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Atmospheric Structures
No full textRESEARCH BACKGROUND: The work connects to an important development in contemporary design, architecture, art and theory which investigates the aesthetics of perception as a critical but often overlooked aspect of experiencing the 'lived' space and environment; as seen in the work of internationally significant practitioners such as Olafur Eliasson, Philippe Rahm , Fujiko Nakaya and Junahi Pallasmaa. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION:Over the past five years I have been exploring the perceptual qualities of air - so that they can be envisaged and fashioned - opening a new realm of design; the design of an intangible medium.Primarily explorative, numerous devices and techniques were devised with which to observe and manipulate air, and the various stimuli and effects it produces. These experiments have generated their own momentum and become discreet works in themselves. 'Atmospheric Structure' used a computer controlled pneumatic actuator to produce a dipolar vortex (smoke-ring) every minute over eight weeks. The intention of this installation was to explore and highlight how air (fluid) has a propensity to create structures and patterns, some of which are surprisingly coherent and stable. The vortex structure is the signature pattern of fluid movement and has an inherent beauty as it gracefully moves through the air. This experiment showed how the atmosphere would generate a unique trajectory for each, initially identical, vortex structure. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE:This exhibition contributes to a larger body of research investigating the design of interior air and atmosphere. Through such exhibitions, which are treated as research laboratories, research is made public and the engagement of visitors is used to inform, refine and focus the design investigation. With 3510 visitors, more then 12 tour groups from educational institutions, well attended lectures and extensive online, radio and print media coverage, this exhibition was highly successful in achieving this objective
Hanging off a Bar
No full text'Hanging off a Bar' is an exertion game that explores the emerging synergy between computer games and sports. Prior digital exertion games have been lamented for not requiring significant physical effort. In contrast, 'Hanging off a Bar' is demanding intense physical effort, leading to exhaustion very quickly. <br><br>As such, 'Hanging off a Bar' helps to explore the question where digital games end and where sports begin, what the differences are and where the commonalities lie. The new knowledge lies in the realization that resulting play can be described as submitting to voluntary challenges, and that both sport and digital games subscribe to that, and that any bodily challenge is just a strategy to engage in such a challenge. <br><br>The significance of this research is attested by 'Hanging off a Bar' being featured as one of 12 works in the CUSP travelling exhibition (across Australia for almost 2 years) called "Designing into the Next Decade", organized by OBJECT, the Australian Design Centre, assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council. Venues are (listed in the list of approved venues for creative work): Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Jam Factory and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. The work was also the subject of a publication at the ACM SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) peer-reviewed, previously ERA A ranked); exhibited at the Interactivity venue at the same conference; and exhibited at Pausefest 2012
Kununurra transitional housing duplex house (kununurra transitional housing stage 3)
No full textRESEARCH BACKGROUND: Since 2009, Iredale Pedersen Hook (IPH) has designed over 75 "transitional housing" homes for low income Aboriginal people in East Kimberley, a remote part of northeast Western Australia. This work has been funded by state and federal governments and managed by Wunan, an Aboriginal development organisation, and Community Housing Inc. The firm's houses are part of a program to help Aboriginal people get jobs and buy their own homes. The program includes subsidised loans and support programs. The houses have been built in three stages. This project, 'Kununurra Transitional Housing Duplex House' is part of stage 3, a collection of 35 homes in Kunurra's Coolibah Estate development. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: After the successful completion of stages 1 and 2, IPH interviewed occupants and recorded patterns of occupation. This knowledge was used to design stage 3, which includes duplex houses and 2-storey houses. The duplex house creates a sequence of threshold spaces starting with the paving, verandah and service rooms (bathrooms and bedrooms). All space is positioned around a central living and kitchen area. This project extends the firm's respectful cross-cultural research into tough, sustainable, radical indigenous housing that nurtures and enhances culture and kinship. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: Duplex House got a High Commendation in the Multiple Housing category of the Architecture of Necessity Award, Sweden 2013. The project of which it is a part - Kununurra Transitional Housing stage 3 - got a High Commendation in the 2013 national 'Houses' award apartment/unit category and a Multiple Architecture commendation award in the Australian Institute of Architects WA chapter awards. Perhaps more significantly, Aboriginal people and local government officials are pushing to extend the popular, successful program into other remote WA communities ('Hope for Kimberley transitional housing scheme to go wider', ABC Regional News, 17 July 2013)
