Periscope / Matter Design
For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architectue Competition, participants were challenged to create a temporary installation for Atlanta. The winning 45 ft tower, Periscope, designed by Brandon Clifford and Wes Mcgee of Matter Design Studio, is an “inhabitable installation with iconic implications to advocate bold architecture for the Atlanta community and young designers across the globe.” The designers felt the tower would create a strong marker for the city, “Through vertical expansion via the omission of a vertical restriction, this tower will engage a broader audience, inviting them to the event similar to search lights in the night sky.”
More about the tower, including lots of images and a video, after the break.
© Matter Design
Assembled in only 6 hours with the aid of Tier son Boutte of Boutte Tree, the slanting tower is coated with expanded polystyrene which were formed by computerized cutting via robotic hot wire. Inside this layer, parts of “Porex” have been mounted on a wooden inner frame that are assembled and stabilized by the steel cable turnbuckles attached to the base, a wooden box concealing counterweight blocks.
© Matter Design
The tower’s exterior expression can be a little difficult to read for what appears as fabric stretched across compressive rods is quite the opposite – the foam is compressive and the rods are actually performing as tensile cables. “This rhetorical inversion invites spectators in for closer inspection to find the tower is not constructed of thin surfaces at all, but rather carved from solid blocks of EPS foam,” added the architects.
© Matter Design
The foam, by its nature, is inherently volumetric and light weight. Yet, the foam is also delicate and requires a great deal of precision to handle larger assemblies. “This proposal takes advantage of larger than life size build ing blocks to achieve a quickly constructed, and relatively large installation.”
Often times, in digitally fabricated projects, too much waste can be generated; however, the designers were aware of this and sought a way to eliminate the excess waste. “Beyond the efficiency of unit nesting, the methods of fabrication (robotic hotwire) produces no kerf waste and the minimal waste produced in starting and stopping a stock block produce 100% recyclable material. The research and development behind the means and methods of fabrication speak to our approach to design – reciprocity between drawing and making,” added the architects.
-
- Structural Diagrams © Matter Design
-
- Scale of Unit © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
-
- © Matter Design
year: 2010
design team: bran don clif ford, wes mcgee, dave pigram
struc tural: matthew john son
build team: bran don clif ford, wes mcgee, maciej kaczyn ski, johanna lob dell, deniz mcgee, kris wal ters
rig ging: tier son boutte
fab ri ca tion: uni ver sity of michi gan taub man col lege of archi tec ture and urban plan ning
client: mod ern atlanta 10up competition
Source: blob.bellostes
perfection
should be great for residential housing design.
8:34 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design: © Matter DesignFor the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architectue Co… http://bit.ly/cBOnui
8:35 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design: © Matter DesignFor the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architectue Co… http://bit.ly/a9vPlb
8:35 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design: © Matter DesignFor the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architec… http://tinyurl.com/2ufggxj
8:35 PM Jul 15th
【archi info】 Periscope / Matter Design http://dlvr.it/2gg6W #Awarded_Competitions (archdaily) #rental_archiinfo
9:00 PM Jul 15th
#architekt Periscope / Matter Design: For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National … http://bit.ly/d469HL #in http://dy.cx/c03
9:14 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design via ArchDaily – © Matter Design For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s … http://tinyurl.com/22scf7x
9:29 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design: For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architectue Competition, partic… http://bit.ly/cBOnui
9:49 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design | ArchDaily: For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta's 10UP! National … http://bit.ly/d469HL http://www.cubestudio.info
9:52 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design | ArchDaily http://bit.ly/d469HL
10:18 PM Jul 15th
Here is some interesting architecture. RT @archdaily: Periscope / Matter Design http://archdai.ly/aHyw7X #architecture
11:04 PM Jul 15th
Periscope / Matter Design | ArchDaily: For the Young Architects Forum Atlanta's 10UP! National Architectue Competi… http://bit.ly/d469HL
1:54 AM Jul 16th
Periscope / Matter Design #Architecture http://bit.ly/aQzwn7
10:32 AM Jul 16th
Periscope / Matter Design: Young Architects Forum Atlanta’s 10UP! National Architecture Competition http://bit.ly/cBOnui /via @moldingdesign
11:44 AM Jul 16th
Want some polystyrene sculpture with that burger and fries? New temp public art at White Provisions complex in Atlanta http://bit.ly/aTqkuk
10:27 PM Jul 18th
Periscope http://tinyurl.com/36s32ox #architecture #design #coolstuff
12:44 AM Aug 12th
Periscope / Matter Design http://t.co/VAjOelZ vía @archdaily