In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design Architects Rafael-Beneytez-Duran and Peter Jay Zweig have designed an inflated, dynamic structure, exploring hyperobject air, entitled, AIRSCAPES #1.

AIRSCAPES #1
Can man live elsewhere than in air?
Luce Irigaray

In 1986 inspired by the project «The House of Education» (1773) of Claude Nicholas Ledoux, Philip Johnson and John Burgee reassembled the new Architecture building at the University of Houston around an invented atrium to collect the knowledge and new ideas of architecture into a historical, internal court. The post-modern atrium is signified by the regularity of classic iconographies within an axis and a strong sense of symmetry.

AIRSCAPES #1, a dynamic pneumatic structure challenges the values of the stable forms of the atrium by using the ecology of air, the turbulence of our times, the rising temperature of those viewing and interacting with the AIRSCAPE. Tempered by the ever-changing surrounding atmosphere, the floating structure of 380,000 cubic feet allows one’s mind to move freely within the “House of Education”. 

AIRSCAPES #1 is air-born: Its presence reminds us how much the static environments are perceived by the weight and solid materiality that have captured and dominated architectural space. AIRSCAPES #1 is inherently dynamic and opens new fields of exploration which can include: negotiating a sense of space with uncertainty, where stability gives way to being dynamic and interactive using the properties of air as an evolving medium of architecture.  

By breathing, we exchange and live in the space of air as a material substance. We accumulate aerosol substances that penetrate through the lungs to the blood, to the brain, and finally to our very moods and thoughts: these accumulated forces which respond to air creates unpredictable internal weathers and turbulences. AIRSCAPES #1 is in a constant state of change: Forgotten air, layer over layer of different temperatures from the atrium’s cold floor to the one-hundred-foot temple at the top of the “House of Education”.  

AIRSCAPES #1 hovers as an inspiration to a new path in architectural education, an opportunity to look beyond the static forms and enter the possibilities of the dynamic. The 21st century is in a state of transition, of moving targets, technologies, and existential climate challenges: Architecture, by its very nature can rise to the moment. 





CREDITS:

ARCHITECTS
Rafael Beneytez-Duran
Peter Jay Zweig

SPONSOR
University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture + Design
Dean Patricia Belton Oliver

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

Project Concept
Rafael Beneytez-Duran
Peter Jay Zweig

Graphic Ideation
Rafael Beneytez-Duran
Peter Jay Zweig

Peter Jay Zweig – Static Pneumatic. Carlos Soto, Graphic Development
Rafael Beneytez-Duran – Metastable Pneumatic. Patrick Margine, Graphic Development

FABRICATION

Coordinators
Rafael Beneytez-Duran
Peter Jay Zweig

Material Research
CoAD UH, Material Research Center Director: Ophelia Mantz.
Material Connexion: Andrew Dent, Michael Isserlis

Prototypes fabrication and testing
Rafael Beneytez-Duran, Ophelia Mantz
Bigger Than Life: Mark Bachman, James Durant

Auxiliary Structures

Joseph Colaso, Structural Engineer

Zach Brinkerman, Fabrication
David Edquilang, Fabrication
Brian Lee, Fabrication
Brian Liu, Graphic Development
Aaron McEuen, Fabrication Director
Jacob Roberts, Fabrication
Jakob Thomas, Fabrication

Pneumatic Structure
Bigger than Life: Mark Bachman, Bryan Kinney, James Durant.

Airscapes #1 Installation
Rafael Beneytez-Duran, James Durant, David Edquilang, Brian Lee, Brian Liu, Aaron McEuen, Jakob Roberts,

Exhibition Concept
Rafael Beneytez-Duran,
Peter Jay Zweig.

Exhibition Installation
Peter Jay Zweig, Khoi Bui, Carlos Soto Castellanos.
Bayou Fine Art Imaging: Printing: Barry Rudick

Fire Marshal
Christopher McDonald, U of H Director of Fire and Safety
Joshua Hahn

Lighting
4 Walls Entertainment
Texcam INC

Photography and Film
Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzman + Rocio Romero)
Carolina Heras

Video Performance
Patrick Margain, Brian Liu, Ana Sevilla, Kaede Polkinghorne, Franco Denari

Film Electric management
Erik York