Constructing atmospheres

This paper documents and critically reflects upon the design, development, fabrication, and implementation of three pavilion projects developed during 2013-14. The core investigation of this work is the production of architectural spaces characterized by a quality of enveloping, diffuse, visual and spatial atmospheres. The principal activity of the research is aimed at refining methods for software-based exploration of formal complexities and the subsequent need to control variability and efficiency in fabrication output, using Grasshopper for Rhino to develop customized definitions particular to each specific project scenario. Linking the projects together are issues of scale, resolution of effect, and intent to move from disparate assemblies of structure and skin toward composite, manifold construction techniques that address multiple concerns (gravity, bracing, affect, etc) with a minimum of assembly. A material palette common to the current vernacular of CNC-based projects such as plywood, plastics, and other sheet materials is utilised. This work is invested in extending the possibilities of the architect and architecture as a discipline, extrapolating the workflow from these successive projects to the speculative impact of the work upon emerging possibilities of architectural construction and craft.