I spent a portion of the summer working on several illustrations for the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio (background @ link). The studio collaborated with Guy Nordenson to create an exhibit at the Venice Biennale looking at sea level rise and methods to create coastal infrastructure through sediment diversions and other soft infrastructures. In conjunction with other members of the studio I had the opportunity to create several illustrations and animations for the studio as well as the exhibit in Venice and a publication for Places.
Interesting example of experimentation taking place by Alan Berger and others at MIT and the GSD. The work involves examining different wetland configurations and how they effect the flow of water to maximize the cleansing effectiveness of the vegetation. The forms and experiments are beautiful and intriguing, it is great to see hydraulic experiments taking place through physical models. Berger describes natural systems as functioning through inefficiency, I would disagree with this. Our narrow view typically pegs the idea of efficiency around a single attribute, such as water flow. Berger is designing systems that trend toward maximum efficiency across a range of attributes which is how natural systems function. Water flow may not be at maximum efficiency but the composite system is at maximum efficiency resulting in greater ecological fitness. Great images and videos at MIT news page and an interesting post on mammoth.
Good interview with Joseph Kosinski at the 5D: The Future of Immersive Design event. Kosinski was one of the partners of KDLAB which did some interesting explorations into the possibilities of visualization tools to create hyper surreal imagery. Kosinski is also the director of the upcoming movie Tron Legacy which looks promising.
Interesting article in the economist about printing body parts. The possibilities are fantastic and possibly frightening, I would say I lean towards fantastic on this one. The printing of biological systems leads us to believe that not only will we be able to replicate but also iteratively engineer/design new systems. Is it feasible that we could print new plant species?
This is a great example of how framing can change the perception of scale in representation. By manipulating the the focus plane Sam O’Hare created “The Sandpit,” a time lapse film that makes shots of New York appear as a model. The technique is tilt-shift photography, and typically uses image editing software to change or minimize the area of focus on an image.
Through the combination of a sand and plastic substrate (to simulate gravel and sand respectively) and alfalfa sprouts (to simulate deep rooted vegetation) a group of Berkeley researchers have successfully recreated a performative model of a meandering stream. Science Daily. Oct 2009
The ability to simulate natural processes through scaled models ties back into the Mississippi Basin Model. In this sense the abstraction occurs because the media (alfalfa sprouts, sand, plastic) perform as scaled counterparts to the real world.
LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture . Spring 2006, First Year Graduate Studio
Faculty: Bradley Cantrell, Assistant Professor
At the core of any representation method is the physical relationship between the data and the user. We have to sense the data in some way, sight, touch, sound, to begin to process and interact with it. And how we approach that data and how it is represented determines to a large extent how we think about it, and how we use it. Analog representation systems, hand drafted paper maps and measured chipboard models, have given way to projections and digital models. With the massive digitization of data over the past fifty years the issue of how we physically relate to digital data has become increasingly important. It is particularly important in the design profession because of the spatial nature of data and the use of drawing and seeing as procedural tools to explore design ideas. The method of data representation in the design process is the first tool a designer uses to understand a site and define the parameters of a design study. These tools determine how designs can be manipulated, how problems will be formulated and give structure to the range of outcomes from the designer’s intervention.
This project explores the limitations and opportunities of mixing digital and analog representations of data. A 1:1000 scale plaster topography model of New Orleans was constructed and a matching digital projection was created on the surface. Issues of scale and resolution were reintroduced into the process of representation through this intermixing of digital and analog methodologies. The physical presence of the model rendered the digital data in a new tangible relationship with the designers and created a feedback between abstract data and design explorations.
The Mississippi Basin Model (MBM), built between 1943-1966, is located in Clinton, MS. The model is situated within a 200 acre site and simulates a large portion of the Mississippi watershed. German POW labor was used in the construction of a portion of the model. The model was created during a paradigm shift in engineering, moving hydraulics research/engineering from on-site sampling and experience to a method of simulation, and prototyping.
