The project works as an acoustic baffle to muffle sound and heighten other senses, providing a temporary environmental enclosure around 12 diners. AGENCY designed a rapidly deployable friction-fit frame, comprised of over 1200 individual components, which interlock to create a rigid, freestanding, room-scale armature without the need for additional fittings or adhesives.
The project was installed during a three-night experimental culinary art event showcasing the work of Chef Roberto Cortez.
The open, five-sided enclosure is kept in apparent imbalance, with leaning surfaces held upright by the matrix of lightweight structural units. Three elemental shapes define the majority of the structural units, while custom shapes create smooth transitions at the corners. The mass-produced and mass-customized units are precision-cut with a CNC-router from lightweight composite board.
The pillowed surface adorning the frame is comprised of foam sheets, folded to attenuate and absorb sound from the dinner, creating an acoustically neutral pocket within the relatively reflective warehouse space.
A hidden message is defined by transcribing the voices of the silenced through a coded language of architectural assemblage. Milled from select pieces are excerpts of morse code, reading ‘silent tsunami,’ a term used by the World Food Bank and other agencies to describe the devastating but often overlooked effects of rampant global food shortages.
