denny Architectural Art & Design

An architect by profession but an artist by calling, Philip Beesley is a pioneer whose architectural breakthroughs have earned him international acclaim. Perhaps most well-known for his extensive contributions to architectural environments that mimic life processes, Philip envisions a building that keeps on adjusting, slowly, logically and in response to its surroundings -- almost as if it's conscious and alive. Art and technology, when designed in such a manner, allow the creator to transcend the limitations of traditional schools of thought that focus on subject/object, organic/inorganic, static/dynamic and other types of binary worldviews. A professor at the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario, Philip's experimental research centres on the development of new responsive environments. Hylozoic Soil is part of a series of works that use proximity sensors to trigger tiny structures which assemble into a tangled network of "clouds" and tremble as visitors pass. Philip represented Canada at the Venice Biennale for Architecture, with a similar design called "Hylozoic Ground" that sipped water from a nearby lagoon -- sifting carbon from the water to produce limestone which theoretically could be utilized to shore up the city of Venice's sinking ground. His designs have attracted worldwide press attention -- including that of the Discovery Channel. A prolific author and thought leader, he has authored and edited eight books, three international ...