TS5 HIGH PASS WITH DISTINCTION 2018 Excerpt
by Dalia Frontini Matsuura, AA 5th Year Diploma Unit 1616 May 2018 Architectural Association, London
Prajapati’s Painted Bodhi: New(ari) Craftsmanship
Painting not only can become a drawing tool, but also a structural, architectural and surgical device.
How can a brush stroke have compression and tension qualities?
What will the future ink be that defies gravity?
How can it entangle, suspend and levitate spaces?
Bodhi is a Nepalese term meaning the “strangling” fig tree (ficus religiosa). The roots of the Bodhi tree entangled the Temple of Durbar, the only heritage to survive the disastrous 2015 Gorkha earthquake.
Prajapati’s Bodhi will be resilient and adaptive to seismic oscillations. Made of enriched composite graphene and ultra-lightweight polymer filaments (highly ductile and flexible), its construction will be performed by thousands of 10-Axis Robotic arms, VR Paint Cloud drones and skilled Shilpakar craftsmen.
The Paintulum will cancel lateral displacement and topologically optimise structures, ending the era of concrete pancaked architecture and thus creating a new form of restoration and levitation craftsmanship.
This is the mystical Kathmandu, the city of painted temples and 56.7 years ahead of us.
The journey of TS5 was an indispensable asset to develop and evolve the studio project and the TS staff and tutors provided valuable guidance. As my technical understanding grew, so too did the project unravel further. TS5 is an incentive to explore, optimise and challenge existing intelligence. The true achievement for me has been discovering these curiosities, and being able to offer a new observation.
Om Mani Padme Hum
For more information:
List of Technical Studies High Pass Recipients 2018 Technical Studies at the AA