ORNAMENT - The American Institute of Architects

ORNAMENT 

Fall 2009 

Published by 

The American Institute of Architects FORWARD 

209 

The Architecture and Design Journal of the National Associates Committee

FORWARD DIRECTOR 

Christina A. Noble, AIA, LEED AP 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATES COMMITTEE MISSION 

The National Associates Committee is dedicated to representing and 

advocating for Associates, both mainstream and alternative, in the national, 

regional, state, and local components of the AIA. 

FORWARD MISSION 

To be the architectural journal of young, aspiring architects and designers of 

the built environment specifi cally targeting design issues. 

Fall 2009 - Ornament. Volume 2, 2009. Published biannually by the AIA. 

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATES COMMITTEE (NAC) OFFICERS 

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NAC COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE 

Christina A. Noble, AIA, LEED AP - Forward Director 

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Jeanne S. Mam-Luft, Assoc. AIA - Past Forward Director (2008) 

Copyright and Reprinting: (C) 2009 AIA. All Rights Reserved. 

SUBMISSIONS 

Forward welcomes the submission of essays, projects and responses to articles. 

Submitted materials are subject to editorial review. All Forward issues 

are themed, so articles and projects are selected relative to the issue’s specifi 

c subject. 

Please contact the Forward Director, Christina Noble, at 

Christina.Noble@gmail.com if you are interested in contributing. 

SPRING FORWARD 110 

Architecture & The Body 

FORWARD 209 



ORNAMENT 3 

by Christina A. Noble 

VEILING 5 

by Matthias Kohler 

MOCKUPS 14 

by Nick Gelpi 

OUT OF THE LAB AND INTO THE JUNGLE 21 

by Tom Wiscombe 

THE SEMANTIC METAL SURFACE 29 

by L. William Zahner 

INSIDE IRAN 37 

photography by Mark Edward Harris 

SULLIVAN’S BANKS 43 

by Stacey Zwettler Keller 

REVOLUTIONS OF CHOICE 48 

by Frank Barkow 

COMPUTATIONAL DETAIL 53 

by Stephen Lynch 

EVERYDAY INSPIRATION 59 

by Eduardo Cadaval 

DEEP SURFACE 63 

by Brock DeSmit and David Cheung 

FORWARD 209 


TOPICS 


by Christina A. Noble 

Architects are increasingly faced with shrinking infl uence, often only 

designing the building skin or an individual tenant improvement, but not 

necessarily both and not at the same time. As a result, modernist desires 

for a direct connection between interior space and the exterior envelope 

can no longer be controlled by a single architect and the concept 

of a unifi ed architectural project no longer has primary relevance to 

contemporary construction processes. This has led many architects to 

focus on architecture as a manipulation of surfaces as a relevant means 

for design and construction today. 

What is interesting to me is how a reduction of scope – studying a single 

surface – has revealed new possibilities for design exploration. The 

exterior building skin need no longer be limited to a line separating 

inside from outside. Instead a surface can be analyzed as thickened, 

layered planes with depth and complexity that expands and contracts as 

necessary to include one or multiple (and perhaps even contradictory) 

systems. For example, Belzberg Architects’ Conga Room, as discussed 

in the article Deep Surface, could be perceived upon fi rst inspection 

as simply a decorative element enlivening the dance fl oor. However, 

this dynamic shape encases complexity beneath its fl owered form – it 

incorporates layers for lighting, fi re safety and acoustics. Each layer 

has its specifi c job to perform and is allowed to serve its function 

independently and to the best of its ability. Similarly, an exterior wall 

will incorporate multiple systems to create an outward appearance – a 

steel structure, waterproofi ng membrane, and the exterior fi nish, among 

other layers, combine to create a single wall construction. Only the 

outermost layer is what most of us have the opportunity to directly see 

and touch. This layer, in addition to enclosing the wall and serving as 

the fi rst weatherproofi ng barrier, is devoted to aesthetics. 

