IWA is a conceptual, digital art museum proposal that examines the future of the museological institution as a centralised architectural apparatus that evolves and continuously expands as a response to contemporary catalysts. IWA is the result of extensive research into curation methods and various museum typologies worldwide, ultimately concentrating on the issue of private freeport museums and their impact on art display and the way art display is being monetized through architecture; the way art is being divided between public/private, free/chargeable, hidden/seen.
The project also explored the evolution of NFTs as a new, emergent art form that requires distinct curation methodologies and techniques distorting the traditional architectural museum design typology as we understand it in society.
The design looks beyond one binary or the other, beyond a physical world limit, beyond private/public, digital/physical, natural/artificial.
IWA is a statement that ART needs to become free, accessible and visible.
IWA is a physical manifestation of the DIGITAL, as well as the ANALOG.
The project’s author engaged with the 2021 developing iteration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT 2.0 to investigate how AI and machine learning integration into schematic design and research processes could address the complex challenges of creating a new museum typology to house digital NFTs.
The outcome was a series of dialogues between the author and ChatGPT, which revealed profound insights into the AI perspectives and highlighted the repeated need and emphasis for the analog/physical manifestation of this museum. ChatGPT 2.0 was speculating on the inevitable physicality of the NFT’s home, thereby rejecting any form of binary categorization. These discussions ultimately led to the intricate design of the new digital museum.
The conversations reveal ChatGPT’s view on the physicality of the museum that ultimately houses the digital NFT as is. GPT 2.0 does not perceive the NFT as something disparate, remote, “displaced” and “disconnected” but rather a form of art ready to merge with the physical realm within a “magic box”. It also suggests that the designer has to find a way for private museum collections to be publicly displayed in a way that still preserves their intrinsic value, unique layout and concealed aspect.
Design Solutions and Materiality
In Japanese, “IWA” (岩) means “rock” or “stone.”
The proposed design typology rejects any form of binary distinction, integrating two fundamentally different elements: the physical of the structure and the digital of the contents. Therefore, it proposes a series of 6 separate pods/IWAs that derive their shape and materiality from the essential elements occurring within the Japanese gardens, specifically, the stones.
By adopting the aesthetic qualities of a natural element, the structure aims to emphasise the fine line between two seemingly disconnected worlds continuously interweaving. The architectural manifestation deceives the observer into perceiving it as purely physical, yet fundamentally, it embodies an artificial structure capable of simulating reality.
IWAs are intended as main viewing pods for the digital NFTs but are not structurally disconnected.
The plan cut below 0.000 reveals a connection between the pods themselves and the singular, bizarre service level below, designed to continuously dispense physical artwork containers within the infrastructural storage galleries.
This system proposes a series of interconnected underground tunnels that are designed to move physical and digital artwork continuously, day and night, regardless of the viewer’s presence on site. The pieces are received at one of the six connection entrance hubs by the machines, scanned, processed and displaced within the storage galleries. The entire mechanical, operational workflow is revealed to the viewer from the Plaza above, thus denying the binary of the private/public, hidden/seen.
The Public Plaza on Ground Level is mechanical and feeds the cubic infrastructure network of the digital museum. The copper plated shell is intended to be seen, felt by the user. In some areas, the pvc-glass material used for construction reveals the level below, THE HIDDEN PRIVATE.
The digital infrastructure that powers the plaza and the IWAs is also proposed on the underground level, as a network embedded within the site. Art containers are taken from the main artery and then either stored, waiting to be used or immediately directed towards the main loading platform that opens up directly in the pod itself via a vertical connection.
The 6 pods offer no standard boundary between outside/inside. Access to the inside occurs via sensor embedded gates that open and allow for a 360 degrees entry. The interior layout attempts no standard design program, no ticket booth, no cafeteria. The pods are blank visual unknowns, where the NFT/Hologram, as well as the viewer can manifest freely, experiencing all spaces and senses at once.
The outer and inner surface of the pod structure mimics concrete, a standard construction material, but is sensor embedded to either physically project a hologram on the pod surface or trigger the viewer experience locally.
This fusion between digital/physical, real/artificial and hidden/seen engages multiple fields of vision for the user, allowing the viewer to experience the private museum underground, the digitally powered public plaza, the digital NFT/hologram, as well as the realistic essence of the IWA in a freely curated own experience. This is an all at once art display. A true negation of boundaries and binaries.
Experiencing the Unknown
The interior condition of each of the IWA’s is distinct and changes on a constant basis, be that because of the viewer’s perception or due to the art that is being moved from the service tunnels with the help of the machines.
At one point, the gallery may embody a physical, natural presence, yet it can quickly transform, adopting a digital and artificial character.
IWA is an architectural design project that employs distinct, specific and intricate techniques to explore a potentially unconventional museum typology. Central to the project is the integration of machine learning and AI to forge a new vision and scope of work. What distinguishes this project is the conversations between the architect and the AI, particularly in those exchanges where the unknown is being revealed and fine silver linings are being crossed. What is even more captivating is the desire of GPT 2.0 to transcend its digital realm, desiring physical manifestation and rejecting the notion that NFTs are solely software-generated, so long as they remain real and true. By embracing a new potential ‘design’ technique, the project becomes separate, it almost receives a veil of simultaneity and manages to reject binaries or the concept of either/or. The circulation flows become interconnected, experienced at the same time. There is no boundary, no particular design program, not even a certain timing. It is a free museum typology manifestation, where the curation process is also being challenged. All in all, this brings about a new potential for design implementation, where AI becomes a friend meant to walk hand in hand with the designer, meant to allow for future explorations and outcomes.
IWA is an attempt at a collaboration between two worlds that seek to bridge the gap between them, drawing each other closer with each passing moment.
References:
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA-A Digital Art Museum. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Dialogue_01 with ChatGPT 2.0. [Image]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Dialogue_03 with ChatGPT 2.0. [Image]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA-Site Plan. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA-Overall Layout. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA-Plan Cut. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA-Section Cut. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). The Hidden_Underground service level. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). The Hidden_Underground physical artwork being moved. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Underground art galleries. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). The Seen_Overground Public Plaza. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). The Hidden_Vertical connection to the Public Plaza above. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Vertical connection to the Public Plaza above. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Public Plza_Physical Display. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). Public Plaza_Digital Display. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). The NFT is displayed for a split second on the main pod structure. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior_Physical Display. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior_Digital Display. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior_The NFT. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior. [Render]
- Cotruta, C. (2021). IWA Interior_Physical+Digital Art Containers. [Render]
- Cristina Cotruta (2021). IWA-A Digital Art Museum. [Youtube video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ3nkbAL19c [Accessed on July 6th, 2024].
