Borderline: an Interdisciplinary Spatial Installation

Abstract

The relation of architecture and technology has always been a necessity and dependent on each other. The advancements in technology and understanding of both fields made this relation inseparable. Technology has always shaped the design parameters in history and continues to with increasing effect. Architectural education should embrace such a relation to adapt to the changes. The first-year basic design studio at TOBB ETU, considers that ways of thinking and producing together with technology should be a part of architectural design education. This paper is motivated by and the coupling of technology and architecture at the firstyear basic design studio. In this respect, the content of the course challenges the students to question the relationship between technology and design, space, and technology. In this context, the collective working within the scope of assignments is accentuated during the course. The “BORDERLINE” installation is a work created in this context in 2017 with the participation of all basic design studio students that is shaped during the semester by students' discussions, interactive work, and exchange of ideas in the studio. The core of the work was that the students aimed to demonstrate changing boundaries of space by using technology. To this end, the spaces are designed to physically change with human interaction by using Arduino programmable boards, sensors, and DC motors. Six 1x2 m modules consisting of 8x0.15 m fabric strips are assembled. The length of the fabric strips changes by Arduino boards and DC motors according to feedback from the sensors. Borderline is not only a spatial installation but also a study on the impact of technology on space and the results of interdisciplinary education. Borderline, as an interdisciplinary work, aimed to couple the methods of different disciplines. At a time when technology shapes design parameters, Borderline was designed and realized by thinking about architecture together with technology. First-year architecture education is the period in which space, the tools that make space possible, and design as a form of research and learning are explored. In this sense, such a period should embrace an interdisciplinary approach to develop fundamental infrastructure for unexplored practices