How architects begin to wrestle with the appearance of this outermost 

layer can become a compelling story of its own. On what basis do we 

design this layer? How can we rationalize the aesthetics for this last layer 

and ultimately, the building? What many of the architects in this issue 

reveal is that ornament need not be a dirty word. Ornament need not

e considered superfi cial and superfl uous. Instead, this outermost layer, 

representing ornament in architecture, as Farshid Moussavi would say 

can “function.” 1 

Forward 209 reveals approaches by contemporary (and a few historic) 

architects as they grapple with the question of ornament. Matthias 

Kohler and Frank Barkow work through an iterative process of internally 

defi ned goals and assumptions that are programmed parametrically and 

analyzed to produce specifi c technical and visual affects. Like sketching, 

computers allow designers to visualize what is being created so that they 

can adjust, modify or amplify their approach. Nick Gelpi stresses the 

importance of physical modeling and a 1:1 mockup as part of the design 

process and material investigation. For Gelpi, mockups’ value “comes 

from the test’s capacity to produce new insight into the consequences of 

what’s been speculated.” Only by designing, building, and testing real 

objects and materials can we gain insight into interesting and new ways 

to use them. Eduardo Cadaval and Clara Sola-Morales take a hands-on 

approach as well. Their highlighted project, translucent, paper display 

walls for the Susana Solano art exhibit created from the interior structure 

of doors, reveals Cadaval and Sola-Morales’s exploration of found 

objects’ surprising material properties. And, last but not least, Forward 

209 also includes a historical perspective featuring an article about Louis 

Sullivan’s banks as well as a photo essay illustrating the intricate detailing 

of Iranian architecture paired with images of Iranian life. 

NOTES: 

1 Moussavi, Farshid and Michael Kubo, The Function of Ornament (Actar, 2006). 

Christina A. Noble, AIA, LEED AP 

Forward Director 

Ms. Noble has worked as an architectural professional 

for eight years. She has worked on numerous high 

profi le and large-scale projects in her career, including 

collegiate, mixed-use, government and private development 

high-rise buildings. Christina graduated from Rice University with 

her Bachelor of Architecture in 2002 and currently lives in Phoenix, 

Arizona.

VEILING 

by Matthias Kohler 

Private House 

photography by Walter Mair

Architectural facades assume life when they 

are not just considered articulated surfaces, 

but when the material depth of the surface 

construction is activated. Regardless of the 

tools utilized, traditional or digital, we must 

consider how facades are made and fi nd 

elegant ways to build. Digital fabrication 

allows us to conceive and control intricate 

constructions with a fi ne level of detail. 

Computer programming plays a special role, 

allowing us to enrich material constructions 

with a digital logic. The culture of logic 

(whose tradition began long before the 

advent of the computer) and the cultures of 

construction and craft merge. A new order 

of materiality, which we refer to as Digital 

Materiality, evolves. Design data is directly 

woven into material constructions: data 

meets material, computer programming 

meets construction, and architectural design 

meets craft in the conceptually most explicit 

way. At this level we are tuning inherent 

qualities of material processes to broaden 

their aesthetic and functional vocabulary. 

We proactively seek to invent constructive 

details and appreciate fabrication methods 

that foster surprising, sensual and meaningful 

expressions. 

Gantenbein Vineyard Facade 

The Gantenbein Vineyard was already under 

construction when the project architects, 

Bearth & Deplazes, invited us to design the 

façade for the new grape fermentation hall. 

The building’s concrete frame is conceived as 

a basket holding oversized grapes. To design 

the façade, we parametrically programmed 

grapes to fall into a virtual basket in digitally 

simulated gravity until they were closely 

packed. We transferred the four-sided spatial 

image data and translated the physical 

rotation to individual bricks. As a result, 

the walls’ sensual softness dissolves into 

the materiality of the stonework. The façade 

appears as a solidifi ed dynamic form. 

