towards biology by onionlab + ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura

towards biology by onionlab + ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura
all images courtesy of onionlab and ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura

‘towards biology’ is a piece created by onionlab in collaboration with ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura for the exhibition ‘time, space, existence’ held at palazzo bembo within the framework of the 2014 venice architecture biennale. in the work, viewers are asked to consider abstractly, from the values of ‘la fábrica’, the creative epicenter of bofill’s studio, and its work from the mid-1970s to the present day. it is a building that moreover lays the foundations and the methodology for the development of the workshop’s approach, which is based on innovation and focuses on ecology as well as on social and technological aspects.

basic geometries, lines, vectors are manipulated on the curved surface of the screen as a narrator provides a poetic commentary: ‘it is said we are dust, but are we? here at the factory, we are machines and workers. we might be the embers of a flame, that travel through space at the dawn of time. it is said we will return to dust. but, what if everything were a dream? what if dust were smoke? we have dreamt of agoras, and redesigned cities. we have worked with the angles and deserts. we have known global defeats and remote plants. and we have conquered the void, or is it the void that has conquered us? it is time to transform ourselves.’

the screens with puffs of smoke floating upwards

the words refer to mankind’s impact on earth, using memories, stores, and social perceptions to call the state of architecture into question and suggests the path that it must take with knowledge of its historical presence. according to bofill, ‘many buildings today look like spaceships that appear disconnected from gravity. they lack a human connection to the natural environment.’ as a result, his goal is to form this bond and strengthen it, using the details of his studio’s workspace as an example.

see designboom’s previous coverage of ‘la fabrica’ here.

architectural sketches

the exhibition places visitors in a virtual world

a stone in the center of the ‘desert’

graphic construction of columns around a forum

the architecture in motion

a building dematerializing

the blank room

project info:

architects: ricardo bofill taller de arquitectura and onionlab
direction: aleix fernández
technical direction: jordi pont
producer: joel mestre
3D artists: carles munne, pepe vegas, mike van der noordt, and david mir
compositing: gerard rubio and mariane paolet
technical engineering: lloc audiovisuals
space construction: montaggio
voice-over italian version: serena vergano
voice-over english version: molly malcolm
music and sound design: leiko

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.