Testing Posts Tagged ‘Plaster’
P_Wall(2009)
Year: 2009
Location: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Size: 45′ x 12′ x 1.5′
Description: P_Wall (2009) was commissioned by the SFMOMA Architecture and Design Curator Henry Urbach for the exhibition Sensate: Bodies and Design. The wall, part of a series started with P_Wall (2006), is an evolution of the earlier work exploring the self-organization of material under force. Using nylon fabric and wooden dowels as form-work, the weight of the liquid plaster slurry causes the fabric to sag, expand, and wrinkle.
From the exhibition text written by Henry Urbach:
Andrew Kudless’s P_Wall, commissioned by SFMOMA for this exhibition and its permanent collection, marks a radical reinvention of the gallery wall. Typically smooth, firm, regular and, by convention, “neutral,” the gallery wall has shed its secondary status to become a protagonist in the space it lines. Made of one hundred fifty cast plaster tiles — individually formed by pouring plaster over nylon stretched atop wooden dowels — the new wall possesses an unmistakable corporeal quality. Bulges and crevices; love handles and cleavage; folds, pockmarks, and creases: these are among the characteristics of human skin that come to the fore. Contemporary in its effort to capture dynamic forces in static form, P_Wall nonetheless has its origins in the experiments of earlier, 20th century architects including Antoní Gaudí and Miguel Fisác, both of whom investigated the potential of cast material to yield unique, sensual and, at times, bizarre shapes. P_Wall replaces the modern gallery wall with an unwieldy skin that can only approximate the fleshy enclosure that we, as human beings, inhabit throughout the course of our lives.
SFMoMA also produced a short video about the design and fabrication of the wall.
Credits: Andrew Kudless, Chad Carpenter, Dino Rossi, Dan Robb, Frances Lee, Dorothy Leigh Bell, Janiva Ellis, Ripon DeLeon, Ryan Chandler, Ben Golder, Colleen Paz
SFMoMA July Update
The wall for SFMoMA is done! Or at least my part is pretty much done. The great art movers from Atthowe started crating all of of the panels today and delivering them to the museum. Since the last update we’ve sealed all of the panels so they easier to clean and some of the minor surface discolorations are muted. But, the cast texture of the fabric formwork is still very visible as you can see in the photos.
The opening reception at SFMoMA is on the evening of Thursday, August 6 and the exhibition is open from the following day until November 8th. Here’s the press release from SFMoMA on the larger show: Sensate: Bodies and Design.
SFMoMA June Update
Panels drying in the studio.
Morning sun on the drying panels
The new hexagonal tile pattern.
A nice detail of the folding, twisting forms
Detail of a crease. Notice the surface texture left by the fabric form.
Matsys was commissioned by SFMoMA to produce a wall installation for the upcoming exhibition Sensate: Bodies and Design. After many months of research and prototyping, production on the final wall began in early May and is nearly complete. At the moment, all of the panels have been cast and we are just waiting for them to fully dry. Check back soon for more images of the final installation.
P_Wall(2006)
Oblique View
Front Elevation
Side View
Transformation of image into constraint points through the use of custom rhinoscript
Year: 2006
Location: Banvard Gallery, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Size: 15′ x 9′ x 1′
Description: This project investigates the self-organization of two materials, plaster and elastic fabric, to produce evocative visual and acoustic effects. Inspired by the work of the Spanish architect Miguel Fisac and his experiments with flexible concrete formwork in the 1960-70s, p_wall attempts to continue this line of research and add to it the ability to generate larger and more differentiated patterns. Starting from an image, a cloud of points is generated based on the image’s grayscale values. These points are then used to mark the positions of dowels which constrain the elasticity in the fabric formwork. Plaster is then poured into the mould and the fabric expands under the weight of the plaster. The resultant plaster tile has a certain resonance with the body as it sags, expands, and stretches in its own relationship with gravity and structure. Assembled into a larger surface, a pattern emerges between the initial image’s grayscale tones and the shadows produced by the wall.
Team: Andrew Kudless and Ivan Vukcevich with Ryan Palider, Zak Snider, Austin Poe, Camie Vacha, Cassie Matthys, Christopher Friend, Nicholas Cesare, Anthony Rodriguez, Mark Wendell, Joel Burke, Brandon Hendrick, Chung-tzu Yeh, Doug Stechschultze, Gene Shevchenko, Kyu Chun, Nick Munoz, and Sabrina Sierawski, and Ronnie Parsons
Voronoi Morphologies
Prototype testing algorithm
Prototype detail
2.5D surface voronoi drawings
2.5D surface voronoi FDM model
2.5D surface voronoi FDM model
3D voronoi drawings
3D paper prototype
3D paper prototype detail
Plaster prototype
Plaster prototype
Year: 2005-2006
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Description: Voronoi Morphologies is the latest development in an ongoing area of research into cellular aggregate structures. The voronoi algorithm is used in a wide range of fields including satellite navigation, animal habitat mapping, and urban planning as it can easily adapt to local contingent conditions. Within our research, it is used as a tool to facilitate the translation and materialization of data from particle-simulations and other point-based data into volumetric form. Through this process, it becomes much easier to produce highly differentiated structures that are responsive to local performance criteria.
The project was developed though both 2D and 3D voronoi cellular structures. In both cases, a field of points is used to determine regions of space, or cells, that are closer to a certain point than any other point. As the cells are not constrained by a fixed geometric topology, the cells properties can be tuned in much more specific ways than a tradition rectangular or hexagonal cell arrangement. A custom-designed script was written to connect Rhino with Qhull which did the actual voronoi calculations. The script also digitally unfolds, labels, and prepares the geometry for CNC fabrication.
This technique was developed in collaboration with Jelle Feringa of EZCT Architecture and Design Research in Paris.
For more information about computing convex hulls, voronoi diagrams, and other triangulations, check out the qhull website. Qhull is used in Matlab and many other computational geometry applications.
Cellular Form-Finding
Plaster form-finding model
Plaster form-finding model
Analysis of prototype
Plaster prototype 2
Plaster prototype 2 detail
Various plaster prototypes using balloons withing balloons
Plaster prototype
Plaster prototype
Year: 2004-2009
Location: London
Description: Inspired by the work of scientists William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Joseph Plateau, and D’Arcy Thompspn as well as the designer Frei Otto on the geometry of cellular bodies, this ongoing project explores physical form-finding techniques and aggregate structures. In an attempt to embody the knowledge gained through an investigation of the physics and mathematics of minimal surfaces, surface tension, and cellular aggregates by Kelvin, Plateau, and Thompson, the project looked to physical experiments that would reveal the basic laws of aggregation. Cellular bodies (water filled balloons) were allowed to self-organize into packed clusters. By casting the negative space around the cellular aggregates, it was possible to easily fabrication what are called cellular solids (solid foams). The research began in London while at the Architectural Association and has continued over the years, informing many other projects such as C_Wall, Voronoi Morphologies, and P_Wall.