Fall 2019
Cornell University Arch 5101 Design IX
Professor: Naomi Frangos
Gilles Deleuze suggests that singularity, universality, and distinctiveness can be achieved through repetition. Repetition is not necessarily duplication, but rather it is the presence of rhythm or pattern. The natural world hosts an immense variety of living organisms which are the result of coevolution. The Nepenthes Hemsleyana pitcher plant has adapted to be easily detected by the echolocation of woolly bats. The shape and size of the vessel is perfectly suited to the body of the woolly bat and functions as a nest. The pitcher plant benefits by collecting and digesting the bat’s feces for nutrition without causing any harm to the mammal. Deleuze's understanding of Darwinism along with the coevolutionary relationship between the woolly bat and the Nepenthes Hemsleyana pitcher plant informed the design of a coevolving material system.
Echo Nesting Façade has two primary materials: glass and ceramic. The fabrication process required many material iterations; a cherry wood mold was created for the glass blown modules and a plaster mold was created for the slipcast ceramic modules. Raw materials were optimized, the waste was measured, and parts were reused. With time, the molds began to transform with repeated use. The cherry wood mold lost definition as the molten glass repeatedly charred the concave hardwood formwork. These subtle material changed were embedded and cataloged within the form and surface of the blown glass pieces. The organic design evolution is a record of how two unique material processes echo off of one another, generating a unified whole.
Formal expression is optimized using 250+ possible facade aggregations, producing as many varied lighting conditions from a minimal kit of parts. The modules operate in a similar manner to louvers; they are oriented horizontally across the external face of a thermally insulated building enclosure. The concave ceramic parts work together to bounce light into the space, while the blown glass modules can be inserted between the ceramic in order to filter and transform the light. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stated that, “if we look at a landscape through a yellow glass, particularly on a grey winter’s day. The eye is gladdened, the heart expanded and cheered, a glow seems at once to breathe towards us.” The yellow hue of the blown glass warms interior finishes, resulting in a more productive and positive environment.
Deleuze, Gilles, “Difference and Repetition” 2013
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von., and Eastlake. Theory of Colours: Translated from the German with Notes, by C.L. Eastlake. London, 1840.
