The ceiling at Upper Crust, for example, was created using digital modeling and CAD/CAM technology to reconfigure common aluminum plate into a panelized unit.With interlocking seams, the ‘break-formed’ sheet is transformed into a tailored membrane consisting of a gradu- ally mutating pattern. Each facet is supported by its perimeter tabs, and the stitching of indi- vidual pieces forms an aggregated fluid metal fabric.The stitched membrane is a hybrid structure, integrating building trades through its accommodation of HVAC equipment, fire suppression system, and lighting. It spans verti- cal and horizontal distances and is both self- supporting and space making.
Architectural sewing, as demonstrated in the ceiling at Upper Crust and in the installation at SCI-Arc, relies upon the conceptual and struc- tural pliability of the stitch and the technological reductions of the loop stitch in the production of discursive form. Sewing produces a form that bears the traces of human labor and craft- work, while working within the logic of digital production.The stitch is a strategy for combin- ing materials as well as a formal expression of technique. The strategy of the stitch suggests a critical attitude toward the role of craft in contemporary culture. Custom tailoring that works within the existing market relationships between commodities and consumers serves a cultural function by resisting the status quo and embracing difference.
Upper Crust Restaurant
Hansy Luz Better,Visiting Faculty at Rhode Island School of Design and Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Le plafond de Upper Crust, par exemple, a été créé en
en une membrane taillée qui con- siste en un motif graduellement mutant. Chacune de ses facettes est supportée par des onglets de périmètre, et la couture de cha- cune de ces pièces forme un agré- gat de tissu métallique fluide. La membrane cousue est en fait une structure hybride, intégrant les
métiers du bâtiment par sa capac- ité d’adaptation à de l’équipement CVC, à un système extincteur d’incendie, et d’éclairage. Cette membrane s’étend tant à la verticale qu’à l’horizontale; elle est autoportante et génératrice d’espace.
ayant recours à la modélisation numérique et à la technologie CAO/FAO visant à reconfigurer une plaque ordinaire d’aluminium en unité industrialisée. Avec les joints à agrafage, la feuille de décrochement est transformée
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O n S ite review
S ewing
I ssue 8 2002
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