The haudenschildGarage supported the Textile Room Pavilion by P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, one of three commissioned pavilions designed for MOCA's exhibition A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California (June 2 - September 2, 2013). For more information visit: http://www.p-a-t-t-e-r-n-s.net/moca-pavilion-textile-room/
Extremely important for us, is not only the fact that we can contribute to a critical exhibition in such a prestigious institution, but the possibility to extend the strong tradition of formal experimentation and material innovation in architecture in Los Angeles that the show aims to comprehensively portray.
Textile Room continues our decade-long interest in composite materials by focusing on the optical, tactile and performative possibilities of a new fibrous tape and its architectural potential for generating form and space with luminous atmosphere. As a result, visitors will encounter a supple, textured and illuminated space that physically and experientially blurs the threshold between hard and soft, textured and smooth, private and public.>
Textile Room is a 16’ high, twisty crystal-like volume made of black carbon and yellow aramid fiber tape, distributed in a radiating pattern that engenders varying fiber densities and a vast chromatic range. Similar to ancient textile and contemporary fabrics in their delicate nature, textural quality and crafted sensibility, these technologically advanced fibrous surfaces are entirely digitally designed and robotically fabricated.
Developed in collaboration with North Sails, one of the world’s pioneering companies specializing in flexible composites, our proposal takes advantage of their use of pre-impregnated fiber tapes [one of the world’s most lightweight materials] and the innovative robotic manufacturing of bespoke sails.
A huge enterprise, this project necessitates the coordination of various manufacturing systems at distinct locations. The skin will be plotted two dimensionally by computer controlled robot heads at North Sails facility in Minden, Nevada, then shipped to Long Beach for sewing and finishing; while the structure will be fabricated locally using welded plates and powder coated steel tubes.
To further enhance the luminous quality of the space, we asked Media Artist Casey Reas to collaborate with us in the production of a site-specific slow-motion digital projection that will subtly illuminate and delicately amplify the color contrasts and textural gradations of the space, while completely concealing itself as a medium.
As a multidisciplinary collaboration, the project’s ultimate goal is to insinuate the possibility that new architecture will emerge out of an intimate and dynamic interplay between contemporary design aesthetics, digital technology for visual communication, and advanced material manufacturing; and that in doing so, it will enhance our interaction with space in profound ways.
- Marcelo Spina & Georgina Huljich, P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S
About Patterns
P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S is a design research architectural practice based in Los Angeles and operating globally. Founded in 1999 and headed by Principals Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich, P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S work has gained international recognition for its subtle approach to architecture; one that seamlessly integrates digital technology with an extensive consideration of form, novel tectonics and innovative materials. P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S aims to generate innovative spatial forms that actively engage, enhance and influences the body, constantly challenging its relationship to the built environment akin to the complexity of contemporary life.
With a decidedly global reach and working across multiple scales, programs, cultures and economies, P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S has completed projects in the US, South America and Asia. Their work has been extensively exhibited and published worldwide and is part of the permanent collections of the SF MOMA, Chicago Art Institute and MAK Museum in Vienna.
Recipient of numerous professional prizes and awards, in 2011 P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S integrated the prestigious Emerging Voices Series of the Architectural league of New York, and were the recipient of the Arch is Award by the AIA Los Angeles Chapter. In 2004 the firm was recognized as one of the 11 most progressive offices working worldwide by Architectural Record Design Vanguard issue. In 2003 they received the third prize in the prestigious Young Architect of the year Award that propelled the firm to an early international recognition and most recently were finalists for the Ordos Prize and the Iakov Chernikov Prize.
In addition to their professional and academic work, Spina and Huljich were the curators of “Matters of Sensation” at Artists Space. One of the most important collective exhibitions in architecture that Artists Space ever organized, the influential show opened to great acclaim in 2008.