Robotic production methods enabled us to 

Gantenbein Vinyard Facade 

photography by Ralph Feiner 



FORWARD 109 VEILING 6



Gantenbein Vinyard Robotic Construction 

photograpny by Gramazio & Kohler, ETH Zurich 

VEILING 7 

FORWARD 109

precisely lay and glue each of the 20,000 

bricks according to programmed parameters, 

at the desired angle and exact prescribed 

intervals. Depending on the angle on which 

they are set, the individual bricks each refl ect 

light differently and thus take on varying 

degrees of lightness. Similarly to pixels on a 

computer screen, their macro-organization 

creates a distinctive image and communicates 

the identity of the vineyard. In contrast to a 

two-dimensional screen, however, there is a 

dramatic play between plasticity, depth and 

color, depending on position and the angle of 

the sun. 

In addition to its visual intricacy, the masonry 

functions as temperature buffer and fi lters 

Gantenbein Vinyard Facade photography by Ralph Feiner 

sunlight for the processing of grapes behind. 

The bricks are offset so that moderate 

amounts of diffuse daylight enter the hall 

through the gaps between the bricks. The 

penetrating daylight creates a mild, yet 

luminous atmosphere. In order to make the 

pattern discernible from the interior, we laid 

the bricks so that the gap at full defl ection 

was nearly closed. This produced a maximum 

contrast between the open and closed joints 

and allowed the light to poetically model the 

interior walls. Looking towards the light, the 

design becomes manifest in its modulation 

through the open gaps. It is superimposed 

on the image of the landscape that glimmers 

through at different levels of defi nition 

according to the perceived contrast. 


Gantenbein Vinyard photography by Ralph Feiner 

Gantenbein Vinyard photography by Ralph Feiner 


Private House, Riedikon, Switzerland 

The design for the private house reinterprets 

the typology of nearby gable-roof barns 

through its distinctive geometry, loft spaces 

and the materialization of its façade. The 

private house maintains the gabled form 

of a traditional barn set within the Swiss 

landscape. However, from a distance, the 

building does not reveal its open interior 

character at fi rst glance. The deep screen 

of vertical pine veils all sides and creates 

an introverted, almost abstract appearance 

that blends into the surrounding context of 

vernacular buildings. When seen from an 

Private House 

photography by Walter Mair 

angle, the slats perceptually collapse into a 

continuous, vertically articulated, wooden 

surface. The effect shifts from subtle to 

dramatic depending on the view towards the 

façade. The thinning of the façade hints at the 

open character of the spaces inside the house 

without telling the whole story. 

Experienced from the inside, the external 

wood screen provides a sense of intimacy 

that contrasts with the loft-like spaces. A 

warm light, fi ltered through the pine wood 

slats, illuminates the exposed concrete walls 

and ceilings. Close up, paddle-shaped slats 

in series create a visual impression of an 


Private House 



Private House 


Private House 



elliptic lens that opens to focused views 

in the surrounding nature preserve - a 

window within the window opens as one 

moves through the spaces. Additionally, 

the cross section of the slats skews up to 

forty-fi ve degrees, a manipulation that 

provides asymmetrical views to the side of 

each window. The view to one side is open 

- the slats become fi ne strings towards the 

window’s center. The view to the other side 

remains protected as it closes at a tight angle. 

This asymmetry allows optimally balanced 

views, privacy and lighting on every side 

of the house. The wood screen becomes a 

poetic instrument, shifting atmospheres within 

the spaces through an intricate play of light 

and shadow during the day and night. As a 

delicate membrane between the inside and 

outside, the façade encourages exploration of 

the phenomenological richness it creates. 

Matthias Kohler 

is partner in the Zurich 

architecture practice Gramazio 

& Kohler with Fabio Gramazio. 

