PDIV – |11 Smelling Wood

” SMELL. “

by

Heng Tong  x  Hong Sheng


From the consultation in the previous week, we had really constructive comments from our Professors. This is what we have developed.

Membrane

The concept of the membrane is our chosen concept, and also one which have been resonating within both Hong Sheng and myself. In conceptualizing, we initially decided on smellscaping a walkway through the walls. 

In it comes multiple issues due to our lack of knowledge and expertise regarding the technicalities of preserving and flowing a base scent.

 After our consultation, our idea of incorporating our installation to a wall is shifted to an independent hanging installation.  

Below lies our visualisation.

Through the reference of dividers and Japanese Byoubu, our installation lies in the notion of a paper drifting in the wind. We made use of our keywords extrapolated from the words used to describe smell – dispersion, porosity and flow – into a form of smell.

We intend to make use of untreated natural smelling wood as our material, placed within an open air space. By having the wood structure left untreated, the natural scent of the wood can be maximized in diffusing into the surrounding space. We intentionally allow the wood to be situated in an open space for it to be open to weather conditions such as wind and rain. 

The exposure of wind will allow the installation to drift, showing a contrast with the natural sturdiness of the wood material. 

The natural scent of the wood will diffuse to the surrounding. Yet the smell will change with time, through exposure with the surrounding, moisture in the air and the variable students that walk through the space. 


Considerations

MATERIAL – As the notion of smell is the catalyst of our project, we need to source for a natural wood that has scent. Through our research, we look to the use of the Yellow Cypress Wood for the chosen material. Yellow cypress wood has a distinctive scent that is strong 

 

yet inviting. We chanced upon the material in the form of a bottle and upon further research, we find out that Yellow cypress wood is a durable softwood that is also suitable for outdoor furniture and we feel that the wood is a suitable material for our installation.

CHOSEN LOCATION – We have chosen the walkway in between the lecture halls at North-spine for our installation.

SCALE – The scale will be determined by the location, and the installation will hang about the body length of a person.

ATTACHMENT – The attachment of our installation will need to be determined by the material, and also the number of attachments for each of our 4 panels. TBC


Mock-up Construction

We look to constructing our mock-up for a better visualisation of our concept. TBC


To be continued.

Author: Heng Tong Foo

in pursuit of happiness.

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