Reflecting the envrionment

Following on from the previous post with Sanford Kwinter's evolutionary outline, here's more on the reciprocal nature of humans and ...

Following on from the previous post with Sanford Kwinter's evolutionary outline, here's more on the reciprocal nature of humans and the environment with examples from the contemporary sphere. We can find a reflection of this dialogue in fashion and the built environment;


Image by Shizhao





 Image by manhai





Image by Rod Waddington





 Image by Wrote


As for biological responses, I think of athletes training at altitude, exposing their bodies to less oxygen which triggers a physiological adaptation - the body becomes more efficient at maximising oxygen usage (so goes the theory). He or she then becomes a physiological response to their environment.

With futuristic tools I have hashed out the following diagram;




I recently read Sean Lally's "The Shape of Energy" which is also in Projective Ecologies (neighbouring Sanford Kwinter's essay, "Combustible Landscape"). It's an essay covering the topic of using energy as architecture. I like his term "geographical desired edges" and so plugged it into the previous diagram;


Now we have a fluctuating edge condition in the centre. 

What currently intrigues me is this edge and at what point it influences the other side. In Lally's terms, "the architectural shape must respond by either intensifying or decreasing the energy output needed to maintain the specified series of boundaries for refining and organizing a given space". If we map this back into the cultural sphere earlier of fashion and environment, the question is this, "what's the threshold of influence from one side to the other?".


Via the great Sparth



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