Together with Gramazio, 

Kohler holds the Chair for 

Architecture and Digital Fabrication at the 

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Their 

research focuses on the exploration of highly 

informed architectural elements and processes 

and produces design strategies for full-scale 

automated fabrication in their robotic 

construction facility. Kohler is the co-editor of 

the book Digital Materiality in Architecture, 

which outlines the theoretical context for the 

full synthesis between data and material in 

architectural design and fabrication. 

FORWARD FORWARD 109 VEILING 13

MOCKUPS 

by Nick Gelpi 

In 1960, while conducting a test for the United States Air Force, Joe 

Kittinger did something which had never been done before; he piloted 

a hot air balloon to a height of 102,800 feet above the earth, then 

he jumped. When he leaped out, to his surprise nothing happened, 

he found himself suspended in space. 

Joe Kittinger was actually plummeting back to earth at more than 600 

miles per hour, he just didn’t know it. This marks the highest jump in 

history. Because he was above 99% of the atmosphere’s mass, there 

was no wind resistance to stabilize him. With no ripple of his space 

suit, this jumper believed he had gone too far, beyond the reach of 

the Earth’s gravitational pull. He was convinced he was suspended 

in space unable to return to the ground. The reality of this situation 

was beyond the capacity of the expected representational norms to 

evidence. 

Although an accomplished air force pilot, Joe Kittinger was here, no 

more than a “testdummy.” He was a 1:1 scale fi gure in a very large 

place, venturing into an unknown territory which lacked defi nition. 

In architecture we often place a graphic scale fi gure into a drawing to 

lend reference and understanding to the scale of what’s represented. 

Joe Kittinger was a living 1:1 scale fi gure lending evidence to the 

consequences of existing in the world at this scale. 

Studies revealed how densities of pattern produce different resolution of feathering 

drawings by Nick Gelpi 

MOCKUPS 14 

FORWARD 109

Figure 1 

photography by Nick Gelpi 

MOCKUPS 15 

FORWARD 109

Figure 2: How to break what’s built; How to build a break 


Architecture, like space exploration, makes 

predictions and speculations. Sometimes 

the reality of a scenario cannot adequately 

be documented or anticipated through solely 

representational means. There are the literal 

contingencies of any project which often resist 

representation. Why risk Joe Kittinger’s life? 

Because otherwise we might not know what 

could occur. The treacheries of hi-altitude 

bailout were anticipated; however the only 

method for determination was to send Joe 

there to precipitate the results, by enacting it. 

This is the territory of the real. Within architecture, 

to engage the various categories of the 

real at 1:1 scale requires a conventional test 

termed a “mockup.” While the superfi ciality 

of an image seamlessly navigates between 

scales through abstraction and without consequence, 

a mockup only works, in its thickness 

and depths, at the 1:1 scale. 

Mockups occupy a vital territory which ties 

representational matter to the existing reality 

of the world. The value of any test lies not in 

its ability to be executed; value comes from 

the test’s capacity to produce new insight into 

the consequences of what’s been speculated. 

Kittinger didn’t know what would occur as a 

result of testing something of this magnitude. 

This unpredictability is a function of scale. 

The United States Air Force took a predictable 

scenario, skydiving which normally occurs at 

a height of 10,000 feet, and scaled it up by 

a power of 10, from 10,000 feet to 100,000 

feet. This scale shift thrust the test, and those 

involved, into a new, destabilized, relational 

territory. 

This is the territory of Charles and Ray Eames’ 

fi lm, “Powers of Ten.” The high-stakes of scale 

shifting are anticipated in the subtitle, “… 

dealing with the relative size of things in the 

universe, and the effect of adding another 

zero.” The Eames make convincing evidence 

that this is a scale specifi c world. The consequences 

of our interaction with the world are 

fl uid and become more poignant with shifts 

in the scalar zoom. Joe Kittinger’s jump is a 

mockup of the world at a new scale, demonstrating 

the turbulences of scaling the frame 

that brackets that jumper by 10. 

