ECDYSIS
FEATURED ON ARCHREPORTER & KOOZARCH
“Imagine new subterranean environments created by AI-driven boring machines, cultivating novel public spaces for a city running out of space above ground.”
Ecdysis aims to explore a new architectural typology through the creation of an underground structure in Queens, New York. As the city continues to grow vertically, we must seek new possibilities for architectural intervention other than just farther up towards the sky. New spatial experiences and agendas can be explored through this proposed multi-agent system, using semi-autonomous boring machines to create underground spaces with possibilities for architectural intervention in the form of theaters, galleries, and even new ecologies. Through the introduction of bio-concrete panels infused with mycelium into the tunneling process, we can create these new spaces within synthetic natures and ecologies cultivated completely underground.
The site, residing adjacent to the East River in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York, is called the Socrates Sculpture Park. This public park is not your classic neighborhood park, however it provides an area for local artists to showcase their talents through installation and sculpture. This previous site use, paired with the close proximity of the Noguchi Museum only a few blocks away from the site, incites an obvious inclination towards a sculptural approach to the landscaping of the site, or in technical terms, the roofscape of the building. Therefore, at the ground level of our site, we aim to infer upon what lies below in the form of the entrance ports of the boring machines, as well as the caps to the theaters, but then the rest of the site gives way to a sculptural massaging of the parkscape to create a dynamic landscape that pays homage to the sculptural heritage that existed in this particular area.
The theater is influenced by the “Domus Aurea,” created as almost a found artifact, retrofitted with future theater strategies. A spherical space, the levels and angles of seats are calculated based on optimal viewing paths for each guest. Aforementioned, the material studies informed how an excavated landfill, such as this site, could be manifested in a unique aesthetic, an informed aesthetic that results in the naturally crenellated outer walls, providing obvious acoustical benefits. The blue and white gradient texture is directly correlated to the reaction we found between the plastic and wax.
The theater is influenced by the “Domus Aurea,” created as almost a found artifact, retrofitted with future theater strategies. A spherical space, the levels and angles of seats are calculated based on optimal viewing paths for each guest. Aforementioned, the material studies informed how an excavated landfill, such as this site, could be manifested in a unique aesthetic, an informed aesthetic that results in the naturally crenellated outer walls, providing obvious acoustical benefits. The blue and white gradient texture is directly correlated to the reaction we found between the plastic and wax.
Mirroring the dynamism of the autonmous boring machines, we designed a theater with seating boxes that were afixed to track rings. This allows for the box seats to move through a hydraulic system, making available a way for the theater to take on different seating arrangments, as well as a whole new seating typlogy for theater design. This innovation allows for dynamic performances, where audience becomes as variable as the performance and the change of stage sets during theater.
The panels of the boring tunnel use familiar elements with a slight variation to allow attaching areas for the suspeneded gallery pods. The slight overlap of the panels allows for a bolted connection for the metal, insulated pods, to attach their footings. This panel modificiation allow for suspension above the floor of the boring tunnels, allowing for the panel bioconcrete to freely grow its infused mycelium freely.
The gallery pods create, clean, controlled environments within the larger system of the boring tunnels created by the autonomous machines. These spaces provide a more functional area for human intervention, and also create an interesting space in which to admire and investigate the growth of the exterior tunnels. Mycelium is infused into the tunnel panels, a fungi that grows in many colors and forms, so that the tunnels cultivate various colorful growths and accumulate within the tunnels over time.
The gallery pods create, clean, controlled environments within the larger system of the boring tunnels created by the autonomous machines. These spaces provide a more functional area for human intervention, and also create an interesting space in which to admire and investigate the growth of the exterior tunnels. Mycelium is infused into the tunnel panels, a fungi that grows in many colors and forms, so that the tunnels cultivate various colorful growths and accumulate within the tunnels over time.
The physical model is comprised of several different materials and methods, and was used as both an exploration into the proposed aesthetic, as well as an art piece, focusing on creating intriguing object on its own. Therefore, we used the methods practiced from the material studies on a larger scale for the creation of the theater, insetting wax and plastic and a plaster form. The acrylic panels enclosing the unit were infused with various sands and sediment to represent the subterranean levels.