An aggregation is a collection. It is a whole formed by combining many varied, and typically disparate, elements. In information technology, individual items of data are compiled, or aggregated, into a database. In construction terms aggregate generally refers to the sand and gravel or crushed materials that would be added to cement to make concrete mixtures.
A mansard roof is a four-sided hip style roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with its steep (72 degrees on average), lower slope punctured by dormer windows. This reconfiguration of a typical gable roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, and reduces the overall height of the roof for a given number of habitable stories. Developed by Francoise Mansart in Paris in 1850 it gained wide popularity globally in the mid-19th century ("Second French Empire") and continues to be used today. I presume that the mansard's ubiquitous occurrence now in suburban housing developments is linked to the value added notion of increased livable/consumable area.
aggregate ponders both of these conditions and the practical ways in which they intersect - literally and metaphorically. My investigations have taken the form of solid snap-shots in cast concrete. What began, I thought, as an observation of popular currents in roofing style variations has become a musing on the nature of the materials involved. I've begun seeing a cross pollination in the aggregate of tenants under one roof so to speak with the compaction, aggregation, collection and sale of masses of personal information within virtual, digital platforms.