Building Movements #2

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: In 2013, Cottrell, Elliott and Pintos-Lopez worked together to produce a number of creative interventions in the then recently opened RMIT Design Hub. This project explored the building through direct, material dialogue; an emerging mode of practice-based architectural critique whose value is only recently being articulated (see, for example, Inflexions 8: Radical Pedagogies http://inflexions.org/radicalpedagogy/main.html). Research began with a workshop held at the Design Hub in June 2013; the workshop developed into a group exhibition seven weeks later. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: A perforated metal box the same dimensions of the lift interior blocks a straightforward exit from the lift. Building users physically pushed this box (which was contained inside a second perforated metal cube) to open up a narrow exit corridor. This project inverted the passive user/active building dynamic of the lift. Moving these perforated screens created moiré effects seen against the gridded circle pattern of the building facade. The originality of the work lies in these disorientating perceptual effects, which aim to destabilise the conception of the building as a fixed entity. The project extends Cottrell's research into the complexity of threshold conditions, and opens up practices of destabilising architecture as a new area for ongoing inquiry. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The project was published in Ednie-Brown, P. (2015). "Architecture of the Occasion." Architectural Design 85(3): 100-105. Architectural Design is one of the discipline's leading journals, published bi-monthly for over 80 years. It positions itself at the forefront of architectural debate - stimulating discussion on theoretical, creative and technological advances, as well as the social, cultural and environmental implications.The collaboration was partially supported by a residency funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the Immediations project.