Flux Exhibition

Project Design and Fabrication: Kory Bieg, Andre Caradec, Andrew Kudless
Parametric Design Consultant: Andy Payne
Sponsors: K Bieg Design, Studio Under Manufacture, Solid Thinking
Director of Architecture, CCA: Ila Berman

In the fall of 2008, I led a studio at the California College of the Arts with Andre Caradec to design and fabricate an installation for the Flux Exhibition to be held in the spring of 2009 at the school’s San Francisco campus. We utilized advanced computer technology for both the design and construction of the final installation. The design also provides enough surface area to display graphic content of over 30 projects designed by other architects using similar design methodologies.

The installation, which is over 100 feet long, was built in 2 weeks. Both the vertical mdf ribs and the horizontal HDPE surface were milled from files taken directly from the 3d computer model. Every section of the installation is unique and numbered in sequence, allowing the installation to be easily assembled and disassembled in less than 3 hours.

The exhibition was divided into 8 categories. Each category contained four to eight projects that represent a particular design approach. The surface of the installation adjacent to each category of work was perforated using a technique related to one of the projects from that category.

The above is a screenshot from the Grasshopper model built by Andy Payne. Each component of the final design was rebuilt in grasshopper as a parametric model. This method of working allowed us to make real time adjustments to the form that would be automatically updated and ready for fabrication. We were constantly making changes to the design as the content of the show was finalized, sometimes only minutes before the file was sent to the mill for final fabrication.