Archinect
Tony King

Tony King

Vail, CO, US

anchor

Dimension Intrusion

This project is representative of the development of perception and theory, and of the transition from one level of thought to the next. The core ideas of this project transitioned from the glossed over  image-based-design of the mainstream culture that I saw perpetuated in the popular magazines into a personal perception - one where the appropriateness of construction and structure, the simplicity of form and reasoning of function, and the rhythm of vision (pattern) dictated the design.

Sketching the forms out on paper was not getting me anywhere so I started building a model based on the mental picture that formed in my head. I began creating the forms in a way where I was actually working in forms physically. I was already using models early in the design with most projects and now I found the significance of working in model form. I had worked a lot with my hands having worked in my father’s garage restoring cars and so I worked this way in my studio. Now I began to use the process of building models as a way of developing a form in real time.
I was also mixing in my new bag of tricks - theory. You cannot escape theory in a Jesuit school. I was really into a new record by Richie Hawtin titled that was not afraid to cover a lot of different territory, and it moved the sound away from the hard rave music that was selling at the moment creating something classic and inspirational. The idea of breaking down the barriers that contain us had me running on a separate trajectory from the mainstream crowd, and the real concept of the design which was of creating a dimension intrusion was integrated into the form - the simple cone. The quality of architecture that was now being expressed was my first real attempt at removing this desire to create the most bizarre form of design which was based on flashy imagery, and working in the purer chemistry of forms. Abandoning any claims toward originality or invention of a new architecture, the project expressed the timelessness of the cone and the ability of geometries to fuel the design process.

The work wasn’t just restricted to the project outline for the design of a pavilion or the requirement to design a truss and array it to create a structure. Our class discussed the aesthetics and function of a truss and the concept of shelter. For a concept I wanted the structure to have a rhythm to it and to exploit the simplicity of form. The forms & spaces would have a sense of procession, hierarchy and order while simultaneously these cones and layers were peeling away or folding into one another. I wanted people to have the sense that the space was warping their sense of reality.

 
Read more

Status: Unbuilt
Location: Royal Oak, MI / Woodward + Coolidge