Shaking Up the Quotidian is a proposal for a lightweight temporary structure, designed based on a brief for a pop-up intervention in Floriana. The site chosen, the Commonwealth Memorial Gardens, wedged between the two main entrances to Valletta, is passed by thousands daily yet is generally overlooked. The intervention is conceived as a gesture within the garden space, drawing in the passer-by from the quotidian route.
The entrance to the capital, dominated by the imposing Triton Fountain serves as a hot bed of activity flowing in and out of City Gate. For half a century the fountain served as a landmark, providing majesty, spectacle and identity to the area. The intervention’s main intention is a reinterpretation of the monumental elements within the pjazza. In contrast to the fountain, which is fundamental to the fabric of the pjazza and dictates pedestrian and vehicular flows, the aim of the pop-up structure is to allow for a dynamic use of space which can be actively explored and interpreted.
Emergent flocking behaviour is employed as the main generator of form, reminiscent of the avian populations which Valletta and Floriana have been known for. The indeterministic nature of such algorithms allows for an organic form, derived from the most basic of parameters. Openings are established based on probable pedestrian ow into the gardens, and the algorithm was allowed to generate the main structural elements with the openings as the basic restraints.
The resulting pavilion operates as an experiment using light in relation to bodily position within the structure. Motion sensitive light ttings, attached to the joints of a scaffolding element construction react to the population of the immediate areas beneath and adjacent to the structure.This dynamic relationship between the space and its occupation is the basis on which the system functions.The use of light and the indeterminate arrangements it forms aims to challenge the boundaries of the perceived structure through the creation of immaterial spaces.
The intervention seeks to establish a pocket of space void of any program. The drawing in of the passer-by aims at invoking a sense of otherness, a dynamic relationship, exploring ephemeral architectures within the rigidity of scaffolding structure. Inhabitants are immersed into a system in which the actions of the system and space are in uenced by the bodily human occupation and in turn this in uences future navigation of the space - encouraging bidirectional engagement on a number of levels which thus allows for an ever-changing renewable experience.
