For this project, I am exploring the theme of combination and superposition rather than composition, as well as the notion of cinematic promenade defining the architecture of Parc de la Villette. As explained in Bernard Tschumi’s competition entry, the overall design of the park is a juxtaposition of points, lines, and surfaces, forming sequences which generates the accumulation of events, movements, and spaces.
Consequently, I coined a video-work functioning as a research tool investigating the unusual system of the park. This digital apparatus consists of an arrangement of collected data on site. This set of data is a collection of sounds and images, each captured at a Folie located on a predefined axis of the grid conceived by Tschumi. In the elaboration of this recording device, I put myself in the shoes of a scientist, rigorously analyzing the rhythm and regularity of the architecture. Each image I collected captures how points, lines, and surfaces meet, the point being a Folie. In parallel, the waveform specific to the Folie is a tool for visualizing the invisible linearity of sound, juxtaposed to the one of the spatial sequence in question. Similarly, the plan of the grid on the top left corner of the video indicates the geolocation of each case study. From a scientific point of view, the overall research device allows its user to study the evolution of rhythm, sound, and lines delineating the architecture of Parc de la Villette, from a Folie to the other, from an axis to another.
Overall, the methodology I applied for the development of this project was very objective. My fieldwork consisted mainly of collecting data. The captured sounds are a representation of the accumulation of events, movements, and spaces. In parallel, the images are a visual depiction of the juxtaposition of points, lines, and surfaces. Therefore, the editing process consisted of combining both mediums in order to demonstrate an evolution resulting from the encounter of the city with the park.
