Transient Materialization: Ephemeral, Material-Oriented Digital Fabrication
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Transient Materialization: Ephemeral, Material-Oriented Digital Fabrication Shih-Yuan Wang 1, Yu-Ting Sheng2, Alex Barchiesi1, Jeffrey Huang1 1 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland 2 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), Zurich, Switzerland
ABSTRACT This paper explores the relationship between digital and material-based fabrications in architecture. The notion of transient materialization proposes that immaterial architecture is a trigger for investigating new possibilities for digital fabrication through space and time. This project is mainly inspired by the beauty of nature, focusing on soap foam bubbles, which have an n-hedron structure and are usually blown by air. The paper questions this structure’s materiality, examines its physical performance and ephemeral characteristics, and expands on its meaning through an experiment in digital fabrication. In addition, we present the first phase of this technology, in which an anti-gravity and programmable foam structure was achieved. The experiment demonstrates the different shapes possible for dynamic and transient soap foam structures. INTRODUCTION Two previous works have focused on the notion of transient materialisation. The Pepsi Pavilion built by Billy Klűver and E.A.T. in the 1960s; Diller and Scofidio's Blur Building of 2002; Cloudscapes by Tetsuo Kondo Architects and Transsolar in 2010; and Waterfall Swing by Dash 7, in collaboration with Mike O'Toole, Andrew Ratcliff, Ian Charnas and Andrew Witte, in 2011, all show the influence of immaterial architecture. The Pepsi Pavilion (Figure 1) was perhaps the first collaboration among artists, architects, engineers, and scientists to produce an experience of virtual illusion. The outside of the dome was covered in a water vapor cloud sculpture by Fujiko Nakaya. The system monitors humidity and wind, using nozzles to produce a volume of cloud with a low-handing effect. [1] The Blur Building (Figure 2) is another instance of a dematerialized architectural achievement combining architecture and technology. In this project, mist nozzles were used to construct a pavilion whose appearance could be changed by the weather. For example, the mist tends to spread out to the surrounding environment if the weather is hot and humid. When the day is less humid, low-hanging smoke appears and follows the direction of the wind. On a cool day, the fog ascends into the sky and evaporates. [2] Two projects described above envisage new possibilities for an architecture utilizing cross-disciplinary collaboration to develop more responsive spaces for living. Inspired by these projects and perspectives, this paper explores transient materialization to propose that the complexity and perception of architecture may be grounded in the idea of immaterial architecture—an idea that can be explored through the integration of various material
potentialities and through examinations of their physical behaviours, of machines, of digital information and of space. In addition, the aim of t
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