Translation

The project parts from the design of a mechanical translation process, in which a drawing machine produces a set of characters or markings from sign language. When overlaid on top of one another, the full alphabet displays a varying range of densities which translate the subtractive action of burning into a process for excavating a landscape. These densities inform the leveling pattern of topography and the placement of spatial dividers in the structure. The shape of walls and beams draw from an analysis of the structural and kinetic language of the drawing machine as it creates each individual character. Pathways connect neighboring wall structures, thereby linking layered platforms in an organized circulation system. More social programs such as the hearth and main gathering spaces are found in the denser segments of the structure, while the more minimal and isolated areas are reserved for more private affairs such as reading and sleeping.