responsive structures: ephemeral
“CEE32H: Responsive Structures is a Design Build course offered in Stanford’s Architectural Design Program. Straddling the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering, this course asks students to develop a membrane tensegrity system to form a sculptural installation on the grounds of the Anderson Collection. A membrane tensegrity system balances the compressive and tensile structural elements to produce a stable whole. Buckminster Fuller, who coined the term ‘tensegrity’ (combining the words tensional and integrity) in 1962, described compressive struts (i.e. rods) as ‘islands of compression in a sea of tension.’
Students studied how to develop this structural system into a large-scale assemblage that responds to the specificities of the site and embodies the idea of ephemerality—the concepts of things existing only briefly. Primarily using slender hardwood dowels and Amaike Super organza fabric (which weighs just 5 grams per meter), students explored the spatial, organizational, and experiential potential of these materials. The process includes model building, prototyping, development of joinery, and culminates in the full scale installation of the developed design."
I served as a teaching assistant, which entailed prototyping at different scales, selecting materials, testing fabrics, and facilitating students with model building and installation. I also photographed the entire process, from early workshop stages to final installation.
