Nov 2015 | pinarchitecture-2

NOVEMBER 2015 COMPETITION

The Distant Symmetry ///

Symmetrical objects are composed of a balance between equal, yet opposite parts. It is not difficult to perceive symmetry when the two corresponding halves are adjacent to one another, but what if they were separated by a great distance? How can the two parts maintain a symmetrical relationship even when they are physically disconnected? What mechanism might mirror changes in one half to the other? What function or program can benefit from a remotely intertwined relationship? How can symmetry be perceived and experienced when it is not in the same space? What happens when symmetry becomes distant?

Participants should explore the concept of symmetry, rather than simply duplication of an object. Submissions may be conceptual, technical, and/or artistic.

RESULTS ///

Top 9

Aaron Boucher

Hoboken, New Jersey, United States

Anna Barbieri

Vienna, Austria

Rigo Gonzalez

Orange, California, United States

Osman Marfo-Gyasi

London, United Kingdom

Sergio Hernandez

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Nurista Rizky Sagita

Surabaya, Indonesia

Marcello Pacheco

New York, New York, United States

Mariadni Karachaliou

Volos, Greece

Cameron Deynzer

Auckland, New Zealand

Editor's Choice

JURORS ///

Jonathan A. Gibb, Registered Architect

Auckland, New Zealand
RAIA, ANZIA, MArch, BArch, NZCAD

Auckland School of Architecture
Firm: Context Architects

Brad Hubbard

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
B.Arch, Temple University
Firm: Ballinger

Marcello Schiffino

Brooklyn, New York, United States
B.Arch, Temple University
Firm: SBLM Architects

ENTRIES ///

42 Entries from 22 Countries

Aaron Boucher

Hoboken, New Jersey, United States

1ST

JURY COMMENTS ///

"This project gave another reading of symmetry and balance – here represented as nature, of a change of season. It is a human, the idea of investigation of detail to a wider field of landscape that gives the reading of symmetry – here the distance of time between seasons."

Anna Barbieri

Vienna, Austria

2ND

JURY COMMENTS ///

"A compelling graphic conjecturing similarities in nature, man, and pattern. Repetition serves as a successful instrument to establish a means for creating and viewing symmetry without relying on simple mirroring. This entry uses multiple scales to illustrate an open ended, yet clear, concept of the relations of space and individual."

Rigo Gonzalez

Orange, California, United States

3RD

JURY COMMENTS ///

"I rotated the image once I recognized the profile of the sperm whale, which allowed me to orient the architecture in the two environments depicted. Intriguing graphical use of symmetry as a way to expand the possible interpretations of content. At the end of the day I was more engaged by this decision then the shell of architecture depicted, which may have been the authors intent from the get go."

Osman Marfo-Gyasi

London, United Kingdom

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"A strong graphic of kaleidoscopic nature. There are many individual relations of symmetries contained within a complex representation of geometries. Color, space, and depth combine to form symmetrical occurrences, only to be defined by the greater existence of the whole."

Sergio Hernandez

Guatemala City, Guatemala

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"I appreciate the author's decision to represent an acoustic exploration as a diagram in cross section. I think this visual technique is complimentary to this month's highly-abstract brief. That being said, I would have liked to see more attention paid to notation and qualitative description of the instrument and its internal chambers."

Nurista Rizky Sagita

Surabaya, Indonesia

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"The interesting thing with this proposition is it is predictably a plan – or is it? It gives the impression that it could easily be read as a elevated geometry. The second motive is of the potential of movement – is it a static wall / barrier / line of symmetry or a kinetic movable structure that changes the polarity of each structure, which speaks of balance and a change of spatial difference."

Marcello Pacheco

New York, New York, United States

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"Symbolically charged and captivating. Well crafted imagery, albeit an obscured message. Interested to know what the significance the author places on the elements that bridge the axis of symmetry."

Mariadni Karachaliou

Volos, Greece

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"A great observation of the unplanned symmetries that can happen in our everyday lives. Unplanned symmetry can be the greatest example of symmetries of distances. The entry should lose the words, and let the imagery reveal the concept. This is a strong example of the symmetries that occur around us, but it lacks concept beyond being a representation. Perhaps explore how the symmetry would be affected if just one bicycle was removed from either side."

Irene Garcia Aparicio

Burgos, Spain

TOP 9

JURY COMMENTS ///

"The image presented is of a proposition - the literal point I took from this was the immediacy of focus, of one’s own awareness to proximity, of distance – of time. The point which is out of focus could be a mirrored image or cathartic representation of self. Forcing self upon what is looked upon which becomes the symmetry. A simple image that gave great thought."

Cameron Deynzer

Auckland, New Zealand

EDITOR COMMENT ///

"This entry beautifully manipulates the viewer's perception of a duplicated object. By adjusting the color, rotating, and overlapping the objects, the entrant conceals that they are of the same root. One interpretation is that the overlapping double image is a depiction of an object in the present and as a memory. The memory could be of the same object at a different time or it could be the memory of an entirely different object that the viewer is trying to reconcile with the present object."

Editor's Choice