CUBE: background
by Kris Ericksen
Architecture: the intersection of perception and reality Architecture: the creation of space
In 2001 I did a paper at the Victoria School of Architecture: Introductory Architectural Design (ARCH 111)
One of the projects involved casting a 20cm cube of concrete as a physical interpretation of a particular cosmogony (or creation myth). I chose to interpret the Greek cosmogony from the Pythagorean perspective. This has a very strong mathematical basis and is also very "black and white". I constructed the cube with three intersecting tubes connecting opposite square faces to represent Pi (which is the ratio between the diameter of a circle and its circumference). I then applied black and white pebbles in a pattern to refer to a particular way of deriving of Pi: Pi/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - 1/11 ....
Another project involved perspectives, for which I conceived to use a three dimensional grid.
In 2005 I attended the first Wellington WOW performance, and that night I envisaged a "cube", based on my ARCH111 project, but made of layers of perspex and illuminated with LED lights. A quick costing to construct this, however, killed the idea....
Three years later I decided to reconsider the concept. A visit to Cactus Plastics in Petone revealed fluorescent acrylic plastic, and a realisation that LEDs and poles were not required in the structure - that only "cross-bracing" was required, and the idea was back off the ground.
The dimension of one cubic metre was chosen as the metre is the standard unit of measurement and the relationship of the circles and squares suggests Vitruvian Man, which has been described as representing "man as a measure of all things". The Vitruvian Man is a representation of the "golden ratio" (Phi), which many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate, as it is considered that this proportion is aesthetically pleasing.
The six layers of the Cube could be considered to represent the many layers of meaning associated with both Pi and Phi.
10mm holes have been drilled at 100mm centers to allow for nylon filament to be threaded through the structure. Light strongly fluoresces from all these cut edges. From a nanoscopic perspective the Cube could be taken as a representation of a salt crystal. At a macroscopic level the 10mm holes could be seen as stars.
The nylon filament, which cross braces the structure, could be interpreted as a three dimensional tukutuku panel - in particular purapura whetu - which represents the stars in the Milky Way.
Mathematical trivia: here are 32 "lines" connecting each layer There are 452,984,832 unique routes that can be followed from the top to bottom layers!
Tukutuku panel - purapura whetu (maori.org.nz)
