Laurel Bancroft artist + designer1-412-719-6040
laurel@laurelbancroft.com
Shape and Theory (re: the body)
During the Winter Interim, I chose to study in the fashion department, taking a course entitled Shape and Theory. The premise of the course is refreshing, focusing on form and elements of design rather than pure concept. I could not completely divorce myself from material as I worked with the butcher paper, thus producing form […]
Pinching the Network: The Potential of the CTA L Station
Most feel that our built environment is passive— Probably because the general population’s depth of interaction with it is only skin-deep—using it only as a backdrop for society’s movements. I propose that this interaction vector is flipped, instead of people acting on the built environment, the built environment acts on them. In theory, this is […]
Intention vs. Authorship vs. Randomness
While questions of intention, randomness, and authorship have long been harried questions in the art world (maybe starting with a urinal on the wall,) these questions have become more and more pertinent as the architect travels further and further away from the finished product. Between engineer, contractor, developer, and BIM software, where does the architect’s […]
The Convergence of Medium
Has architecture ever existed with out mechanical access? Recently after reading Carpo’s Architecture in the Age of Printing; It becomes almost blatantly clear that maybe it hasn’t– the creation of the printing press not only created design guide books, but, as a sub-creation, manifested an architectural community, where all were reading and design not only […]
Symposium– Critical Spatial Practices, Brazil
The symposium concluding the Brazil Critical Spatial Practices course was held tonight– while various research topics were presented spanning across medium there were strong currents running through everyone’s experience: displacement of self understanding/placing the exotic comparison to the familiar experiential response to unique geography/topography more will come as I digest …
How Masonry Block Can Shape A City: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
An extremely common sight– and most often overlooked is the masonry block which seems to reproduce– sprouting and filling “in-between” spaces, patching holes, constructing walls spanning neighborhoods, class and aesthetic. After visiting Corcovado, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Copacabana Palace, and every other sensory-overloaded-tourist attraction that Rio had to offer– I take back the vision of masonry […]
The Affect of Corcovado: Critical Spatial Practices, Brazil
As Corcovado hovers over the city– often ephemeral, sometimes brutal, but always emotive– it is tempting to start to dissect its powerful quality to amaze/enchant/scare each viewer. Is this awe-inspiring affect (whether “good” or “bad”) achieved by shear scale, materiality and weight? or does it have to do with symbolism– the often ingrained image spiraling […]
Project Morrinho, Brazil: Critical Spatial Practices, Brazil, 2
Visiting Project Morrinho was not only extremely experiential [Brazil topography and sociology is directly confronted as one treks to the site] but it is also on the verge of extreme representation. Information visualization at its finest– displayed, collected, and built such that an instant affect is achieved: whether this is through multiplicity, iteration, modulation, shear […]