Media, Projection, Technology

The resources are endless for media projection and how this technology begins to interact with the public. I’m touching the tip of this topic, as there are a variety of ways to to project images, movies, etc, or simply hang a thoughtfully designed material. So, here are a few inspirational images and ideas out there..

Media for projecting images/art/information

Fabric- Yale Architecture student Nathan Hume’s proposal-

Buildings

Scrims- light textile made from cotton, used commonly in theatre. Wiki says “The advantage of scrims is that when lit from the front they can appear opaque to the audience, until a change in stage lighting (lighting from behind) makes them almost fully transparent.”

Projecting images/light onto water

Glass- Colored glass, or images projected onto glass.

Dichroic glass- light reactive, film coated glass (entered public art in the 80’s) Ray King

High tech LED display- Times Square

LCD Screens- The famous Millenium Park in Chicago.

Textile backed Projection Screen Surfaces- hangs flat 100 % Vinyl (unsupported) screen materials- Fixed wall, usually with roller screens with tensioning abilities

Technology- “City Wall” supports media, local knowledge, and interaction in this installation piece. Pretty cool.

Joost van Santen uses light filtering materials to integrate light in architectural settings. Click on “home” to see more images.

Ray King (Philadelphia) creates futuristic glass and steel sculptures that interact with natural and artificial light.

Towards An Integrated Architectural Media Space- good article on new uses of media in the landscape.

Projection & Public Space has links of projects throughout the world. Graffiti Analysis is worth checking out.

Lumen! Tons of images with projections..

Just found this last website- Interactive Architecture.org SWEET!

space projection

giving another meaning to “space” projection. ha! this is cool though. sit back and enjoy more coming soon…

perk-kins?

LIGHT: affecting space and perception, movement. contemplation. mood.

James Irwin

At the moment, what I am envisioning for the space has to do with these ideas:

Concept_

Artificial light + sunlight = ? or… exploiting one or the other
Skrims- change light path, could be used for movies, projecting images, football games

Installations- with light? with canvas? utilize light to morph/distort/change without being too distracting

mirrors? probably not.

intersections, yes.

sound absorption, yes.

Program_
Outdoor seating/relaxing for residents and customers- adjacent to Georges
Courtyard (cozy) feel for residents who need gathering space

Planting- planters for seating, creating space, linear bike/pedestrian path

Raised gathering area?- informal seating

Steps, ramps, some change in elevation, create interest, deck-ish thing for bands?? noise issue with that?
Path system running through and connecting to streets,
Part of larger circulation system (BREC implemented paths through BR)
Precedent_

Robert Irwin- use of space and light

James Turrell

geraldine georges- image inspiration and pigeons, what?

It’s a little off the subject, but I like Geraldine Georges images. She mixes the human emotion and experience with nature. It’s girly but when you look at them out of her set, you wouldn’t think that. I initially saw these images in the Austin American Statesman, liked them and ripped them out. Mom sent them to me recently (cause you know she’s not going to throw anything out) and I found them yet again.

I like the bird motif. It’s overplayed at this point, but I still like it. Probably won’t in a year. In any case, I hope to use birds a bit more in my video and presentation (without being cliche). I’m trying to get an experiment to work— I’m working on visually showing the volume of the light with bird interaction. If all goes as planned I will be able to attract the ‘lil pigeons one by one into the light.

Recipe:

1 pt. sunlight

20-30 pigeons

pigeon food

video camera

patience

I gave this a hasty attempt on Sunday. Not much light, and they didn’t fall for the wild bird food. It, um, seemed to disappear in the gravel. It was a bit pathetic. Just gotta try harder. I’m going back with bread, grains, and love for pigeons. If this doesn’t work, I’ve always liked the dust. I’m hoping to incorporate both the dust and pigeons to represent the volume of light created by the Perkins overpass.

Is the Perkins underpass poetic?

Overwhelming vibrations,

Crackling of the pavement.

Beating of vehicles

Penetrating the senses.

A composition of sounds, feelings, perceptions…

It’s as if I left a rock concert.

** is this a funny ending?

This was a quick poem I wrote on the feelings of vibration and sound underneath the overpass. I did not have a good way to represent the sound, but I found it the most intense of all experiences beneath the overpass.

The event that I am capturing is the volume, particles, and reach of light.

