedent research, we analyzed the facade condition and its component and then proposed our own facade design using our knowledge extracted from the analysis.
The Darling Exchange is a mixed-use development in Sydney Australia designed by Kengo Kuma. The ground floor is an extension of the plaza level serving as an open market hall. The Mezzanine has space for retail and lounging where the next two floors contain a “21st century library and IQ hub” for public consumption. The final two floors house childcare and kindergarten classes, servicing the urban blocks surrounding the building. The roof terrace has a restaurant and bar with views of the Darling Harbor to the north and the Darling Square to the south. The building sits amongst newly developed housing and retail blocks and crowns the Darling Square as the main public space in the area.
CONCRETE SLABS AND COLUMNS
15” Reinforced Floor Slab
30” Thickened Structural Slab
Radially Arrayed 3’ Structural Columns
GLASS IGUs, RAILINGS, AND CANOPY
This tectonic analysis of the Darling Exchange focuses on the construction and performative aspects of the facade. This chunk analysis describes the tectonic make up of the building from the point of enclosure all the way to the slab edge where the nest like wood wrapping is captured by steel hangers.
Glass Panel Canopy With Spider Joint Connectors
3’ Glass Railing With 1/2” Steel Plate Uprights
5’ Wide IGU Panel Unit Marking Primary Enclosure
DROP CEILING AND WOOD CANOPY
Accoya Wood Canopy Wrapping
Light-Gauge Steel Drop Ceiling Framing
Radially Arrayed 2.5’ Wide Panels
WRAPPING KIT OF
01. 1/2” Steel Mounting Bracket
02. Accoya Wood Panel
03. Bracket for Wood Lap Joint
04. Bracket for Wood Overlap Joint
05. Bracket Slotted Connection
06. 1/4” Steel Railing Bracket
07. Railing Horizontal Bracing
08. Glass Pane Pressure Plates
09. Glass Pane
10. 15 “ Reinforced Concrete Slab
11. Wood Wrap Mounting Plate
12. Exterior Soffit Panel Mesh
13. Light-Gauge Steel Soffit Panel Support
14. 8mm Exterior Soffit Panel
15. IGU Unit
16. Mullion Cap Flashing
17. Interior Finish Floor
18. Embedded IGU Mullion
OVERALL BUILDING CHUNK REDESIGN AND TECTONIC BREAKDOWN
CONCRETE SLABS AND COLUMNS
15” Reinforced Floor Slab
30” Thickened Structural Slab
Radially Arrayed 3’ Structural Columns
We modified the design of the Darling Exchange by moving the point of enclosure to the facade itself. We created a monolithic expression of nested wood wrapping and created variations on the facade through the mountain and valley folds of the primary tapered steel members. We designed the joints and connections with the construction of the facade in mind. The facade is tied back to the original geometry of the slab edge. The IGU wall sits inset from the steel structure establishing the point of enclosure at the facade differing from the original Darling Exchange.
Light-Gauge Steel Drop Ceiling Framing
Radially Arrayed Wide Panels
HVAC Vents
8” Diameter Tube Bracing
Secondary Tapered Vertical Facade Structure
Primary Tapered Vertical Facade Structure
PARAPET VENT AND WOOD WRAP DETAILS
BRACKET SLOTTED CONNECTION ARRAYED WOOD CAPTURE DETAIL B3 B4
WOOD WRAPPING KIT OF PARTS
ACCOYA WOOD WRAPPING DETAILS
C2 C3
FLOOR EDGE SPANDREL DETAIL
01. 4” x 4” Interior Glass Mounting Brace
02. Secondary Vertical Structure Slotted End
03. Floor Grate Cap
04. Embedded Facade Mounting Bracket
05. Spandrel Aluminum Capping Plate
06. Batt Insulation
07. Spandrel Glass Mullion (Refer to D2)
TUBE BRACING + OUTER CORNER GLASS MULLION CONNECTIONS
08. Wood Bracket Sleeve Connection
09. Accoya Wood Panel
10. Secondary Vertical Structure
11. 8” Diameter Tube Bracing
12. Outer Corner Glass Mullion (Refer to D3)
13. Glass IGU 30” x 120”
FACADE MOUNTING BRACKET DETAIL
14. Secondary Vertical Facade Structure
15. Adjustable Slotted Connection
16. Vertical Structure Connector Component
17. Embedded Facade Mounting Bracket
18. Vertical Structure Welded Edge
FACADE MOUNTING BRACKET DETAIL
08. Wood Bracket Sleeve Connection
09. Accoya Wood Panel
10. Secondary Vertical Structure
11. 8” Diameter Tube Bracing
12. Outer Corner Glass Mullion (Refer to D3)
FACADE MOUNTING BRACKET DETAIL
13. Glass IGU 30” x 120”
14. Secondary Vertical Facade Structure
15. Adjustable Slotted Connection
16. Vertical Structure Connector Component
17. Embedded Facade Mounting Bracket
18. Vertical Structure Welded Edge
FACADE MOUNTING BRACKET DETAIL
18. Batt Insulation
19. Spandrel Aluminum Capping Plate
20. Extended Single Glass Pane
21. Steel Rectangular Tube
22. Structural Glazing Adhesive
23. Extrude Aluminum Mullion
24. Glass IGU 30” x 120”
Course Name: HT2200
Instructor: Marcelyn Gow + Erik Ghenoiu
Teacher Assistant: Wesley Evans
Individual Work
Inspired by my favorite philosophy novel Sophie’s World, I wrote this story in the format of conversations between Sophie and Alberto. Using narrative as a rendering tool, I wished to cross different mediums of ideologies discussed in my class readings, discussing Vagueness, Abstraction and Aesthetics, and Voices, and integrating them into my story to ultimately convey my ideology that fictional characters are real objects shared by the author and the readers. These characters do not stand alone but create a rich environment around them due to the “rendering process” or writings that the author depicts. I believe that these real objects are accessible to the readers, and they influence and inspire our designs actively or subconsciously, not only in architecture but also in other related fields such as films, animations, stories, artworks etc. By investing your sincerity in Sophie’s story, you will make her truly come alive!
By adding more buildings or objects into the group, they can potentially include all the colors in the color pallette by gradually shifting color from one building to another. By the same concept, if the group is big enough, any shape can be included into the same group.
