In this workshop, we were essentially looking at understanding steel as a material. With this, we were also thinking of assemblies of different materials but by the virtue of their material property.

The material property here dictates the form and the geometry of the structure. The form and the geometry were derived from the surroundings and keen observations from everyday life.

The central argument of the exercise was to challenge conventional ways of construction by using thick members and thinking through fragmenting the elements to make lighter sections. In order to do this, the design process would include a deeper understanding of the material and its several possibilities of joineries. Steel as a material allows it to be intertwined with each other in many ways. This forms a “weave”. The weave is a pattern that can be altered in ways in which it can afford to create dynamic forms with intricate details. A more metaphorical understanding of the same strikes when Manjunath says, “Don't build a building, grow a building”. The idea of growth here talks about the smallest details which come together to create a form so gradually in its disposition that it shifts the experience of that space altogether.

Along with geometry and aesthetics, stability is also a key element of a structure. However, the stability can be achieved by the gradual decrease in angles and by bundling the fragmented elements in stable forms but also by losing their rigid nature.

The exercise was about using a timber post of a small cross-section of about 40mm and coupling it with steel to create a pavilion. The approach was such that instead of using one single thick member, multiple smaller thin members were used to distribute the load and make a stable structure that also was not too bulky in its appearance. The initial stages of the design process were inspired by looking at the logic of connector pens. These pens have a logic of connecting parallelly and they have the possibility of shifting along the y-axis. In order to stabilize the slender timber members by preventing them from buckling, we introduced a steel element, which here was an angled plate. The design was thus imagined to be a transition space between two exhibition spaces that would be porous enough to allow for free flow of movement but also have a sense of direction while moving through the space.