From architecture history, there are two important 

examples of mockups that demonstrate 

the apparent categories for testing scale’s discriminating 

tendencies at the 1:1. Stating less 

MOCKUPS 16 

FORWARD 109

Figure 3: As the plywood is bent around a radius which decreases, feathering increases allowing translucency, sight, light and color 

photographny by Nick Gelpi 

about the world in general and more about 

the relational categories for architecture’s effi 

cacy, the histories of both projects required 

an execution of the designs at full scale for 

the purpose of reaching conclusions about 

the merits of each. One occurred in 1936, 

when Frank Lloyd Wright constructed a 1:1 

mockup of his unusually shaped dendriform 

column for the S. C. Johnson Wax building 

to convince the public that, while what he 

had drawn may have broken all the rules of 

the day, it was indeed possible. A structuralmaterial 

hypothesis, the only method for 

convincing was to put the design into motion 

in the material world. The other occurred in 

1912, when Mies van der Rohe constructed 

a 1:1 mockup of a house, the Kroller-Muller 

Villa Project, out of canvas, to convince the 

client of a different type of validity, the quality 

of its effects. A spatial-scalar test, it’s worth 

mentioning that only after a complete spatial 

mockup the client rejected the design, further 

evidencing the value of this test in its ability to 

produce failure. While the nature of evidence 

sought in both is different, one structural, 

one cunning, the motivations for each are the 

same. Like dress rehearsals in the tradition of 

the theater, they both seek to demonstrate that 

they work at a scale that isn’t representational. 

Mockups verify the vitality of an image. To 

“mock” means to treat with contempt or ridicule, 

to defy or challenge. 1 What is unavoidable 

in a mockup is responsiveness. Mockups 

demonstrate the responsiveness in what they 

do. They will either do what is predictable 

or do something unexpected, but unyielding 

within this concept of “doing” is the infl uence 

of scale on the behavior of the response. 

I recently completed a series of mockups as 

design studies that considered the signifi cance 

of the various territories of scale occupied 

by architecture’s typical constructions. The 

mockups in this series all behave at a particular 

scale. More like earthquakes of various 

magnitudes, than an arbitrary progression of 

size, these projects make particular use of a 

consistent material diagram, the ability for 

plywood of incremental thicknesses to ‘feather.’ 

[Fig. 1] Not an image, rather a condition, 

the interest was to coax out the project’s 

potential energies, that is, the ability for it to 

behave in productive ways. 

Scale of Matter 

We began by treating a material like a specimen, 

looking for what it would do, not what it 

looked like. We were interested in the material’s 

ability to behave in counter-intuitive 

ways, in this case draping as a typical centenary 

structure might work. The drape studies, 

while somewhat rote, demonstrate how the 

incremental diminishing of thickness (a number) 

delineates a different confi guration within 

the earth’s gravitational pull. Gravity is fl owing 

through the material in a certain way that 

MOCKUPS 17 

FORWARD 109

Figure 4: Densities of pattern produce different resolution of feathering 

drawings by Nick Telpi 

Figure 5: Hovering mockup drawings 

drawings by Nick Telpi 

MOCKUPS 18 

FORWARD 109

makes it take this position and subsequently 

produce this appearance. These confi gurations 

are earth specifi c and would change if 

sited on the moon where gravity is 1/6 th that of 

the earth’s. 