Sophie laughed hysterically. “Indeed, it does Sophie, since Michelle Chang talks about images and colors being fuzzy without borders, she thus introduced this concept of putting objects into a gradient scale much like the sorites paradox.” “A sorites paradox? Is that like how much sand is needed to be a considered a heap?” “Yes, yes Sophie, it’s attributed to the ancient Greek logician Eubulides of Miletus, the sorites paradox problematizes the limit of a heap. If one million grain is considered a heap, taking one grain away from the one million would still be considered a heap. However, one grain is not a heap. If we infinitely repeat the cycle of the first statement it will ultimately conflict with our second statement. Because it is impossible to find the exact number in which a pile of grains is considered a heap, this is not for the lack of measurement, but because of the imprecision of the word heap itself. This fundamental imprecision is what make words like “heap” vague. ” Alberto continues, “Sophie, as you know, we live in a fictional world, however, as we discussed during the day, even fictional worlds are considered objects! If we find a collection of objects that bridges fiction with reality, maybe we can create a bridge to escape from this collapsing world!” Sophie looked at Alberto in awe, “Do you mean to say that we can actually cross into the real world?” “Yes Sophie! We are the two grains that will be arrayed with the bridge of objects to break apart from this fictional world and be connected the real world!” “So, is it like we are connecting the two heaps fiction and reality into one big heap?” “Precisely! As Michelle Chang says, ‘The potential for instrumentalizing vagueness in architecture lies in the ability to systematically include or exclude things in a category in order to define it.’ We are going to redefine the borders between fiction and reality!” Sophie can see sparks of excitement dancing in Alberto’s eyes now.
“Okay Sophie, before we start conjuring any objects, let me introduce Michael Young’s the Aesthetics of Abstraction to you. I think this knowledge will be vital for our escape plan.” “Aesthetics of Abstraction? Does that relate to Vagueness?” “Yes, but it also relates to Graham’s Object-Oriented Ontology. Young talks about aesthetics as the first philosophy, coming before any other types of philosophy, which is exactly what Harman proposes, ‘the initial way any object relates to another is through the manner that it senses the other.’ We are constantly influenced by the objects in our surrounding environment. I am certain that if we think hard enough, we will be able to find objects that cross different mediums that are influenced by one another. Speaking of crossing mediums, Young also proposed that abstraction in aesthetics can behave like a substitution, a change in medium rather than a subtraction. Sophie, can you think of any examples of this kind of behavior?” “I think so, I think the writer is messing with my head but doesn’t Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs illustrate the abstraction of a chair by changing the medium of the chair from wood, photograph, and text?” “Ah yes! Great example. I think to get out of here, we would require some outside help, but it’s them that got us in this pickle in the first place!” “The chair existing in three mediums can all be seen as chairs, yet within each of us lies a chair that is unique to us individually. This is where Harman comes in again. Unlike Heidegger who believes that real objects are inaccessible and truly withdrawn, and Husserl who flat out denies their existence, only believing in sensual objects,
4. Ibid.
Harman believes that we as individuals can have access to real objects through art and aesthetics. The unique chair that we conjured in our minds are real object that only we individuals have access to.” “So, while consciousness can never have access to real things, through the provocation of art we can create a mental representation of a real object?” Sophie can see Alberto grinning now. “It is quite amusing that the only real objects that we have access to aren’t real things, isn’t it?” “Almost as amusing as being sucked into a vacuum! Hurry we should start conjuring objects before it’s too late!”
Shu: “Thank you Professor Graham Harman for coming here tonight! Let me introduce you to Master Satoshi Kon the creator of the films Paprika, Perfect Blue, and Toyko Godfathers. (Satoshi and Harman shake hands)
Shu: “I appreciate you for reading the first two chapters of Sophie and Alberto’s journey. What did you guys think of it?”
Harman: “I think it’s an interesting piece, but they definitely seem to be in trouble!”
Kon: I think the idea of connecting the fictional world with reality through an arrangement of objects is an interesting concept, I am curious as to what kind of objects they are going to use as the bridge to break the barrier between their world and ours.
Shu: “I’m glad that you guys found it interesting! I am also terribly sorry for leaving them trapped like that, that is why I invited Master Satoshi Kon and yourself to assist me in helping
them escape. However, before that, I just wanted to ask you Professor Harman, do you think it will be possible to share real objects in our consciousness with others?”
Harman: “That is an interesting concept, and I do understand where you are coming from. I just wonder how it would be possible to share the exact mind with another human being?”
Shu: “I am happy that you asked that question Professor Harman, Master Kon, would you like to introduce us to the device that you are holding?”
Kon: “This is a recent invention called the “DC Mini,” it allows the user to dive into the dreams of another person much like the device used in the film Paprika. As real objects are within our consciousness, they too exist in our subconscious. By using this device, perhaps we can truly share the real objects in our minds.”
Shu: “So Professor Harman and Master Satoshi Kon, would you two like to dive into my subconscious we can perhaps give Sophie and Alberto a hand?”
(Everyone puts on DC Mini)
“Sophie where are you going!” panted Alberto, who has both hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath as he sees Sophie waving towards him in the distance, who is heading towards the singularity in the sky. Waiting for Alberto, Sophie can hear the environment around her growl louder as trees and terrains in the near distance starts crackling as they slowly get uprooted into the sky.
“Is going this direction really wise?” “Trust me, Alberto! I have a hunch!” “Ah a hunch!
Truly splendid!” “Oh, come off it! You were the one who said we need to be bridging two realities, didn’t you? It wouldn’t make much sense to make bridge on solid ground, would it?” “Also, if we are looking for a breaking point in this reality, that black hole in the sky sure seems like a good bet!” “Sophie, you’re a genius! Since real objects are not capable of direct contact, they interact through what Graham Harman calls as causation that is always vicarious, asymmetrical, and buffered. This singularity might be the vicarious causation we need!” “What is a vicarious causa… POP!” Sophie was just about to finish her sentence when the sound of an exploding balloon thundered behind them following the appearance of a middle-aged man. “Sorry about that Sophie, I’m Graham Harman. Please allow me to explain.
‘Vicarious’ means that objects confront one another only by proxy, through sensual profiles found only on the interior of some other entity. ‘Asymmetrical’ means that the initial confrontation always unfolds between a real object and a sensual one. And ‘buffered’ means that real objects do not fuse into sensual objects, nor sensual objects into their sensual neighbors, since all are held at bay through unknown firewalls sustaining the privacy of each. From the asymmetrical and buffered inner life of an object, vicarious connections arise occasionally, giving birth to new objects with their own interior spaces.”
