URBANSCAN is the raw data and the foundation of LOT-EK’s design methodology. A systematic, obsessive, on-going observation and documentation of the contemporary urban/suburban reality. This research focuses on man-made objects and systems - not originally intended for architectural use - and the way they proliferate, accumulate, overlap and interfere with the built, as well as the natural environment, around the globe.

Objects and systems are observed and selected for their availability and their physical ‘architectural’ qualities – volume, space, form, structure, functionality, material, size, transportability, assemblability, modularity, etc. In order to exploit such qualities, a series of Operations are implemented to modify the Objects and/or systems to create complex architecture configurations and to fulfill programmatic needs.

Operations are also directly inspired/derived from the URBANSCAN. We observe how the Objects exist and behave within their ‘natural’ environment: the way they are stored, stocked, transported, placed, used or occupied. Operations transform Objects through forceful actions that are as physical as they are conceptual, pushing the limits of basic assemblies into more complex, fantastic, challenging and compelling architectures.

LOT-EK’s methodology and research seeks to discover/invent new technologies and tectonics by challenging and embracing our product civilization.

STUDIO RESEARCH

The manufactured objects that interest us include: air-conditioners, airplanes, antennas, billboards, booths, boxes, containers, cranes, ducts, flatbeds, highways, jetways, lifts, lights, parking, pipes, scaffolding, scraps, sheds, stacks, tanks and trucks.

We have selected a small family of existing industrial objects as the topic of technological and design investigations. Students will be assigned individual objects to analyze in terms of physical/technical characteristics, industrial production and global/local availability. Subsequently, students will be tasked with the invention of new construction technologies and new tectonic concepts based on the selected objects. The studio design assignment provides the opportunity to test such technology at the architectural scales.

STUDIO PROJECT

Name: Performa Center
Definition: cultural complex dedicated to all time-based arts: theater, dance, music, video art, sound art, performance art, digital art.
Site: New York City, an entire block (currently vacant) located between 10th and 11th avenues and crossed by the High Line.
Program: auditoriums, broadcast studios, rehearsal/training halls, classrooms, offices and indoor/outdoor public space and amenities.