Temporal Technics : Projective Geometries
Proportion, like phronesis or ‘good judgment,’ has been made obsolete by the contemporary condition. Scales once relating our physical surrounds and technical ability are no longer indicative of the ways in which we live. The freedom with which we eschew logical rules of measure for unconventional angles and forms is emblematic of the ongoing technical revolution. There is a propensity to generate otherworldly aesthetics with little connection to historic references. It has become the modus operandi for technically derived production.
The modes of representation displayed here, as well as their object of reference, attempt to shed light on these tendencies. At the same time, they act as overlays to an otherwise traditional vernacular of architecture found throughout the rural southeast by instigating a critical questioning of our familiarity with form and function. The generation of projective geometric representation to describe the architectural rigor of the project serves to highlight the fitness of not only the orthography of its plan, section, and elevation, but also of the object for its site and surroundings.
There is an inherent stability in a drawn or printed image. In direct contrast with the speed and fleeting nature of constant stimulation, it allows a critical dissonance to resonate. Here, techniques of overlay and transposition articulate cohesion between orthographic and spatial generation. Light is used in varied capacities to lend voice to the architecture that it may reveal its narrative. A willful temporality is instilled through operations of light and shadow. The void of the physical form is an absence of substance. Simultaneously, it is a substantial absence, defining space for shadow - or the absence of light - to record the perceptual nuance of the structure and its intentional presence.
Entity 1: Tilt-Shift Shed
Time Scale: Quotidian
The quotidian is a time scale of familiarity. It keeps pace with the sun and moon, nurturing our daily rhythms. As a trope of the rural vernacular the Tilt-Shift Shed masquerades as a typical offset gable, native to the southeastern landscape. The simple utility provided by its walls and roof belies a deeper intention to situate the ‘reading’ of this object in the landscape. A subtle planimetric anomaly consisting of a single chamfered corner initiates an experience of visual disjunction when activated by the sun. Growing more evident as the sun rises to greater heights, the irregularity of the shadow line on its bent surface is cause for refrain - a questioning of its motives amongst the quiet pastoral setting.
Entity 2: Gauge Pavilion
Time Scale: Epochal
Amongst the many epochs of history, we observe shifts in geology and geography. Some of these transformations are discernible only through measurement and recording. The Gauge Pavilion serves not as a time keeper, but as a measure of consequence. Set remotely in the Gulf of Alaska at the delta mouth of the Copper River, this kinetic pavilion operates in tandem with the rise of the world’s sea level. Man’s industrial pursuits contribute to glacial melt which far exceeds is reaccumulation. Eventually, the platform used for viewing the serene natural habitats of the river delta will be eclipsed by the rising tides and visitors will be left with only a view to the mining operations gleaning precious minerals from this glacial trove.
Entity 3: Precisely.
Time Scale: Quantum
Quantum realities are nearer than our predecessors ever would have imagined for this day. At a time when phenomena of simultaneity exist not only in physical theorems, but also in computing, this project asks whether they extend into the perceptual realm of architectural space.
