Funded project

Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning gallery, U of Michigan

Exhibited at: A+D Museum in Los Angeles, CA.

This project emerges from a 2018 Material Research Grant. This project prototypes an assembly system that aids in the composition of physical architectural elements while helping maintain their integrity so that, after use, they can be returned back to circulation. It is a kit of parts for temporary architectural installations comprised of removable temporary protective techniques and adaptable attachment systems such as ratchet straps, zip ties, clamps, adjustable joinery as well as a series of connectors, shims, spacers, levelers, wedges… bjects that function in the service of other objects. By assembling parts in this manner, building components can be taken apart, moved around, changed in configuration and/or returned.

In this project, I refer to the parts of the project as being composed or assembled together to differentiate the approach from that of construction. Here the box becomes a testing unit, a shape that imbues all the problems needed for architectural prototyping, edges, corners, faces, a way to negotiate the ground, a need for being held together… a perfect 3D test dummy. 

With this approach, I problematize the circulation of materials, taking an oblique approach to sustainability and access to materials. It introduces a point-of-sale politic rather than a manufacturing one as it intervenes later on in a product’s lifespan.