Matter Architecture

Ecotopia: the second ICP triennial of photography and video

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Ecotopiaries provided the setting for this exhibition showcasing contemporary views of the natural world in this era of undeniable climatic change. The project was installed within two weeks, on a stringent budget, using techniques tolerancing a non-professional construction crew.

Part commentary on America’s dependencies on oil, Ecotopiaries are fabricated out of a non-biodegradable, yet 100% recyclable, petroleum-based polyethylene foam. This single material was repurposed and recombined to create cost-effective A/V viewing rooms, light-diffusing screens, seating, and a/v monitor pods.

Through full-scale prototyping, MATTER innovated ‘woven’ skin panels that could be mass-produced and tolerate tiling into a variety of configurations on-site. The density and direction of the ‘weave’ caused the panels to naturally bow outward, creating the desired forms and requiring minimal structure for support.

The pods are consciously reminiscent of topiary, wryly referencing man’s strange attempts to shape natural growth into stylized constructions.