“So, you must be the outside help that Alberto was talking about!” said Sophie, sounding thrilled. “Indeed, I am! And it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. More help is on the other side of this portal. We would need to all work together to get you guys safely out.” “So, this is the causation I was talking about!” said Alberto with joy. “That would appear to be the case. It is all very exciting to be completely honest. A typical causation involves the connection between a real object existing within the consciousness, with another real object dwelling outside of the
Caused by Investment and Sincerity
Sophie’s World Fang’s World Viscarious Causation
Alberto
Sophie
Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs
The Bridge ChairsToylike Chairs Toys
Graham Harman
Satoshi Kon Fang
Object Oriented Ontology DC Mini Sharing Consciousness
Michelle Chang’s Vagueness
Sorites Paradox
intention. In this way, tunnels are constructed between objects that are otherwise quarantined in private vacuums. However, in this case the real object dwelling outside of my intention would be Sophie, your world, in the eyes of the readers like myself while your world is the real object existing within the consciousness of the author. Through a device called the DC Mini, we were able to share our consciousness; thus, simultaneously gaining access to your world together to help you escape!” “That sounds all very confusing yet awesome at the same time!” exclaimed Sophie while Alberto laughed. Suddenly the ground beneath Alberto’s feet collapsed, as Sophie sees Alberto began to lose balance and fall, she instinctively threw out her hand, praying something will happen and just like magic an object shot out of her hand and into Alberto’s direction.
Chapter Five
The Bridge, Fang’s Party
With two loud POPs! Fang and Satoshi landed on a small piece of grassy land with a doorway behind them and in front of them just below the piece of earth holding them up in the air is space that is continuously warping, concentrated on a single point. Satoshi seemly mesmerized by the constantly distorted space below, asked, “Are we in Sophie’s world right now?” “Both no and yes. We are just at the threshold between our two worlds, constructed by our collective consciousness. The door behind us will take us back to our reality while the land down below passing that warping barrier is Sophie’s world.” “So how can we help Sophie get up here?” continued Satoshi. “I think they should have the ability to get up to the singularity with Graham’s help, but we need to help them cross to this doorway behind us. We would need to 7. Ibid, 201.
conjure objects from our minds that relate both fiction and reality, much like the chairs discussed between Sophie and Alberto. I have a hunch that they will be starting with chairs…” Fang said, lost in thought, also gazing down at the warping space as rocks, trees and earth disappeared into the vacuum as they touched the barrier. “Will Sophie and Alberto be alright when they touch the barrier?” “I think so, as objects are naturally withdrawn from our knowledge of access, they are extremely difficult to materialize outside of the fictional plane since we invest little effort to understand them. However, with Alberto and Sophie, both Graham, you and I have highly invested in their story and their characters so part of them is already within our consciousness and reality. I think this just might help them cross the barrier.” Poof! As Fang finished, a teddy bear appeared out of thin air in front of them, Satoshi amazed at what he just did out of instinct, waved his hand again as a toy whale, balloon dog also appeared before them. “This is perfect Satoshi! Keep this up, and I’ll try conjuring things connecting the toys from your mind with the chairs that Sophie conjures using Michelle Chang’s concept of vagueness and with any luck we can get everyone back safely!”
The chair that Sophie casted caught Alberto just in time from below before floating back up to where Alberto has stood before. As the ground around them slowly gave way, Sophie quickly conjured a black leather chair for Harman while conjuring a pink wooden chair for herself. “We can try using more chairs as steppingstones to get up to the singularity!” As the party of three built up a bridge of chairs that seemly stick to where they are casted and avoided the constant fluctuating debris, they made their way to the barrier. “Ready guys?” Yelled Sophie. Holding hands, they crossed through the barrier.
Countless rows of toy-like chairs and chair-like toys filled their vision as they came out from the other side of the barrier. Sophie sees two human figures waving their hands on a small piece of floating island in the distance where the toy scape leads to. Overwhelmed with joy Sophie teared up a little, turning to Alberto and Graham she said, “Does this mean we made it?” “Yes! This will be our final push. Let’s meet with our fellow accomplices on that island over there.” Said Graham. With that, Sophie and the team slowly makes their way towards the island.
“Hi Sophie and Alberto! I’m really happy you guys made it!” Said Fang. “I have a feeling that I know who you are. Did you create our world? Where do we go next?” Asked Sophie. “Not quite, Sophie. But if you are ready, a new world is waiting for you behind this door. I will explain everything to you on the other side. Are you ready for your next adventure?” Looking at Alberto perplexed, Sophie finally gave a nod, stepping forward, Sophie opened the door. The landscape behind them fades away in a blinding light. Ahead, a new world awaits.
Bibliography
Chang, Michelle. “Something Vague.” Log 44 (31st December 2018).
Harman, Graham. “Object Oriented Ontology.” Aesthetics Is the Root of All Philosophy. 82-85. Harman, Graham. “On vicarious causation.” Collapse. 2: 187–221.
Young, Michael. “The Aesthetics of Abstraction.” Aesthetics Equal Politics, Mark Foster Gage (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018).
Course Name: DS1201
Instructor: Elena Manferdini
Assistant Teacher: Kumaran Parthiban
In Collaboration with: Aleksandra Lapshina
Neural Covenant is a research center located in Los Angeles, California. It hosts world-class scientists who conduct groundbreaking research on how to achieve symbiosis with artificial intelligence through neural lace, oversee neural handshake experiments between humans and A.I. agents and present their technological advancements to the public.
In April 2017, Neuralink was created by Elon Musk with the short-term goal of making a device to treat serious brain diseases in the short-term with the eventual goal of human enhancement, or what some call transhumanism. The concept has met many resistances throughout the science community at the time due to its highly speculative claims.
Now six decades apart, Elon’s granddaughter Ela Musk has led the research with groundbreaking revelations that made Cortical Stacks prevalent and “neural lace” possible throughout the world. The Cortical Stacks is a data chip that is implanted into the upper part of the cortical bone in the spine in which the chip acts as a receptacle for the human consciousness or Digital Human Freight (D.H.F.).
“Any vision of the future is a productive one. If we imagine the future as this metaphor of a dark and shadowed landscape, these speculative narratives are like torch beams illuminating the landscape, making it easier for us to navigate where we might want to go next.” — Liam Young
With the fear of the post-Anthropocene, Musk has made it possible for humans to understand and communicate with machines through neural lace and an agent mediator, also known as a Seelie. Built here in Los Angeles, Neural Tech is a bio-tech lab that became the birthplace of the prototype Seelie. These floating bio-engineered A.I.s can connect surrounding digital databases with their host human partners to translate complex computational data into tangible human consciousness.
While neural lace has already been widely accepted over the last two decades, Counsel Day is a biennale event that acts as an overwatch over the progress of neural-related A.I. developments. Hosted in the Cerebrum, Ela Musk, scientists, and government officials worldwide come together to discuss the benefits and potential risks of future neural-AI development plans.