Fibrous House
No full textRESEARCH BACKGROUND: 'Fibrous House' is an experimental project that speculates on the tectonics and affects of designing an entire project from a single geometric type, the strand. It explores the extreme application of multi-agent design strategies, where the entire building emerges from the interaction of strands or lines at multiple scales. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: 'Fibrous House' is a speculative project. Rather than attempting to design a viable house, it is an experiment in high-population algorithmic design. One key aspect of the project is a composite fibre prototype which is an experiment with the expressive, rather than performative, capacities of fibre composites. The project is part of a larger research trajectory by Snooks to develop and articulate a behavioural approach to architectural design that draws on the logic of swarm intelligence and operates through multi-agent algorithms. The major exhibition 'Naturalizing Architecture' (2013) at the FRAC (Orleans, France) - which his work was a part of - was an attempt to define this movement and "to illustrate the scope of this epistemological revolution, where architecture and science have entered into a dialogue within the computational field" (Frederic Migayrou and Marie- Ange Brayer). FRAC holds an internationally recognised collection of experimental architecture and contemporary art, which includes some of Snooks' works. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: This work was published in the New York-based architecture journal 'Log 25', July 2012, and included in 'Forward history: Practice beyond BIM' (Chris Knapp, 'Architecture Australia', Sept/Oct 2012), an essay on new frontiers in architectural practice. It was also presented and debated at symposia at Yale University (Digital Post-Modernities Symposium, Nov 2012) and the Venice Architecture Biennale (Aug 2012)
String Theory
No full textString Theory was a temporary installation in the DEDECE furniture showroom on Flinders Lane in Melbourne's Central Business District. The project explored the potentials of string and line as mediums that can be used in the geometric manifestation of illusionistic spatial experiences. Initially, precedents of ruled surface constructions were examined. These ranged from the mathematical models of the nineteenth century to Gaudi's explorations of the hyperbole of revolution and Naum Gabo's early modernist sculptural expressions through to the contemporary installation work of artists such as Anne Lindberg and Gabriel Dawe. The understanding of these scientific and artistic reference points triggered a series of investigations that involved the construction of three dimensional models and virtual renderings. In moving between the real and the virtual forms of modelling and the testing of ideas and principles in scales ranging from 1:20 to full sized prototypes, a system for the manipulation of geometric string constructions was developed. Ultimately the works were realised in transluscent coloured lengths of monofilament nylon line that were tensioned using a system of elastic ties connected to hooks mounted in base and top plates. The final works responded to the aesthetics of a number of furniture and lighting pieces in the DEDECE range. The window facades on each raised platform of the showroom featured the design of two distinctly different brands, Knoll and Tom Dixon. The string constructions sought to reflect the nature of the furniture pieces displayed and in doing so create an environment for them to inhabit within the showroom
Bach Lane (Cloud Nine)
No full textRESEARCH BACKGROUND: Bach Lane (Cloud Nine) is the conversion of an 1830s triple brick former stables and warehouse in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy into a 2700 sq foot family home. Researcher-landscape architect Charles Anderson worked with Andrew Simpson Architects to successfully integrate the ground plane with the architectural program to create a fluid continuity between outside and inside and thus maximise the potential of a very small and tight outdoor space. The landscape consequently afforded the project an elegant spatial and formal coherence, as well as providing a generative template for the design of interior spatial organisation and formal expression in cabinetry. <br><br>RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: The conversion of the building to a single family residence balanced the heritage value of the existing building with the desire of the client for a high-tech environmentally sustainable house that reflected their needs as a tight-knit family. Within a dense urban setting, the project successfully provides a sense of the natural environment and the seasons. There are views to the sky from the interior. <br><br>RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The significance of Bach Lane (Cloud Nine) is demonstrated by its shortlisting for the Victorian Architecture Awards 2012, Residential Alterations and Additions award and by the many international and local reviews of the project, including: Bach Lane (Cloud Nine) Monument, Issue 107, pp64-71 (2012); IW_Interior World, Vol 103, pp100-107 (2012); House Design 1, A&C Publishing, pp132-137 (2012); Mark Magazine, Issue 38, pp52-53 (Amsterdam, 2012). Online publicatons include Zilla Magazine (15 Oct 2011); ArchDaily (3 Oct 2011); and Freshome, 'Stable building transformed into charming contemporary home in Australia' (5 Oct 2011)