_for the oil

attempting to understand the movement of the oil beneath the surface, its migration through the geological layers and eventual arrival in sought reservoirs. then, the leakage and immersion in the landscape. the terrible beauty of those situations. the way it moves. the spoil of the orange. the collection of the hydrocarbons and their resulting embeddings.

a method of questioning.

some of it is quite old... . . from the second notebook and i am now on the fifth. however, this process is a continual reflection on my knowledge and experiences, as well as the various ways of dealing with newly acquired information. i also find it fascinating to look back through them and find them coming to life as i become more passionate and engaged in my thesis.

straightforward, hopefully.

i am creating a raft.

one that moves up and down the river collecting information and people and culture and experience.

one that keeps growing along the journey so that it begins to solidify the data that is absorbed.

you are confused.

try to think of architecture as more than simply, a building. i have no intention of making a building.

architecture, to me, is a method of communication. physically, it is usually an object that provides shelter, however, more than that. it is a place where life happens, a dialogue and performance between people. i do not care what it looks like. i care about what it does.

an exploratory architectural realm is that of bio - architecture. protocells, literally, droplets of oil that are chemically designed to have living characteristics. the waste that they leave behind solidifies as small scale constructions.

the architect does not become obsolete. the architect creates the context in which they exist and can proliferate.

what are the possibilities for architecture when you design a system that isnt merely an image frozen in time? an architecture that reproduces and shifts in certain situations? in particular landscapes?

so my project is an interactive watercraft that literally grows as it moves up and down the river. the oil droplets preserve the watery chemical compositions they exist in as they calcify, so the record of the journey becomes a series of animated, seemingly living stalact(gm)ites.

this place is the vessel that travels the river basin. a place for conversation between anyone who wants to participate in the conversation. . .. to be the entertainer that, while entertaining, reorganizes everything.

a territory of individuals.

we live in a world where any bit of information is instantly at our fingertips. yet, we do not determine the relationships of those fields of data. i am trying to create that place. a place where it doesnt matter who you are or what you do, if you are passionate and creative and willing to demolish your traditional boundaries, you are welcome there. join the discussion.

set out on the river for a life ahead.

_for the wetland

another set forging through intermediate territories, the spaces between land and sea. amidst air, water, soil, and everything in between. creating new landscapes in the gaps and crevices, situations where architecture might dwell. their proliferation relying on a series of opportune conditions _ dormant bodies existing amongst their residues until awakened by the proper concoction of fresh and salt water.

seeking neurological energies in plant root structures, soliciting life and the potential energies and communications along with that possibility. the remnants of their movements solidifying as chemical records within an exuberant database.

_for the view

a series of protos registering location, trying to emerge from their own waste, rising above to reflect an image of geographic place, each pushing past the other to get a better look.. . .

data collection

the River has continually deposited its history into layers of soil. attempting to understand them and simulating those properties as a way to collect information. protocells [droplets of oil designed to maintain living properties] shed their skin|waste|layers as they move, reproduce and "live." so, an attempt to begin to visualize that process in relation to the River itself.

specificity

in my struggles with avoiding form making and continual research through overlapping territories, i have decided that i need to be much more specific about what im doing.

in order to attempt to understand my project and my objectives. the mississippi river as a lens for viewing american culture. of course, it is not formally a lens, but a lens being the thing which magnifies and corrects that which is being viewed.

a watercraft moving down the river, dealing with a series of domains, bringing knowledge and communication together to encapsulate education.

an architectural discourse between people and place. gathering geological information through migrating seismic surveys. visualizing the pollution, velocity, currents, and deposition of the river itself. thinking and discussing and hypothesizing and doing. acquiring passengers [scientist. teacher. architect. novelist. artist. engineer. student. musician.] and sensual, cultural experience [smells. stories. sounds. tastes.] perpetual amalgamation of information and communication through experience.

all of this occurring at the threshold of multiple worlds.

to be the entertainer that, while entertaining, reorganizes everything.