Academic Course – Equipping Walls

Through a series of research by design studies, the studio Equipping Walls investigated how the architectural project of dwelling combines the very nature of surface enlargement with operations stemming from storage themes.

Presently, whether mobile or permanently installed, the appliances of a building are operated either with physical strength, air pressure, water, electricity, or fuel. Equipped with space-taking mechanisms of storage and space-saving storage space, the equipped wall points to a range of different manual movements: pushing, pulling, flapping, folding, sliding, lifting, or a combination of these. These movements allow for the placement of more furniture, clutter or other interior components that would otherwise impede the efficient use of limited space. Paradoxically taking up space only to free up space, the equipped wall provides greater efficiency for adjacent space. As such, the wall is no longer just a fine line separating space, but becomes a gradient, a management system.

140513_finalreview_zmillay — Fig. Zachary Millay, Stacked Living, CD101E Equipping Walls II, BAC

140513_finalreview_zbell_02 — Fig. Zane Bell, Making Walls more honest, CD101E Equipping Walls II, BAC

140513_finalreview_ksoderlund — Fig. Kirsten Soderlund, Spatial Adaptation, CD101E Equipping Walls II, BAC

Referring to the state of a physical wall absorbing a variety of technical functions beyond its partitioning function, the equipped wall walks a fine line between consciously designed space and space that cannot be used any other way. In contemporary practice, storage takes advantage of the limited number of square meters without sacrificing essential functions of dwelling. Therefore, it primarily anticipates an economic principle. Upon examination of key mechanisms enabling the inclusion of storage behind surfaces, it shall be critically reassessed whether the architect concerned is to spend time on designing the hidden as something that cannot be seen or win any design attention, making choices about what is to be exaggerated or understated, revealed or disguised.

140513_finalreview_zbell_01 — Fig. Zane Bell, Making Walls more honest, CD101E Equipping Walls II, BAC

131209_finalreview_jbutkus_01 — Fig. Joshua Butkus, Tracking Change, CD101F Equipping Walls, BAC

131209_finalreview_jbutkus_02 — Fig. Joshua Butkus, Tracking Change, CD101F Equipping Walls, BAC

131209_finalreview_jramos — Fig. Jonathan Ramos, Flexible Environment, CD101F Equipping Walls, BAC