Paper Architecture has been around since Boullée. While theoretical ideas have a place in the architecture public discourse and are instrumental in challenging us to think outside of the proverbial box, digital media has given birth to a new kind of paper architecture: the hyper-real, yet completely imaginary project.
Take this helmet, for example, claiming to be a lightweight, safer alternative to the clunky traditional helmets we are used to. It seems to be a brilliant idea at first glance, even drawing from principles laid out by D'arcy Thompson (a 19th-century biologist and mathematician that architects love) as well as biomimicry.
A slightly more in-depth search for the helmet (specifically whether it could actually be bought) seems to reveal that it's nothing more than a digital form of paper architecture, where hyper-real renders and photoshopped images have replaced collages, yet can easily be confused for reality.
Claiming the safety of such an essential product without providing a modicum of evidence that it is actually safer is a dangerous, misleading, borderline fraudulent way of reporting. While it may very well be safer, the claim cannot be made until physical prototypes are rigorously tested in real-world conditions. Otherwise, those claims are not better than those of travelling quacks selling snake oil to gullible townsfolk.
The moral of the story is this: there is nothing wrong about sharing your craziest, wildest ideas with the world, but when doing so, be sure to label it properly and not write in a confusing language that could lead unsuspecting readers to take it at face value.
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