Engineering Infinity is an exhibition that features an outreach project with the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University (NCSU). Over the course of two semesters, four seniors found inspiration in M. C. Escher’s and Leonardo da Vinci’s work to create a display for the public.
Using a design process as their framework that involved five stages–ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve–the students designed an “infinity cube.” They applied ingenuity and their expertise in developing a system that integrates sensors, mirrors, and lights to create an infinite space within the cube.https://player.vimeo.com/video/145182050?app_id=122963
Surrounding the interactive display, a timeline documents the design process with visual references to works by Escher and Leonardo, exploratory sketches for prototypes, photographs taken during construction, and examples of productive failure.
Engineering Infinity is on view in a gallery adjacent to The Worlds of M. C. Escher and Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester. Visitors are encouraged to make connections between the student exhibition’s concepts of perception, perspective, illusion, and infinity, and the work by Escher and Leonardo. The engineering students’ experience is captured in this video by NCSU School of Design Student Alisa Katz:https://player.vimeo.com/video/135476627?app_id=122963
Engineering Infinity is on view in East Building, Level B, through January 17, 2016.