Live For Tomorrow: Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

L.A. Times review on Open House at Art Center:
 http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/cl-et-design14apr14,0,5809998.story?coll=cl-home-more-channels 

Vitra Design Museum:
 http://www.design-museum.de/museum/ausstellungen/open_house/index.php 


Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living Projects:
 http://www.artcenter.edu/openhouse/projects/openhouse_projects.html 

CONCEPTUAL

As its name suggests, the project "Jellyfish" emulates this animal's physical make-up as well as its unique characteristics including its highly adaptive nature yet lack of a nervous system . The project incorporates the spaces for '[Landscaping, Living and Working]' in an intertwining fashion.


Capturing the auditory and visual elements from outside the 'Mixed Use' project amplifies these recordings through sounds and projections to merge the outside environment with the inside.



PRAGMATIC

Emulating the form of a lizard crossed with a cactus - the project 'Dunehouse' incoporates the processes and characteristics of desert animals and plants to provide a template for applying such concepts in the construction of a liveable space in such 'un-liveable' environments

FORM

Sat, Apr 14, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Concepts - 4.0
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

A moon colony survival kit:
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Wed, Apr 11, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Concepts - 2.0
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

I like the idea of putting people out of their comfort zone - because I feel like many people in this day an age truly are not comfortable or would never dream of adopting a primitive or hunter gatherer lifestyle.

I appreciate the times I spend sleeping in the outdoors on the hard (but sometimes soft) ground, falling asleep under the stars, a cool breeze blowing accross my face and the mysterious (perhaps frightening) noises of nearby animals

To play off this concept or removing people from their comfort zone, I may build a space or structure that somehow physically positions people in a vulnerable way or configuration by drawing them to one element and then catching them off guard or surpising them with another - whether it be a change in their configuration or a new, unexpected introduction to the environment.

This is an example of I chair I built - that contained cell phone vibrators - the chair was made so that most people's feet could not touch the ground and were completely immersed by the vibrations emmitted by the motors:

Wed, Apr 11, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Concepts - 1.0
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

When it comes to designing in space applying and translating templates already given to us from the natural world definitely seems to be one good option. The natural world is so ingenious in the way that it re-utilizes waste into food and that the general approach to most phenomenons is interpreted in a cradle to cradle way. Our natural environment bends and morphs and adapts - to everything - a space colony that does the same - at least emulates the same dynamics would be ideal.

A colony where people can be free to use their pods or personal (networked) vehicles to roam and explore uncharted space in a very fluid manner (much like natural processes) and organic yet partially systematic form.

The biology of jellyfish particularly the hydrozoan jellyfish - ones that convert from medusa (jellyfish) to polyp (essentially upside down jellyfish, held to a substrate) after maturity presents a versatility and complexity I would like to attempt to emulate when attempting to construct a space colony.


The Nutricula Turitopsis hydrozoan can actually convert from a jellyfish to a polyp and back again to a jellyfish is an example of a fluctuation and form of biomorphic synchronization I would like to capture in the ultimate experience that i deliver, in the form of installation for conveyance of the discursive aspect of nature - but additionally pull instances or snapshots of these biomorphic moments/ spaces and concretize them in a tactile model - ideally three examples of these instances.

The 'immortality' that results from this species' innate biomorphism is another powerful idea I would like to explore with the project - by creating a space that immerses a person with a feeling of great vastness, or space (not outer space) even emptiness reinforcing a sense solitude that I personally would need to continue living - that i can have some personal space.

I apologize in advance for my lack of eloquence and the confusion that results from reading this - attempting to build ideas however seems to be a good way to materialize many of the abstract concepts that lurk in my head.

some of the bulbous, globalar shapes that can be associate with jellyfish' biological appearance

Wed, Apr 11, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

If I were to build a space colony or space habitat I would want it to be a place where people can continue to be free. All science fiction and renderings of moon colonies seem so restrictive and claustrophobic. I would want a space colony with a built in atmosphere just like the Earth. People could move freely, and in space every direction would take on a whole new level of discovery - people could still be linked to eachother through some kind of network - individuals would operate from their pods or personal spaces - these personal spaces could be tailored according to everyone's desires and preferences, your pod could be as cold and humid or hot and dry as you wanted it.

Tue, Apr 10, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

space: me + nature
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

I wouldn't want much to change - maybe that's depressing or unimaginative or boring but it's the truth.

What I admire most about nature is its resilience, no matter how hard we abuse it, it always bounces back, amazingly and surprisingly (although some would argue that at this moment it may be reaching its physical limits).

After it's erruption in the 90's, the area surrounding Mount St. Helens was projected by scientists to only recover after decades, but amazingly, after only 18 months, weeds, shrubs and plants all began to sprout back to life.

The ingenuity nature displays is another aspect I find admirable; regardless of the exposures nature is subject to, given enough time it is always able to respond and tailor its configuration to adapt to a new and different circumstances (granted it may be after many trials and errors).

Ideally, the way I would incorporate nature into the space environment is by maintaining the same relationships and dynamics that already exist between it and us, humans. I would want many of the wonders and myseteries that still baffle us about to nature to be continued. I don't want to know about nature's secrets - revealing natures nifty tricks robs it of its appeal and beauty. I wouldn't want to know how processes take place or function.

