Note and Question on Research

Texture and form have been explored in many different ways and processes throughout many years. These processes and techniques can be classified into two ways of approach. One way of approaching is by having an intent of the material casting process influencing the design process and the formal outcomes. The techniques play an important role in texture variation and as a study of human gestures in relation to material gestures. This research aims to study and explore the phenomenological approach through the material of concrete. 

For this research, works by Peter Zumthor, Tadao Ando, Junia Ishigami, Anne Holtrop and Ensamble Studio were studied to understand the process and the context. These works engage with the process of crafting of gestures. When we look at the work of Zumthor and Ando, they have a predetermined intent of form and texture. The exploration in texturing techniques deals with human gestures and not the gestures of the material. But these techniques were a start for Holtrop, Ishigami and Ensamble to explore upon. By digging and letting the concrete react with the irregular cast, they are exploring the phenomenological context of casting concrete. This opens up a discussion on what role does play in this process and when does material take over. These human and material gestures engage with the act of crafting. 

These experiments are placed in this same context as these works. The human gestures of digging, cast selection and mix selection with the gesture of material result in unique forms. The experiments were laid out to understand material behaviour, techniques, and cast reactions..The provocation is a seating designed to place the research in the context of human and material gestures.