Digitally Fabricated Installation

The site–specific installation, made from hundreds of translucent polycarbonate pieces and common zip–ties, is suspended with thin wire to create a unique and dynamic entry piece into the Thompson Lecture Hall at Tulane University. The Hall is a heavily used multi-purpose space that during the course of the installation held dozens of admissions presentations, movie nights, architecture critiques and a lecture by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

The form was modeled using 3D computer software and then unfolded these volumes to generate flat patterns. The puzzle–like patterns were then programmed into a Computer Numerically Controlled machine (CNC) that cut the polycarbonate sheets into hundreds of pieces with unique dimensions. The piece was assembled using simple, and very cheap, plastic zip tie fasteners.

The undulating form followed the geometry of the entry and rose as high as 15-feet and as low as 7-feet above the floor. Appropriate openings and formal gestures allowed for a projector booth as well as heavily used storage spaces and a kitchen. During the day, the piece floated like a plasticized cloud while at night, hidden sensors and cameras changed the hues of the lighting from vibrant red to subdued violet depending on the location of visitors.

The piece is contraditory in that its creation used high-end technology to create what is, at times, a subdued piece. While passing through the piece, the exuberance of the ends is quieted and smooth. And with the technology imbued in the piece, the playful origami-like structure begged a synthesis between the digital and actual, the participant and the piece—each informing the other.

New Orleans, LA
Prof. Ammar Eloueini
Spring, 2006
Group Installation (Go Team!)