TERM : Summer 2014
COURSE : The Walking Dead
INSTRUCTOR : Thomas Balaban
DURATION : 7 Weeks
GROUP PROJECT : Robert Rabie

OBJECTIVE : To explore the architectural use of biological morphology and mimicry at a small scale. Using examples of biological structures as a point of departure students develop a structure analogous to a functioning organism. It will serve as a small enclosed space and the function is up to each group. The only requirement is that it will enclose a bioclimatically controlled space and contain passive or active systems that control light, air and water circulation. The assignment also asks students to explore digital methods of documentation of organisms and structures.

 

DESCRIPTION : The function chosen would be an underwater shark cage; a self-regulating, buoyant enclosure. Its exterior gills, exposed to the water, oxidize blood that flows to the capillaries at the extremities. The oxidized blood circulates through the heart and is then transferred to the rest of the body. The organ comprises mainly of muscle which can expand of contract to regulate the quantity of air in its air pocket. As the organism develops, it acquires more intricate analogous organ systems. An exoskeleton system is introduced at the second stage of development. The shell-secreting mantle compresses to secret a liquid that hardens around the surface of the organism. The shell increases in complexity and its acquired shape serves to stabilize the organism in the water.