About
+
Christopher Malouf
+ Self-Directed Research Project
+ Master of Architecture, 2023-2024
+ Supervised by Andrew King
+ McGill University | Peter Guo-Hua Fu School of Architecture
+ Self-Directed Research Project
+ Master of Architecture, 2023-2024
+ Supervised by Andrew King
+ McGill University | Peter Guo-Hua Fu School of Architecture
In a time where automation and surveillance seamlessly merge into our lives,
the human gaze has lost its dominant position as the primary viewer of the world.
Contemporary technologies of vision with forensic accuracy such as 3D scanning
find a central role in constantly observing, recording, and processing spatial
data. This speculative project delves into the boundaries of the post-digital,
employing a variety of media and experimental methodologies. Initially drawn to
the intersection between architecture, film and fictional narratives, the proposal
evolved into a critical exploration of architecture and its representation
through the post-human eye.
The process unfolds through a sequence of experiments aimed at, on one hand, comprehensively understanding how these technological tools perceive and interpret the world, and on the other, subverting their realism to reveal inherently political and fictional spatial constructs. Despite being digital anomalies captured by machines, the gaps, noise, and errors are interpreted by humans, prompting a re-evaluation of disciplinary assumptions regarding representational conventions and spatial understanding. Hierarchy, resolution, opacity, and fragmentation are reimagined as part of an alternative spatial system. Through the compilation of 3D scans encompassing humans, non-humans, objects, architectural elements, and urban fragments—each varying in parameters, scale, and techniques—the project positions the scanner as a generative rather than reconstructive tool. Indeed, it acts as a creative complicit to reveal hidden, alternative spaces and narratives, accessible only to the scanner’s gaze, by perpetually challenging its operational mechanisms.
The final act is an animated short film that follows a security guard into Montreal’s Silo n’5, a colossal and inaccessible urban object under constant surveillance. The narrative transforms the site into a liminal space through cinematic mechanisms that navigate the 3D Scanned repertoire, blurring the lines between fact and fiction, the real and the constructed. This experience unveils an uncanny and eerie world, constructed from our own reality, inviting viewers to reconsider their perceptions of space and narrative within the digital age through the post-human gaze.
....
The process unfolds through a sequence of experiments aimed at, on one hand, comprehensively understanding how these technological tools perceive and interpret the world, and on the other, subverting their realism to reveal inherently political and fictional spatial constructs. Despite being digital anomalies captured by machines, the gaps, noise, and errors are interpreted by humans, prompting a re-evaluation of disciplinary assumptions regarding representational conventions and spatial understanding. Hierarchy, resolution, opacity, and fragmentation are reimagined as part of an alternative spatial system. Through the compilation of 3D scans encompassing humans, non-humans, objects, architectural elements, and urban fragments—each varying in parameters, scale, and techniques—the project positions the scanner as a generative rather than reconstructive tool. Indeed, it acts as a creative complicit to reveal hidden, alternative spaces and narratives, accessible only to the scanner’s gaze, by perpetually challenging its operational mechanisms.
The final act is an animated short film that follows a security guard into Montreal’s Silo n’5, a colossal and inaccessible urban object under constant surveillance. The narrative transforms the site into a liminal space through cinematic mechanisms that navigate the 3D Scanned repertoire, blurring the lines between fact and fiction, the real and the constructed. This experience unveils an uncanny and eerie world, constructed from our own reality, inviting viewers to reconsider their perceptions of space and narrative within the digital age through the post-human gaze.
....