Urban Totems was a spatial and visual installation that integrated timber structures and three-dimensional video mapping engagement to express idiosyncratic, digitally-manufactured symbols that serve as emblems for diverse groups of people.
These purely symbolic, digitally-manufactured timber structures questioned the ecologies of space and material of common urban high-rise typologies. Audiences were invited to engage in active observation through an array of structures and a visual narrative of the design process. Visiting the Urban Totems installation was an opportunity to experience the digital beauty and ecological importance of timber and the diversity of novel design processes and its significant connection to Queensland.
Physical models of data-driven, tall, timber structures on the one hand, and physical models and videos of robotically-fabricated, parametric, timber walls, on the other hand, represented the potential of using timber towards a more sustainable future, respectively indicating the pre and post-craft phases for future timber structures.
Urban Totems was created as part of the Botanica: Contemporary Art Outside exhibition, held at City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane. Botanica was presented by Brisbane City Council and produced by Museum of Brisbane.
| Design team | Dr Kristina Knox, Dr Maryam Shafiei, Shaden Aldakheel and Dr Fred Fialho Teixeira, with Master of Architecture students. |
| Materials | Timber (plywood), LED lights, acrylic panels, steel angle brackets, screws, animated three-dimensional video-mapped projection. |