Phase: Concept
Client: Competition

Iced Out/In is an inhabitable sculpture that mediates between the natural and the human-made, outside and inside, solid and flexible, untextured and textured – these dualities speak to the connections and contradictions the world has recently experienced, and the resilience to come through it all. The project title evokes this nature of duality, hinting at the intersection of culture, capitalism, and climate. In many ways, we are to blame for the state of the world, with the excesses of consumerism leading to environmental degradation, but if we can find a way to live harmoniously with nature and redirect innovative industries towards earth stewardship, then perhaps there is hope. The sculpture expresses this hopeful sentiment, with human-made materials forming a shell made solid and strong by natural processes, culminating in an oculus that reaches for the light and warmth of the midday sun.

The structure starts with rods formed in a spiraled diagrid, with fabric patches slotted through. Natural precipitation may be augmented with technological solutions like a snow blower. The ice that forms the shell follows the catenary fabric surfaces to make the rippled smooth exterior, while on the interior, ice is free to form heterogeneous patterns of icicles and crystals. And finally, when the seasons change and spring brings the respite of warmer weather, nature recedes as the ice melts to reveal the human-made elements again, none the worse for wear and ready to take on a new challenge.