NEGOTIATING TRANSCIENCE
SCULPTURE DESIGN, PRODUCT DESIGN, DIGITAL RENDERING,
ARCHITECTURE MODELING, MATERIAL DESIGN, EXPERIENCE DESIGN
DIGITAL SCULPTURE design for THE BRITISH COUNCIL - NEGOTIATING TRANSCIENCE, THE SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION DISPLAYED AT THE BRITISH COUNCIL HQ in STRATFORD, LONDON.
Design Brief
Creating the digital design for the construction of a sculptural installation for the British Council Headquarters in Stratford, London.
The Sculpture is 4.8 Meters high and 3 meters wide. The reason for this dimension is that it perfectly corresponds to that of the Golden ratio, allowing for an ideal structural form and space for viewers to view the sculpture from all directions.
The sculpture is located at the entrance of the British Council’s new global headquarters. As seen from the plan, the ceiling where the sculpture is to be placed is voided, thereby creating a double ceiling at a massive height of 9.5 Meters. allowing for the sculpture to cover a large volume of space, yet make the atmosphere around the room not congested.
The Challenge
For the material design, we use old, discarded, metal sheet waste, that is steamrolled and fused to suggest the effects of the passage of time.
The flakey, pastry-like layering of the metal sheet material imitates layers of earth, stone, and fossils, compressed and fused over time by atmospheric heat and pressure, with trials and tribulations within its layers, the fused material signifies the beauty of resilience.
The Strategy
The Solution
Suspended midair, the installation brings together three distinct and recognizable forms - a canopy, a sail, and a column of light.
The initial structure resembles a canopy, appearing to be whipped around and buffeted by strong winds. Looking around this wind-blown canopy, the viewer is surprised to find that the form of the canopy seems to transition into that of a sail. These two key elements are in turn, balanced by a luminous column, the mast of sunlight that is piercing through, holding the boat stable during the storm.
The structure carries various symbolic resonances, that respond to each other within the context of the work and come together as a whole to frame a meditation on negotiating transience and the need for stability.
The canopy defines a safe space, a meeting point, a structure that acts like a marker, a landmark in a moment of flux. It is a liminal, interstitial space that lends itself to the fluidity of adaptation. While it offers a space for rest, a pause, a moment of quiet introspection, as a platform for exchange and friendships it also compasses movement - of thought, life, and a desire for change.
The canopy’s disorderly appearance, though, indicates that the sense of security and togetherness it offers is threatened. It is disturbed by the very same wind that the sail harnesses and uses to its advantage. Like a diagonal that defines the square, the form of the canopy is accented by that of the sail: the two complement each other with a yin-yang energy dichotomy. Despite being battered by the elements, the sail resists. It is this resistance and resilience that allows for stability within the disturbance.
The piercing shaft of light, that appears to prop the structure up represents stability. The intangibility of the column of light counters the physical heft of the sculptural forms and guides us away from the physical to the metaphysical, the transcendental. Like a mythical axis Mundi, it is a pivot vector that connects the earth and the sky, darkness, and light, ignorance, and knowledge.
