SHUJIE LIU
Isolation Field
Class Assignment | Group Work | April 2020
Instructor: Maria Yablonina
Team: Shujie Liu, Mingli Wang, Ran Yan
This project involves an interactive structure in response to the isolated days during 2020 global pandemic. On the one hand, this structure could be utilized as a flexible and interactive social-distancing machine. One the other hand, it could also be a commemorative installation. Creating a commemorative installation on COVID-19 poses many challenges since people relate themselves to the pandemic differently, it could be a month-long depressing quarantine, or the loss of someone they loved. The pandemic has affected so many people that are hard to cover by any symbolic means. This installation features a grid of hanging panels that performs both rotary and linear movements. As people approach, the panels rise and rotate, generating a space for people, whether for an individual or a group.
This project investigates the potential of interactive structure that applies digital technology to ameliorate the environment for both human and urban pollinators. Situated in urban Toronto, it functions as an autonomous machine that collects information through sensing a variety of qualities. Through monitoring environmental performance and tracking behaviours of plants and pollinators, data collected would be analyzed and processed in two aspects. The garden-structure would alter the habitats for plants and pollinators under different conditions. In addition, through a digital platform, data is visualized to raise people’s awareness of other living beings and thus to prompt the interactions between the environment, pollinators, and humans.
