Ziv YANG Zihan
The structure’s standardized construction of random focuses on the study of the reflective properties of metal, and the steel cables will split the reflections out of the flat natural image, shaping a picturesque landscape from a deconstructionist perspective.
In previous student building activities, my designs have often landed very differently from the design drawings. I initially thought this was due to a lack of awareness of the standard component and prices of materials. Therefore, in this Studio, all of my designs are based on standard parts, and the final construction result is oriented, making an attempt to combine the supply side and the design side. But the reason why I emphasize “random” is that the second most important thing after “being able to be built” is “socio-cultural value”. Randomness is romantic, imagination is romantic, so how to create randomness and how to make metal flow like water is my original intention of characterization research.
It is difficult to change the shape of common metals under normal conditions, so where does this randomness and fluidity come from? Among the 4 scenarios included in Standardized Construction of Random, the methods I have tried are chemical reactions and specular reflections on surfaces, and intervening this randomness through natural environments and motorized devices.
Structure A is a Foot Bridge, an experiment in specular reflection and a steel cable structure. Spanning a river valley, the bridge’s perforated metal panels reflect the shapes of mountains, rivers and the sky.
The stretching of the ropes through the motors will change the horizontal angle of the metal plates of the bridge, and then the reflections will change as a result, and the viewing experience will be completely different, both outside and inside. The perforated metal panels ambiguously overlap the view from the front with the view from the back, a way of framing the view, just as the picturesque landscape seeks to do. Only it does not seek to be figurative, but more dynamic and expressionism. The steel cables happen to visually divide the flat picture, leading to a deconstructionist reading.
Author: Ziv YANG Zihan.
Website: zivyang.design
Location: Hong Kong.
University: The University of Hong Kong.
Year: 2023