lesson 3, part 2: additive redundancy Two years later Oculus was reprised. Opportunely constructed before a heavy snowstorm, the ice-fabric form was engulfed overnight by a blanket of snow over 10cm deep, which was further thickened and compacted manually. Adding more material rather than using less might seem counterintuitive, however this additive redundancy enabled Oculus 2.0 to survive several weeks of fluctuating weather, including multiple spells in which conditions for sublimation or ice melt occurred that would have resulted in the collapse of a thinner version. The snow layer not only stabilises but insulates, making temporary occupation of these forms a more viable proposition. For architecture that is intended to be permanent, additive redundancy would be materially and economically perverse. Where an architecture’s duration is constrained, particularly by entropy, additive redundancy becomes an interesting and valid proposition. Paired with the lesson of adhocism – that everything can indeed always be something else – additive redundancy through, for instance, oversizing components, materials or structure may further extend possibilities for reuse. Oculus was realisable because Orko contained a greater amount of fabric than its footprint strictly required. Extending this logic, a simple beam intentionally oversized for its first life could be subsequently re-used over a larger span or to take a heavier load in a second or even third life. From a strategy of additive redundancy a constructional grammar – oversailing beams, projecting columns, gathered fabric, and so on - may arise for a work of temporary architecture.
Oculus 2.0, ice and unbleached muslin structure. Val-des-Monts, Quebec
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on site review 43: architecture and t ime
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