Week 8 Topic: Practice vs Project II: From Surface, Hypersurface, to self-organised Bodies

Surfaces today are intertwined with technological innovations that ultimately, [1] “challenge the traditional mode of presence of architecture”. It is in this way that designers are eroding the, [2] “traditional statures of architecture”, as a means of representing new theories, such as the Hypersurface Theory. Stephan Parrella, founder of the theory, describes his intention of developing this theory based on the, [3] "observation that architecture is becoming increasingly saturated with digital technologies", therefore, he is able to establish how, [4] "the dimensional image and form with its own logic in either 2D or 3D questions the other", and to further articulate the interconnections between 2D and 3D representations and how they are not adequate to describe the new inter-dynamic hypersurface. In saying this, the theory intends to promote, [5] "a broader interface and interactivity between cyberspace and the built environment". 

For example, the development of the following installations, each possess the ability to react in real time - whether it be pre-set or interactive - and develop animated materials which enrich the appearance of the form. WHIST's installation explores the "non-physical" nature of light to create animated materials through the unique arrangement of pixels on a 2D surface that give the illusion of a 3D surface, in a non-interactive manner. This idea represents the [6] "magnificent play of volumes brought together in light". Whereas, the Orchestrating the Depth of Light (2014), introduces a fourth dimension, time, as it enables interactivity with its environment. The interactivity is discovered by viewers when a camera flashes in front of the installation, which leads to the blinking of LED lights. The flashing of coloured lights within the installation will begin from the closest point of impact and then slowly wander away. 

Example | One

Hypersurface Installation by WHIST. Animated projected Images create sense of materiality in an open space. 

Example | Two 

Orchestrating the Depth of Light (2014) by MAI, the William Maximilian University’s Städelschule Architecture Class and AHL Media Facade. 

Interactivity | Blinking of LED lights triggered by a camera flash in front of the installation. Flashing will start from the closest point of impact and then slowly wander away.

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r e f e r e n c e s

• [1] [2] Picon, Antoine, “The Surface as Architecture” in Digital Culture in Architecture: an Introduction for the Design Profession (2010): Pp. 89, 90.
• [3] [4] [5] [6] Haeusler, Hank, Chromatophoric Architecture: Designing for 3D media Facades (2010): Selected articles:
•  Introduction: “Chromatophoric Architecture”: Pp. 17, 19, 20, 23.

Images and further research

Image 1, 2 | Accessed: 04/05/2015, <http://www.whist.ch/en/project/textile-installationen>

Image 3 | Accessed: 04/05/2015, <http://www.mediaarchitecture.org/our-projects/>