Parenthesis

Guatemala City, Guatemala

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Parenthesis

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Firm

TORUS

Type

Commercial › Exhibition Center
Cultural › Cultural Center Sculpture
Educational › Other
Industrial › Research Facility
Landscape + Planning › Playground

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

Parenthesis

A glowing box explores the sensory perception and effects that various frequencies of sound and light have on human beings in this urban installation by Guatemalan TORUS (Creative Lab). Alejandro Biguria and his team at TORUS created ( ) Parenthesis to explore certain phenomenological aspects of mood and time as part of The Biennial of Visual Arts of the Central American Isthmus, BAVIC #9 (Bienal de Artes Visuales del Itsmo Centroamericano.)

The team worked and explored how binaural tones and varying LED light can affect mood and perception of time and space. Frequency The team recorded sound waves around multiple locations of Guatemala City during rush-hour and averaged them out. The frequency served as the starting point and inspiration for the external membrane that was an abstraction of the chaotic frequency (noise) that plagues many emerging cities. This frequency was recorded in a 360° space, generating a superimposition of frequencies represented in the diagram shown. Metal sheets were used as external cladding to help resonate the frequencies played inside ( ) Parenthesis.

The interior space is intended for occupants to pause for a few minutes and get exposed to the Neuro-Sensorial qualities of space that produce sound and visual stimulation through Binaural Beats, to induce brain activity and balance mood, such as deep relaxation, meditation and creativity. The different types of sound frequencies hidden in binaural beats have long been associated to affect brain activity and influence the state of mind. Binaural Beats introduce Alpha, Theta and Delta frequencies that claim to induce passiveness and a relaxed human condition.

Biguria states that “contemporary urban living, has overshadowed our other senses, the sense of sight has long dominated our urban living experience, regardless of geography. Parenthesis proposes to break away from this trend, by immersing the occupant, even momentarily into a sensorial experience. Parenthesis is a space where occupants can recover from routine to align their perception of reality and regain awareness of their context. "