Massimals: Exploring the Relationship Between Social Engagement and Built Form

An Architectural Design Research Installation

Massimals is an architectural design research project that showcases full-scale pieces exploring the relationship between social engagement and built form. Each Massimal's character is developed by synthesizing scale, material, and architectural mass modeling techniques to create its suggestive form. The project aims to drive design experimentation and engage in public discourse.

Utilizing various lightweight materials and modeling techniques, each Massimal is fabricated to develop its unique form. From white foam board to brown corrugated cardboard, pink and blue polystyrene foam, and grey chipboard, the materials are carefully chosen to create different contours and massing models. The components are cut and assembled by hand from paper templates extracted from digital modeling software.

The Massimals project seeks to expand the possibilities of how people interact with built form. These full-scale pieces serve as architectural design research models, expressing familiar characters in negotiation with material, construction, site specificity, and contextual parameters. By presenting architecture in a new and engaging way, the project aims to challenge traditional notions of design and encourage public participation.

The Massimals were developed by Design Office Takebayashi Scroggin (d.o.t.s) in November 2010. They were initially created as an installation to present their architectural design research as full-scale pieces, rather than scaled architectural models and drawings. The project has since been added to the collection of the Archive of Spatial Aesthetics and Praxis (ASAP), which aims to collect and exhibit architecture as part of a broader social, political, and aesthetic discourse.

These 1:1 design objects serve as prototypes to examine how physical form can engage the public realm. They are abstractions of animal forms built in the manner of massing studies produced in an architectural design practice. The suggestive forms and their specific arrangement imply docile behavior, similar to animals in a petting zoo, enhancing the way visitors approach and engage with built form.

The Massimals project faced the challenge of creating unique formal characteristics using standardized components and simple construction logic. However, through creative thinking and technical expertise, the designers were able to produce pieces that engage the public consciousness and contribute to the improvement of quality of life.

In recognition of its outstanding and creatively ingenious design, Massimals was awarded the Bronze A' Design Award in the Fine Arts and Art Installation Design category in 2012. This prestigious award is bestowed upon designs that authenticate experience and resourcefulness, incorporating best practices in art, science, design, and technology. The Massimals project exhibits strong technical and creative skills, making a significant contribution to the improvement of the built environment.