TOUCH GRASS!
This month-long studio intensive began with an investigation of the site through a sense other than vision. Keeping in mind what is natural vs. what is synthetic, participants were asked to design a prosthetic device that would allow the wearer to gain more information about or focus attention on an aspect of the site that would otherwise be an afterthought. Thinking about the somewhat uncanny experience of a man-made park so close to a busy city edge led to an investigation about what kinds of “prosthetics” we dawn just to exist in an urban context. Could this include phones, watches, and even shoes? It’s a simple pleasure to walk barefoot, feeling small changes in the Earth’s surface underfoot. The device designed looks to bring this experience to a cityscape, safely creating a unique sensory experience while mapping the body’s relationship to micro-typography through reflexology.
The architectural intervention brings the investigation started through the mapping with the prosthetic device to the architectural scale. A textured path brings visitors down into a garden where they can explore the relationship between urban and natural fabrics with their toes in the grass. A covered dock and boat launch wrap the garden to provide additional programmable space for future endeavors.
GSAPP: Summer Intro
Tactile intervention
New York, NY
Date
2023
2023