Doojin Hwang Architects

Nameless Architecture as well as artist Kwangho Lee were the invited guests of the 45th Youngchoo Forum. Their presentation was interesting and well appreciated by everyone.

Nameless presented their offices in New York City and Seoul as interconnected entities: the former being a ground for ideas while the later is an open field for testing said ideas. We quickly realize that Nameless’ architecture is one in close contact with its environment. They believe, akin to the Butterfly effect, that an event happening in a given city can affect another city halfway across the world. This fragility and lack of stability inspires their architectural projects. Indeed, they all express lightness and are often changing through users’ interaction. Though none were built, Playcloud, [Con]temporary Infrastructure and Whiteout were the 3 most interesting projects presented.

Playcloud, winner of the BSA/AIA Unbuilt Architecture Award, is an installation designed to give light to Governors Island, near Manhattan. The proposition is to install an artificial cloud visible from most of the surrounding areas. The cloud would sway with the wind and respond to interactions by its users.

[Con]temporary Infrastructure is a new bridge built 20m above an old aqueduct in the Bronx. Inside, an interactive cultural flow passes through the structure replacing the water that used to flow in the aqueduct below. This bridge, by it’s shape and length, is reminiscent of some old utopian project of Rem Koolhaas. The interior spaces strike as being a contemporary rendition, in both shape, space, program and adaptability, of Cedric Price’s Fun Palace.

Whiteout, one of their latest projects, is quite inspiring on a structural point of view. Designed for an international competition in Winnipeg, Canada, this triangular ice pavilion is made of a 400m long wire-reinforced hose and water. As water freezes, the ensemble becomes structural and can stand on its own. Meant to be located on a frozen river to welcome skaters and strollers alike, the pavilion fits into its environment. Not only is the form supposed to give perspective in the whiteness of Winter, but once the temperature get warmer, the ice within the hose returns to water and is directly drained into the Assiniboine River.

Having used hoses as a material, they wanted to push the experiment even further. Hence, they contacted Kwangho Lee, an artist who knots hoses to make art pieces. They joined forces in an attempt to create an installation that would unite the human and the artificial while structuring the landscape in order to make an interesting space. Choosing a tree (for its resembling tectonic to a knotted hose) on the artist’s grand-father land, they created a niche in which it is possible to lay down, relax and be in direct connection with nature; a union between what is natural and what is artificial.

Nameless Architecture, always on a quest to blend in with their environment, is still in the process of experimenting with this interesting material.  As for artist Kwangho Lee, DJHA saw first hand his talent as he was also part of the exhibition “Unconventional Objects” at Takeout Drawing last July. We can only look forward to what their respective new projects are going to be.

David Martin, designer at DJHA


Links:

http://www.namelessarchitecture.com
http://www.kwangholee.com/