From [the Studio Syllabus]:

 

Mech[Animal] Site-less-ness revisits the idea of an urban fabric and context as a platform/canvas for storytelling and atmosphere creation/development though a “speculative” urban design narrated via a short hybrid animation movie. 

 Happening in New York, Mech[Animal] Site-less-ness studio, re-frames the ideas of Archigram’s plug-in and walking city, through a “walking plug-in” and using story and atmosphere as its vehicles. 

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 Mech[Animal] Site-less-ness narrates the story of an animated city-block that plugs into multiple/different urban ducts to activate an urban program, event, or mechanical infrastructure. Throughout the semester, students use animated stories (short movies) as a medium to depict two main concepts: I. A proposal for a moving architecture, as a part of an urban “puzzle,” and II. A consistent atmosphere/ambiance/theme to support the story. These atmospheres/themes/genres for the story/animation movie including but not limited to Fantasy, Post-Human World, Sci-Fi Futuristic, and Thriller/Action.

 

Living in NewYork, Mech[Animal]s would perform three key urban task, to look at the urban design from 3 different lenses and through three different scales. For each of these programs, students look into two major concepts:
 

1. How urban fabric/context receives an animated urban component? How different “urban” ducts work as receivers for the Mech[Animal] object to help it perform its programs?

2. How the Mech[Animal] object—through animated parts and chunks, can serve as an urban component with a focus on proposed programs? (disused in future detail below)
    

The Mech[Animal] object, as a building/urban component, needs to look at three main programs:

1. Indoor/Outdoor Performance Set-up | Or a pop-up restaurant 

2. Street Billboard (advertising component) 

3. Infrastructural Sower Tanker/Assembly Hanger/or Gas Station Structure that connects to City’s Infrastructure