Event 2- Provocation: The Architecture and Design of the Heatherwick Studio (Hammer Museum)

Me at the Heatherwick Studio exhibit

In one of my former UCLA classes, my professor told us what it means to be a good designer. Using the example of the sticker on an apple being a bad design, she said that instead of simply accepting bad designs, you need to let the sticker bother you every single time you buy an apple—that is when you can make a change and become a good designer. After going to the Hammer Museum and visiting Provocation: The Architecture and Design of the Heatherwick Studio, I instantly related the work done in the Heatherwick studio to this notion of being a good designer. The exhibit displayed test as well as scale models of some of the design ideas that the Heatherwick Studio generated, and all of their projects addressed aesthetic problems and bad designs, resulting in new, creative, and unique solutions to make these designs better while incorporating math, engineering, physics, and biology.  

Section Model of Al Fayah Park in Abu Dhabi. The project
is expected to be completed in 2017. 

One of such models that I found very intriguing was the model of Al Fayah Park in Abu Dhabi. After being asked to create a park in the dessert, the studio decided they would raise the desert landscape and create a park underneath. This canopy made using the desert will help in preserving water, reducing evaporation, and making energy use more efficient. Clearly math and physics were involved in creating a desert canopy that would be safe and able to stand up, but biology played a role in informing the sustainability of the park.

I also saw a model of the Rolling Bridge in London, created in response to the unaesthetic appeal of the up and down motion of the traditional draw bridge. They are also working on creating a larger one to span the Thames River. One last project I found extremely interesting was the Sitooterie, which was created when clients asked to create a sculpture that appeared “hairy”. The Heatherwick studio had to find a way to make such a thing stand up on such thin pieces, which required heavy mathematics and physics in its design.

Model of the Sitooterie

Scale Model of the Rolling Bridge in London

Altogether, the exhibit exemplifies the inte joining nature of art and science. The sciences were used to ensure their designs were attainable before implementation in the real world. This exhibit was extremely informative and I highly recommend it.