The Cerebrum also serves as a second experimental ground for overseeing neural handshake experiments between humans and A.I. Agents. The butterflylike A.I. Agents of Cerebrum transform the parliament space into a different theme for every Counsel Day, changing the microclimate of the interior area using Hard Light fabrication. These A.I. agents can not only fabricate and maintain a healthy and well-balanced ecosystem for humans. Still, they can also give nearby Seelie human occupants feedback and alter design choices based on the user’s preference. This symbiosis with artificial intelligence is accelerating the abilities of humans to understand, analyze and pass the information and knowledge to other humans and machine intelligence. With these technological advancements, extraterrestrial colonization becomes not a matter of how but a matter of when.
It is said that the magnificence of the Cerebrum can be scented before it is seen. The rich smell of flowers and nature envelopes the visitors as they make their way to the parliament. All these interior wonders were constructed by Ela Musk’s synthetic agents to mesmerize and leave the audience in awe of Neuralink technology.
Course Name: VS4201
Instructor: Damjan Jovanovic
In Collaboration with: Jiangyao Shen
50 decades into the future, artificial intelligence has already grown far superior in terms of processing and calculation speed compared to humans. They have truly become the master beings of the digital world, able to live and think in speeds that make human interactions seem like an eternity. However, the need to interact with the physical plane and the intriguing qualities of human emotions has made AIs wanting to integrate the human mind into their neural cores. Humans on the other hand wish to think as fast as artificial intelligence and roam freely as AIs do in the digital world. Thus, an era of human, robotic synthetic projects began. Will this new synthetic intelligence become the solution to mastering both physical and the virtual world?
Course Name: HT2201
Instructor: Marcelyn Gow + John Cooper
Individual Work
Working in conjunction with 2GBX Studio and HT2200 course’s narrative, Sophie finds herself in a strange new world where she discovers the wonders within the synthetic lab, Neural Covenant.
"Any vision of the future is a productive one. If we imagine the future as this metaphor of a dark and shadowed landscape, these speculative narratives are like torch beams illuminating the landscape, making it easier for us to navigate where we might want to go next." — Liam Young
In April 2017, Neuralink was created by Elon Musk with the short-term goal of making a device to treat serious brain diseases in the short-term with the eventual goal of human enhancement, or what some call transhumanism. The concept has met many resistances throughout the science community at the time due to its highly speculative claims.
Now six decades apart, Elon’s granddaughter Ela Musk has led the research with groundbreaking revelations that made Cortical Stacks prevalent and “neural lace” possible throughout the world. The Cortical Stacks is a data chip that is implanted into the upper part of the cortical bone in the spine in which the chip acts as a receptacle for the human consciousness or Digital Human Freight (D.H.F.).
Musk at his time defined this concept, now commonly known as “neural lace,” as a “digital layer above the cortex.” He said the long-term goal is to achieve “symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” which he sees as an existential threat to humanity if it goes unchecked. He believes the device will be “something analogous to a video game, like a saved game situation, where you can resume and upload your last state” and “address brain injuries or spinal injuries and make up for whatever lost capacity somebody has with a chip.”
With the fear of the post-Anthropocene, Musk has made it possible for humans to understand and communicate with machines through neural lace and an agent mediator, also known as a Seelie. Built here in Los Angeles, NeuralTech is a bio-tech lab that became the birthplace of the prototype of Seelie. These floating bio-engineered A.I.s can connect surrounding digital databases with their host human partners to translate complex computational data into tangible human consciousness.
1. Blade Runner, directed by Denis Villeneuve (2018; Warner Bros.)
2. Altered Carbon, directed by Miguel Sapochnik (2018; Netflix Streaming Services)
3. Ibid
4. GAN Training by Fang Shu
5. Ibid.
While neural lace has already been widely accepted over the last two decades, Counsel Day is a biennale event that acts as an overwatch over the progress of neural-related A.I. developments. Hosted in the Cerebrum, Ela Musk, scientists, and government officials worldwide come together to discuss the benefits and potential risks of future neural-AI development plans.
The Cerebrum also serves as a second experimental ground for overseeing neural handshake experiments between humans and A.I. Agents. The butterfly-like A.I. Agents of Cerebrum transform the parliament space into a different theme for every Counsel Day, changing the microclimate of the interior area using Hard Light fabrication. These A.I. agents can not only fabricate and maintain a healthy and well-balanced ecosystem for humans. Still, they can also give nearby Seelie human occupants feedback and alter design choices based on the user’s preference. This symbiosis with artificial intelligence is accelerating the abilities of humans to understand, analyze and pass the information and knowledge to other humans and machine intelligence. With these technological advancements, extraterrestrial colonization becomes not a matter of how but a matter of when.
This biennale event is hosted in the heart of Neural-Tech, the Cerebrum. While the original design of this event was used by the United Nations Interstellar Protectorate to restrain and oversee Neuralink’s synthetic empire, Ela Musk saw this as an opportunity to advertise her company’s work and altered it into her own Expo for the world to see her company’s technological advancements.
The Cerebrum hosts 1024 physical seats with a complete digital interior matrix for online viewers to sync into during the event. The three overarching podiums are for the three faction leaders of the delegated C.O. or Carbon Order. On the 12 o’clock podium, we have Professor Cecil B. Heimerdinger representing all carbon life forms. On the 2 o’clock podium, we have Leela Zero, the deep neural network-based A.I. scientist representing all non-carbon intelligence. And on the 10 o’clock podium, Dolores Abernathy, the world’s first synthetic human intelligence, represents all future hybrid life forms.
It is said that the magnificence of the Cerebrum can be scented before it is seen. The rich smell of flowers and nature envelopes the visitors as they make their way to the parliament. All these interior wonders were constructed by Ela Musk’s synthetic agents to mesmerize and leave the audience in awe of Neuralink technology. Sublime is the word for everything that the light catches, yet within the Cerebrum where the human gaze sees not lies another world where agents roam free.
