NIKE X A COLD WALL*
Foot Strike. Strike Beat. Beat Sound. Sound Scape.
Nike was founded to quite literally, cushion the space between the foot and
the track. Finding the perfect balance between shock reflection – propelling the
limbs forward – and shock absorption – protecting the limbs upward, became the
premise of the brand’s identity. The action of the foot strike, more than a half a
century later, has survived as the beat of Nike.
Materially speaking, the acoustic panel is the embodiment of architecture’s physical relationship to sound. By itself, in its flat planar form, the high-density foam block absorbs sound. Profiled into a landscape of pyramids, the acoustic panel, much a like a shoe but with sound instead of shock, inherits the capability to both reflect the waves through its field, and to thereafter absorb them.
By first translating the form of the acoustic panel into a floor plate, albeit cast as a thin shell of clay instead of a foam block, this installation employs the impact of the foot strike as a literal beat. The culmination of several strikes, together with the subsequent crack and crumble of the clay into rubble, will generate a sound. Over the period of 48 hours on show, as the rubble is further crushed into sand, a visual soundscape will inevitably emerge as a formless path through a field of forms.
The installation will start as a series of clay instruments, waiting to be walked on, jogged on, and played into beats and a subsequent sound, and finish as an artifact, or visual soundscape. The rail that surrounds the six Nike + ACW* pieces in the center of the room and directs the circulation path is a 1:50 replica of Hayward Field’s inner track boundary, the birthplace of Blue Ribbons Sports and, still, the symbolic epicenter of Nike worldwide.
The collaboration between Nike and ACW* was born of clay and clay will be our medium. The visual soundscape that remains is a more human reminder of the deterioration that happens over time, much like how ACW*’s intervention disrupts the technical perfection inherent in the garments.
Post-exhibition, the London clay, in fragments of the 48-hour soundscape, will travel as a physical reminder of ACW*’s founding and the collection’s debut, here on London’s clay soil.
This installation is a collaboration between Nike + ACW* and Diploma 15 of the Architectural Association. The concept and execution were developed through a rigorous process of cooperation, starting with a design charrette and ending with an intense period of production. All artifacts have been handcrafted by members of the unit.
By translating the form of the acoustic panel into a floor plate, albeit cast as a thin shell of clay instead of a foam, this installation employs the impact of the foot strike as a literal beat. The culmination of several strikes, together with the subsequent crack and crumble of the clay into rubble, will generate a sound. Over the period of 48 hours on show, as the rubble is further crushed into sand, a visual soundscape will inevitably emerge as a formless path through a field of forms.
Materially speaking, the acoustic panel is the embodiment of architecture’s physical relationship to sound. By itself, in its flat planar form, the high-density foam block absorbs sound. Profiled into a landscape of pyramids, the acoustic panel, much a like a shoe but with sound instead of shock, inherits the capability to both reflect the waves through its field, and to thereafter absorb them.
By first translating the form of the acoustic panel into a floor plate, albeit cast as a thin shell of clay instead of a foam block, this installation employs the impact of the foot strike as a literal beat. The culmination of several strikes, together with the subsequent crack and crumble of the clay into rubble, will generate a sound. Over the period of 48 hours on show, as the rubble is further crushed into sand, a visual soundscape will inevitably emerge as a formless path through a field of forms.
The installation will start as a series of clay instruments, waiting to be walked on, jogged on, and played into beats and a subsequent sound, and finish as an artifact, or visual soundscape. The rail that surrounds the six Nike + ACW* pieces in the center of the room and directs the circulation path is a 1:50 replica of Hayward Field’s inner track boundary, the birthplace of Blue Ribbons Sports and, still, the symbolic epicenter of Nike worldwide.
The collaboration between Nike and ACW* was born of clay and clay will be our medium. The visual soundscape that remains is a more human reminder of the deterioration that happens over time, much like how ACW*’s intervention disrupts the technical perfection inherent in the garments.
Post-exhibition, the London clay, in fragments of the 48-hour soundscape, will travel as a physical reminder of ACW*’s founding and the collection’s debut, here on London’s clay soil.
This installation is a collaboration between Nike + ACW* and Diploma 15 of the Architectural Association. The concept and execution were developed through a rigorous process of cooperation, starting with a design charrette and ending with an intense period of production. All artifacts have been handcrafted by members of the unit.
By translating the form of the acoustic panel into a floor plate, albeit cast as a thin shell of clay instead of a foam, this installation employs the impact of the foot strike as a literal beat. The culmination of several strikes, together with the subsequent crack and crumble of the clay into rubble, will generate a sound. Over the period of 48 hours on show, as the rubble is further crushed into sand, a visual soundscape will inevitably emerge as a formless path through a field of forms.
Nike + A Cold Wall // Architectural Association (Diploma 15)
NikeLab 1948 LDN
Experimental Retail Space
Bateman’s Row, London
Publication on Dezeen:
https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/30/samuel-ross-nike-aa-terracotta-pyramids/
Collaborators:
unit members of diploma 15 2019
Lucy Styles
Simon Taylor
Oana Stănescu
Daisy Adebiyi
Hasan Al-Rashid
Julian Bachle
Luke Decker
Gian Andrea Diana
Wei Xuan Sean Gwee
Tzu-Hsiang (Andy) Lin
Aleksandar Stankovic
Emily Watts
Konrad Weka
Nam Sung (Kane) Wong
Tsz Yan (Gigi) Wong
