Blurring reality: shrouded by a drifting, mysterious pall of mist, Diller & Scofidio's Blur building explores notions of dematerialization.At the south western end of Lake Neuchatel, the pretty spa town
In economics, dematerialization refers to the absolute or relative reduction in the quantity of materials required to serve economic functions in society. In common terms, dematerialization means doing more with less. . The steel structure is based on an experimental design by Buckminster Fuller that could not be constructed until now because the joints were too complex. Vertical elements are supported solely by a network of tensile wires. The building acts as an extremely sophisticated sprinkler system. Filtered lake water is expelled as a fine mist through a dense array of over 30,000 high-pressure nozzles to generate a huge artificial clout that in its most viscous moments seems to have appeared from nowhere, like those ominous, inexplicable fogs in horror movies. The cloud is a dynamic from that constantly responds to the actual weather; a built-in weather station electronically adjusts the water pressure and temperature over thirteen different zones according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. shifting wind direction, speed and humidity. Having donned the regulation raincoat provided by the organizers, visitors approach the building by a fibreglass fibreglass or glass fibre Fibrous form of glass, developed in the 1930s. Liquid glass issues in fine streams through hundreds of fine nozzles, and the solidifying streams are gathered into a single strand and wound onto a spool. catwalk that links it with the shore, looking like a convention of slightly perverse monks in their white plastic hoods and cassocks. As you enter, visual and acoustic references are slowly erased, leaving only a visual white-out and the white noise of the pulsating nozzles. Sensory deprivation sensory deprivation n. The reduction or absence of usual external stimuli or perceptual opportunities, commonly resulting in psychological distress and sometimes in unpleasant hallucinations. stimulates a sensory heightening: the density of air inhaled in·hale v. in·haled, in·hal·ing, in·hales v.tr. 1. To draw (air or smoke, for example) into the lungs by breathing; inspire. 2. , the lowered temperature, the soft sound of water spray and the scent of the atomized lake water all begin to overwhelm the senses, inducing feelings of disorientation disorientation /dis·or·i·en·ta·tion/ (-or?e-en-ta´shun) the loss of proper bearings, or a state of mental confusion as to time, place, or identity. and isolation. Blundering around in the mist, you eventually emerge like an aeroplane piercing a cloud layer onto a panoramic terrace and bar at the summit, which offers bemused visitors a variety of mineral waters. At night, subtle lighting enhances the building's mysterious allure and adds to the sense of dematerialization. Architect Diller & Scofidio, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Associate architects and designers Morphing Systems: vehover & Jeuslin; Techdata, Emch & Berger Landscape architect West B Photographs Paul Raftery/VIEW |
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