Experiment 13
CUMMULUS
DESIGN, WATER IN THE AIR
(Du Design aux expérience atmosphériques)
October 7, 2012 - January 9, 2012
Le Laboratoire and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design are pleased to sponsor an exhibition by Argentine artist and architect Ciro Najle, a frequent design critic at the GSD, entitled cummulus. From 2007 to 2010, Najle worked alongside engineers, scientists, and water experts in Chile to design fog-collecting nets. Informed by this research, his complex cloudlike installation was developed using computer-numerical technology and constructed using crochet, a material ideally suited to forming complex topologies. cummulus, the moving aesthetic outcome of Najle’s creative engagement with the issues of water access and the atmosphere, was fi rst exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver in 2010/2011. The opening for the public is on Friday October 7, 2011.
The cummulus exhibition refl ects a broader engagement of Le Laboratoire; from fall 2010 through summer 2011, Le Laboratoire participated with designers, artists, scientists, and students to explore design solutions to achieving wider and more equitable access to fresh water globally. This effort was supported by an international creative program launched in 2009 (the ArtScience Prize) and overseen by the network of art and design labs founded by David Edwards (ArtScience Labs), of which Le Laboratoire is the cultural center. Today the network includes partners in Paris, Singapore, Dublin, Dhahran, Boston, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, and The Lab @ Harvard University, in collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Also on View:
Alongside the work of Najle, Le Laboratoire presents select works under development by teams of designers and students from the 2010 ArtScience Labs international creative program. These include a novel, easy to operate, and portable water filter; materials that mimic African fog-collecting insects; and an initiative to support the sustained development of fog collection through the distribution and sale of “fog water.” As part of its partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Le Laboratoire is serving as the host venue for twelve GSD students’ participation in a Paris semester abroad, which includes a design studio led by architect, Anne Lacaton and courses by GSD Professor Antoine Picon, Sébastien Marot and Francois Roche. Works in progress from the residency will be presented to the public over the course of the Ciro Najle exhibition.
Watch the video.
About the Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard University Graduate School of Design is dedicated to the education and development of design professionals in architecture, landscape, urban planning, and urban design. With a commitment to design excellence that demands the skillful manipulation of form and technology and draws inspiration from a broad range of social, environmental, and cultural issues, the Graduate School of Design provides leadership for shaping the built environment of the 21st century.