Bhubble (Building Movements #4)

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RESEARCH BACKGROUND: In 2013, Cottrell, Elliott and Pintos-Lopez worked together to produce a number of creative interventions in the then recently opened RMIT Design Hub. This project explored the building through direct, material dialogue; an emerging mode of practice-based architectural critique whose value is only recently being articulated (see for example Inflexions 8: Radical Pedagogies http://inflexions.org/radicalpedagogy/main.html). Research began with a workshop held at the Design Hub in June 2013, which developed into a group exhibition seven weeks later. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: This pressurised inflatable room opens directly on to the lift, forming an airlock between the vertical space of the elevator shaft and the long horizontal rooms of the interior. The room is patterned with translucent circles in reference to the facade of the building it is sited within. When the lift doors open or close, the change in pressure causes the space to gently deflate and re-inflate. The project takes an innovative approach to architectural design, beginning with space and air rather than traditional construction. The project extends Cottrell's research through making visible intangible qualities of air pressure, and revealing the complexity of threshold conditions. The rhythmic inflation/deflation of the space references the building as a living, breathing entity. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The project was published in Ednie-Brown, P. (2015). "Architecture of the Occasion." Architectural Design 85(3): 100-105. Architectural Design is one of the discipline's leading journals, appearing bi-monthly for over 80 years. It is at the forefront of architectural debate - stimulating discussion on theoretical, creative and technological advances, as well as the social, cultural and environmental implications. The collaboration was partially supported by a residency funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the Immediations project.