Daan Roosegaarde
FITS LIKE A CLOVE
What is architecture? One could con
ceive Daan Roosegaarde's contribution to
Fafade 2012, Lotus 7.0, as a possible reply
to the question about the essence of archi
tecture, in which it is seen as a construct
ed environment that offers us shelter.
Vitruvius saw architecture as an organic
connection among equally important
principles: utility, beauty and sturdiness.
In the present-day architecture a physical
quality has been added. Architecture must
fit like a glove; a permeable yet protec
tive layer, dynamically uniting the inside
and outside worlds. This is the field of
anthropometry (dimensions of man)and
it is where Roosegaarde tries to find the
essence of architecture.
Lotus 7.0 is a wall, four meters in
length, two meters high and a half meter
thick, consisting of diamond-shaped pan
els subdivided into four wedges, like the
petals of a flower. The wedges are made
of a flexible material (smart foil) devel
oped by Roosegaarde, which consists of
multi micromillimeter-thick heat-reactive
layers. When one moves one's hand near
the wall the wedges curl open in a pliant
manner. The wall opens up in reaction
to the human heat, which also activates a
light concealed behind the foil. Once the
source of heat is removed, the wall closes
again and the light extinguishes; a wall of
foil, like the pores of skin.
The fact that the wall is curved, has
everything to do with human physical
dimensions. In contrast to a straight wall,
which only divides and does not connect,
a curve defines the relationship between
man and space. There is nothing more
human than a curve. Not only does a
curve divide, but it also connects and
embraces, or at least evokes the sugges
tion that it does. If one extends Lotus'
curved line indefinitely, one arrives at
the perfect curve that envelops man. The
circle is the perfect form in which begin
ning and end touch, thus representing the
creation to which man relates. However, it
is not necessary to physically materialize
the full circle to convey the idea of human
dimensions. The idea as such suffices.
That is why Lotus 7.0 can limit itself to a
curve just as the vault of the Pantheon in
Rome is but half a sphere. The shape is
powerful enough to suggest the complete
curve, the symbol of man and his world.
Roosegarde works in a crossover area
between art, architecture and technology.
In an unorthodox way he connects dif
ferent disciplines to find answers for our
world in flux, for the city of the future.
Lotus 7.0 is such an answer. It is a pro
totype of experimental architecture. This
wall does not separate, but connects. Due
to the physical reaction of the material the
wall becomes a flowing transitional area
between the inside and outside. Just like
a fafade.
Roosegaarde's wall is a myriad of
lotus flowers, opening up when energized
by the sun and closing at nightfall. It is
a metaphor for human expectations of
architecture.
www.studioroosegaarde.net