Then again, I would not want to re-invent nature in space either, even if this meant providing a system with some basic rules (like Stephen Wolfram) and then letting the code or the system generate its own rules or directions - to me the resulting would still feel too artificial - us humans would assume this big brother role - like playing god.

The aspects of nature I truly appreciate are primarily the elements that cater to my physical senses - the fresh, rich smells of fennel and california sage, the feeling of walking on soil or pebbles (the trade-off of part pain and pleasure), lying on my back staring at the sky feeling like the center of the unvierse (everyone feel that way - right?) swimming in a body of water (a pool or the ocean), floating, sinking, flipping. A lot of the aspects I enjoy most are the contrasts between comfort and pain that I attribute to nature. I do not like humidity - but for this simple reason I would not want to banish atmospheric moisture in this space colony even if given the chance. The little pains are what make the sweet, comfortable moments seem so much sweeter.

I'm going to stop - because I'm not sure how much sense that made or how superficial it was -

Tue, Apr 10, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Space Architecture - TransHab
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Constance Adams had worked as an architect in Japan and Berlin when by chance in the 1997 she had an opportunity to apply her skills to the design of buildings in space. Hired by Lockheed-Martin she soon became deeply involved in the design of an inflatable module called TransHab (short for transit habitat) that would provide a "residents hall" for astronauts on the International Space Station.

Carried in a compressed state in a single shuttle and inflated after reaching the Station, TransHab would provide an enormous amount of space compared to that available in the other hardshelled station modules. The interior holds three roomy levels, each serving a different function (see figure to the right). For example, the lower floor holds a dining area with a large table where astronauts can gather and enjoy a fine space meal together.

Mon, Apr 9, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Immersive spaces - wrt nature
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Art

1. “Makin’ Hay” by Tom Otterness

• Originally, designed for hay bale decorating contest - loosely based on 19th century painting, “The Gleaners”, by Francois Millet. Provides home for squirrels, it is a direct incorporation and implementation within the natural environment of typical northern california chaparral; they blend in well with their environment

2. “Burning man”, founded by Larry Harvey

• Burning Man is an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance. The 2007 theme: “The Green Man”, essentially humanity’s relationship to nature

3. “The Color of Palo Alto”, Samuel Yates

• Yates received grant by city for project - combination of photography and G.I.S. for compilation of all colors in Palo Alto, California. Photograph of each business/ residence useful for fire department

Media Art

1. “EX-S-S-TW”, Shieh Chiech Huang, for “Networked Nature” exhibit

• Inspired by everyday household electronic devices - exploration of organic systems
  dynamic circulation of electricity and air: a living micro-environment.

2. “Celestial Mechanics”, Scott Hessels

• Planetarium based artwork installation that visualizes the statistics, data, and protocols of manmade aerial technologies.

3. “Fly to Mars”, Jennifer Steinkamp

• Motion based on priestly prayers

Bio Art

1. “Genome Valence”, Ben Fry

• Visual representation of algorithm used for genome searches - sequence of letters (DNA). Unique 9 letter sequences are highlighted with point on screen

2. “Liquid Architectures”, Marcus Novak

• Allogenetic: four dimensional, algorithmic architectural shapes that mutate in time. Combination of non-euclidian conceptions of space with aspects of algorithmic emergence and morphogenesis.

3. “Park Wheel”, Llyod Alter

• ‘Take the park with you’
  

Architecture

1. “NDRC”, Santa Monica

• Highest certification available for green building design

2. “Villa Savoye”, Le Corbusier

• Architecture as ‘living machine’ - optimization of green/ open space
  

3. “Ford Headquarters”, Bill McDonough

• Roof top gardens/ lawns

Design

1. “Unpack a Park: Mobile Green Space”, Kevin Van Braak

• Form of urban intervention - addresses issues like individualism v. community; helps introduce nature to concrete jungle

2. “Urban Nomad Shelter”, Cameron McNall





3. “Kings Park Federation Walkway”, Perth, Western Australia



Science

1. “A New Kind of Science”, Stephen Wolfram

• Code generates it’s own mutations and results in cycles that can not be quantified or graphed or explained mathematically

2. “Turritopsis Nutricula”, Immortal Jellyfish

• Through transdifferentiation of cells, jellyfish regenerates from polyp to medusa and back; type of hydrozoan

3. “Earth Cooling Reflectors”, Roger Angel
- trillion miniature spacecraft 1 gram in mass and carrying a half meter diameter of sunshade




Technology (Biotech)

1. “Google Earth”





2. “Watercone”, Augustin

• Salty brackish water converted to purified water through condensation on the inside of the cone
  

3. “Genetically Modified Mosquito for Malaria prevention”



Film

1. "Grizzly Man"





2. "Kpax"





3. "The Fountain"

Sat, Apr 7, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

immersive spaces - wrt nature (cont)
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Wed, Apr 4, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

immersive spaces - wrt nature (cont)
Project: Design Media Arts at UCLA

Wed, Apr 4, 2007  Permanent link

Sent to project: Design Media Arts at UCLA