These plaster and wire shapes were realised in the course Feel the Touch at the University of Tübingen, led by Zurab Bero, and were displayed in the Museum of the University of Tübingen in a group exhibition of the course at the beginning of 2022.

This project is inspired by the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. It is a sports hall in Tokyo designed by the famous architect Kenzo Tange in 1964. When I lived in Tokyo in 2017, I walked past this building every day on my way to work. I was fascinated by the building, but it was only in retrospect that I began to look closely at the architecture. The central aspect of the architecture is the roof, a steel cable construction that spans parabolic minimal surfaces and covers the hall.

The building combines dynamic forms and surfaces with heavy, massive and sturdy materials such as concrete and iron, by using the most advanced technologies of the time. The dramatic curves and fluid transitions formed by the solid and rigid materials such as concrete and steel created a contradiction that piqued my interest. Inspired by Tange, I imagine several architectural forms under the title Shapes and Surfaces, which are meant to represent dynamic structures and flowing transitions with the solid and rigid material of plaster. Of central importance to me is the three-dimensional dynamic form and surface structure that are depicted both by the grid and plaster textures.
Shapes and Surfaces represents a haptic and theoretical exploration of the concept of this architecture.

In this project, I attempted to use my hands to question, feel, and reflect in physical space the source of my interest – and to show this on this level as well.