Apertures Sci-Arc Installation

PrizeHonorable Mention in Architectural Design /
Firm LocationLos Angeles, United States
CompanyBaumgartner+Uriu
Design TeamHerwig Baumgartner Scott Uriu Viola Ago Nema Ashjae Aaron Ryan Hannes Kocher
ClientSouthern California Institute of Architecture
Projecthttp://

This pavilion foregrounds the relationship between the natural world and advances in digital technology; projecting forward to a new type of interactive, organic buildings. The installation conceptually positions itself within an architectural discourse centered in digital ecology and focused on the symbiotic relationship between nature, building morphologies, and material expression. This exploration reconsiders prominent dualties in architecture, two of which are challenged in this pavilion; the distinction between wall and window, and the division between exterior and interior. The project explores an architecture that is responsive through movement and sound. As visitors pass through or engage with the structure’s many rounded openings, attached heat sensors trigger sounds based on their bio-rhythms creating a responsive feedback that encourages further exploration of the space. The 16 foot tall, 1/8”-inch-thick shell structure was designed to solely rely on its extremely thin surface as support, requiring no additional structural elements. Structure and surface are collapsed into a single component supported through its shape, creased surfaces and material strength alone. Each one of the 233 uniquely shaped panels are CNC milled from polyurethane foam, heat formed out of thermoplastic polymer resin, and then laminated together into a single object.