Konstantinos Grivas
Research Interests: Summary
What forms the basis of my research is an alternative approach to the development of intelligent domestic environments, which, instead of catering for higher standards of comfort, connectivity and regulation, seeks to enhance and extend in time/space domestic intimacy, which is undermined by the transient, and consumerist modern life-style. The research I propose focuses on delicate domestic rituals such as spending time on maintaining our place, developing space-related habits, sharing our private space with intimate persons and inscribing memories of all previous routines onto domestic space. Written and design exploration will suggest means by which architectural space augmented with artificial intelligence may enhance these rituals in order to produce a stronger, long-lasting and trans-located feeling of domestic intimacy. My research places itself within the wider architectural speculation over the integration of intelligent technology and physical space; the blurring of boundaries between physical/virtual, natural/artificial, corporeal/non-corporeal. I draw my attention to domestic spaces because this is where the most "intriguing" conflicts will occur, due to its highly personal and sentimental significance. Nevertheless, the ideas developed may as well inform other areas of architectural production beyond the boundaries of the domestic. This research aspires also to provide a critical/inspirational platform useful for those who produce technological innovation by setting alternative values that highlight the importance of elaborating on evocative spatial manifestations of intelligent technology. Recent project work that is in progress involves the close inspection of a time-section of a couple's daily life, living at separate homes. It intends to explore design-wise the possibilities of sharing disparate environments. The several phases of the project include mapping of body movements and activities, overlapping the two "personal spaces" in a single spatial model, highlight potential moments of interference and interaction, and consequently develop design proposals that facilitate this form of togetherness, based very much on topological occurrences and contextual information. My MPhil/PhD research began in January 2003 and an abstract is available on my home page (below). |