The School and Architecture and Storrs Gallery will present the exhibit “Between Research and Practice” starting on Monday, March 11.
This installation of models, renderings and projection are from Axi:Ome, an architecture design and research practice based in St. Louis. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., March 11.
Led by Sung Ho Kim and Heather Woofter, who are on the architecture faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, Axi:Ome is derived from a cross between two Latin words – the noun axiom (a self-evident or universally recognized truth) and the verb forme (to form, compose or assemble).
“Between Research and Practice” will include projects that fall within a spectrum of built and speculative, research-driven works. Several projects investigate “invisible forces”– light, wind, reflections or illusions. In “Prism Tower,” the light-refracting panels dynamically shift the presence of the vertical structure, coloring shadows and creating the illusion of space that breaks free of twisting formations. “Urban Mirage” suggests a mirage effect between ground and sky, played out through a floating diaphragm. “Carbon Tower” explores thin structural veins that strengthen with increasing wind loads, while “Women’s Shelter” calculates light patterns across seasonal shifts to guide light’s entry into otherwise dark interiors.
This unique installation created especially for Storrs Gallery will place these and other models along an elevated serpentine path that winds through the room, with two-dimensional representations mounted and projected along the walls.
Axi:Ome’s Kim and Woofter will be present for the opening reception to speak about the display, and Woofter will return to present a public lecture about this work at 6:30 p.m., Friday, March 29, in the Storrs Auditorium as part of the 2013 Architectural Research Centers Consortium conference that will be hosted by the College of Arts + Architecture School of Architecture.
“Between Research and Practice” will be exhibited through Friday, April 26.