TETRAPOT 2.0 – THE EVOLUTION OF GREENER SEA DEFENSE, 2015-2018
I found this exhibit was interesting in the Cooper Hewitt Museum and I really enjoyed to see the design intentions are connected with nature. It was designed by Sheng-Hung Lee. It is dated to 2015-2018. Its medium is scale prototypes, rendering. The TetraPOT is an artificial shoreline defense that works with the surrounding ecosystem. Sheng-Hung Lee designed a 3-part mold with holes and a central chamber to contain a mangrove seedling. As the mangrove matures, its root system seeks out the holes and connects to adjacent seeded pods, creating an interlocking root system.
I was also in love with a light in one of the rooms in the museum. The light is made out of Tiffany glasses which is really famous during that time and it shows the social status of the owner, Andrew Carnegie who was a wealthy man lived in New York. I saw the reflections of the light really connected to my last project in the use of the abalone shell, which is also used by the Native Americans.
One of my favorite design in this museum was the “INFINITY BURIAL SUIT, 2008-ONGOING” designed by Coeio Inc., Jae Rhim Lee and Daniel Silverstein. Jae Rhim Lee’s design for a customized cotton burial suit is an alternative to current funerary options such as cremation and casket burial. The suit contains a built-in mix of proprietary materials and mycelia (fungal threads) that fruit into mushrooms. This “bio mix” absorbs and eliminates toxins that are emitted from the body into the soil and aids in decomposition.
I found this as my favorite piece in the museum because it shows the idea of how human can connect with nature from a special and unique perspective. I thought this was also a little bit romantic because we could actually contribute to the mother nature after we died and it feels like a great choice for alternating with the idea of death. Therefore, we no longer looked at death as “stopped” or “finished”, but a new beginning with nature.
