Archinect
Matter Architecture Practice

Matter Architecture Practice

Brooklyn, NY

anchor

ECOTOPIA: THE SECOND ICP TRIENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

Ecotopiaries provided the setting for this exhibition showcasing contemporary views of the natural world in this era of undeniable climatic change. The project was installed within two weeks, on a stringent budget, using techniques tolerancing a non-professional construction crew.

Part commentary on America’s dependencies on oil, Ecotopiaries are fabricated out of a non-biodegradable, yet 100% recyclable, petroleum-based polyethylene foam. This single material was repurposed and recombined to create cost-effective A/V viewing rooms, light-diffusing screens, seating, and a/v monitor pods.

Through full-scale prototyping, MATTER innovated ‘woven’ skin panels that could be mass-produced and tolerate tiling into a variety of configurations on-site. The density and direction of the ‘weave’ caused the panels to naturally bow outward, creating the desired forms and requiring minimal structure for support.

The pods are consciously reminiscent of topiary, wryly referencing man’s strange attempts to shape natural growth into stylized constructions.

 
Read more

Status: Built
Location: New York, NY, US
Firm Role: Designers and Fabricators
Additional Credits: Matter project team:
Sandra Wheeler, principal-in-charge, design
Alfred Zollinger, principal-in-charge, fabrication
Ken Kinoshita, project architect

Elizabeth Beecherl, Christine Chang, Carolina Garcia, Michele Gorman,
Lindsey Jones, Klara Hobza, Ina Ko, Bahare Nadjafi, Roxana Asami,
Kyle Ewing, Brian Kim, Kwi-Hae Kim, Young Park, Jessica Sato

Exhibition Graphics design:
mgmt. design

Curators:
Brian Wallis, Christopher Phillips, Edward Earle, Carol Squiers,
Joanna Lehan (assistant)

Production Manager:
Karlos Carcamo, ICP

 
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/Harry Zernike
Photo/ICP
Photo/ICP