THE PRODUCTION PLANT
The system-based thinking approach was considered as one of the project’s main methods, and components within the production plant were defined as communicative entities, able to highly influence each other. The proposed function, which is the cultivation of synthetic meat, was studied thoroughly, determining an optimal arrangement for the most flawless possible operation, and the examination of various technical machines was responsible for the dimension, rhythm and nature of the structure. The representation of the project includes various actors, such as machines, natural elements, animals and infrastructural elements that function holistically with the structure. To categorize and simplify the understanding of involvement elements both during the design and presentation process, various parts have been color-coded, which links back to the colorful nature of drawings in the Display mode in such software as AutoCAD and Rhino, where the color coding helps to comprehend the design.
The structure is designed by carefully evaluating all its components and not accepting any predefined norms, striving for an efficiency that has not yet been achieved, but may be possible through different arrangements of space and the relationships between various types of machines. It continues to expand the discourse on structural expressionism, which rarely entered the academic discourse even during its peak. A great attention is paid to the look of structural elements, even though many of them would rarely be observed by a human being.
Digital modes of representation were explored both during the mappings and design process, emphasizing the vectorial movement and the role of software in the automated landscapes. The definition of elements as vectors allowed for consideration of the space to its full extent, together with the machinery, shaping the structure itself.
The principles of an automated building can be further analysed in other fields of production and human environments, questioning the role of an architect in the creation of industrial structures. Even though the totality of the factory has been tailored to the specific site, the singular production unit can be placed anywhere, inviting consideration of countless different arrangements. The repetitiveness of the form challenges a certain type of monumentality created by modernity. The operational and dialectical relationship between quality and quantity is investigated through design, in which the quality is not sacrificed for the quantity, as the qualitative principle is brought back into the determination of the ‘module’.
