The "UN" stands
for "United Network" and enters into both the name and
the program of
an association of architects whose commitment is more
thoroughgoing than
is usual. The discourse of Ben van Berkel and
Caroline Bos has
little in common with this present day professional
code of ethics,
they are not strong on 'culture' or 'tradition' or on
'old matters' or
typologies to hold to either. What UN Studio have to
offer us is a new
questioning that directs our regard in a different
way, by introducing
a slight shift of our attention.
While UN Studio
mode of functioning seems to be concerned mainly with
process, evolution
and emergence, the factor they describe as 'continual
difference' refers
to the internal coherence of the work. THe 'Manimal'
shown on this page
gives us some clues about this rather contradictory
notion. It
was developed by a morphing process that merged digital
images of three
living beings: monkey, serpent and human. Driven by the
will to make distinctions,
we are absorbed by the profusion of superposed
and blended images
latent in the 'Manimal'.
This merged borders
produce a new type of cohesion. The parts of the
image cannot be
separated, since it is impossible to identify them. The
image as a whole
is formed of continual inter wining of its figurative
components.
Un Studio apply this strategy of imprecise limits in all
their projects
for architectural spaces. But for the architects of Un
Studio, morphing
is not just a game of formal or spatial ambiguities; it
has to do with
prior data, with the genesis of projects in which different
sets of data are
processed not according to usage but in phase with
time, in a movement
that borrow from various disciplines.
It brings together
theories of probabilities and uncertainty, systems
of ensembles and
strategic planning, and the design and execution of
projects, not to
mention techniques of present day biology, such as
transgenic manipulation
and cloning. The design team is always looking
at the project
as an evolving entity. Buildings and projects are never
final or frozen;
they are living organisms that evolve and change.
Theme 13
Arnhem Center Infrastructure. Un Studio
University of Architecture Venice. Un Studio
Expo 2001. Un Studio
Further info on Un Studio visit : Un Studio