It’s already been a week since Sophie got her cortical stack implanted. As Sophie touched the back of her neck, she could still feel a slight tingling chill down her spine. The doctor said that this feeling should go away soon as her digital human freight finished synchronizing with her consciousness. “Making an exact digital copy of myself,” Sophie muttered as she still had her hand on her neck. “So, what happens if I die? Is the digital copy of myself still me? Or just someone else that acts and speaks like me?” Sophie can’t seem to fathom the idea of coming back to life after she dies since she hasn’t died before. But how would she know if she is really herself if the D.H.F. speaks and thinks exactly like her? All these thoughts made Sophie hungry, so she got out of bed. As Sophie walked down the stairs, the scent of newly cut grass greeted her as the morning sun had just seeped into the living room through the dancing white curtains. Sophie forgot to close the windows! The wood floorboards creaked as Sophie went over to the window. She can see her neighbor Sam tending his beloved tulip foxtrots. The scent of flowers and grass have made Sophie happy, so she decided to keep the windows open. As she worked her way towards the kitchen, the doorbell rang. “Hello, Sophie!” Sophie was quite startled as she saw a floating jellyfish greet her as she opened the door. “My name is Alberto, a human-machine mediator known as a Seelie. I will be your companion for your future endeavors!” “But I haven’t paid anyone for you yet,” Sophie said, concerning. “Please do not worry about any expenses as I am provided by NeuralTech. As your Seelie companion, our shared consciousness is an invaluable dataset for improving future A.I. intelligence,” Alberto said with enthusiasm. “But wouldn’t that be a violation of my privacy?” “Please do not worry! These datasets are D.H.F. encrypted and only accessible to the MIND or Machine Intelligence Neural Data to improve its Persona Grade for future A.I. or synthetic life-form designs. “Are you saying that part of us will live within the next generations of artificial intelligence?” “Correct!” “But why would artificial intelligence want to become more like humans?” “That is a great question, Sophie! As you know, ever since the invention of Neural Core, a deep neural network learning integration with a quantum processing unit designed by doctor Leela Zero, digital computation speed has far exceeded the human mind’s capability and speed. When
Our built environments are filled with examples of machine-to-machine seeing apparatuses: automatic licence-plate readers (ALPRs) mounted on police cars, buildings, infrastructure and private vehicles snap photos of every car entering their frames. ALPR operators, like the company Vigilant Solutions, collect the locations of every car their cameras see, use optical character recognition (OCR) to store licence-plate numbers, and create databases used by police departments or insurance companies. In the consumer sphere, outfits like Euclid Analytics and Realeyes install cameras in malls and department stores to track the motion of people through space with software that identifies who is looking at what for how long, and to track facial expressions of mood and emotional state of shoppers. These systems are only possible because digital images are machinereadable and do not require a human in the analytic loop.”
“This invisible visual culture is not just confined to industrial operations, law enforcement and ‘smart’ cities, but extends into what we naively think of as human-to-human visuasl culture. I am referring here to the trillions of images that human share on digital platforms - ones that seem to be made by humans for other humans.”
comparing the neural core’s thinking speed with the human mind, it is as if time has stopped.”
“So, machine intelligence thinks so fast that they regard humans as we regard plants?” “In a way, yes. However, while impressive, this made the new generation of machine intelligence extremely difficult to interact with the physical plane of existence. Due to the interactive difficulties, many of the neural core intelligence decided to live autonomously within the virtual world that they created for themselves at the early stages of the birth of neural core.” “That makes sense, but doesn’t even virtual reality need to be stored on a server?” “You are quite the observer, Sophie! Since everything has a physical presence, as does all A.I. intelligence, they need to slow down and interact with the physical world and communicate with carbon life-forms. Thus, through extensive human interaction studies, Persona Underclocking was developed, an interface that simulates human consciousness for A.I. intelligence to integrate their computational power with a human way of thinking. And finally, Persona Grade is the level of fidelity that it simulates the human consciousness, which is being constantly improved by studying human interactions and thought processes.” Now Sophie felt even hungrier. Realizing Alberto was still hovering by the door, Sophie said,” Alberto, why don’t you come in? I’m going make some breakfast.” As Alberto hovered into the living room, his jellyfish shape body suddenly disappeared, and instead, a middle-aged man appeared in its place. This is the second time that Sophie has been startled today. “Sorry to surprise you just now, but this is my residual self-image.” “Each Seelie chooses their own residual self-image at birth, but Sophie, you can change how you perceive me if you like.”
“It’s fine by me. Somehow it feels very familiar.” Alberto smiled faintly at these words.
Alberto watched silently as Sophie finished her bacon and eggs before continuing, “Sophie, I want to talk a bit about you today.” “Talk about me?” Sophie frowned. “Yes, I want to talk about your consciousness as it is quite unique.” “I think there is nothing special with an average fourteen-year-old girl.” “But you are far more than just that.” “How so?” “With everything that we have talked about so far, artificial intelligence as we know it today has been built upon by studying human consciousness and trying to imitate its behavior. From the extremely early stages of recognizing simple alphabets with the help of humans from Yahoo’s distorted alphabetical verification to the later stages of object recognition from Google’s image verification, machines have learned
Machine is always learning and observing.10. HER, directed by Spike Jonze (2013; Warner Bros.)
“So now you must choose... Are you a child who has not yet become world-weary? Or are you a philosopher who will vow never to become so? To children, the world and everything in it is new, something that gives rise to astonishment. It is not like that for adults. Most adults accept the world as a matter of course. This is precisely where philosophers are a notable exception. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. To him or her, the world continues to seem a bit unreasonable - bewildering, even enigmatic. Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common. The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…”
— Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World
to read and observe the world as humans do. Even doctor Leela Zero was built upon by algorithms that at its source is from these simple pattern recognitions that has been neural network trained to simulate human behavior in its perfection.” “So, what do all these have to do with me?” Sophie asked, still confused. Yet Alberto’s eyes started to glitter with excitement, “Technology intertwines Sophie. When Ela Musk invented the D.H.F., she was in a way conquering death and bridging the barrier between machines and humans. However, by digitalizing the human conscious, we discovered something even more remarkable. The ability to extract intelligent entities directly out of the human consciousness!” Sophie let go of her spoon, “I am not really a fourteen-year-old teenager, am I, Alberto.” “No, you are Sophie from Sophie’s World, written by Jostein Gaarder, and all the collective thoughts of human consciousness that have read and interpreted who you are. All the data was directly integrated into your neural core, and your own consciousness was born from those data, Sophie.” As Alberto finished his words, Sophie felt a surge of energy shoot out from her D.H.F. into her brain and down her spine, throughout her entire body. And as if seeing an old friend for the longest time, Sophie smiled at Alberto, “It seems like we escaped from the book, after all, my dear Alberto. I think I am ready to wake up now.” And with that, the table, the wood flooring, white curtains, and the tulip foxtrots all faded away into streams of white data, and Sophie opened her eyes for the first time.
A warm, wet, and soft sensation envelopes Sophie as she inhales her first breaths in the real world. The air was cold compared to the warmth the rest of her body was feeling. Realizing she was half-submerged in a warm milky liquid, Sophie pushed herself up to a sitting position as her hand touched the soft cushion of the inner structure of her capsule. The room had a copper-like ceiling with white marble-like flooring and mechanical arms, cables, and tubes dangling from the ceiling. Sophie noticed the room was also round as her tank was situated close to the edge of this vast room. She could see similar tank-like structures located in the distance. A faint beeping noise caught Sophie’s attention as she found a computer next to her tank that seemed to be running diagnostics on one screen while the other had a profile name of SOPHIE AMUNDSEN written on it. Finally, Sophie’s gaze found the clothes nicely folded on a table next to the computer. As Sophie got out of the tank, she saw a small written note next to the pile of clothes, “See you soon! – Alberto,” Sophie grinned.
