Device Under Construction

Keep the time line as a clue,this thesis systematically carded the whole process of the mechanical arts(Artes Mechanicae),which was prosperous in Europe from 15 to 16 century,and further focus on the analysis of the construction practice,its design philosophy and the spirit of construction.In the systematic carding,this thesis first started from the root cause of the mechanical arts:the social cultural background and the nature resources of Europe.Then,through three views of development pattern,theory explore and practice explore,the writer analyzed the prosperous process of the mechanical arts.At last,the writer discussed the evolution of the mechanical arts in the post-mechanical period:keep the mechanical arts as source of inspiration,there emerged lots of evolutionary creation in the field of modern architecture and contemporary arts and installation arts.After the overall context of the mechanical arts was clearly carded,under the logic frame work of“drawing-modeling-construction”,this thesis conducted an in-depth research of the innovative construction practice of the mechanical arts,and revealed the intersection,separation and integration process between the field of architecture and machinery.Keeping the construction practice as the feature study,from the technical view,this thesis analyzed the hoisting machines that are invented specifically for some particular building components,their mechanical property,the “one to one” building process,and how these hoisting machines are tightly fitted with those building components.From the artistic view,this thesis studies the symbiosis of those customized machines and the correspondent building component.This kind of “one to one”customization turned both of the building machines and the built components into the status of art,and the building process was therefore turned into a special building-art landscape,which is similar to sculpture.The study of the building installations and the building process,reflects the design philosophy of“Ingenuity in the suitable scale”,and the unremitting building spirit,in which techniques and arts tended to be united.