Armilla
Armilla is the hidden layer that exists within all developed cities. Its networks of pipes and fixtures act as the skeleton upon which the city functions. This tangled, yet systematic, web of flow is the fundamental urban fabric of any city, connecting all inhabitants in a most intimate way. Without Armilla’s functionality, cities grow chaotic and hazardous. The order expected of the municipal water system is tacit: all spouts provide fresh water, and all drains lead waste away. Only when this equilibrium is broken do the secret workings of Armilla surface within the perceived realm of the city.
In my reading of Calvino’s Armilla, I was particularly drawn to the ideas of water infrastructure as architecture, and the flow of water as the life of a city. My representation of Armilla attempts to visually and aurally recreate what exists below the surface and behind the walls of all developed towns and cities. Though the images highlight an unseen (or unnoticed) aspect of cities, they are meant to be familiar. The accompanying sounds attempt to demonstrate the great capabilities of plumbing systems. With mounting visual and aural complexity, the piece introduces the analogy of the urban water system as the urban streetscape. Pipes and joints become streets and intersections. The movement of water becomes a traffic pattern of rushing speeds and backed-up clogs. The sounds created by fixtures act as a form of noise pollution.
We live surrounded by Armilla. Yet in our daily routines, it has become a veiled city. To recognize its simple presence in our lives is perhaps enough to appreciate its existence.
Armilla.mov