55°08'17.8"N 8°28'46.2"E
Rømø, Tønder Municipality, Denmark
The west coast of Denmark's Jylland region is subject to intense natural energies. Strong winds and heavy tidal currents constantly reshape the sandy coastline in a dynamic play of forces. By mapping the various currents present in and above the North Sea, resulting vector flow lines convey just how much activity is present on site. The results of these interacting forces can be seen on all scales — from the macro-scale arrangement of sand dunes and coastal features, to micro-scale sand deposits and carvings around a single blade of grass.
Can an understanding and critical analysis of such a system be used as a driver of spatial form?
By using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software and custom scripts the invisible wind patterns found around the chosen sand dunes were calculated. A 3D dimensional vector field was mapped and imported into a custom Processing script which then (using a cellular automaton based of dune formation model) visualised the results. Could such a mapping be used to define fluid architectural boundaries between program, space and site?
© Sean Lyon 2023