The standard off the shelf plywood sheet is engineered 

to resist the entropic deformation of 

gravity, but what if an entropic response could 

be used for something productive? Inscribed 

strategic cuts respond to the bending radius 

of the sheet as the tightened radius produces 

more extreme feathering increasing with it 

transparency and transmission of colored 

light. [Fig. 3] 

Scales of Transparency 

We connected resulting conditions of transparency, 

boundary, aperture, and color glow 

to the thickness of material and its ability to 

bend. As the ‘feather wall’ tightens up towards 

its center and exceeds the maximum 

curvature allowable, it begins to break and 

fall apart. The transparency emerges from 

the density of pattern in the surface and its 

tangential correspondence to the turbulence 

of the wall. While typical wall construction 

parts exist adjacently in addition to one another, 

think stud framing and cladding, with little 

disruption to each other, the parts of this wall 

mix together and exhibit a nuanced, behavioral 

boundary, exhibiting color, translucency 

and shape. [Fig. 4] 

Scale of Structures 

By migrating the feather condition from a 

screen to that of motivated structural idea, 

what operated in its impartial defl ections and 

deformations as a light modulator became an 

idea about how supports could be cut out of a 

single sheet and differentiated to emerge and 

play the recognizable role of a structural system. 

The relationship between backup frame 

(structure) and skin confi guration is inverted 

as the skin becomes the structure itself, ob- 

scuring the structural role of the frame. The 

frame now becomes an excessive dead-load 

to be supported by the structural skin. The 

structure results from the assembled combination 

of parts. The implementation of various 

radii bends the skin and pattern tight enough 

that the resultant feathering lifts the entire 

object off the ground. The entire assembly is 

propped up, seemingly hovering above the 

ground by the lift of the plywood feathers. 

The frame that ordinarily would do the lifting 

is now lifted producing a reversal of structural 

roles. [Fig. 5] 

Scales of Overlap 

Engineering the support further we developed 

a leaning structure. In this structural mockup 

a verifi able composite structural confi guration 

occurs. The structural frame leans over and 

relies on its skin to prop itself up. Without 

the skin it would fall over. Without the frame 

the skin wouldn’t expand to confi gure for 

structural capacity. And, if this skin weren’t 

this thickness of plywood, or rather if it were 

paper, it wouldn’t be strong enough to act 

as a support at the scale of this mockup. A 

double layer of skin triangulates at the point 

where it meets the ground to form a structural 

depth like a monocoque system. The frame 

needs the skin and the skin needs the frame to 

confi gure itself for stability. 

Scale Finding 

The largest of the mockups increases the scale 

of materials to construction grade plywood, 

which determined the size of the whole assembly, 

a shift from a form fi nding exercise 

to a type of scale fi nding procedure, which 

requires the capacity of the part to behave in 

alignment with the whole. [Fig. 6] To suggest 

a smaller scale version of this design requires 

a revision of ingredients as they will only 

work together at this scale without failing at 

the integrity of their material. 

MOCKUPS 19 

FORWARD 109

Between Scales 

Figure 6: Scale fi nding mockup, 1/8 inch birch plywood 


Architecture often looks to references from 

outside the discipline to gain new rules and 

direction for its production. This series of 

mockups defers to cues from within the way 

things already exist in the world. Utilizing a 

universal diagram or condition, the various 

objects may all look similar, however they all 

specify a response to a unique world. They 

are all different in their particular responses to 

the categorical scales that architecture proffers. 

As evident in Joe Kittinger’s jump, the 

nature of the world changes in relation to 

the scale fi gure, it behaves differently. The 

universality of the pattern is delineated into 

categories as particularities of these projects 

demonstrate the shifting scales between them. 

Scale doesn’t look like anything, it is invisible, 

yet it permeates the arena for architecture. 

As the traditional categories of architecture’s 

catalogue of scalar implementation, windows/ 

screens, structure/envelope, have become 

redundant, what increasingly looks the same, 

requires an invisible effi cacy in its ability to 

do work. Perhaps architecture’s focus for 

innovation can fi nd new fodder adjacent to 

pragmatic and formal ingenuity by discovering 

the in-between zones of scale, where 

the world behaves differently, and provides 

untapped potential energies for architecture’s 

wandering future. 

NOTES: 

1 “mock.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. 

