Humaira Shaikh, Von Smith, Yang Wang, Verda Wu

THE WATER TANK STRUCTURE EVOLVES FROM THE GEOMETRIC STUDIES OF THE PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENT, WHERE WEDGE-SHAPED SOLID BLOCKS WERE EXPLORED AS SPATIAL AND STRUCTURAL UNITS. HERE, THOSE GEOMETRIES ARE REINTERPRETED AS A SYSTEM OF OPEN FRAMES COMPOSED OF WEDGES, BOXES, AND POLYGONS THAT STACK VERTICALLY TO HOLD A WATER TANK AT THE TOP. EACH FRAME INHERITS THE ANGULAR RELATIONSHIPS OF THE EARLIER SOLID FORMS, NOW EXPRESSED THROUGH LINES AND PLANES RATHER THAN MASS. THE PIECES MEET IN VARYING CONDITIONS—EDGE TO EDGE, EDGE TO CORNER—CREATING MOMENTS OF TENSION AND PRECISION THAT DEFINE BOTH STRUCTURE AND SPACE. VERTICALLY, THE COMPOSITION RISES WITH A CLEAR DIRECTIONAL FORCE. THE ALTERNATION BETWEEN SHEER AND TRANSPARENT SURFACES ADDS A LAYERED RHYTHM TO THE FRAME: THE OPAQUE MATERIALS EMPHASIZE WEIGHT AND CONTAINMENT, WHILE THE TRANSPARENT ONES EXPOSE THE CONNECTIVE LOGIC AND INTERNAL LIGHTNESS. WITH SIX ITERATIONS, WE EXPERIMENTED WITH A DYNAMIC INTERPLAY BETWEEN VISIBILITY AND CONCEALMENT, LIGHTNESS AND DENSITY, WHERE THE ACT OF HOLDING WATER ABOVE BECOMES BOTH A PHYSICAL AND POETIC STATEMENT OF BALANCE AND SUSPENSION, DEEPENING THE READING BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND ENCLOSURE, GROUNDED MASS AND SUSPENDED BALANCE.