Brandon Fong

"Interconnected"

Section MS9, Daryan Knoblauch

Keywords: nature, water, built environment

The project establishes a methodology of critical research, experimentation, design, and making. This framework aims to actively address a series of social and environmental questions, engaging with and navigating specific critical entry points. 'Interconnect' centres its focus on the hydraulic infrastructure in London, taking water as a pivotal starting point. A series of contemporary and historical analogies were explored, including Leonardo Da Vinci’s studies of water, Mark Wigley’s essay on "Toilet Architecture," and Jason de Caires Taylor’s "Crossing the Rubicon" sculpture, the research delves into the intricate theme of complex infrastructural systems and their connection to human life and the home. This exploration raises environmental and political inquiries related to hidden hydraulic infrastructure, the climate crisis, social injustice, and human dependency. These thematic elements provide a robust platform for investigating various facets such as the city dweller, natural environments, and non-human life. The interconnectedness of these vectors is scrutinised, illustrating their intrinsic links and the direct impact they have on one another. This research seeks to mediate between the bodily comfort that we experience and its connection to expansive technological networks that seamlessly connect everyday life with an artificially constructed external environment. ‘Interconnect’ aims to investigate the disparity between the hidden hydraulic infrastructure in our buildings and our complete dependency on them.