ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE DIGITAL
curated buy Greg Lynn
CCA Canadian Center for Architecture
1920, rue Baile - Montreal
7/5/2013 - 13/10/2013
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) presents Archaelogy of the Digital, an exhibition that delves into the genesis and establishment of digital tools for design conceptualization, visualization and production at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. The first in a series of activities at the CCA concerned with the study, preservation, and presentation of the digital in architecture, the exhibition opens on 7 May and will be on view in the CCA's main galleries until 13 October. An afternoon of discussion between the exhibition curator and the featured architects will follow on 8 May.
Curated by architect Greg Lynn, the exhibition along with the related publication are conceived as object-based investigations of four pivotal projects that established distinct directions in architecture's use of digital tools: the Lewis Residence by Frank Gehry (1985–1995), Peter Eisenman's Frankfurt Biozentrum (1987), Shoei Yoh's roof structures for Odawara Gymnasium (1991) and Galaxy Toyama Gymnasium (1992), and Chuck Hoberman's Expanding Sphere (1992).
The Lewis Residence by Frank O. Gehry (1985–1995) was prescient in exploring the power of computer rationalization in describing and fabricating sculptural tectonic elements. On the other hand, Peter Eisenman's Frankfurt Biozentrum (1987) tested the computer's ability to generate its own formal language. A vanguard attempt to digitally script the design process, the Biozentrum's geometries emerge from abstract representations of DNA structures, manipulated through processes intended to simulate genome replication. The scaffold-like lines of Shoei Yoh's unbuilt Odawara Gymnasium (1991) wood truss ceiling and constructured Galaxy Toyama Hall (1992) were verified for integrity by computer analysis, using intensive coding and virtual testing to advance a language of minimalist structural expressionism. Chuck Hoberman's Expanding Sphere (1992) is a finely tuned folding polyhedron that smoothly expands and contracts, opening the way to later explorations in responsive and adaptive architecture. Conceived as a precise and factual narration, Archaelogy of the Digital highlights the dialogue between computer sciences, architecture and engineering, which is at the core of these early experiments.
As CCA Director and Chief Cutrator Mirko Zardini commented, "Archaeology of the Digital also suggests a great sense of loss marked by the fact that most of the digital material produced for these projects is gone. The imminent danger of losing even more records compelled us to take a first step towards collecting, documenting, and making them accessible." The project represents the first step in the CCA's strategic objective of creating a collection of digital architecture.
curated buy Greg Lynn
CCA Canadian Center for Architecture
1920, rue Baile - Montreal
7/5/2013 - 13/10/2013
The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) presents Archaelogy of the Digital, an exhibition that delves into the genesis and establishment of digital tools for design conceptualization, visualization and production at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. The first in a series of activities at the CCA concerned with the study, preservation, and presentation of the digital in architecture, the exhibition opens on 7 May and will be on view in the CCA's main galleries until 13 October. An afternoon of discussion between the exhibition curator and the featured architects will follow on 8 May.
Curated by architect Greg Lynn, the exhibition along with the related publication are conceived as object-based investigations of four pivotal projects that established distinct directions in architecture's use of digital tools: the Lewis Residence by Frank Gehry (1985–1995), Peter Eisenman's Frankfurt Biozentrum (1987), Shoei Yoh's roof structures for Odawara Gymnasium (1991) and Galaxy Toyama Gymnasium (1992), and Chuck Hoberman's Expanding Sphere (1992).
The Lewis Residence by Frank O. Gehry (1985–1995) was prescient in exploring the power of computer rationalization in describing and fabricating sculptural tectonic elements. On the other hand, Peter Eisenman's Frankfurt Biozentrum (1987) tested the computer's ability to generate its own formal language. A vanguard attempt to digitally script the design process, the Biozentrum's geometries emerge from abstract representations of DNA structures, manipulated through processes intended to simulate genome replication. The scaffold-like lines of Shoei Yoh's unbuilt Odawara Gymnasium (1991) wood truss ceiling and constructured Galaxy Toyama Hall (1992) were verified for integrity by computer analysis, using intensive coding and virtual testing to advance a language of minimalist structural expressionism. Chuck Hoberman's Expanding Sphere (1992) is a finely tuned folding polyhedron that smoothly expands and contracts, opening the way to later explorations in responsive and adaptive architecture. Conceived as a precise and factual narration, Archaelogy of the Digital highlights the dialogue between computer sciences, architecture and engineering, which is at the core of these early experiments.
As CCA Director and Chief Cutrator Mirko Zardini commented, "Archaeology of the Digital also suggests a great sense of loss marked by the fact that most of the digital material produced for these projects is gone. The imminent danger of losing even more records compelled us to take a first step towards collecting, documenting, and making them accessible." The project represents the first step in the CCA's strategic objective of creating a collection of digital architecture.
