Collaboration with Caleb Hawkins, Yotam Hur, Minzi Long
Professor: Hyojin Kwon and Zach Seibold
VIS 2228 | Digital Media: Manipulations
Harvard Graduate School of Design | Fall 2019
ABSTRACT
The Doric and Ionic columns were designed to resemble the patriarchal expectation of the male and female. Doric columns are more robust and implemented in places where strength and power are showcased such as in churches and political buildings. These columns were meant to promote these characteristics in the society’s men. The Ionic are slender with ornate carvings reflecting societal expectations for women to be petite and beautiful. To challenge this paradigm, we used the iconographic symbols that are used to denote gender within the built environment. These profiles were recreated in Grasshopper3D and given the ability to be manipulated and distort the form in scale and shape. The manipulation of these symbols is used as a means to challenge the historic precedent of associating specific genders with beauty, structure, and form. The resulting object combines the iconography of the two genders with two sides portraying the male, and the other two portraying the female. As these icons are further distorted, the gender binary within the form becomes blurred in an effort to question gender stereotypes.
The column with projections mapped to its surface.
The remaining foam from the column cuts were stacked into a wall. The pieces could also be stacked into additional drums and stacked to make an additional column.
The final column and wall.
Robotic arm with hot wire cutter end effector cutting a column drum.
