The Live Room: transducing resonant architectures

Abstract

The Live Room was a temporary site-specific installation presented in building N51, room 117 on the MIT campus on 7 May 1998 and concluded on 10 June 1998. Using small acoustic-intensifying equipment which mounted directly to the structure of the foundation at the site, the system created an enhanced scale of ‘tectonic charging’ through vibration. The system engaged the architecture by running impulsive energy throughout, creating sound and vibration in direct relation to the building and the dimensions of the space. The project describes an intensified site where machines fuse into architecture and combine active forces with the building forms. The action was an attempt towards the liberation of tectonics from the limitations of the static, creating a place where resonant structures vibrate in sympathy with induced frequencies. By using various transducing devices and signal-generating equipment, the project effectively ‘tuned in’ the location by delivering resonant frequencies. The installation engaged directly with a unique floor system which was already present at the location. Mechanical oscillators were mounted into this floor system so that frequencies were imparted into the building, the floor and the persons who were situated in the room. With this work, I was interested in TRANSDUCING ARCHITECTURE, driving the space with external influences of a vibro-kinetic nature.