The last few decades have witnessed an explosion of advancement in optical technologies spurred on by a globalized military industrial complex and a desire for more public control and private security. Night vision devices, surveillance cameras, x-ray machines, etc. are but some examples. While they may differ in technical sophistication or application, they share the production of imagery that is associated with the revelation of hidden truths or realities. Night Vision devices allow one to spot an enemy in total darkness. Surveillance cameras capture illegal and/or criminal activity. X-rays allow us to see hidden objects within other objects. In addition, Google has made available image processing apps that produce bizarre projections through stitching algorithms. As such, these optical instruments produce an aesthetic that collapses a radical distancing effect with a perverted form of intimacy beyond mere voyeurism. How might one leverage the aesthetics of these technologies in the representation of architectural space? Rather than using them to reveal hidden realities this workshop will deploy their aesthetics to re-present alternative ones.
Participants’ Involvement and Learning Goal
Using our phone cameras, related downloadable apps, and advanced digital software, participants will be guided through a representational sequence of image capturing, post-processing, and conversion, into a final animation that produces the eerie aesthetics of the optical technologies mentioned. Students will learn moderate level Adobe Photoshop, basic Rhino, and advanced scripting techniques in Grasshopper. In addition, students will be introduced to a background of histories of representation and the role of image production from various mediums.
Workshop Leader: Ramiro Diaz-Granados
Ramiro is principal of Amorphis and is a full-time design faculty member at the Southern California Institute of Architecture where he teaches design studio and visual studies in the B.Arch and M.Arch programs.
In 2013 he completed his winning entry of a permanent installation for Oregon State University’s Student Experience Center. Prior to founding Amorphis, he was co-principal of F-Lab with Heather Flood where they won and placed in several competitions, including the SCI-Arc "Conference Room Table" (built), L.A. Forum "Liner Competition" (second place), and Mercedes-Benz "National Trade Show Pavilion" (second place). Ramiro also worked for and collaborated with the award-winning firm Gnuform. During the years 1997-2002 he designed and built several projects in Southern California and Mexico. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from SCI-Arc in 1996 and a Master of Architecture from UCLA in 2003 during which he was awarded the Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Traveling Fellowship in Architecture.
