Fog - An Ephemeral Refuge

Fog

An Ephemeral Refuge

Gabriela Alban Hidalgo

Fog is a subtle veil that compromises the integrity of our senses. For moment the environment changes density and then suddenly- this momentary refuge disappears.

The temporal dynamics of its formation and duration give the environment a new enigmatic life. In the foggy mist surroundings are abstracted of their shape and thus open room for interpretation. When we experience fog the sense that we most routinely rely on- vision looses concreteness. Fog allows us to become aware and reliant on our other senses in order to orient ourselves and learn again how to experience the world. In the fog we no longer walk but we are able to wonder. In this wondering is where we become free to explore our other senses. While the fog lasts we are able to find solitude. We are uncertain of what lies ahead, beside or behind us. We can just see ourselves, hear ourselves and here is where we become aware of ourselves. Fog prepares us to experience space individually. Free from form and the preconceptions of vision one can become open to understand and fully experience. When warm air begins to lift our veil our surroundings are gently uncovered, colors gain a new found contrast and one can transition to experience more intensely.

Fog

Dynamics- a change of Temporal and Spatial Experiences Fog Dynamics Fog can slowly disappear or “lift� through convection mixing as a deposition of dew and frost. This process allows the moisture content and dew point to decrease.As the upward portions begin to cool fog expands upwardly. In the presence of high pressure and lighter winds even patchy radiative cooling can result in a uniform fog veil. In a low pressure system with a warm frontal boundary fog can attain large variations of extend, intensity and duration. These conditions imply that fog can be transported over different terrains, find different condensation neclei and disperse as precipitation or find new sources of cooling such as orographic lift.

While cooling and condensation occur at the top of the fog cloud the intensity increases. At the same time deposition at the bottom causes it to lift. This dynamic process maintains the fog alive and allows for a variety of intensities. Condensation Nuclei can also lead to varying intensities of the fog.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e8/33/ff/e833ff6c33eeae8cf17e4c62558cf1cd.jpg Fog is a natural pehnomena that occurs as a collection of water droplets suspended in the air. It is defined as visibility of less than 1000m, hazed visibility of less than that is termed mist. The small particles of water lay close to the earth and in most cases the moisture needed is generated locally.

Dissipation of the fog is largely caused by solar heating of the ground surface and by the disruption of the stratified layer by turbulent mixing. Fog usually begins to dissipate from the sides and the bottom where the air is less saturated.

Fog mostly occurs when warm air mass moves over cold air as a result of thermal differences and wind. It usually occurs on land in close proximity to water, on mountains and also as a result of plant transpiration. When dropping the average temperature of the air, or in adding moisture to the air due to evaporative cooling the relative humidity can reach 100%, allowing the air to reach its due point and condense.However, salt particles can reach their dew point at a relative humidity of 70% and for this reason fog can usually be found at sea.Precipitation produced by fog is gentle and in the form of drizzle. Atmospheric mixing causes larger heavier particles to coalesce with smaller particles until the particles are heavy enough to fall as rain.

Curry, Judith. School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Georgia Institute of Technology, n.d. Web.

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"National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office." Types of Fog. N.p., n.d.

Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

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Wondering through the Fog Optic Sensations

In Fog shadows appear 3D since they are projected parallel to the light source.

Object shadows appear as beams and are caused for a similar reason as crepuscular rays.

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Fog foils visibility by changing the density of the environment. The barrier between air and sky disappear and space slowly becomes unified. The lost of visibility affects mobility. Fog is generally measured by a transition method which can give a local reading of the density and scattering of particles.

Kinesthetic Sensations The Movement through the fog is slow gentle gentle and cautious. In the fog we are able to wonder since the future is invisible and uncertain.

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Tactile Sensations

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When walking through the fog we breathe it in, it clings to our skin and our hair. The average diameter of water particles in fog is of 0.01mm to 0.1mm.

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Sensing the Dew Point

Thermal Sensations

Fog for the most part feels cold to touch because when the temperature is decreased the moisture value necessary for it to condense can more easily be reached. http://www.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/geog140/labs/hu-

Auditory Sensations

Sound interacts with fog droplets that undergoes attenuation and dispersion. Attenuation of sound is a function of the frequency for this reason fog horns have a low pitch which allows the sound to travel further.

Olfatory Sensations 1. Living Chasm- Fujiko Nakaya 2. Fog Over Puget Sound by robert dot hamilton FCC 3. Meg Pickard- A Foggy day 4.Lapsang souchong fog

The scent of fog has a lot to do with the chemical particles in the air. Fog can have a sweet smell f wet wood and air but it can also have a pungent smell to contamination and chemicals. Clouds of perfumed dry ice smoke are sometimes used to carry scent, preserving unheated natural aromas. http://herbivoracious.com/2010/03/using-dry-ice-to-carryscent-culinary-fog.html

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Experiential Thresholds Fog can be recreated in a variety of ways as long as the air or gas laying on top is able to become saturated to the point of condensation or its dew point. Some of the ways include fog machines with use dry ice to drastically lower the temperature of the air and thus the dew point or a radical change in pressure.

Urban Fog- A temporary art installation by Atelier Chan Chan in London uses materials and space to investigate the escape, transparency and thresholds of fog.

In this experiment the warmed water is poured into the glass bottles. The air is momentously left to warm up and become saturated with water vapor.

The the pressure of the bottle is reduced by using a vacuum cleaner and then then the pressure is sufficient so that the pressure is enough for water droplets to form. A condensation nuclei such as a match is necessary for water droplets to form and fog to occur. http://paoc.mit.edu/labweb/ gfd_i.htm

Abstracting the spacial sensation of fogby layering different materials a similar inquury about space and light can be explored.

The potential of fog in the experience of space and thus architecture lies in how it can prepare us for something different. Fog is a phenomena that is alive tactile and moving. Through fog we are able to experience an important process, when we find ourselves in the fog we are in the midst of the water cycle. Probably the most important life source in our planet.When we find ourselves wondering through the fog we experience an specific instance of time and relationships of space. Our body is able to sense a specific instance- the dew point. Therefore the possibilities of fog and the blurring of the senses of space is fascinating. The opportunity to give an expressive form and to explore the haptic possibilities of this phenomena are intriguing. Fog yields an opportunity for an intense experience of our being.