The RIBA President’s Medals Student Awards
http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Entry-23601
The concept of my site development lays on the bonds among the vertical connection, the horizontal connection, and the organic connection.
These three connections can be categorized as architecture, like towers and buildings, transportation projects, like bridges and highways, and the organic movement and connection made within neighborhood and communities in human scale.
This project studies how salt was harvested and the technique they use to harvest the salt. The inspiration comes from the use of net to help collect salt and gather.
The thread is used to form the shape of the skin while the structure dominates the shape. What I found interesting and beautiful in this is that the fact the thread cannot be seen just like the organic movement and connection among people, while the built environment is dominating the shape of the unseen, which is the culture and connection that the hardscape cultivated.
Wei, you found a very elegant example where studies of salt crystallization inspired structures with ice-like translucent surfaces. While I am very glad you are honing your wood joining skills, I wonder whether you could also cultivate a material investigation that invites organic growth, whether crystals, algae that produces oil, cleansing mushrooms, etc.
It would be great if you could investigate the urban ecology of the Willamette River’s edge to see the site specific opportunities.
– Nancy