asymptote. approach the future ...........................................................................................................................................................................................
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NAI – netherlands architecture institute, rotterdam, nl september 27 – january 18, 2004 http://www.nai.nl --- this exhibition shows numerous models, photographs, drawings, projections and, in particular, site-specific installations of the new york based architecture firm, and has been designed by asymptote (hani rashid and lise anne couture) themselves. rashid and couture's rich oeuvre, is a world premiere at the NAI. never before have so many works by this renowned duo been exhibited. the exhibition's highlights are the enormous installation 'flux 3.0' they designed for the last dokumenta in kassel, their futuristic working environment 'knoll A3', the 'writing space', the virtual environment for the new york stock exchange and the virtual guggenheim museum. the installation also clarifies their ideas in a single gesture and forms the display for their works, a dynamic combination of maquettes and audio-visual presentations. an undulating grid descends from the ceiling into gallery 1, creating caves and galleries. here are some pics. --- intent asymptote's particular interest lies in rephrasing and reorganizing the construction systems of architecture. 'the ultimate challenge is connecting the digital world to the one we actually live in' says hani rashid. they are treating buildings not as physical units, but as images, brands and lines that create an unstable composition. because real by itself just doesn't do it for them. the stylelessness is intentional on the firm's part, and rashid, in particular, scorns architects who return constantly to the same design language. 'architecture is much more complex than a formal statement or a symbolic gesture,' he says in asymptote's book 'flux'. 'what we are most focused on is building inspired worlds, be they domestic, institutional, urban or digital.' --- asymptote means: line approaching a curve but meeting it only at infinity. asymptote offers a scientific presentation of aesthetic utility. 'the power and value we see in this work lies primarily in its potential to encourage scientific visualization that may make use of industry, but does not necessarily inform industry, choosing rather to inform our ideals of visualization. while these works are aesthetically valuable in their own right, their utilization of scientific visualization also creates the potential to expand the boundaries of scientific analysis. they can encourage alternate interpretations of data, and they may also inspire the study of altogether different kinds of data - essentially creating data out of the previously unmappable'. they say. --- hydra-pier rashid and couture were commissioned to design the hydra-pier, an entrance pavilion for the 2002 floriade in haarlemmermeer in the netherlands. the striking pavilion, now a restaurant, has a transient feel, but it also has an obvious connection with the surrounding environment of polders and the flight paths of nearby schiphol airport. in its design rashid and couture give form to existing elements in the landscape. a reference to schiphol airport is the form of the hydra-pier's two-part sloping roof, inspired by the wings of a boeing 747. the entrance is formed by a double waterfall that cascades from the roof. the pumps that feed the waterfalls refer to those that once drained this part of north holland 150 years ago. this project was the winning entry in an international competition. --- flux pavilion through speculative projects such as 'flux 3.0', an installation for the last dokumenta in kassel, they operate on the border between architecture and visual art. 'the essence of the pavilion is the idea that italian architecture and architecture in general is built on an extraordinary consisting of mathematics, shapes, structures and spaces. therefore the proposal of construction is in a certain sense a new way of looking at very ancient ideas about spaces – the concept of dome, of roof, of a skeletal structure – and the concept of a kind of mathematical geometry that creates delimitation. the flux pavilion therefore represents an entirely new experiment, which can be carried out using computers to create a new sense of delimitations and spaces in the digital age. during construction of the pavilion, we were able to introduce a kind of electronic component into the structure and surfaces, which continues to investigate the way in which the history and tradition of mathematical and geometric principles can be examined in the 21st century in terms of new architectures, of the potential use and development of new materials in the ceramic sector.' hani rashid says --- the new form in the digital universe 'by understanding the new form and new space that is occupied by the body in our digital and electronic universe, we can build up a map of this activity as a kind of internal geometric organ or a new geometric situation for architecture. so as we proceed ever further into this digitalised world, I am investigating a way of physically reproducing what I see as an irresistible state of excitation, a state of modernity and a kind of new way of being in the 21st century.' rashid says. --- on asymptote hani rashid and lise anne couture, a husband-and-wife team of architects in new york city, are behind asymptote. they started their studio in 1989. http://www.asymptote.net --- see the interview with hani rashid (designboom archive) http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/hanirashid.html --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------	the exhibition, image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote 'hydrapier', now 'haarlemmermeerpavillon', hoofddorp, nl, 2002 the building consists of a 100 meters of roof expanse which is permanently covered in a cascading sheath of water image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote image courtesy asymptote hani rashid and lise anne couture