_ thisisamountain
tag: [work] [automavision] [phygital] [digi]
date: 20201117
classification: 2020 SCI-Arc graduate thesis
advisor: Peter Testa & Devyn Weiser
cultural agent: Marrikka Trotter
“From the side, a whole range; from the end, a single peak; far, near, high, low, no two parts alike. Why can't I tell the true shape of Lu-shan (mountain Lu)? Because I myself am in the mountain.”
— Su Shi 蘇軾, Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple 題西林壁
This body of work is deeply shaped by the conditions of quarantine, during which the computer became almost the sole interface for architectural design. The desire for physical construction had to be suppressed and translated into digital processes. In response, the project introduces a workflow for constructing a digital mountain composed of parts that are physically connected through curation and simulation. Viewed through the lens of a computer, the work offers a non human centered experience generated through a quasi autonomous procedure.
Phygital construction is used to blur the boundary between physical and digital material, form, and physics. Within this framework, architectural design is no longer concerned with predicting a final outcome. Instead, it focuses on designing workflows that allow new forms to emerge through the intentional use and misuse of digital tools.
Digital material is approached through the logic of computer science. A digital light source functions as a separator, where different ranges of brightness correspond to different material assignments on a single asset. A digital camera operates as a mask, providing a platform where physical and digital materials intersect and dissolve traditional boundaries.
The asset pool is assembled from found objects sourced from the internet, donated objects from peers, three dimensionally scanned elements from daily life, and fragments from previous projects. The process does not seek stylistic consistency. Instead, it embraces the coexistence of difference. This method functions as a form of digital upcycling that resists synthesis and pixel blending. Objects remain distinct, coexisting without hierarchy.
"Cultural production in the third millennium is totally flat. The information we make and share travels through media that lack hierarchy or centrality. There is no principal authority, no recognized arbitrator, and no centralized archive." - JACK SELF
Responding to this condition of the so called big flat now, stored objects are arranged through curatorial strategies rather than formal unification. Each object undergoes differentiated modifications in form and texture before being accumulated into a shared scene through physical simulation.
A live stream interface is developed to foreground object manipulation and construction processes. This interface establishes an exchange between backstage accumulation and front facing presentation. It reveals information about each object, including its source, material treatment, simulation parameters, and gravity orientation. A film set is constructed with two diffused lightboxes positioned on either side and three additional lightboxes mounted along a catwalk. The model stand, green screen, and wallpaper are embedded with evenly spaced trackers to support future background replacement and motion tracking exercises. Like a geological mountain, the digital mountain is not a finite object but an expanding world that continues to grow over time.
The scene is configured so that the cameras operate within a feedforward feedback loop. The camera becomes an active agent within the system rather than a passive observer. Its operation is detached from human subjective mechanics, producing perspectives that humans would not consciously choose.
There is no composer or conductor in this process. An external system generates the filmic environment, rendering it opaque and unpredictable. The camera places the viewer into situations they did not intentionally construct. While human viewers may interpret these views poetically through cultural memory and lived experience, they cannot fully rationalize what is presented. In this sense, the camera functions as a quasi evaluative tool, revealing spatial structures through perception rather than intention.
Ultimately, the project argues for a design approach that accepts indeterminacy. In an environment shaped by multiple constraints and contingencies, learning how to resee and recombine existing information by delegating partial agency to computational systems becomes not only practical, but necessary.