Nick Gelpi 

is a visiting Lecturer at the 

MIT School of Architecture + 

Planning, and principal in the 

design offi ce PALEO. Prior to 

teaching at MIT, he was the 

Howard E. LeFevre Emerging Practitioner 

Fellow at The Ohio State University, and has 

previously taught design studios at Columbia 

University. In 2007 he received ARCHITECT 

Magazine’s fi rst annual R&D award. Gelpi 

holds a professional degree in architecture 

from Tulane University. In 2003 he graduated 

from Columbia University in New York with 

a Masters of Science in Advance Architecture 

Design. He has worked in the New York 

offi ces of nArchitects, G-tects, and most 

recently Steven Holl Architects from 2004- 

2008. 

MOCKUPS 20 

FORWARD 109

OUT OF THE LAB AND INTO THE JUNGLE 

by Tom Wiscombe 

Have you ever heard of the Bowerbird? This bird, known to animal 

cognition experts but not so much to architects, is intriguing because 

it appears to exist at the edge of consciousness, driven by both 

bottom-up instinct as well as what appears to be taste. In order to 

attract female mates, male birds build an audacious ‘mating-stage’, 

characterized by ornate thatch-work, berry-juice paint, and colorful 

collections of organic and synthetic objects. This is not a nest, but a 

girl-magnet, and while it is evidence of the male’s prowess and ability 

to procure resources, its primary expression is of the male’s aesthetic 

sensibility in construction. Females are highly discerning-- they look 

for formal coherency, color composition, and construction innovation 

in these stages. According to James and Carol Gould, authors of The 

Animal Architect, the male’s “constant fussing to try new variants… 

implies an element of something like personal style,” noting that 

the birds “must receive some kind of pleasure from the sight of such 

things.” 1 What is so interesting about the Bowerbird is that they have 

such a highly-refi ned sensibility for excess, something we usually 

only attribute to the human animal. How we love to short-change 

non-human animals! But then, there is the Bowerbird, seemingly 

operating based on motor programs, environmental cues, and 

necessity, but also (gasp!) its appreciation for architectural affect! 

Architecture has been obsessed with science for the past 20 years, 

in terms of the digital simulations and formfi nding, generative 

design, and seductive discoveries in the natural sciences relating 

to complexity and systems theory. This obsession also refl ects a 

Taipei Performing Arts Center drawing by Emergent 


FORWARD 109

conscious effort of the neo avante-guarde to 

move beyond the critical project of the 1970’s 

and 80‘s towards a materialist paradigm. 

In 2009, it appears that many practitioners, 

especially in academia, have lost interest 

in, or sight of, disciplinary issues specifi c to 

architecture. As Jeff Kipnis has said, in order 

for something to be a discipline, it must have 

its own, independent form of knowledge, 

otherwise it ceases to be a discipline at all. 2 

Architecture loves to borrow from other 

disciplines; it is a kind of tradition since the 

schizm of design and construction during the 

Rennaisance. The danger is, when we begin 

to promote the wholesale transfer of scientifi c 

knowledge and values into architecture, we 

begin to lose the richness and true complexity 

architecture can have. I am myself a scienceminded 

architect, and I am beginning to feel 

uneasy with what I can best describe as the 

tendency to promote process over effects, or 

in another way, thinking over feeling. The best 

architecture is robust enough to operate in 

multiple ontological realms. 3 

The Problem with ‘Swarm Architecture‘ 

Consider the explosion of new rationale for 

design all around us, including parametric 

design, swarm architecture, parametric 

urbanism, and so on, all of which appear to 

be apologies or justifi cations for design. The 

fact that these are often used interchangeably 

is telling, since we are in fact dealing with 

contradictory terms. ‘Parametric design‘, for 

instance, is as top-down as puppetry, but it 

is often promoted as a bottom-up process. 

In parametrics, the outputs always resemble 

the inputs, which is impossible in generative 

systems. While parametric techniques are 

undoubtedly good for rationalizing geometry 

and maintaining associations between 

components, they always reaffi rm zero-sum 

logic rather than excess. 

