Project 1 - Air and Flow

Air and Flow

is a project beginning by doing observation of an architectural exhibition – the 2018 GIA Project Review, selecting any feature, observed object, or something you are interested in for the further transformation. And here is what I choose for the design project:

The curve-shaped, curtain-like separational gauze in the exhibition site.

The curve-shaped, curtain-like separational gauze in the exhibition site.

The whole exhibition place is divided by the irregular curve-shaped curtains to symbolize the core concept of the exhibition – floating boundaries, showing the vagueness in any defined area, location, and architectural design.

Idea forming

The next process of this project is finding a way to transform your observed object. And here I adopt association method to form the idea – the flow and the air.

The Flow – The irregularly and randomly curved lines bring the image of a flow or a current. A flow can be the form of either gaseity or liquid.

The Air – Apart from the streaming character of the curved lines, the white, soft, and floating curtains also bring the images of air, cloud and mist when standing amid them.

Characters and connections

Focusing on the flow and the air to be the main elements of the transformation, I analyze more detailed characters and connections of the air and the flow.

main:

Flowing and Fluidity – the dynamics and the manner they move might be the most significant characters of both air and flow.

Mixing and Changing – in the aspect that both gas and liquid have no particular shape, and with the fluidity and flexibility they have, it is simple to find that they can blend with each other and have an ever-changing characteristic.

Spreading and Pervading – for an important character of the air, it is a vast, immense, and empty state surrounding and overwhelming all around us, also reaching and penetrating to everywhere.

also:

Ch'i – the Taoism meaning of energy, which is literally the air, has the quality of being soft and powerful in the same time.

Smoke – the connected figure having all the qualities of flowing, changing and the characteristic of air.

Mist – natural phenomenon being not only vast and pervading, but also varying and changing.

2.5D relief presentation

In the following process, I combine the formerly analyzed characters together, making the first transformation work of the air and flow in a 2.5D paper relief form. The relief format provides an easy gate from presenting in a 2D plane form to making a further 3D representation.

Flowing, Mixing, and Pervading

The concept of the work is a continuously mixing and changing air mass, which flows through the vast and immense space in a high speed, and runs directly toward the face of the audience.

The swirls in the central cloud or smoke-like air mass present the movement of the flow and the qualities of mixing and changing. The two tracks of the movement express the speed and the dynamics of the movement, demonstrate the power of the air in Taoism’s Ch’i reference, and also express the largeness and the distance of the space surrounding it. And the outer-folding edges on the four corners create a gradation of the space, together with the plain and white background, expressing the pervading, spreading, vast and boundless properties of the air.

3D wiry presentation

The last step of the project is to transform the former relief model into a three dimensional linear model. I choose stainless wire as the composing materials for its strength and flexibility to shape. The core of this transformation is making the 2.5D relief model fully three dimensional, and representing into a linear format that keep presenting the characters of flowing, mixing and pervading. On the wiry model, the storming of the air mass in the center is transforming into spirals and swirls of connected wire line, together forming a sphere of spirals to present the flowing, mixing and changing properties of the air and flow. And the two tracks of the movement are transformed into two elegant 20# (Ø 0.90mm) wire line curves that contact to the two sides of the spiral sphere, extend backward and upward, and gradually combine together. The lines express the same meaning of the speed and dynamics of the movement, and the distance and largeness of the space in a 3D way. The spreading and pervading characters are shown via the way of the model display – hanging in the air by fishing lines. In this way, the space around the model is emphasized, and with the moving and speediness qualities of the model, the vastness and spreading of the air are presented.

Hanging and Floating of the model

One special trait of the model is that it has to be displayed by hanging. Instead of being displayed by putting, placing, or sticking, it must be hung from the ceiling by strings like fishing line to display the floating effect, the lightness of air, and the outreach and spreading properties of it, just like it really runs out of the frame.

Review and comments

For this project I made in the Fundamentals of Design, NCTU, Spring 2018, the methods I used in the idea forming and transformation are mostly image, characteristic, and connectionbased, making the transformations from what it looks like and the properties and connection to it, rather than using more form, shape, organization, constitution, and ratio-based methods. Thus, it might decrease the accuracy of the transformation and tend to be more subjective in this way. Apart from this, the instructor of the class, Professor Chang Chi-Yi, appreciated the specialty of the display form of the 3D wiry model. He regarded this as an interesting way that broke through the boundary of thinking, and a daring try at the presenting format.