H_edge, June 2006digital rendering, interior view,
Advanced Geometry Unit, Arup, Londonimage credit: Jenny E. Sabin
http://www.artistsspace.org
Today, John and Kolatan mentioned about H_edge exhibition in artist space,
soho. This exhibition was held in last year but it is enough to see what's happe
ned in there. I just attach the articles from web-site, artists-space, so please
check them.
ARUP Advanced Geometry UnitDesign Team: Cecil Balmond, Daniel Bosia,
Jenny E. Sabin,Charles Walker, Francis ArcherAssembly Team: Jenny E. Sabin
and PennDesign studentsCurated by Christian RattemeyerAn illustrated catalogue
with an essay by David Ruy will be published for the exhibition.
“The project exists on three levels: the mathematical-geometric, the architectural
-spatial and the structural-tectonic. H_edge is based on a cubic fractal tiling of
space known as the Menger Sponge. The geometric matrix of this sponge is
modular and self-similar, offering positive and negative space at embedded scales.
This binary tiling is deployed at three different scales, which create spatial conditions
that relate to the scale of the human body. These are named cave, trench, and path.
Tectonically, the tiling is achieved through the use of two modular units: the leaf and
the chain-link, which interlock to form a suspended network of reciprocal load-paths.
The staggering of the plates along the chain in four directions ensures that no plate
touches another and that the chain is pre-stressed to form a rigid load-path. H_edge
and the Fourier Carpet are binary systems, understandable as ordered series of 0
and 1 digits in three- and two-dimensional mathematical space. They both demon
strate how number systems can be used to describe, control and inform geometric
complexity.“ —ARUP AGU
This fall, Artists Space presents H_edge, a new project created by Cecil Balmond
and ARUP Advanced Geometry Unit, a think tank dedicated to researching complex
structural geometry in support of new architectural visions and solutions. AGU’s
installation at Artists Space will function as an enclosure within the gallery, allowing
visitors the opportunity to experience, interact with, and compartmentalize physical
space in new and exciting ways. H_edge is an experiment in the use of geometry
and matter to create organizations of space. Constructed solely of alumnium panels
and stainless steel chain, H_edge is an application of advanced mathematics and
engineering to form a modular structure capable of many shapes and configurations,
surprisingly simple and elegant in its construction, yet ever-changing in its appearance.
In addition to the three-dimensional installation H_edge, the exhibition also includes
the wall piece Fourier Carpet, for which a computational design was woven into a
wallhanging on a Jacquard loom. H_edge has been designed in London and con-
structed in Philadelphia with the help of Penn Design students. It consists of 5200
laser-cut aluminum plates and almost 5000ft of stainless steel chain. Fourier Carpet
has been digitally generated and designed by Jenny E. Sabin in Philadelphia and
woven on a digitized Jacquard Loom by Keystone Weaving in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
It is 36ft by 5ft and is composed of interlaced black and white wool threads.
H_edge is supported, in part, by ARUP, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies
in the Fine Arts, Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown, and PennDesign.
