MArch I Graduate Thesis  

Instructor - Ron Rael

Advisor - Nicholas De Monchaux

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To describe this project in its entirety would take a little more than this brief description. But in the most basic sense, it is a project that looks at the urban environment, impending sea level rise, noise pollution, and how our current understanding of these issues is directly related to the limitation of current and pre-existing architectural media. The current tools typically push our understanding of climate to a boundary or an ecological edge. Typically in the form of building berms, sea walls, and creating or rebuilding wetlands. 

 

However, there are three ways in which we typically do not think about climate change.

 

1. We don’t think of it operating at the scale of our own bodies, lifespan, attention, etc...

2. We don't think of it bringing new and interesting possibilities for architecture. 

3. We don't yet think about our buildings and landscapes as being able to move and change and adapt to these circumstances.

 

The architectural proposals that follow, take on an instrumental approach to how architectural models and drawings can perform and begin to address these issues. The instruments operate at two scales: at the scale of the body, they are instruments, and at the scale of the city, they are architectural proposals. Intended to constantly measure and adapt to circumstances that cannot necessarily be seen or understood. 

 

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