JANUS AND WALKING ASSEMBLY. MEGALITHIC CONCRETE STONES TO PLAY, AND TO MOVE THEM WITH THE HANDS

由专筑网亚森君，李韧编译

当我们惊叹于古代那些巧夺天工的巨型石头建筑时，一定会感到困惑与惊奇。在科技尚未发达的远古时代，人们究竟是如何移动那些巨大的石头的呢？如今的我们，大多都误以为那时所搬运的物体质量越大，所需人力越多。然而，如果这些庞然大物自身就能够移动的话，又会是怎样一番光景呢？

最近，Matter Design Studio与CEMEX Global R&D展开合作，想要推翻“材料质量与所需人力之间呈正比关系” 这一假设。利用先进的计算机技术与特殊设计的材料，他们把人工智能嵌入到物体之中，他们要求物体本身可以进行自动搬运工作，从而将人类从搬运和运输的劳动中解放出来。

Matter Design和CEMEX Global R&D在两个项目上展开合作，其一是名为Janus的实验雕塑。其二是一个可供行走的装配设备，后者演示了Janus如何在不使用起重机的情况下自身即可组装成大型建筑构件的情形。

We wonder in baffled amazement at the gargantuan stone architectures of ancient civilizations. How could they have possibly moved those stones? Today, we work under the false assumption that mass is tied to labor. Imagine a future where mass moves itself.
Matter Design Studio has partnered with CEMEX Global R&D to challenge the relationship between the mass of materials and the physical effort. Using advanced computation and designing unique materials, they are embedding intelligence into the objects themselves. They are asking the objects to do the heavy lifting, thus liberating people to play with mass.
The collaboration between, Matter Design and CEMEX Global R&D, exists in two projects. The first is a performative sculpture titled Janus. The second, Walking Assembly, is a demonstration of how those same principles of Janus can be applied to assemble massive construction elements without the use of a crane.



可供行走的装配设备

远古时代，人们完成巨石的运输和布局等工作方式的神秘知识，在当代的建筑实践中时常被忽略。由此，在本项目“可供行走的装配设备”中，设计师就引入了尚未被充分理解的古代知识体系，以便更好地为未来建筑的运输和组装提供相应数据与信息。

About WALKING ASSEMBLY
The mysterious knowledge surrounding the transportation and placement of megalithic structures of the past eludes contemporary building practices. Walking Assemblyre-introduces the potentials of that ancient knowledge to better inform the transportation and assembly of future architectures.





砖块的设计适合单人搬运，而混凝土砌块单元（CMU）则为两个人而设计，这些巨大的砖石单元（MMU）就会构成尺寸与人体之间的依赖关系。运输和装配的人工智能被设计成元素本身，让人类从搬运工作中解放的同时，亦可指挥这些巨大的混凝土石块到其指定位置上。

If a brick is designed for a single hand, and a concrete masonry unit (CMU) is designed for two, these massive masonry units (MMU) unshackle the dependency between size and the human body. Intelligence of transportation and assembly is designed into the elements themselves, liberating humans to guide these colossal concrete elements into place.



原本依靠起重机或重型设备的结构，现在用很少的能量即可智能地进行组装和拆卸。通过使用密度不一的混凝土，物体的重心能够被精确地标定，从而运用智能技术控制构件稳定、轻松地自由移动。

Structures that would otherwise rely on cranes or heavy equipment can now be intelligently assembled and disassembled with little energy. By using variable density concrete, the center of mass of the object is calibrated precisely to control the stable, but easy motion of the elements.







为了确保这些巨型的混凝土石块在无起重机情况下能够成功地自由移动与组装到位，设计师实验了多种施工方法，因而让建筑工地变成“混凝土石块游乐场”。

This ensures that these massive elements successfully walk and assemble into place, creating the possibility for a crane-less tilt up construction method and turning our building sites into spectacles of play.



JANUS实验雕塑

Janus是罗马的门神，寓意“展望过去和未来”。Matter Design和CEMEX Global R&D希望设计的实验雕塑能够让人联想到这位混沌之神，从而让人们找到在搬运工作中的乐趣。Janus的魂魄孕育出了一对双生混凝土雕塑，一个在其诞生之地，而另一个则位于现为罗马美国学院所在地贾尼科洛山。如今，Janus终于从神话中显现，并出现在观众面前。

About JANUS
Janus is the Roman god of thresholds, simultaneously looking to the past and the future. Matter Design and CEMEX Global R&D have conjured this god of contradictions to help demonstrate the potentials of moving mass with joy. The ghost of Janus manifest as an animated double concrete sculpture on its original home and the current site of the American Academy in Rome—the Janiculum. Janus emerges from its own formwork and performs on stage in front of an audience of spectators.



