After listening to the podcast in class i was fascinated by the 'old fashioned' approach Joseph Churchward still practiced when creating his typefaces. The superior designs did not look anything less than computer generated, and this started my initial research about the construction of design, or rather the more fascinating deconstruction of forms.
I wanted to steer the direction of my research into the construction/ deconstruction within sculpture and while doing this came across a fascinating act of recycling and art combined to create a truly remarkable Buddhist temple. The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple situated in the north-east of Thailand has been made from more than one million donated glass beer bottles, from Heineken and Chang beer. It has taken over 25 years to collect enough bottles to build this temple. Not only is the exterior and structure primarily made out of these bottles, but so is every single aspect of the temple's interior. The bottles do not only create an eco-friendly building and tourist attraction but they also don’t fade over time and allow light to reflect around the temple.
This act of recycling is a refreshing approach to cleaning up our 'disposable' lifestyles, and a strong representation of what hard work, determination and creativity can achieve. I find this project and the process that Joseph Churchward undergoes when creating his typefaces very similar, as they both started with a very simplistic idea and was able to transform it into a work of art.
Sources: Daily Mail Green Upgrader
Date found: 1April 2013
When I saw this I immediately thought of the "cardboard cathedral" being in Christchurch. It is a temporary structure being put up in place of the Christchurch Cathedral while it is getting rebuilt. The temporary structure is going to have a life expectancy of about 50 years while they rebuild in Christchurch because of its paper frame.
ReplyDeleteThe structure is designed by 'emergency architect' Shigeru Ban who has been making these temporary structures almost 20 years. The basis of his structures are cardboard tubes which are low cost, low tech, strong and after the structure is not needed any more can be recycled to be made back to paper pulp. These tubes are waterproofed to prevent degradation and expansion under humidity.
Shigeru Ban I think uses his materials in a innovative and practical way, using a material to there full potential. These tubes also are now used in disaster relief areas to create smaller structures that people can live in while the rebuilt and regroup.
Sources and good reading-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Ban - Wikipedia but good references and good explanation of what he does.
http://www.designboom.com/tag/shigeru-ban/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10864804
http://inhabitat.com/shigeru-bans-temporary-onagawa-housing-is-made-from-paper-tubes-and-shipping-containers/
Momo Xie
ReplyDeleteArchitecture, recycling and art combine to create a truly remarkable Buddhist temple. It reminds me of an architect called Wang Shu that I read about. He is a Chinese architect based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. He is the dean of the School of Architecture of the China Academy of Art. In 2012, Wang became the first Chinese citizen to win the Pritzker Prize, the world's top prize in architecture.
Wang Shu adopts a similar approach in using recycled materials to construct with. The Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum was a winning design of his in 2004. The source of materials included recycled material from around the city, lending to one of the concepts of the piece Shu hoped to achieve, “evoke(ing) what life used to be like in this harbour city,” as described by Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times.
Nowadays, I think using recycled materials is becoming more and more prominent as a means of Sustainable Design Innovation and Eco-friendly Architecture. The source of materials is becoming as much of an influence on the process of design as well as the ethics of what we use and how we use it.
http://www.chinese-architects.com/en/projects/detail_thickbox/1755
http://eng.nma.org.cn/