Sumra / Ecologies of Residue

Ecologies of Residue Material movement and the thinness of things

Authors: Asha Sumra, Aarhus School of Architecture; Arijit Chatterjee, CEPT University; Bengal Institute for Architecture

Supervisors: Thomas Bo Jensen, Aarhus School of Architecture; Carolina Dayer, Aarhus School of Architecture

Research stage: initial doctoral stage and an extension of Architectural Practice

Category: Artefact

DDR Statement

The Design Driven doctoral research approach includes an Atlas of Exchange describing material move­ment, and an Artefact to describe conditions of thinness. The Atlas and Artefact will be used to consolidate research and practice-based work done to date, and provide a foundation for potential material exploration. The artefact would be presented at the CA2RE+Delft Conference as part of an ensemble of evolving work in progress, which includes examples of materials, products and tectonic systems. These examples represent contemporary and historic conditions through the explorative use of drawings, models, moulds and products as tools to uncover and synthesize knowledge embedded in processes of working with clay.

The approach aims to draw out and translate relationships of encounter across land and sea that have shaped specific building cultures: an ecology of resources, people and environments. The exploration of thinness aims to uncover the tangible and intangible residue of these industries and to translate mean­ing from the way things are made. This relates to the CA2RE+Delft theme of Recommendation by bridging between what is and the potential of what could be, recommending translation as means to trigger potency in contemporary tectonic exploration.