Comments on: Scent Pavilion by Alan Lu

By: El Greco

El Greco — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:08:01 +0000

SCI-ARc/Columbia/UCLA/AA… about half the students ALWAYS do projects that look just like this (read: my first flirtations with Maya) and are always theoretically backstopped by a log jam of gibberish terms collected randomly by thumbing through Derrida and back issues of ANY magazine.

I wonder what Peter Testa thinks of this project. Knowing him just a little I can’t imagine this resonates with him.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:12:30 +0000

It certainly does smell!

By: Sakshi

Sakshi — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:39:32 +0000

I absolutely agree with vampire.
Wonder these kind of things makes sense to whom?

Its good to allow people to think out of box and fresh, but tell me something…………….
Coming up with anything different which only looks beautiful, work a bit to just make it stand and consider climatic factors to make people realize that its something architectural ……..
Is this architecture???

By: Dave_/

Dave_/ — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:37:13 +0000

Interesting work. As someone else said, the dismissive amongst us should post their own student projects up for criticism and see if they are quite so loudmouthed. I’m sure some of the gaps in the communication are due to a limitation in the amount of work on show and the terminology used to describe. Creativity should be encouraged, a bit of indulgence in student work is far from a crime. I’m glad dezeen showcases some student work, keeps it a bit fresh.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:44:10 +0000

bunch of losers who can’t get things built in reality are complaining in the cyber world and trying to critise on any kind of abstract conceptual and unpractical works . i did not mean architecture is only meaning when u can get your works built, but please, this is just academic research. should all the student just post their modernism design here in dezeen? i realise any posts related with organic staff or zaha posts get the most critical comments, but look at the monthly review of dezeen in 2008, zaha hadid is almost in every single month. i have seen many crazy sketches from a simple point of starting to being built. at the beginning it could be just a nice shape, then thinking about the people and the context and all the pratical things, it becomes a project which is no less thoughtful for human being. cant we just try to find some valuable things from this project?

By: king

king — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:32:49 +0000

build it for a common man….n maybe we’ll talk!….

but atleast u dreamt of it..kudos to u!

By: gaque

gaque — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:29:29 +0000

amen nmiller.

mr. lu, would you please explain in more detail the climate zones and thermodynamics? and why you chose this atypical approach? thanks, best regards.

By: NMiller

NMiller — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:58:19 +0000

Teapod,
It isn’t that everything must be new. I think the project is too small for the ideas… especially since this is an academic project and is not restricted by scope or budget. Perhaps the class curriculum is the real problem here, but that is another discussion.

And I give no leeway to students over professionals because I think good work and ideas can come from anyone.

To me it seems like a waste of energy to put concepts such as “bioclimactic operational envelopes”, “performative memranes”, and “high performance structure” into the design of a pavilion that few would be able to visit should it be built. We have seen this kind of work in renderings, installations, and exhibits for over 10 years now and the ideas have not progressed beyond exotic form and image making. True experimentation is one thing… wasting time is another.

Why not invest the effort into studying and hypothesizing how these concepts improve day-to-day environments such as the office, the house, the school, the grocery store? What if we inject the concepts into the urban fabric, not as sculpture, but as infrastructure? It may look completely different, but it might actually do something substantial… and be less of a gimmick.

By: Mr. Roboto

Mr. Roboto — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:52:52 +0000

No sections, just a sexy renderings

By: D

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:33:27 +0000

This project is as simple as a weeks study on point selection, and sub dividing geometry in maya… Take a look on archinect’s student projects, there are hundreds of examples and most of them are far more developed.