The Live Room : transducing resonant architectures

Abstract

The Live Room is a temporary site specific installation presented in building N 51, room 117 on the MIT campus on May 7, 1998 and concluded on June 10, 1998. Using small acoustic intensifying equipment which mount directly to the structure of the foundation at the site, the system creates an enhanced scale of 'tectonic charging' through vibration. The system engages the architecture by running impulsive energy throughout, creating sound and vibration in direct relation to the building and the dimensions of the space. The project describes an intensified site where machines fuse into architecture and combine active forces with the building forms. The action is an attempt towards the liberation of tectonics from the limitations of the static, creating a place where resonant structures vibrate in sympathy to induced frequencies. By using various transducing devises and signal generating equipment, the project effectively 'tunes in' the space by delivering resonant frequencies. The installation engages directly a unique floor system which is already present in the space. Mechanical oscillators are mounted into this floor system so that frequencies are imparted into the building the floor and the persons who are situated in the room. With this work, I am interested in TRANSDUCING ARCHITECTURE, driving the space with external influences of a vibro-kinetic nature.