The new studio project is a design for the Perkins Road underpass, below the I-10 expressway. More to come…

Donnelly Park, final design:inundation

The concept of conduction initially inspired my design concept, inundation. I explored this through an understanding of the movement and formations created during conduction.

con·duc·tion n. The transmission or conveying of something through a medium or passage, especially the transmission of electric charge or heat through a conducting medium without perceptible motion of the medium itself.

I found compelling images of a heart beat and graphics of the ventricles that worked together to create one heart beat.

This pen drawing inspired path systems and wetlands in the park.

After researching the history of the site (once a wetland), I decided to create a site responsive to fluctuations in the hydrology and hopefully create a meaningful design for Donnelly Park as well as other New Orleans parks. The final design involved creating an urban wetland that adapted according to the level of storm water runoff from the surrounding neighborhood. The temporal aspect of the landscape is developed through the concept of the park becoming inundated.

inundation
noun
1.	the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land; “plains fertilized by annual inundation

I explored three flow systems of hydrology, planting, and program through diagramming. As the water inundates the site, less plant material becomes apparent, the pathways change, and the programming is altered. The planting design consists of submerged (nymphaea odorata water lily), emergent (iris versicolor harlequin blueflag, lachnocaulon bog buttons), and meadow/upland (saururus cernuus, lizard’s tail spartina alternaflora) plant species. The hydrology and path systems follow the design of the heart. When the site is fully inundated, a pathway of perfect arcs emerges and all that revealed are the strong curves of the paths created by the changes in the water level.

I planted groves of Acer Rubrum (Swamp Red Maples) and Quercus virginiana (Southern Live Oaks), with Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) trees on the edges of the wetlands. The north end of the park is used for the soil that is removed to create the wetlands. This is planted with grass and becomes the viewing mound for the rest of the park. Beyond it, I put in fencing and a row of Acer Rubrum to act as a buffer to the surrounding neighborhood.

The wetlands are designed to channel the water into the park, cleanse the water of nitrogen and phosphorous, and slowly drain into a cistern for eventual removal to the pump system. This filtration system is designed to promote the movement of water, so as to deter unwanted mosquitoes.

The design concept creates a landscape of rhythm and human activity. As the water levels rises and falls, the ephemeral quality of the landscape is exposed.

Precedents

Garonne Riverfront Master Plan

Parc Downsview Park

Design?

So, I feel at a stand still with my design. I’m not particularly thrilled about the actual design and I felt as though I had to get something out, simply to produce the work last week. I figured I would get comments on how to move forward.

Much of the commenting is about the engineering of the site. This scares me a bit as I really know nothing about that. I realize that New Orleans has a sensitive and delicate ecology. I could draw a section of the ground plane, overhead, and below grade structures but I still feel like I would be shooting in the dark. No where to go but up? or is it down? ;I

It’s almost as if it’s not about the design anymore. It’s about the engineering and I’m not crazy about that. I also don’t feel like I’ve created anything special. I need some way to further the research into the local landscape and these so called “urban wetlands.” This way, perhaps it will not look like some of my other designs. I need a wow factor that I’m missing. I just don’t know what at the moment. ;( Anyone?

So, perhaps that’s what I need. I will figure out how it works, but also need to figure out why this design is revolutionary and the coolest park in New Orleans.

I just scanned the internet and found this: MIT What Matters

Hopefully this gives my idea strength and insight. So, it can be done, but at the scale I am working at?

Can I make this a “park” without seeming like it is a dank, stilted seam in the landscape? I ran across this- Point Fraser Wetland, Perth Australia

The main objective of the wetland is to improve the quality of urban
stormwater before discharge into the river.The second aim was to create a
protective habitat for birds and frogs and provide playgrounds,car parks,
and picnic areas for the public.The briefrequired a practical and innova-
tive synthesis ofwater management and landscape design.
The concepts behind Point Fraser Wetland are beneficial and savvy. This project explains the basic workings of how the water moves through the site. It goes through a series of holding areas, each with a specific function. This design it meant to mesh with the current landscape as well as propose solutions for sediment reduction and storm water quality management. I like these workings, however the design seems stilted to me. I want to be sure not to create a gap between the people and the wetland. Merging the people with the wetland is what is the challenge. If I could make the pathways a permeable substrate, this could allow the hydrology to determine the design. Perhaps I need to draw the landscape when there is no water on site, and when it becomes inundated.

Silly String- Site Installation

I am no Christo or Jeanne Claude… but I’ll try to be

Ants in my plants

After researching plant material throughout the week, I forgot to mention it in the presentation and represent it well in my perspective and section. So, here they are….