Welcome studio Berlin 2009
university of Illinois at chicago & universitat der kunste in berlin
summer 2009

studioBerlin2009 from John Manaves on Vimeo.
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project statement

The architecture departments of the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Universitat der Kunste in Berlin collaborated, for a second time, on a five-week summer research, design and fabrication studio. The product is an ephemeral, interactive public architecture installation on an unused 3400m2 lot in the Tiergarten-Mitte area of Berlin. The design resulted from a three-step process in which 20 UIC and UdK students’ initial individual projects led to a series of four 5-person team designs. These group proposals were then incorporated into one final design. The previous exercises were used to gradually inform the overall form, function and systems of the installation; while attention was also paid to existing site conditions and nearby infrastructures. The heart of the design is an open-webbed, wooden truss structural system that is both complimentary to and integrative of the underlying triangular and hexagonal geometries of the previous team projects. These are no ordinary trusses however: their otherwise simple geometry drastically morphs to create a complex mesh that allows for interesting, multi-faceted inner and outer surfaces. The inner surface changes from a meandering path that playfully interacts with several of the existing “grass mound” artist installations on the site, to an engulfing enclosure that serves as the focal point of the project. Most of the structural mesh is strategically “skinned” with either ½” thick OSB or durable and recycled tarpaulin material, while others serve as niches for implanted lighting and sound devices. These lighting and sound components of the installation allow users of the space to directly affect both of these conditions via natural movement through the installation and/or intentional operations. The result is an interactive, multi-sensory experience that is visually and audibly optimized, enhancing the experiential quality and allowing the user to become a “performer” in the space.