Resilient Growth @Burnside Bridge over Naito Blvd @Portland Winter Light Festival,
Feb 4-12, 2022 from 6pm to 10pm
SPARK: How can we show Nature’s irrepressible power to thrive under the most difficult conditions? Nature is resilient, and ecosystems evolve through these difficult challenges. University of Oregon Architecture students took on the challenge to express Resilient Growth for the Portland Winter Light Festival in Nancy Cheng’s Fall 2021 Parametric Design class that focused on creating adjustable 3D forms and analyzing them.
PROCESS: Students were intrigued with recreating natural growth patterns and clustering geometries. They began by finding beautiful examples in nature and in artwork. From these inspirations, they sketched multiple possibilities and experimented with simple folded paper or cut cardboard models. These initial ideas spurred digital visualization, complimented by physical prototyping. They looked at how forms and materials could create light and shadow effects, some building on earlier efforts to design a luminaire in their Environmental Control Systems class.
INITIAL STUDENT IDEAS: Every student in the class chose to respond to the idea of resilient growth in a different direction: Andrew Tesmacher was inspired by the photo-luminescent properties of plankton and experimented with reflective mylar to create a field of unexpected glints of light. Aaron Milgrim was interested in the interplay between natural and man-made forms and created a gradual density of mushroom forms taking over a more rigid screen. Standalone object luminaires inspired by larger creatures were complimented by sculptures that defined space with parametric patterns, with elements to catch breezes to generate organic movement.
WINTER TERM LIGHTING EXPERIMENTS
From the Fall term projects, a small team of students began to synthesize selected elements to create a coherent layered scene. Assistant Isaac Martinotti explained, “The largest challenge was attempting to incorporate everyone’s distinct visions into a cohesive exhibition. To begin, we had a bunch of student projects that involved very specific conditions to be seen at their best, and it required a lot of editing to arrive at the result. Through our weeks of planning, it was nice to watch these incongruent visions slowly morph into the final design what we were able to install for the festival.”
Working in the UO Baker Lighting Lab, the group conducted experiments to analyze how light, shadow, and color could work at a large scale. Material choices affected not only the optical effects, but also the structural integrity and portability of the sculpture. Xóchitl González Quintanilla’s award-winning stage designs inspired working with lightweight surfaces whose moving folds would catch the light.
Trials showed that compared to plastic sheets, flexible polyester interlock fabric created a canvas that flowed naturally to create evocative shadows when edge-lit. Translucent bubble wrap created evocative fishscale patterns when backlit and contrasted with crisp shadows of a solid wire skeleton. Crumpled reflective mylar hung on strings and allowed to sway and twist, projected etherial sprites on the sheets. Ethan Frolov created growing organic patterns with Grasshopper scripts that created were given additional complexity and depth when projected onto loose-hanging fabric. Aaron Milgrim planned how fans activated in series would create constantly changing air currents to animate the fabric and create liquid movement to the fabric. Aaron reflected, “I think in hardware, and this project afforded me the opportunity to explore this. The concept of making code real, or creating objects that respond to a dance created in computer language, is an intriguing one, and the exercise of designing in this way was one of the most satisfying I have had in the design department here at U of O.”
Max Weisenbloom explained, “Working in a team to create dozens of different experiments in the Baker Lighting Lab was an amazing experience. As everyone had their own approach to problem solving and lighting design, it was incredible to see all of our different designs come together into one combined form and learn from the collaborative process. When one person had a creative block or didn’t know where to go next, someone else was always ready to step in.”
SHOWTIME AT THE WHITE STAG BLOCK
The final installation combines the essence of key projects to create a dynamic ecosystem of organic forms. A linear vine curls around the seismic X-bracing and ends with a plant frond flourish on one end and a sequence of growing and shrinking flowers on the other end. Elements had to be adjusted to work for the larger setting. For example, the weight of the large drapes required much greater air volume than the test pieces. Lighting designer Edward Parker of Workbox Productions was instrumental in realizing the concept by specifying, installing and tuning the equipment. He and UO digital media production specialist Chris Cosler streamlined the logistics. In the final result, fans push a pulse of air across the windows, that cycles first like cool ocean waves and then heats up into a fiery surge before repeating in kind of rhythmic heartbeat.
Animation projected on the east window curtain, created by Ethan Frolov assisted by Isaac Martinotti. Click to see full sequence.
Aaron Milgrim concludes, “I will carry the experience and learning that I have gained from this project forward, constantly looking for opportunities like it. If I could choose any future career, it would be projects like this: learning new technologies and applying them to the real world and the built environment. Spending equal time designing and engineering, becoming an expert in the tools and technologies necessary to bring my own or other designers’ visions to life…. I feel nothing but fortunate to have had the opportunity to explore all of these disciplines in this project.”
TEAM CREDITS
Nancy Cheng, Associate Professor and team leader
Ethan Frolov, B.Arch.’23
Isaac Martinotti, B.Arch.’23
Aaron Milgrim, B.Arch.’23
Andrew Tesmacher, M.Arch.’23
Max Weisenbloom, B.Arch.’23
Eddie Parker, Workbox Productions
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We appreciate the invaluable help we received from Chris Cosler, Justin Fowler, John Roper, Jen Flores, Jacklin Kingen, Mary Polites, Linda Hallgren, Siobhan Rockcastle, the ReBuilding Center, Outlaw Lighting, other UO Portland supporters and our encouraging allies.
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