In the Wake: Drawing Dynamics of Vortical Structures”
An Exhibition at the Olver Design Building Gallery, UMass/Amherst
Weekdays 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Now through March 10 | Open & free to the public
This project, which has been supported by a UMass Interdisciplinary Faculty Research Award, investigates the processes of visualizing scientific data and its implications beyond the scope of disciplinary boundaries. A collaborative project lead by three UMass Amherst faculty: Pari Riahi AIA (Architecture), Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) and Ali Sarvghad (Information and Computer Science), the project has also integrated a group of talented students in different stages of their academic studies: Erica DeWitt (MArch 23), Cami Quinteros (MArch 22), Fey Thurber (BSArch 22), Pieter Boersma (PhD ME 23), Adrian Carleton (PhD ME 24). With special thanks to Evan Janes, Umang Patel, (PhD ME 23) and Daniela Caraeni (PhD ME 2025) for their contributions to the installation.
By focusing on visualizing a natural phenomenon in Fluid Dynamics, Vortex Induced Vibrations, the team has produced drawings, models, and artifacts which capture the process in which such a phenomenon can be studied, interpreted, and understood. Starting with a series of fluid mechanics experiments, conducted at the Fluid-Structure Interactions lab (www.umass.edu/fsi), the project evolved into an augmented investigation that shed light on the scientific finding, while also proliferating to offer formal and spatial possibilities for architecture.
