top of page

out of stock

Project Type

Active Bending, Wireframes, Physical-Digital Translations

Team

Cemre Demirci
Edge Jia
Kay Mashiach
Maya Mashiach
Swati Singh
Bensu Talay

Led by Apostolos Despotidis

Location

Architectural Association
Design Research Lab
London, England

Date

September 2021 - October 2021

Working as a team of six, we set out to explore active bending through piano wire as our primary medium, developing a system of discrete components that could behave as a flexible, interdependent whole. Our aim was twofold: to study how variations in wire thickness influence bending performance, and to observe how a rigid, primitive geometry could be animated by a more complex, active element. Rather than producing a neatly ordered assembly, we were interested in generating a controlled turbulence — a calibrated “chaotic cloud” emerging from an organized jumble of parts.

The module consists of five pyramids and two sliders. A central pyramid anchors the system, with each of its vertices connected to another pyramid, forming a five‑part spatial constellation. The sliders became essential to understanding the system’s flexibility. By introducing tension into these components, we could experiment with different wire thicknesses and lengths, identifying a productive balance between active and passive behavior.

Connections between pyramids are mediated by the active slider. By attaching the pyramid edges to the mobile wire housed within the slider’s loop, the system can expand or contract, altering the spatial interval between components. This prototype effectively positions the slider as the system’s kinetic core — the element through which motion is both generated and regulated.

The assigned movement was a rhythmic expansion and contraction along the module’s outer line, controlled by an unspecified user. The formation study culminated in a single‑wire component that latches onto the rigid geometry like a symbiotic parasite, activating the structure through tension, release, and continuous negotiation.

© 2023 by Kay Mashiach.

bottom of page