Tactile Silhouettes

cRITIC

Danielle Willems  and Ezio Blasetti

TA

Sahil Pranay Shah

TEAM

Jack Bradley, Yifei Li, Sharareh Faryadi, Junxi Liu

PROJECT STATEMENT

We started to define the tower by observing audience behavior around our early prototypes! As we detected, being attracted to this specific material characteristics, they were curious to seek ways of further direct relationship with the project, either touching, close examination, or searching for other possibilities of interacting with the project. The potential we wanted to focus on in order to develop other aspects of the project was this unique ground that results in “interaction moments”. How does this strange system occupy the tower in a way that we can emphasize its features in the best way possible? We thought of seams and silhouettes. The five parts when viewed separately can be clearly understood yet still appreciated for their unique geometric qualities. However, upon assembly, the silhouettes and surfaces oscillate between what once was understood and the new facades created through the connections within the overall geometry. What once was an interior surface can become an exterior surface, puncturing the membrane between controlled and uncontrolled spaces. This exploration of deception can be seen in the materiality and patterns. Materials oscillate between 2D and 3D implementations fading in and out of focus for the viewer, encouraging circulation around the tower to better understand its form and materiality and interact with others/ tower. This exploration of shifting in and out of focus seeks to create a form that encourages viewers to visit again and continue to discover new seams and silhouettes within the tower.