HOP tests

Testing the hanging system of Cyborg Garden @HOP Woodshop, Dartmouth. With: Sam Golini

Innovative Cityscapes/Wearable Architectures studio @Dartmouth (FALL 2015)

Architecture I is the introductory course to architecture, open to students from various disciplines and levels. The course consists of three short projects that introduce students to the basic principles of architecture’s most essential elements, such as form, space, and function; materials, structure and building methods; circulation, light, and site orientation. The methodology of the course combines digital technology and hands-on approaches for model making, drawing, collage, photography, and graphics, while emphasizing a conceptual approach and critical thinking. The course is highly creative. It aims to equip students with the skills and tools to be creative thinkers, problem solvers, sensitive observers of their surroundings, adequate to envision and realize innovative ideas in various scales, both individually and collaboratively.

Food Museum studio @Dartmouth (FALL 2015)

In many contexts and cultures (mostly in the past) the materials used for food and structures have not been that different: e.g. dry leaves for huts (architecture), and humid leaves to wrap food (gastronomy). Moving away from such situations, Western civilization has lately favored more processed food and more permanent structures. The “sealed” workspace type of buildings in Northern America that gradually or abruptly disengage inhabitants from the “living” has been very damaging for human beings. The disconnection from bio-processes, nature, the outdoor, and any kind of “change” often causes a number of psychological and biological issues to occupants: depression, lack of sleep, irregular bio-rhythms to name a few. The approach to both health problems and buildings has been reactive: Pills, psychoanalysis, exercise, and meditation to improve specific health issues; adding “green” to roofs and facades and designing villas as second homes in the outskirts as a respond to hostile buildings. The brutality of the robust, eternal structures is taken for granted. It enforces individuals to experience (or use) everyday causing all these problems. But is there a more proactive approach for the environments? What is the alternative to the tragedy of the sealed structure? What kinds of buildings do not need electric lights and can affect the nine-to-five work shifts? How can buildings relate more to living?

The studio investigates the aforementioned matters through the design of a public building, a Food Museum in Boston. The course consists of two parts: In the first students investigate building envelops, structures and materials. In the second, they apply this knowledge to overall synthesis of the building: how its tectonics and spatial organisation (program, circulation) relate to context (socio-cultural, political and technological conditions of the site). The students learn how to create strong design concepts and communicate them through a clear language of architecture. They demonstrate their ideas through physical models, 3dmodeling, fabrication, digital drawings, media representation, and public critiques. There is a field trip to visit and document the site, accompanied by presentations and talks by architects and academics. 

ILLUMINUS 2015 official trailer

ILLUMINUS 2015 Official Trailer from Illuminus Boston on Vimeo.

about ILLUMINUS

ILLUMINUS is a nighttime contemporary art event established in Boston’s SoWa Arts District in 2014 and taking place this year on Lansdowne Street. ILLUMINUS features installations and performances by artists who manipulate light, sound, and projection to create an immersive, multi-sensory spectacle. Locally-organized, ILLUMINUS is Boston’s contribution to the global “nuit blanche” movement established in Paris and taking place in cities around the world. Last year, ILLUMINUS attracted a crowd of over 10,000.

new photodotes @illuminus

Photodotes V: Cyborg Garden (known also as PhotoGarden)

An experiment between nature and technology, this cyborg hanging garden allows plants and artificial lights to co­exist and co­evolve based on people's movements. As visitors approach the installation, the light spectrum changes to enrich the energy provided to the plants' roots and to enliven the garage’s dark space. The installation makes viewers aware of the diversity of light we encounter in life: the lack of light, homogenous light in interior spaces, and over­lighted spaces

check PhotoGarden @Illuminus webiste

illuminus site visit

Skype tour @Lansdowne Garage (Fenway Boston)

ILLUMINUS: Nuit Blanche Boston from Materials & Methods on Vimeo.

More information about Illuminus [visit site]