With the advent of the metaverse, how is your business evolving in terms of the objects and spaces you design?
Over the past few years, I’ve had a feeling we’re seeing a cleavage in architecture – in a good way. There is no preset style anymore. Everything is mixed and mixed – modernist, brutal, rococo, futuristic, organic, grunge, cyberpunk, minimal, maxima, small scale, wide range. Our time presents a stage for all those who wish to express themselves and this movement highlights the emergence of metaphysics. A virtual space in which anything is possible will inevitably generate a series of innovations in how we live, be represented, and live in the city. but like The theory of the supernatural valley of the Japanese roboticist Mori Masahiro, it will be necessary to cross this “ice zone” where progress, made towards human imitation, will initially lead to more rejection, but after a certain threshold of realism, greater acceptance.
Can you expand on your concept of ‘transient design’ and the relationship between the body and architecture?
through my [studies], I was heavily influenced by the complex aesthetics of mythical and transhumanist creatures such as the Minotaur or cyborgs. In both my design and architectural work, I always try to question the inevitable relationship between an object and its environment. In my 2019 article “Muscle”, I first addressed the idea of trans design by analyzing the similarities between bodybuilders and architecture. To build means to erect, to create something. Bodybuilding is basically about building muscle and strengthening the body. By practicing versatility, these athletes build a new body for themselves like armor and this circumstance acts as a shelter. In other words, it is a membrane in which one lives. And like architecture, it acts as an interface between the body and the environment.
We often find these bodies at my work. Sometimes in a very literal way, when it becomes an integral part of the furniture, replacing the base or the bench. Although the concept of the body in architecture is not new (I think Caryatids are used as columns in Ionic buildings), what seems interesting to me in virtual space is that these bodies can twist themselves to infinity, and have supernatural power, It consists of various robots or mechanical elements – the skin can become soft as cotton or break like glass. Thus, depending on its use, the object in the virtual space can allow us to change the perception we have of it.
How was your experience with NFTs?
With Architoys, we’ve worked with Charlotte Taylor to allow people to collect unique architectural concepts. The idea was realized in a capsule the size of AirPods, the idea was to create a small object that can be exchanged almost like Pokémon cards. But also to create a real container in which we can find all the documents related to the project (plans, 3D files, work description, etc.). This will allow collectors to actually build their architectural project or even incorporate it on land purchased in the Metaverse. In addition to their direct jobs, Architoys aim to protect the virtual projects of 3D architects and artists by freezing them into an age and market. The capsules form a “time capsule” By keeping the architectural project documents protected.
The concept seeks to raise the issue of image ownership on the Internet. Once posted on social networks, the images travel infinitely and seem to slip away from their creators. Unlike realized projects whose authorship can be controlled more easily. Architoys features a Certificate of Authenticity such as NFT.
I also create a series of dining utensils based on the main principles of trans design. They are hybrids – half man / half spoon, half woman / half knife. I play with the scale and references to the legends and the ’90s. Reminiscent of the legend of Sisyphus or gift spoons hidden in cereal boxes. Cast in bronze.
How do you think about the relationship between imagination and architecture in your work?
in a engineer’s disobedienceRenzo Piano says that “Architecture is not only the art of creating buildings, it is also the art of telling stories.” I take this literally and use writing as another tool for making architecture, especially novel. Whether it’s my graphics, text, or engineering, I consider myself a storyteller.
Unfortunately, today’s rules and regulations are so restrictive that the architect is often reduced to a “facade” designer. We are surrounded by many rules that we have to provide a practical and cost effective response and cannot fully explore the creative dimension of this profession. The new form is a way to explore an architectural genre free of any court order.
The default also allows us this type of approach. By playing with scale, color, and gravity, we can create dream-like worlds that suggest a metaphysical rather than realistic experience. My latest interior design for the retail space, Snow Bunny, attempts to illustrate this by drawing its inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The space populated with 3D-printed fantasy figures is an ode to surreal fantasy where pop culture and monsters coexist happily.