arid

Introduction

'Arid' is an installation symbolic of a post-drought landscape in Jordan, that calls attention to the imminent problem of water scarcity in the country.

Geometrically, the piece expresses itself as a geological landscape, resembling cracked earth of a sinuous topography in an arid environment.

Amman Design Week commissioned the piece for exhibition during the 2017 edition of the show. The novelty of the project’s materiality is an outcome of processing natural, rough materials with imperfections, juxtaposed with the precision of digital manufacturing.

Robotic CNC arms were utilized to mill Natural Jordanian stone from Al Hallabat area, in the north of Jordan, into individual pieces, each one unique, from geometries generated by digitally simulating the organic phenomena of ‘Fractured Cracking'. Plasma CNC cutters were used to cut a steel base, assembled as a kit of parts, all designed and fabricated digitally.

'Arid' is a work made possible by the seamless computational design to production methods used. The sum of its parts are hand finished, conceived and made by local expertise and craftsmen in Jordan.
Post-event, MEAN installed the piece in the National Museum of Jordan, where it sits in the garden of the museum permanently. The objective of ARID is to aid Mercy Corps in raising awareness about Jordan's depleting fresh water resources.

مقدمة

'أرض' تشكيل هندسي ثلاثي الأبعاد من كتل حجرية مختلفة الأشكال والارتفاعات على قاعدة من الحديد، ترمزالى الجفاف وتهدف الى زيادة الوعي والانتباه لندرة المياه في الأردن.

تم نحت القطع الحجرية من الحجر المستخرج من منطقة الحلابات شمال الأردن وذلك بتقنية الحفر بمساعدة الروبوت (CNC) كما تم قص ألواح الحديد بنفس الطريقة حسب برنامج خاص.

يمثل العمل تكاثف الجهود المشتركة للحرفيين والمصممين لانتاج عمل فني لم يكن من الممكن انجازه بدون التكنولوجيا الرقمية الحديثة.
تم التبرع بالعمل لمؤسسة ”Mercy Corps“ التي تعمل بنشاط على تخفيف حدة أزمة المياه المتسارعة في الأردن.

دعم هذا المشروع من: مؤسسة برجيل للفنون, شرقيون لفن الحجر, أسبوع عمان للتصميم, شركة عاشور للتجارة والصناعة

  1. Type
    installation
  2. Client
    Amman Design Week
  3. Industrial Partners
    AW & Sons Stone Co. Ashour Industrial & Trading Co.
  4. Size
    8 sqm
  5. Location
    Amman, Jordan
  6. Status
    Completed
  7. Lead
    Architect
    Riyad Joucka
  8. Team
    Michael Pryor
    Hashem Joucka
  9. Date
    2017

Design

Digital processing of the forms using a custom script. Each geometry is output into a folder, numbered as per the fabrication plan.

Starting with the fabrication layout plan; the process of cutting the steel and stone in local Jordanian factories.

Process

Assembly process on-site each block is raised and placed into its location as per plan.

Numbering system spirals from the center and towards the periphery of the installation.

exhibit

Video showcasing the installation sequence.

Exhbition days, attracting a wide audience, from design and culture figures to primary school students