该项目与作曲家Federico Gardella和Simone Conforti合作完成，本次的装置表演将声音和物理动画融合在一起，创造出生动的表演奇观。在长达一小时的表演中，嘈杂的声音成为背景音乐。这种絮絮叨叨的声音呼应着观众席的嘈杂声，就像人们的低语一样，将观众的全部注意力转移到了舞台上的物体之中。这种呈现方式，正是应和了Janus这位混沌之神的特质。

Working with composers Federico Gardella and Simone Conforti, this collaboration merges sonic and physical animation to produce a performance of living spectacle. In an hour-long performance, the audience is enveloped in a spatial chatter that transitions from the noise of the crowd itself to a spirit like whispering that draws the audience’s attention to an apparently gift-wrapped object on stage. Janus is designed through a series of monstrous contradictions.







整个雕塑构型参考了Janus拱门特有的特征，同时也融合了罗马色系里的粉红色、橙色和蓝色。当雕塑缓缓翻转的时候，却给人一种与其巨大的外观极不相称的轻盈质感。坚硬的外壳，无不提醒着观众这确实是一件混凝土雕塑展品。随着Janus在舞台上左右摇摆，整个雕塑仿佛有了生命，当外部的力量慢慢消失后，观众们将会看到Janus继续延续方才的舞蹈动作，而这也将激发观众进一步探究的乐趣。这种好似Janus重生的景象，映射出当下人们对无机体是否有生命的终极询问，可以说，Janus的创造还将延续。

This graphic box references the Arch of Janus with a uniquely Roman color palette of pinks, oranges, and blues. The box slowly rolls onto its back, exposing it is merely the lightweight formwork of a massive object inside. From this rigid box, a vital concrete object springs to life on its own. Janus wobbles on stage, breathing life into a solid sphere and hollowed ring sculpture until the momentum slowly fades and the wrecking ball of an object appears to hover on a single point for the amusement of spectators. This spectacle of witnessing Janus’ rebirth projects a perception of life in this inorganic object, but Janus was not done.









Janus将在大西洋彼岸的麻省理工学院校园里再次出现，这一次，它会通过游戏的方式，来展现设计师对人体行为更深入的理解。伴随着Gardella和Conforti的作曲，Terez Lowry和Janus一起跳舞，从而让Janus掌握这首长达15分钟的进行曲，而这段表演也将展现巨型体块混凝土所具有的明显轻而惊人的巨大能力。

Janus re-manifest across the Atlantic on the campus of MIT, this time, dedicated to expressing a deeper understanding of the concrete form in relation to the human body through the act of play. Terez Lowry dances with Janus accompanied by the sounds of Gardella and Conforti’s composition, re-mastered for a 15-minute progressive presentation that demonstrates the apparently light but incredibly massive capabilities of what working with mass could look like today.











项目信息：

设计方：Brandon Clifford & Johanna Lobdell 与Davide Zampini—CEMEX Global R&D合作研发
项目主创设计师：Matthew John Meyers \ Tyler Swingle
项目团队：Alexandre Guerini \ Carlos Enrique Terrado \ Daniel Marshall \ Mackenzie Muhonen \ Gill Sunshine
赞助商：CEMEX Global R&D
日期：JANUS - 2018 / WALKING ASSEMBLY-2019
措施：WALKING ASSEMBLY-2019.尺寸.- 6.3m x 3m. 质量.- 5,970kg.材质.-混凝土. --- JANUS - 2018. 尺寸.- 2.25m x 1.3m x 1.3m. 质量.- 2,000kg.材质.- 混凝土

Authors：Brandon Clifford & Johanna Lobdell in collaboration with Davide Zampini—CEMEX Global R&D
Matter Design Project Lead：Matthew John Meyers \ Tyler Swingle
Project Team：Alexandre Guerini \ Carlos Enrique Terrado \ Daniel Marshall \ Mackenzie Muhonen \ Gill Sunshine
Acknowledgements：Funding provided by CEMEX Global R&D
Dates：JANUS - 2018 / WALKING ASSEMBLY-2019
Measures：WALKING ASSEMBLY-2019. Size.- 6.3m x 3m. Mass.- 5,970kg. Material.- Concrete. --- JANUS - 2018. Size.- 2.25m x 1.3m x 1.3m. Mass.- 2,000kg Material.- Concrete