liz richardson
home
ideas
making
the space between
motion
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digital fabrication intro
This exercise in digital fabrication was centered around the exploration of motion - more specifically the motion of the sidewinder snake and the subsequent indentations left by the snakes body as it moves over sand. This installation took its inspiration from the particularity of the void that comes as a reaction to the snakes movement and the duality that exists between this movement and the environments resulting response.
Beginning with a process of analog diagramming, the project quickly translated into the digital realm through the use of multiple three-dimensional modelers. Using a CNC router, panels of medium-density fiberboard were cut according to the information provided by the digital model and were later suspended from steel cables. The panels sway as people pass under the installation, playing out the notion of an action and a subsequent response.
digitactility
material research
Research conducted as an assistant of the Digital Design Center at UNCC focused on investigations of material characteristics and behavior, that when manipulated by various methods of digital fabrication, will result in expanded geometrical and detail possibilities. The studies began at a small scale, working with birch veneers in order to increase in structural capabilities. Further studies attempted to bend off-the-shelf 1x4 poplar members, using each bent member to support and provide connection to adjacent members - again increasing the structural capabilities inherent to the material.
Research conducted in conjunction with Nicholas Ault
dinner is heard
sonic installation
An installation executed in partnership with Sam Walker (UCL) and gallery 9700F. Dinner is Heard was one of a series of openings (each pertaining to one or more of the five senses) that intersected contemporary art with the Home. As an exploration of sound in the domestic setting, Dinner is Heard became a performance piece during which an analytical software was used to scan the constructed dining scene from above and transfer visual information into sonic experiences. The table surface was divided into zones, each cooresponding to a selected instrumentation that played based on the intensity of the observed visual cues - resluting in a series of sonic occurences that evolved as the meal progressed.
www.cwdesignshop.com
www.9700f.com
sound:space
a critical duality
Sound and space combined form a critical duality at work in our everyday environment. Their relationship is one of complete dependence: no sound exists without space, and no inhabited space is without sound. Because of this reciprocity, our perceptions of sound and space are inextricably linked to one another. Our internal experience of the external world can be greatly altered by what we hear and the way we hear it; thus, the relationship that can be formed between the acoustic environment and our senses/bodies is a powerful one, helping to construct a reality that is responsible for the way we experience the world around us.
Despite the power of our aural perception, we are often unaware of the auditory events that occur around us and are even more unaware of the manner in which such events manipulate our experience of space. What has become necessary now - and what this thesis seeks to do - is to re-establish the experiential identity of place by defining ones understanding of the spatial environment according to aural perceptions.
devices for spatial hearing
external deflection
binaural distance
This initial exercise was intended to immediately engage in the manipulation of sensorial perception through physical methods, taking into account that the personal auditory environment makes up the most fundamental of all sonic constructs. Beginning with sonic manipulation at a 1:1 scale, this investigation focused on the fabrication of wearable devices designed in order to manipulate ones spatial hearing by augmenting the ability to localize sound in space.
The finalized devices were designed with respect to both existing anatomical conditions of the ear and the way in which these conditions relate to our ability to hear spatially, thus utilizing acoustic cues that reveal information about our everyday environments. These devices are the culmination of investigations into conditions of binaural distance and external deflection, both large determinants of how we perceive sound - and by extension- space.
sonic topographies
Subsequent assignments moved up in scale, questioning how our perceptions might be altered when we experience architectural space that by design, privileges the experience of the auditory environment. In particular, the auditory environment of interest to the thesis investigation is that of the urban milieu, and as such required alternative methods of site analysis that focused on analyzing the selected urban site in a manner that actively compared the existing auditory environment with the constructs of the existing built environment.
Initially the focus of the sonic site analysis were a series of spaces offering varied degrees of enclosure and sonic activity, all within Charlotte's urban fabric. Each of the analyzed spaces were examined through empirical data [collected through sound propagation investigations] and perceptual data [recorded through textual and pictorial information collected during visits to the site]. This analysis resulted in the creation of a series of sonic topographies, all giving clues as to the sonic characteristics of each site when compared to existing architectural conditions.
sound propagation
Tests of sound propagation revealed information regarding the collection of sound as a result of the existing architectural conditions, allowing for the meaningful comparison of architectural and sonic characteristics. Understanding this causal relationship revlealed further information in terms of the observed presence of many of the sonic effects discussed in phase one. The location of these effects was recorded and then compared with topographical information, revealing once more the architectural conditions producing each observed effect.
sound source locations
Later phases of the thesis investigation built upon earlier research, designing a space that performs in a manner similar to the fabricated devices and is based on the observation and analysis of sound source and localization effects observed on site. The resulting sound:space is located within the previously studied courtyard and acts as a sonically condensed space, addressing the entirety of the auditory environment. The sound:space also provides for the elimination of visual cues so that ones experience of the space is completely influenced and defined by the sound signature of each source as it enters the space.
listening tubes
tube 01
tube 04
The sound:space is a dialog between interior and exterior skins. Formal decisions relied on data garnered from the previous analysis of the sonic characteristics on site, as well as those lessons learned from the fabrication of the spatial hearing devices. A series of listening tubes were located and sized according to the principles gathered from these exercises and dictate both the form of the interior and exterior skins. Similar to the wearable devices, the sound:space was designed completely for performance, and as such the interior skin is sculpted strictly according to the location and size of the listening tubes. Conversely, the exterior skin is largely pure in form to act as an object within the urban landscape.
tube 02
tube 05
tube 03
tube 06
fabrication
Fabrication of the sound:space occurred off-site over a six week period. Cold-rolled sheet steel served as the primary building material due to its inherent resonance and weathering capabilities.
All shop drawings were exported in 2-D form from a 3-D digital model. Drawings were used directly as input for a cnc plasma cutter which cut each required panel from the steel sheets.
A technique of perforation allowed for the manual bending required of the faceted form of both the interior and exterior skins. Small cuts were made along the location of the fold, removing over half of the material at these locations and allowing for folding to be performed by hand.
A series of tabs allowed for the connections between folded panels. Tabs were added along the length of each connection panel and secured in place by plug welds every four inches.
As panels began to be attached to one another, the steel skin took form and was securely attached to the steel base. The sculpted interior skin was fabricated first followed by the careful addition of three quarters of the outer skin.
The addition of the listening tubes marked the first breakdown of the digital to analog transition. Three of the tubes required refabrication from mock-ups positioned between the skins.
installation
An additional strategy of perforated panels cap both ends of the listening tubes. These panels obstruct views both into and out of the tubes, once again dismissing visual cues in service of promoting the dominance of auditory information. Similarly perforated panels cover portions of the roof of the sound:space, allowing for additional light and sonic infiltration to occur.
The final destination of the sound:space was within the studied courtyard space at 401 north tryon street. Here, the sound:space fulfilled its purpose as a dramatic intervention onto ones experience of the urban space and other architectural spaces in the future - all with a renewed interest and dependence on the auditory information that contributes to our experience of the world around us.
