Under Magnitude
In January 2017, the latest work from art/architecture studio Marc Fornes/TheVeryMany was unveiled in Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center.
Under Magnitude is a two-storey, permanent structure suspended in the atrium of the Center, creating a three-dimensional intervention in the vast space.
The idea behind the structure is that it ‘has edges yet is edgeless’, and is an example of the studio’s ongoing development of ‘new minimalist’ digital assemblies – unique constructs that unify skin, structure and spatial experience into a single system.
The intention is that each person who passes beneath the structure forges a different kind of personal connection with its forms, which are borrowed from the natural world but contorted into new and alien constructs.
Under Magnitude is the sum of many sub-elements: a network of branches unified by a single smooth and continuous white surface. The intricate curvilinear shape forms a unified system of both 'columns' and 'beams,' aggregating to create a three-dimensional subspace. The open, tubular branches come together within a Y-shaped plan and reach upwards to form a shape that is both like a vault and a suction cup: a ‘shell from shells’.
The material thickness of Under Magnitude is just a millimetre, thinner than a credit card, yet the structure is strong enough to walk on. This strength is achieved by 'intensive curvature'; the maximisation of double curvature across the form which creates the curly, tubular branching characteristics of the structure.
The studio is building on and challenge the work of Frei Otto and his notion of 'extensive curvature', which determined that a bubble, when blown up to the size of a room, has better structural performance than a box.
Images and content courtesy of TheVeryMany.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
ECA Industry Awards 2024 shortlist revealed
22 leading businesses from across the electrotechnical and engineering services sector.
Government unveils Skills England strategy
Skills England to transform opportunities and drive growth.
New Government Hub for York Given Planning Green Light
For up to 2,600 civil servants, due for completion by 2028.
Construction Skills Certification Scheme cards
July update on Professionally Qualified and Academically Qualified Person Cards.
BSRIA Briefing 2024, November 22
Sustainable Futures: Redefining Retrofit for Net Zero Living.
The CLC on driving competency in the retrofit sector
Previously published roadmap on skills for net zero.
The first labour government King's speech in fifteen years
Construction industry reactions, support and some concern.
CIOB Retrofit of Buildings Technical Information Sheet
What retrofit is, the approach to be taken and processes to be followed.
Adapting Historic Buildings for Energy and Carbon Efficiency
Historic England advice note 18, free download published.
10 retrofit projects revisited 10 years after completion.
Information orders, building liability orders and SPVs
Key BSA terms and how they impact special purpose vehicles.
Listed despite problems with its design.
Zen and the art of cycling exploration.
Design Council Homes Taskforce launched
To support government 1.5 million homes target within UK climate commitments.