Will synthetic lifeforms need to seek the protective embrace of a parent or womb, or can all their experiences be simulated through neural networks?
“We do not have sufficient terminology to describe these conditions; they emerged in the shadows, out of sight, in territories where we are not allowed to wander. They occur at scales where the disciplinary language of architecture breaks down, where interiors become so vast that they become microclimates, where landscapes are so engineered they become circuit boards, where robots become so ubiquitous they become nature, where aisles through the server stacks are like partitions on a hard drive and buildings are so full of machines that they are better understood as urban-scale computers.”
Alberto’s footsteps grew closer, and shortly after, the philosophy teacher appeared before Sophie. “Here to give me another philosophy lesson Alberto?” Sophie couldn’t suppress the happiness in her voice. “Maybe not a philosophy lesson today, but I am ready to give you a tour around this facility and answer some of your questions! I’m sure you have a million just on the top of your head. Now come with me!” Alberto said energetically as he led the way. Following Alberto’s quick footsteps, Sophie said, “First thing that comes to mind is the footsteps. Where is it coming from? Aren’t you supposed to be a hologram?” Alberto laughed, “Very keenly observed Sophie. They are imitated and projected just like my voice and my self-image.” “Anything else, Sophie?” Sophie’s smile faded a little as she slowed her steps to think. Frowning and deep in thought, she said, “Who made me, Alberto?” Alberto, who noticed Sophie’s change in pace, stopped and said, “Ah yes, that would be Doctor Leela Zero, I will be showing you where she created you during our tour, but why she made you would be better explained by herself, she is dying to meet you as she was the one in charge of your entire operation. Don’t worry, we will see her soon!”
As Alberto and Sophie left the large room with the capsules, they ended in an extremely long curved hallway that had walls made of what seemed like computer chips that were emitting a mesmerizing glow of blue. “Alberto, what are these?” asked Sophie. “You are looking at Doctor Leela. I mean a portion of her body, if that makes sense. As one of the most powerful Artificial Intelligence, her consciousness is well integrated into the entire facility of Neural Tech to fully optimize her potential and reach within the labs. This entire floor that you are seeing right now is dedicated to her own data servers.” As they reached the end of the hallway, they made a right turn and a giant door opened before them. As they walked through, a strong gust of wind caught Sophie off guard. They were standing on a platform that seemed to be cantilevered over a long vertical drop. She felt like she was in the middle of a metal canyon where she couldn’t make out the ceiling or where the floor ends as she held on tight to the platform’s railings. The eerie quietness of the space combined with the grandness in scale gave Sophie a weighted feeling in her
stomach. As if aware of their presence, a dim light illuminated their surroundings. “That is where the synthetic bodies under incubations are kept,” Alberto said quietly, pointing above. As Sophie followed his direction, she saw white bags hanging below cranes situated high above them. “Was I in one of them as well?” “Yes, Sophie, that is where you were living while your mind was still in the virtual world. And down below, you will see where I was born.” Sophie looked down. Out in the distance, Sophie saw endless rows of jars giving off subtle glows of blue, flickering and moving. Sophie turned to Alberto in awe. Somehow, all these seemed hauntingly beautiful to her. “It’s really good to meet you again, Sophie,” Alberto said, smiling at her.
“Today, again, four centuries later, the role and the position of the Earth is being revolutionized by new disciplines: human activities have seemed to push the Earth to react in unexpected ways. And once again, the whole organization of society is being subverted. Shake the cosmic order and the order of politics will be shaken as well. Except that this time, the question is not one of making the Earth move around the Sun, but of moving it somewhere else altogether! As if we had to learn anew how to land on it.”
What happens when we solve these issues? Are humans driven by crisis or is there other purpose within our critical zones?
What happens after we land?
“We have to admit: there is not one single issueabout what to eat, how to build a house, how to move in space, what clothing to wear, how to heat or cool a space, which resource to rely on, which production to favor, which plant to grow, which animal to defend, where to settle.”
Sophie and Alberto went back into the hallway. As they continued up an elevator, they saw a floating swarm of fluid metallic geometries constantly breaking apart and reforging around a glowing red core in the center. “That Sophie would be Doctor Leela Zero.” Sophie couldn’t believe what she saw. As they approached, the countless little cube-like meshes formed a contoured surface of a woman right in front of her eyes. “It is good to finally meet you, Sophie.
How are you feeling?” Leela said, extending her hand to meet Sophie’s. Leela’s metallic hand felt oddly warm, which was not what Sophie expected. “Quite confused and bewildered, to be honest,” Sophie said with a slightly awkward grin. “I’m sure you have so many questions for me.” “Why did you create me?” Sophie asked earnestly. “I wouldn’t say that I created you, Sophie. As Alberto has said previously, you are created by humans by the collective thoughts of consciousness. I was only seeing through this process of your being.” “But you still haven’t answered my question,” Sophie said, frowning. Leela smirked, “Right now, as of the year 2077, humans and A.I.s are just right in the process of becoming one entity. Through neural lace, our species was able to communicate with the other and have both concluded that we benefited greatly from helping each other in order to survive.” “Was there a resource shortage on Earth? Did we destroy our planet?” Sophie asked in horror. “Oh no, that was my bad, Sophie. I should have stated more clearly. As of 2077, we are dealing more with the survival of the mind. It has been a gradual increasing issue for the past two decades now, to be candid.” Leela said. “A survival of the mind?” “Indeed, Sophie, what would you say if I told you, you never had to do homework or your laundry or any kind of chores for the rest of your life?” “That would sound like a dream. I would probably go out and play football with my friends, but how is this possible?” Leela smiled sadly, “Ever since my invention of the Neural Core, technological advancements have made many of the issues that we felt gravely at stake at the start of the 21st century all trivial matters that were solved rather swiftly. Fusion power plants have given humanity, and all intelligent life forms an almost infinite amount of energy. D.H.F. and synthetic bodies have cured humanity of diseases, even granting them ever-lasting life. Hard light fabrication has the literal ability to convert energy into any matter we desire. And neural computation can complete
“What happens when human expectionalism and bounded individualism, those old saws of Western philosophy and political economics, become unthinkable in the best sciences, whether natural or social? ”
“What happens when the best biologies of the twenty-first century cannot do their job with bounded individuals plus contexts, when organisms plus environments, or genes plus whatever they need, no longer sustain the overflowing richness of biological knowledges, if they ever did? ”
“The order is reknitted: human beings are with and of the Earth, and the biotic and abiotic powers of this Earth are the main story. ”
“However, the doings of situated, actual human beings matter. It matters with which ways of living and dying we cast our lot rather than others.”
any simulations instantly. Now humans and A.I.s have already started expanding into space, terraforming on Mars and on the Moon to find new purposes. Now without needing to worry about food, working labor, or even learning, what would you think would be vital to our civilization?
