PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Andrew John Wit + Rashida Ng
STUDENT RESEARCHERS: Cheng Zhang
PROJECT STATUS: Structural prototyping
EXHIBITIONS: Design Week Ft. Wayne, Ft. Wayne IN., 2016; Philadelphia Design Week, 2018.
DESCRIPTION: cloudMAGNET researches the co-dependencies between material, form, energy, and environment, through the design and fabrication of a series of environmentally performative kites within the cloud forest in Monteverde, CostaRica. Cloud forests have been rapidly disappearing due to climate change and deforestation. Rising global temperatures cause a cloud-lifting effect raising the cloud cover above the tree canopy and forest ecosystem that depend on constant moisture and humidity to support its life. The impetus for this project is to explore the ways by which design can contribute to the stabilization of the atmosphere and the restoration of the forest.
CFRP structure prototype v.1
CFRP structure prototype v.2
CFRP structure prototype v.2
CFRP structure prototype v.1 + v.2
CFRP structure prototype v.3
CFRP winding detail prototype v.3
CFRP structure prototype v.4
CFRP winding detail prototype v.4
cloudCLOUD v.5.0 1/4 scale full structural mockup