Atmosphere

Swiss Expo, Yverdon-Les-Bains, 2002

Smart  Weather  System

The Smart weather station controls fog output by responding to the ever-changing climatic conditions that include Wind direction,Temperature, Humidity and Wind speed.

  

Braincoat-Smart Rain Coat

The “Braincoat” is a smart raincoat that, in combination with a proxy–communications network, creates a new form of “social radar.”

 

Concept

Notions of spectatorship and participation reoccur throughout their architectural interventions, as they aim to position architecture as a mean of spatial and haptic REVELATION.

 

 

Atmosphere

Atmosphere refers to the sensorial qualities that a space emits. Atmosphere is an immediate form of physical perception, and is recognized through emotional sensibility. Defines a state of resonance and identification (sensorimotor, emotive, and cognitive) between an individual and their surrounding built space.

 

Metaphoric Atmosphere

The term metaphoric atmosphere is an “aesthetic category”, where the qualities that we visually perceive influence our experience of a space. It is at its most beautiful when things have come into their own when they are coherent, for example “Kolumba Museum, Germany.”

Performative Atmosphere 

“The notion that identity is produced through the repetition of particular acts within a regulatory framework” Performative atmospheres are entanglements of feelings, imaginaries, and discursive practices; technologies and techniques; local and transnational political economies and histories; that form perceptual systems, ways of seeing or sensing like a state which are contingent, partial and grounded on fragile and labor intensive processes, through which they come into existence.

Atmosphere is a “continuous propagation” of time, space and user. 

The term propagation means expansion, publicity, broadcasting, promulgation, etc. The term performativity can be partly derived from the word itself. The term propagation needs to be seen in opposition to that of prolongation. Whereas, the term prolongation means, the act of continuing an activity without interruption or extension of the duration of something. While the former is a general spread of particles, the latter is a lineal elongation of something pre-existing.

 

Concepts Explored

 

Technology : Ecotect

As an exploratory project, the blur pavilion structure was specifically temporary and prolonged a relation to consistent topics of D+S. Topics which relate to situations of our “body” in society, between human and technological, and reconnecting the folds our bodies interweaved with the world of the organic and the inorganic, the “natural and the “artificial”.

 

Corporeal Land

During 2000-2010, the body becomes objectified by an interface, through use of hardware and software. The advancement of these techonologies attempts to re-program the landscape through means of incorporation. The body structure is the “new” landscape to inhabit, with new abilities of fixed entities.

Spatial Tools

The incorporation of technology to the  spatial structure of the body occurrs through use of tools. The body must accomodate the environmental condition of the software and hardware. Thus, conditioning brings to life a new funding [green bonds] of our environment, where indeterminate designs [ECOTECT] must weave vested interest.

 

 

Publication : Book 

“The Planetary Garden” and Other Writings Gilles Clément. Translated by Sandra Morris. Foreword by Gilles A. Tiberghien 

Gilles Clement (born in Indre, France in 1943), is a french gardener, garden designer, botanist, entomologist and writer. He gained attention for his desing of public parksin France, such as Parc Andre-Citroen. In 1998, he was the recipient of France’s National Landscape Prize. Since, 1997 he developed his  “moving garden” movemement at La Vallee, Creuse. 

The Planetary Garden

1. Ecological finality :

Graden originates from “garten (german)” meaning enclosure. Historically, a garden is a place where the best grows. The planetary garden is where all diversity subject to evolutions gets combined with.

2. Planetary stirring :

Planetary stirring is the result of the incessant movement around the planet of winds, maritime currents, flora, and fauna, all of which mix and redistribute these travelling species. Unlike man, the only species capable of traversing all climate barriers by various means (habitat, clothing, air conditioned vehicles),  plants and animals redistribute themselves according to their capacity to survive within the planet’s major climate zones 

3. Human engagement :

Human engagement applies to  the level of  “surveillance” of a territory under human control. In the garden, not all is ocntrolled, but all is known. 

Blur Pavillion & The Planetary Garden

Metaphorical VS Performative:

The “planetary garden” performative element reflects in the idea of this new ecology where human integration is added. Imagining this utopian world where “do the most, for the minimum against.” 

The “blur pavilion” emulates this atmospheric architecture element that questions this normalized idea of physical architecture as opposed to creating this atmosphere architecture based on its context/weather. 

Metaphorical VS Performative:

Thus, The relationship between these two comparisons can branch out into this idea of this one single spectrum of architectural building notion that we have monetized through this capital society. 