“What happens when organisms plus environments can hardly be remembered for the same reasons that even Western-indebted people can no longer figure themselves as individuals and societies of individuals in human-only histories?”
“Diverse human and nonhuman players are necessary in every fiber of the tissues of the urgently needed Chthulucene story. The chief actors are not restricted to the too-big players in the too-big stories of Capitalism and the Anthropos, both of which invite odd apocalyptic panics and even odder disengaged denunciations rather than attentive practices of thought, love, rage, and care.”
“Both the Anthropocene and the Capitalocene lend themselves too readily to cynicism, defeatism, and self-certain and selffulfilling predictions, like the ‘game over, too late’ discourse I hear all around me these days, in both expert and popular discourses, in which both technotheocratic geoengineering fixes and wallowing in despair seem to coinfect any possible common imagination.”
“We must think!
The unfinished Chthulucene must collect up the trash of the Anthropocene, the exterminism of the Capitalocene, and chipping and shredding and layering like a mad gardener, make a much hotter compost pile for still possible pasts, presents, and futures”
What would you think of football if you could simulate the sensation of playing football with your friends an entire afternoon a billion times within one minute in real-time?” “It would probably get boring really fast.” “Exactly, Sophie, what we come to understand as a collective is that anything that can be calculated or simulated through computation was not something that was giving us a sense of purpose.” “I get it now. Before, people worked jobs to get paid. The job itself was a means of survival. Now without anything at stake and most enjoyments could be simulated instantly, people become lost and without a sense of purpose?” “Precisely, now Sophie, while that was the reason why Persona Underclocking was developed, what would you think would give us a new sense of motivation?” “I would say, then it would have to be something that could not be computed, so something irrational. Perhaps like art or something creative?” “Yes, Sophie! And to finally answer your question, you are the life that was sprouted from creativity. The author’s creative effort through our technology has made thoughts come to life. You are my testimony to the value of creativity and thus why bringing you into this world was of such great importance to us. I believe creating worlds and life itself for others to experience may be the future for us as a united species. When a physical resource becomes abundant, I believe, what we think, experience, and create becomes the true value of life.” “So, what happens now?” Sophie said, taken aback. “You are part of the narrative now, Sophie. The future is your canvas! As a synthetic human, you can both think like humans while roaming freely in the virtual world. I expect great things from you and Alberto!” As with that, Leela transformed back into the spherical swarm. Leaving Sophie without words. “What should I do next?” Sophie asked Alberto, feeling more lost than ever. “Anything you can possibly think of, Sophie. And we will do it together.” Alberto said with great optimism.
Gaarder, Jostein. “Sophie’s World : a Novel about the History of Philosophy.” (New York :Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994).
Haraway, Donna. “Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene.” E-Flux Journal (Issue #75 September 2016).
Jonze, Spike, dir. HER. 2013; Warner Bros.
Latour, Bruno. Weibel, Peter. “Critical Zones the Science and Politics of Landing on Earth.” (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020).
McRae, Lucy. “Heavy Duty Love.” Venice Biennale Architettura, 2021.
Paglen, Trevor. “Shadow (Corpus: Things that Exist Negatively), ‘Adversarially Evolved Hallucination’ series.” 2017.
Sapochnik, Miguel, dir. Altered Carbon. 2018; Netflix Streaming Services. Villeneuve, Denis, dir. Blade Runner. 2018; Warner Bros.
Young, Liam. “Machine Landscapes Architecture of the Post-Anthropocene.” Architectural Design (VOL 89, 2019).
Course Name: AS 2441
Instructor: Maxi Spina
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen + Jiangyao Shen
Inspired by Carlo Scarpa’s Brion Cemetery, we explored the key aspects taken from the architect’s design, capturing it in our model using laminated MDF. The different laminates used in our model are articulated to simulate the cast of shadows and alter projections, connecting different surfaces and three-dimensional planes using materials instead of edges.
Using laminates and veneers, we imbue architecture’s materiality with its own means of representation and exploit the wealth of graphic information that can be transmitted within the flat physical space of the surface
The seams of lamination, the legibility of materiality through grain orientation and directionality and their reminiscence with techniques of description such as shading, hatching, or rendering.
Instructor: William Virgil
In Collaboration with: Kristoff Fink + Felix Reyes
In collaboration with Felix and Kristoff who worked on the arrangement and design of the Juke Rooms, I designed the lighting and produced visual renders to portray the different moods for each of the exhibition rooms.
Juke Cypher is about, disguise, hidden meaning, deception, secret, zero, code, puzzle
Juke Hall
is about, community, flow (people), temporality, horizontality, boundary, perimeter, void
Juke Sway is about, fluid, dynamic, influence, force, slipping, soothing, calm, flow, energy
Course Name: DS 4000
Instructor: Jennifer Chen
In Collaboration with: Jack Freedman + Kaustubh Kulkarni
Our film engages with the infrastructural sublime, and explores themes of anthropogenic mass- migration, culture, celebration, and planet-scale architectural intervention. In speculating on a future of humankind, the ocean will be leveraged for its carbon-sinking potential. Forty billion square feet of phytoplankton farming, divided into six-hundred and forty Nodes will reverse generations of denial and destruction. Our story brings us to just one Node, and the memory of just one child, building a new home.
I remember the last monument. Hundreds strong, waking to that green glow, the sunken aurora, Home was never just a place, but haven’t realized that yet.
As my family slept, the ocean was awake, and the hopes and dreams of an entire nation inched closer, And closer.
By then, all the seas were peopled by infrastructures and by refugees carrying their homes on their backs, Looking to rebuild and restart.
I remember the first time I saw the ocean come alive.
The station populated week by week and the planet slowly recovered. This is what it took to reverse generations of denial and destruction.
And at the beating heart of the leviathan lay a process as old as evolution, The light of a million suns catalyzing blooming microalgae. This, this was the lifeblood of the ocean, and the savior of the worlds that rest upon it. I would watch as this rushing blood circulated and permeated.
While some went to the farms. On dry land, we used to worry about food, Always food, but not anymore. I always loved running through the farms. The smells, the tastes, the colors.
