The Structure of Thick Space

This paper delineates the process, prototyping and construction of two full scale outdoor installations, entitled “Fall Leaf Catcher” and “COCOON”. Students followed a methodology we have developed, called Responsive Structures, in which students mine the structural, spatial, experiential and poetic potential of a specific material. The material explored for both courses was standard steel wire mesh: the type typically used for agricultural purposes. Although the methodology and material palettes were similar, the results reveal striking differences of approach structurally and spatially. We show how structural investigations and analyses merged with conceptual and visual intentions, resulting in a typology of space we call “Thick Space”.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.105.12

Volume Editors
Luis Francisco Rico-Gutierrez & Martha Thorne

ISBN
978-1-944214-08-1