S / U / M

leafscape

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:28:34 +0000

Our proposal was selected as the winning entry for a public arts competition sponsored by the Alameda Arts commission for the new Castro Valley public library.

The inspiration for this permanent installation borrows from botanical growth patterns in nature. The installation is comprised of over 600 modulating “leaf” units that find structure in pairs. The material used in this installation are sheets of flexible polypropylene. Each side of the leaf pairs are asymmetrical in geometry that cause the leaves to undulate in particular patterns. Collectively, the leaf surface functions as a light collector: mixing natural and artificial light between its folds.

It is intended that the color palate of the installation be easily interchanged.

Project team:

John Heida, Mahsa Vanaki, Raphael Stargrove, Will Warne,

Fabrication team: Marc Mintsioulis, Charlotte Hofstetter

aec magazine article

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:04:42 +0000

“smart geometry 2009″ written by martin day

SFMOMA:SENSATE

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:08:18 +0000

SENSATE: BODIES AND DESIGN-

design / fabrication of the relief wall graphic for the exhibition.

“From August 7, 2009 through November 8, 2009, SFMOMA will present Sensate: Bodies and Design, an exhibition of works by architects, designers and artists that represent new ways of thinking about the entanglement of human bodies and the designed world. Mutant bodies, fictional bodies, animate architecture: these are among the show’s provocations as it offers evidence of a lively contemporary debate about what bodies are and how they might be mirrored and met by design..”

concrete Walls

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:24:05 +0000

panel prototypes using the high performance fiber reinforced concrete product DUCTAL.

Design: Kory Bieg - K Bieg Design , Andre Caradec -S/U/M

Concrete: Concreteworks

Currently on view along with other products from Concreteworks.

58 South Park

San Francisco CA 94107

flux

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:21:18 +0000

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

The FLUX installation, developed over 6 months by a team of CCA faculty and students, explores the possibilities of parametric modeling and digital fabrication at CCA. The structure undulates in plan and section producing a sense of expansion and contraction in the long Nave space. Through the use of parametric modeling and a series of custom designed scripts, the installation design can be quickly updated to address new design criteria. From the thickness of the ribs to the overall twisting geometry and perforated skins, the geometry is controlled through a complex set of relationships between its formal, performative, and fabrication constraints.

images courtesy of Kory Bieg and Andrew Payne

Fabrication Team:

Laurice der Bedrossian
Loi Dinh
David Garcia
Charlotte Hofstetter
Wayne Lin
Sandra Lopez
Jen Melendez
Michelle Mucker
Jason Rhein

bio-scape

admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:28:30 +0000

Proposed installation for the main lobby area of Jack london square’s new farmers market

christ the light

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:29:04 +0000

In conjunction with SOM SF, S/U/M was asked to design a pair of acoustically optimized pipe organ enclosures within the main congregation space of the Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland, CA. Acoustic performance, structural support for the massive organ pipes, and integrating with the structural lightness of the building shell were the primary performance criteria for the design.

sky rail

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:10:12 +0000

from the architect Neal Schwartz “We worked with Andre Caradec of S/U/M to develop the guardrail installation of our Sky | House renovation. Beginning with the agenda to direct and control the perception of the viewer as they ascend and descend through the space (as well as the client’s fascination with traditional patterned and woven forms), we proposed a highly crafted piece, animated through movement and view.”

Important to the process was to give the client the ability to interface with the development of the overall effect of the installation. The development of the pattern was an iterative design process. We collaborated with Andrew Kudless to help develop a computer script that would enable us to quickly move through a series of analogue and digital prototypes to hone the overall effect sought by the client. Smoothing algorithms where applied to the final version to reach the clients desired effect.

“The resulting form is digitally milled from solid stock and installed with a series of concealed supports at the points of least perforation.”

drift wall

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:50:03 +0000

Developed for the Oakland, CA based retail store, “drift”, the shop proprietor sought a wall partition that could weave retail display on one side, and changing room/ seating area on the flip side, collapsing the retail experience into a single system. The wall is made of recycled plywood.

hive

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:38:31 +0000

Industry Partners Thompson Brooks Inc. and SURFACEDESIGN, Inc. approached S/U/M to produce a landscape feature for a private residence that children can hide within.

SOMA residences

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:56:48 +0000

Working with the Emerald fund development company and David Baker (architect of record for the building), S/U/M was asked to provide full design/build services to renovate the existing lobby area of the SOMA residential building. The goals of the renovation: diversify the needs for enhanced reception and hospitality services offered to the residents of the building, while respecting the heavy foot traffic of the lobby during construction by using prefab technology.

Industry partner:

Mackie Builder- Matthew Pigman

composite house

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:49:45 +0000

Walker & Moody architects (architect of record) of San Francisco, along with the designer/client, asked S/U/M to consult in the production of a digital “super model” to aid in the manufacturing of a residence in Tiburon, California.

S/U/M was asked to coordinate transferring the detailed digital 3d forms for the complex fiberglass building units digitally fabricated by Kreysler & Associates, as well as coordinate the structural engineering of the steel and finite element analysis (FEA) with the structural designers. This highly coordinated 3d model file would then be used to generate everything from the forms to create the monoqoque structures to templating the bolt patterns for the structural steel elements.

Along with production of the digital construction documents, S/U/M also worked on the construction side of the project by producing an elaborate system of 2d site templates to arrange the complex geometrical foundation systems of the project to match the off site prefabricated structures.
S/U/M also produced an assembly of structural ribs for one of the geometrically complex building units on site

X divider

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:34:04 +0000

The X divider is meant to integrate into a room opening. Using natural tension created by the progressive torque of the surfaces, the X wall gently “pinches” opposing sides of an opening, locking it in. The X divider is shipped perfectly flat and is assembled in minutes through its puzzle like joints. A free standing version is also available.

texas back house

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:31:36 +0000

To meet particular budgetary and spatial/programmatic requirements of the client, the project was developed through an extensive material research phase to come up with a solution that would meet certain performative criteria.
Two of the major requirements for the design were that the building use natural lighting extensively and that the building would enable excess heat from the Texas sun to be dissipated efficiently.
The outer skin of the lower auto space uses a high R-value polycarbonate twin wall material that allows for high light emission with low heat transfer, providing an even light distribution throughout the space. The upper guest apartment was thought of as a box within a box, able to be constructed economically without need for expensive weather membranes and details. The canted roof structure which skirts the entire building uses vertical air circulation that pulls air from perforations in the cooler auto space and draws out the hotter air using a series of apertures at the highest point of the building. A technique of natural ventilation used in plantation houses of the South.

deform house

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:02:00 +0000

Consisting of a major house renovation and a series of permanent installations, Thom Faulders of Faulders Studio asked S/U/M to process and fabricate the individually pieced ceiling patterns of the clients private gallery space.

3 years after completion of the gallery installation, Thom contacted S/U/M once again to produce the decking surface for an outdoor surface installation.