RE[nder]IFY
2019
M.Arch Thesis (Instructor: Perry Kulper)
*Super Jury Selection
Particularly interested in the reciprocity between photorealistic rendering and the physical world,
Re[nder]ify rethinks rendering tools and techniques in search of latent opportunities for conceptual development and symbolic communication. For instance, how might anti-aliasing be reconsidered as an expression of construction labor, as opposed to a dry technical procedure? Or what messages about contamination are inherent to the act of region rendering?
Re[nder]ify rethinks rendering tools and techniques in search of latent opportunities for conceptual development and symbolic communication. For instance, how might anti-aliasing be reconsidered as an expression of construction labor, as opposed to a dry technical procedure? Or what messages about contamination are inherent to the act of region rendering?
The final output of the work is a composiverse (composite universe) of the taxonomical elements discovered, expanded into a construction with its own sub-narratives hovering nearby. The aim is twofold: one, to unlock a new means of viewing not only rendering, but correlative (and perhaps banal) moments in the physical world, and two, to consider alternative methods for working with and around digital technologies.
Phase 1 - Discovery
The initial phase of work used a series of “sites” to investigate the potential for rendering tools and techniques to:
1. Uncover routes for conceptual development, or
2. Expand their communicative and symbolic capacity.
1. Uncover routes for conceptual development, or
2. Expand their communicative and symbolic capacity.
A translation of the chapter "Shells" from Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space. Emerging from a fractal pattern "ribbon" to signify compounding choice, themes such as surprise, protection, and shell construction, are depicted with displacement, opacity masks, and uv textures, respectively.
An analysis of the Brion Cemetery by Carlo Scarpa draws parallels between bump maps and time, digital sculpting and craftsmanship, and extracts banal moments such as dust and degradation in order to view them in a different light.
A second view from the Brion Cemetery imagines the use of rendered proxies to simulate the growth and time depicted by unkept foliage, as well as draws out the dichotomous nature of its water.
A photo of the Prada Foundation relates bump maps to discussions of authenticity, anti-aliasing to labor, and render regions to contamination.
From Erasers by Alain Robbe-Grillet, themes such as duplicity and discontinuity are represented by stereoscopic rendering and render regions.
The Dutch Still-life painting by Clara Peeters, "Still-life with Cheeses, Almonds, and Pretzels," pairs the inherent themes of wealth with rendering bucket count, and recreates reflections as an intentionally staged background.
Reverse engineering A photo of the prada foundation into a rendering was opportunity to delayer and expose numerous elements and processes inherent to the production of a rendering.
Phase 2 - Synthesis
The second phase of the work coalesced and spatialized the findings from the first phase
Phase 3 - Extrapolation
In the final phase of the work, a series of biopsies of the composiverse (from the previous phase) unpack potential narratives and sub-narratives.
Construct Photos
To emphasize the importance of the reciprocity between the digital and physical throughout the work, a construct was built that loosely recreates key elements of the composiverse.
