Team

Richard Sarrach, Che-Wei Wang

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Materials

CNC milled renshape master tiles
Urethane molds
Liquid urethane cast
Automobile paint finish
Metal cleat hardware
Powder coated aluminum storefront grille
Sandblasted glass storefront glass panel
Glass pendent lighting
Lacquered bentwood sushi bar

Concept

The timeless search to bring inanimate matter to life has been a preoccupation for some of the most brilliant thinkers throughout history. The impulse can be traced as far back as Greek Mythology with the arrival of ‘Prometheus’, 16th c. Jewish folklore with the story of the ‘Golem’, Mary Shelley’s 19th c. legendary Gothic novel ‘Frankenstein’, and more recently with the timely debate surrounding Trans-humanism and AI. Underlying every epoch is a common fascination with discovering the ineffable code that could create an autonomous life force introducing into the natural world the first synthetic avatar.

 

Intrigued by the analogous opportunities afforded with the exploration of digital alchemy, and the broad illusory affects that could be obtained computationally eliciting an uncanny sense of animate behavior, REptile served as an ideal case study project for the research. Given the limited budget and priority to maximize occupancy leaving little space beyond for any robust intervention it was determined that a custom prefabricated modular wall-tile system would serve as the primary feature piece in the restaurant. Making use of controlled chance as a significant feature within the animation software, a series of experiments unfolded over time revealing the surprising affects of mixing together opposing geometric expressions as a frozen cinematic relief.

 

Specifications

The NYC-based Japanese restaurant titled ‘AKA’ measured 1,200 sq. ft., contained 180 suspended glass chandeliers, 90 custom liquid polymer cast tiles, and a custom powder-coated red aluminum storefront.