B I O M E D I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G
Lucy McRae’ s Body Architecture Experiments
by Farrel Pinto
T he physique of our human body is one of the most grotesque creations ever made. From the strands of our DNA in our cells up to our outer epidermis, everything has sophisticated structure. Honed symmetrical and functional, it is no doubt a vast field of intertwining studies and gray areas. The perceptions of the human body indeed is in a continuum of constructs and relationships. Leonardo Da Vinci once incorporated the beauty and architecture of the body through the Vitruvian Man understanding its physical design. Gregor Mendel with his study of genetics for characteristics and traits. Charles Darwin for the theory of evolution tracing our primitive origins and plotting physiological changes over time. These all muster to the different kinds of appreciation about what human body is.
But what about trying to augment what it already is? To encompass enhancement and perpetuate the value of its functions, life in general? If we conceptualize that our body is a manipulable creation, then it can be a technological tool for further enhancements and innovations. Technology has now provided earphones as the ear, the camera as the eye, the cellular phones for the communication and other useful advancements. Such relationship transcends the differences and functions of what our body can do and could do further. Let us take the perspective of a unique‘ Body Architect’ on how she expresses the relationship of technology and the human body. Lucy McRae, a body architect as she calls herself, is a featured TED speaker who works at Philips Electronics in the far-future design research lab. She is a trained ballerina with an architecture and fashion background. She fused the biological, technological and philosophical fields forging a distinct job and futuristic goals for the human body. She talks about extending the links of what our body can do, how certain visual imagery could do human evolution and exploring its coexistence with technology. It’ s more of trying to move forward and reverting at the same time in enhancing our body. To provide a redefinition of our body functions as well is one mode of her projects and creations.
Photos Source: Lucy McRae
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