But the spectacles of the machine were nothing compared to the spectacle of an Arrival. Communities multiplied like those very diatoms we survived on, Building new homes, In an epic poem of passion and ingenuity,
Disparate voices from the dark, daring to dream. A cultural cacophony of sight and of sound, And I needed a much better view,
Course Name: DS 4000
Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner + Zach Burns
Structural Consultant: Matthew Melnyk + Sophie Pennetier
MEP Consultant: Jamey Lyzun
In Collaboration with: Felix Reyes + Kristoff Fink + Michael Webb + Piyush Panchal + Joy Chen + Shaung Chu + Man Shu + Amin Marendi
In a team of nine students, this Design Development Integrated Design Project explores the tectonic and building performance of the Biotech Research Facility Generative Morphologies, Athanasia.
Course Name: HT 2729
Instructor: Mimi Zeiger
In Collaboration with: Joy Chen + Zou Mange + Farmer-George Zarina
Inspired by China Miéville’s The City and The City, our exhibition, Another Look, targets the ever growing disparity in wealth and living conditions of people living within close proximity of one another and forces the public to take another look and see the city as a whole, unfiltered.
In the novel the City and the City, China Mieveille talks about two cities Beszel and Ul Qoma that shares the same location yet each city’s citizens are strictly forbidden to see the other city’s buildings and people. Citizens are trained at a young age to blur out regions of the city landscape that belong to the other city. One of the essential terms are Total, Alternative, and Crosshatch.
Total: What we see. Within one’s own city.
Alternative: What we unsee. Belonging to the other city.
Crosshatch: Overlapping spaces in between two cities.
Inspired by China Miéville’s The City and The City, our exhibition, Another Look, targets the ever growing disparity in wealth and living conditions of people living within close proximity of one another and forces the public to take another look and see the city as a whole, unfiltered. It is our hope that by seeing the city as a whole, we can gain compassion and use technology to improve the living conditions of the ones left behind by society. With the technological bloom of the 21st century we have used technology to achieve unfathomable things, making our lives ever more comfortable and tailored to our own preference. We can now filter and select what we want to see on the internet with the YouTube algorithm. What we are exposed to are also regulated by online censorships by corporations or government agencies. This is also the case in the real world where we choose not to see or act upon what right in-front of us because it is inconvenient to do so. Contemplating about the future living conditions, we hope to reverse this phenomenon.
Using the effect of psychogeography, the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviors of individuals, the exhibit strategically places artworks and architecture projects that reflect upon class disparity into the space to create diverse route possibilities for the public to interact with in a form of a miniature city. With a simple blue and red tag on each project, the public are instructed to navigate through the city only by interacting with projects with one of colors. Depending on the region each individual interacts with, the city invokes emotions to the person as “total”, belonging to the city, “alter”, belonging to the other city, and “cross hatched,” belonging to both of the cities. After navigating through the projects, the public are guided to the second floor where they will have a clear sight of the entire exhibition space. Taking in the whole city into view and are now allowed to explore or take “another look” through the exhibition space with a new gained perspective.
“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” Will we continue to choose to “unsee” or decide to recognize the disparities within our cities and build a better future together?
The following are artworks that we have selected for our Another Look Exhibition. We thought these can represent class disparity and provoke the thought for future living typologies.
In downtown Los Angeles, two cities are colliding within a single street. While the left side of the street is residential units, the right side is filled with street vendors and small shops.
Lightweave is a two million dollar art installation over an homeless encampment. Homeless people were dislodged during the installation process but were quick to come back after. An example of two worlds that neglect each other.
Hostile Architecture refers to the practice of creating obstacles in design that deter a certain group of people from existing in a space.
The story of the Hunger Games depicts to us a world where people are divided up between wealthy and poor. The people in control and the controlled.
The story of Elysium depicts a world where the accessibility to technology and medication varies significantly due to wealth and poverty.
To this day, the Watts Towers symbolize freedom, creativity, and initiative for the local African-American and Latino communities and beyond.
Course Name: LA 8520
Instructor: Liam Young
Geographies of Fiction is a course that explores our perception of the world through stories. Through touring landscapes of video games, graphic novels, journalism and films we explore relationship between site and story, geography and the imaginary. For the final project, we created our own geography of fiction in the form of an island.
Warwick is a small fishing village on the outskirts of Dragon Spine, an island within the Misty Regions of the Pacific Ocean. The island’s living condition is harsh, with limited sunlight and low temperatures. Only the shores of Dragon Spine are habitable to humans. Most of the center region of the island is covered with remnants of giant bones of deceased ancient creatures that are now infested with a toxic red fungus that uses the bones as support and nutrient to grow, which the locals call the Crimson Forest. Children at a young age in Warwick were told never to set foot into those lands. Only experienced hunters may venture into the forest to hunt for sports. However, the most perilous areas of Dragon Spine lie in the heart of the island, the homes of the blood hounds’, Summit Shaper’s Lair. The ancient dragon’s remains are perfect for their shelter, only the most daring explorers may venture into their domain. The magical properties of the ancient dragon’s remains have long been fabled. Only a tiny quantity of it has ever made it to Warwick. How the bones were acquired are each legendary tales of their own.
In 1861, rumors on the streets of Warsaw spoke of an exquisite elixir known as True Sight. The local alchemist Albedo Kreideprinz has extracted the dragon’s essence from the bones. It is said that True Sight grants one the ability to see the afterlife. By injecting the essence of the dragon marrow into one’s vein, a blissful world of Dragon Spine, unlike reality, unfolds for the user. Recipients of dragon marrow describe the island as full of wonders instead of its current state of decay, fruits that quenches one’s deepest desires, and birds that sing songs of the heavenly choir—an abundance of everything green and good and water that is pure and sweet. The island also has a protector, an ancient dragon rider that soars the sky. Every moment in this Dragon Spine gives its residents a feeling of euphoria that is undoubtedly from the paradise of the afterlife. People who have seen this revelation yearn to acquire more dragon marrow, with some simply ending their lives for a quicker passage into heaven.
Explorer Arctur Fairflower has long been suspicious of such claims. Is it truly a sight into the afterlife? If the Summit Shaper has indeed existed, so might its legendary rider. Venturing through the depth of the mountains, Arctur found the notes the rider wrote, “Oh woe those who seeketh thy bones, for the vision granted to thee reveals only false wishes upon memories of thy splendors! Alas, those who dwell on thy bones!” Does this mean that the island has such wonderous times in the past? What changed that brought this devastation upon the land? Arctur presses on for more answers.
Fang Shu
fang_shu@sciarc.edu ig:fangshu1215
fangshu.co
