‘Manta’ Installation / Grimshaw Architects

Posted by Pablo Gil April 17, 2012

‘Manta’ Installation / Grimshaw Architects

share by email

Drawing from a strong group of cluster participants, and with the support of Smartgeometry,Grimshaw Architects, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute‘s Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Manta represents the potential of multidisciplinary design. that required expertise in architecture, fabrication, interactive technology, and acoustics. This combination drove the assembly of the design team, who came together for the first time from disparate careers and backgrounds. The result could only be achieved with a holistic design approach: all team members worked together on all aspects of Manta. More images and the team’s description after the break.

Manta is a surface that changes its form – and therefore acoustic character – in response to multimodal input including sound, stereoscopic vision, multi-touch, and brainwaves. While adaptable acoustics are common, Manta explores new levels of continuity and responsiveness, advancing acoustic systems beyond individual elements and corrective treatment.

Manta is comprised of CNC machined panels and connectors of two thicknesses of high-density polyethylene, and curved forms result from a combination of triangulation and bending stiffness: geometry and material in concert. The result is a controlled morphing that is suspended at a minimum of points.

Manta was designed and fabricated as part of the SmartGeometry 2012 Conference to utilize the rigging infrastructure and acoustically inert environment of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

Cluster Champions: Zack Belanger, Guillermo Bernal, Eric Ameres, Seth Edwards
Cluster Participants: Olga Fomina, Frederico Fialho, Daniel Hambleton, Christoffer Marsvik, Ana Garcia Puyol, Varvara Toulkeridou, Ben Schneiderman, Sarah Goldfarb, James Wisniewski