Harbour Study

RESEARCH BACKGROUND Triply-Periodic minimal surfaces are mathematical objects that form a continuous partitioning of three-dimensional space with a surface of zero gaussian curvature (cylinder). Through the soap-film models and the work of such architects as Frei Otto, minimal surfaces have a history as architectural structures. This project is one of a series that explores the architectural properties of the Triply-Periodic family of minimal surfaces. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION Paul Minifie's Harbour Study examines how an abstract, scaleless, infinitely thin abstract shape can be introduced into a realm that can be considered as architectural. A real scale is established by giving the surface thickness, while urban relationships are arranged through the sampling of an abstract space. Sequins, which are analogous to fish scales, are referenced in the continually curving, topologically complex surface that is covered by regular construction elements. This is the first time such research has been attempted in architectural design and represents pioneering digital design. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE Harbour Study was exhibited at Archilab 2001: the 3rd International Architecture Convention and Exhibition held at the FRAC Centre, France, curated by Marie-Ange Brayer and Beatrice Simonot. The project featured in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition and has also been published by Thames and Hudson in Archilab's Future House: Radical Experiment in Living Space edited by Marie-Ange Brayer and Beatrice Simonot and in 10 x 10_2 100 Architects 10 Critics by Phaidon Press. It was also exhibited in Convergence: Hotspots Melbourne at the 2004 Architectural Biennale Beijing.