Propagation VS Prolongation:

 

Social : Political Event

Fukushima Nuclear Disatster

Due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear station of Fukushima was destroyed. A huge amount of radioactive contamination was released and consistently propagated to the surroundings which had a huge impact to those people who lived nearby.  

Living  Environment

Because of the high radiation level, most of the area within 20km away from Fukuskima is not fit from human habitation; the nuclear radiation poropagated and scattered on the building and land, people could not live or cultivate crops under this level of radiation. 

 

People ‘s  Activity

Due to the high level of radiation, most people have to leave their hometown. For those people who are working in the region or residents that are not willing to leave have to wear protective suits to reduce the effects of nuclear radiation.

 

Propagation  in Fukushima and Blur Pavillion

Fukushima

Propagation Element: 

• Nuclear radiation
• Propagation Medium:  Wind, ocean current
• Influence to Environment:  
• Harmful

Influence to Human:  

• The affected area became  a forbidden area, thousands of people had to evacuate.

Blur Pavillion

Propagation Element: 

• Water

Propagation Medium:  

• Wind

Influence to Environemnt:  

• Harmless

Influence to Human:  

• The building is filled with fog, people can walk freely inside the space and will not be in danger because of the fog. 

The consistent nuclear radiation in the atmosphere will greatly impact people’s health , which means most most of the residents have  to leave their homeland. However, some pople chose to stay, but they have to wear protective clothing due to the effects of nuclear radiation.

People who visited this buliding were not be affected by the fog, they can even “drink” in the building. In other words, the building was trying to blend into the surrounding environment, and to interact with the visitors.  

Due to the radioactive substance released and propagated by the Fukushima nuclear station, humans were totally isolated by the atmosphere it produced. However, the situation is different in Blur Pavillion,  where the atmosphere consisted of water was trying to to connect the building with the environment and the spectators,  these three parts can interact with one another. 

 

Artwork : Olafur Eliasson

What do we define as reality?

Climate

2003 | The Weather Project Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London 

materials: 

• monofrequency lamps
• projection
• foil haze machines
• mirror foil

propagated elements:

• monochromatic light (yellow)
• haze

 

Constructed  Nature

2008 | The New York City Waterfalls, Governors Island, New York

materials:

• water
• scaffolding
• steel grill age and troughs
• pumps
• piping
• intake
• filter pool frames and filter fabric

propagated element:

• water

 

orientation and safety

2010 | Your blind passanger, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen

materials:

• fluorescent lamps
• monofrequency lamps
• fog machine
• ventilator

propagated elements:

• monochromatic light (white)
• fog

 

body consciousness

2010 | Your uncertain shadow, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

materials:

• HMI lamps (green,orange, blue, magenta)
• glass
• aluminium
• transformers

propagated elements:

• lights and shadows

Comparison of Blur Pavilion to Your Blind Passanger

Blur Pavilion

• highlights human dependence on vision to measure the safety of the space
• controlled behaviour with no option for freedom
• spectator remains a spectator (space is the performer)
• project’s idea is transparent
• false positivity

Your Blind Passanger

• compliments human ability for adaptation in an unfamiliar environment
• unpredictable behaviour with an option for discovery
• spectator becomes a participant (performer)
• project’s idea is relative
• room for interpretation

“Your perception of art is directly related to your perception of the world, while the reality is relative and is prompted to change.”

 

Conclusion : Blur Pavilion and the notion of Transparency

Overview

• development of technology  > information
• an act of giving up a person’s privacy for a chance to monitor others
• transparency is not a privillege but an illusion of a greater control
• the Transparency society : a society with no mystery and no concealment
• notion of transparency = notion of control

 

Blur Pavilion – an example of an invasion into people’s personal space 

• false equalization, false interaction
• direct influence on people’s behavior with the help of predesigned technology (brain coats)
• a project that displays a transparent idea inside seemingly ‘blurred’ space
• an example of a community with flat, bland structure

Result

• no effort is put for interpretation of received information
• 3 stages:  information – knowledge – experience

 

Question

” What is next for the future of society as a whole?”

 

The Blur Pavilion: Atmosphere is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed in the MAA01 2020/21 by

Students: Levy Rodriguez, Elizaveta Veretilnaya, Karthy Krishna, Rigoberto Moreno, Mayuqi Liang, Lekha Gajbhiye and

Faculty: Manuel Gausa and Jordi Vivaldi Piera.