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      A Virtual Installation Immerses Viewers in a Reactive Environment of Shape-Shifting Architecture

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      Art
      Design

      #architecture
      #digital
      #immersive
      #installation
      #light
      #virtual reality

      September 20, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Medusa.” All images courtesy of London Design Festival, shared with permission
      A landmark collaboration between Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto (previously) and Tin Drum, a production studio and technology developer, brings an undulating, reactive installation to the 2021 London Design Festival, but the immersive artwork is only viewable through a headset. Falling at the intersection of architecture and virtual reality, “Medusa” is comprised of monochromatic pillars that appear to suspend from the ceiling in a rippling environment. As viewers move through Raphael Court at the Victoria and Albert Museum where the work is on display, the responsive structure shifts and alters its composition in light and shape.
      The work draws inspiration from the dynamic displays of the aurora borealis and underwater bioluminescence, two phenomena that manifest through the animated qualities and shifting patterns of Fujimoto’s curved forms. “This is the first time I am designing architecture with non-physical materials—it’s using light and pure expanse of the space,” he said in a statement. “It’s an architecture experience but completely new and different.”
      “Medusa” is on view through September 26.

      #architecture
      #digital
      #immersive
      #installation
      #light
      #virtual reality

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      Monumental Cardboard Bridges Float in the Sky in Temporary Installations by Olivier Grossetête

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      Art

      #architecture
      #bridges
      #cardboard
      #hot air balloons
      #installation

      July 29, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Architecture en Fête, Villeneuve lez Avignon, France (2015). All images © Olivier Grossetête, shared with permission
      Temporarily seen hovering above small European towns or balancing on a river in floating canoes are elaborate bridges designed to be constructed and demolished in a matter of days. The ongoing work of Olivier Grossetête, the cardboard-and-tape pieces are entirely hand-built by the French artist and local residents. Each ephemeral installation, which Grossetête refers to as “utopian building(s), temporary and useless,” appears for only a day or two before it’s taken down and the public is asked to stomp on and destroy the cardboard. “This is an integral part of the project,” the artist says in a statement. “This symbolic moment is fun.” While they’re on display, the architectural works are often tethered between hot air balloons and existing buildings, which makes them appear dream-like as they float above the urban landscape.
      Grossetête has been utilizing the cheap, flexible material for more than ten years because it’s easy to manipulate, allowing the installations to spring up and be removed relatively quickly. “Despite its appearance, it has quite extraordinary capacities and is very light. It doesn’t scare anyone, and it allows me to open my practice to the greatest number of people,” he says, explaining that it’s also emblematic of cultural signifiers. “It is the symbol of the false and of the appearance! I like to make this parallel between architecture, an instrument of power, and the false, the appearance.”
      Currently living in Jausiers in the Alpes de Hautes Provences, Grossetête is headed to 23 Milhas in Ílhavo, Portugal for his next installation, which will be up from July 31 to August 1. You can explore more than a decade of his works on his site.

      “Monkey Bridge,” Japanese Garden of Tattonpark Biennale
      Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome
      Festival de l’Oh, Champigny, France (2015)
      Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome
      Pont Landerneau, France (2016)
      Amboise, France Cultural Season of Amboise

      #architecture
      #bridges
      #cardboard
      #hot air balloons
      #installation

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      Infinite Architectural Metropolises Balance Order and Chaos in Benjamin Sack’s Drawings

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      Art

      #architecture
      #drawing
      #labyrinth
      #mazes
      #surreal

      June 23, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Boxed In.” All images © Benjamin Sack, shared with permission
      In Benjamin Sack’s imagined environments, it’s not uncommon to find angular mazes resembling dystopian structures, buildings packed so closely together it’s difficult to distinguish one from the next, and labyrinthine walkways that spiral like fractals. Working in pen and ink, the artist (previously) draws intricate black-and-white metropolises that waver between organization and chaos: He plays with geometry, angles, and dimension to render perplexing maps teeming with both traditional architecture and surreal additions, like treble clefs, astral shapes, and dizzying line- and dot-work.
      While many of Sack’s works meld the past, present, and future into a single display, his recent feet-wide maze titled “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)” is directly drawn from this last year.  “This piece was a massive, Daedalian undertaking that was started at the outset of the initial lockdowns back in March 2020 and finished upon my receiving the first dose of the vaccine in April,” the artist tells Colossal. “A large labyrinth emblematic of the epoch we persevered.”
      Watch the timelapse video below and head to Instagram for a glimpse into Sack’s process, and pick up a print in his shop.

      “Tokyo, Japan”
      “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
      Detail of “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
      “Manhattanesque”
      Detail of “Leitmotif”
      “Endurance”
      “Acoustaglyph”
      “A Sensitive Chaos”
      “Leitmotif”
      

      #architecture
      #drawing
      #labyrinth
      #mazes
      #surreal

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    • 125 Shares99 Views

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      Miniature Architectural Spaces Nestle into Carved Chunks of Raw Marble

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      Art

      #architecture
      #marble
      #miniature
      #sculpture
      #stone
      #stone carving

      May 25, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Tetraconch II” (2019), Faxe limestone, 38 centimeters. All images © Matthew Simmonds, shared with permission
      Since antiquity, marble has been a preferred material for sculptors and architects alike because of its relative softness and the unlikelihood that it’ll shatter. British artist Matthew Simmonds (previously) fuses these two traditional forms and honors their history with his miniature models carved into hunks of the raw stone. Evoking ancient ruins and sacred architecture—most pieces aren’t modeled after specific structures—the chiseled sculptures are complete with grand archways, ornately tiled ceilings, and minuscule statues on display in their halls.
      Within the spaces, Simmonds contrasts the rough, jagged edges of the stone with precise angles and detailed flourishes. “Drawing on the formal language and philosophy of architecture the work explores themes of positive and negative form, the significance of light and darkness, and the relationship between nature and human endeavor,” he says in a statement.
      See more of the artist’s carved interiors, which are often less than a foot wide, on his site.

      “Mystras” (2020), Carrara marble, 39 centimeters
      Left: “Essay in Perpendicular” (2018), limestone, 42 centimeters. Right: “Window” (2020), limestone, 24 centimeters
      Detail of “Hidden Landscape II” (2019), Carrara marble, 180 centimeters
      “Gothic Passage II” (2021), limestone, 25.5 centimeters
      Left: “Single Helix II” (2019), Faxe limestone, 24 centimeters. Right: “Landscape: study” (2020), limestone, 10 centimeters
      Detail of “Basilica V” (2020), Carrara marble, 170 centimeters
      “Stepwell” (2020), Faxe limestone, 39 centimeters
      Detail of “Stepwell” (2020), Faxe limestone, 39 centimeters

      #architecture
      #marble
      #miniature
      #sculpture
      #stone
      #stone carving

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