Inside is where we are safe. We can gather, we can rest, we can build and create while being sheltered from the natural threats of our environment.
This way of life was essential to our longevity as a species for thousands of years, but in the modern world, we have advanced infrastructure to the point where our past threats need shelter from us.
INSIDE explores how design can start to let the outside back in and find the balance between ourselves and the natural phenomena we were once bound to.
work - inside
sleep - inside
eat - inside
commute - inside
exercise - inside
socialize - inside
Light passes from the east to the west and changes how the light interacts with the room throughout the day. The fade is synced with live sunrise and set times
Organic-shaped screens move to diffuse the light source behind them. By grouping tightly to diminish the light or sparsely to brighten it, the light inside the space matches the varying levels of sun intensity occurring outside.
A clear container holding water rises and falls in sync with the tide as it engulfs and reveals a wedge of stone. The taper of the stone mimics the slope from shore to ocean... the less stone showing, the higher the tide.
After conversations with my professors and classmates
The tidal prototype delivered an impact on my concept that the others seemed to lack as well as posed a new and exciting challenge for me.
and a challenge it was....
This project required me to learn countless new skills such as coding and Arduino, plexiglass construction, and hydrodynamic laws like buoyancy and the movement of water under pressure.
A few months and many gallons of water later I was able to complete the final piece you see below
INSIDE
a tidal object for your consideration
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How it works
hover over each description for a highlighted look
Houses the clear tank and acts as a sheath for it to ascend and descend in and out of.
Has an open trough filled with water that swallows the rocks as it rises (this is the only visible part of any of the tanks). Extending underneath the visible upper trough there is a sealed chamber (labeled AIR) that allows the entire tank to float.
Houses the main tank, reserve tank and all electronic components.
clear tank
reserve tank
Holds water while the main tank is empty (at low tide).
Starting at low tide, the first pump takes water from the reserve and pumps it into the main tank. This forces the clear tank (that is floating inside the main tank) upwards towards the stones as it rises to high tide. Once high tide is reached the second pump pulls water from the main tank back into the reserve, allowing the clear vessel (floating at maximum height) to return downwards and nest back inside the main tank. The third pump recycles water from the main tank into the upper trough section of the clear vessel keeping it full at all times. This is in order to avoid the rocks displacing water out of the clear tank at high tide and having it descend only partially full. All the pumps are hooked up to an Arduino running on a custom program I wrote that pulses the water pumps, controlling the ascend and descend of the clear vessel to match tide rise and fall data. This also means that any data can be input to match any tidal fluctuation across the globe.
For the duration of its installation at ECUAD, the rise and fall were synced with the tidal levels here in Vancouver.
Main tank
Main body