‘Swarm architecture‘ is a contradiction in 

itself, insofar as architecture in the world does 

not arise spontaneously based on simple rules, 

but instead emerges as a complex political, 

economic, material, technological, and 

cultural activity. People have been working 

for nearly two decades on swarm logics as 

they might pertain to architecture. They have 

succeeded in producing the most beautiful 

particle tracery and agent-based animations a 

la Craig Reynolds‘s fl ocking algorithms from 

1986, but these appear to exist somewhere 

between pseudo-science and visual art, not 

architecture. A virtual agent is not the same 

as a brick. And when you force the relation, 

you end up with something anemic and weak, 

without any of the traits of a complex adaptive 

system like, for instance, a swarm. 

The problem is that scientifi c rationale in 

design-- related to process and thinking-- has 

begun to overpower the actual effects of the 

built thing in the world, in particular its affect 

and contribution to culture. Processes have 

often become the end in themselves rather 

than a means to an end. And if the architect is 

not interested in producing particular effects 

through architecture then they are interlopers. 

Into the Jungle 

In our offi ce we are bolting out of the 

laboratory and into the jungle, Jurrasic 

Park style. In the lab, we would have to be 

doing ‘research‘ which of course becomes 

problemmatic when you compare scientifi c 

research with architectural research. For 

research to be research, it requires two things, 

one, that it be reproduceable, and two, that it 

be productive even in failure. 4 Architectural 

research cannot hold up to that. Also, if we 

were in the lab, we would be invested in a 

quest for absolute truth rather than resonance 

(relevance mixed with affect), which 

architecture should probably not be doing. In 

the jungle, we can instead concentrate on the 

production of vivid features and behaviors, 

color gradients, variability, wild ornament, 

and atmospherics. When you’re in the jungle, 


FORWARD 109

Dragonfl y Parametric Plan 

drawing by Emergent 

it is affect fi rst, process second. This is not 

to say that issues of utility or evolution can 

be excised from the discussion, but that it’s 

simply a relief to admit that architecture is not 

a science, and that architectural effects can 

be created in myriad, messy ways rather than 

according to scientifi c method. 

Our design process is messy. It leaves loose 

ends. It allows for some things to be slightly 

out of control (generative) and others to 

be unapologetically authored. The use of 

computation becomes sporadic and strategic 

rather than all-encompassing. Scripting turns 

out to be very valuable for this kind of guerilla 

approach. Although it is certainly a subset of 

algorithmic design, it does not have the same 

implications of having scientifi c validity or 

magical properties. Scripting assumes no scale 

or end-use, nor does it confuse architecture 

with natural phenomena. It is a tool in need 

of an author to direct its use. Scripting, as 

my wise colleague Peter Testa likes to say, 

“is like sketching”. 5 But sketching with a 

computational sensibility, and sketching in 

populations of versions, rather than laboring 

away at a single expression. Scripting simply 

automates, iterates, and delivers sets of 

geometry which, depending on available 

features, can become structural patterns, 

metabolic networks, enclosure systems, or 

ornament. Scripting does not imply value in 

itself; it is a means to an end. A script can 

never create real complexity on its own. 

Our offi ce has found scripting to be most 

productive when used in early project phases 

in an abstract way, with no pre-determination 

of scale or target applications, but framed 

within a known architectural territory such as 

structure, mechanical systems, apertures, or 

surface character. Iteratively, features begin to 

appear which appeal to either performative or 

aesthetic sensibilities, and eventually, both. 

These features never arise fully-formed, rather 

only by teasing them out, and by constantly 

feeding specifi c principles and desires back 

into the mix. Eventually, proto-architectural 

species emerge. These species have begun 

to accumulate in our collection of geometry 

we refer to as ‘The Menagerie’. Buildings 

are designed either by using several species 

in various hierarchies or scales, or a single 

species across its full behaviorial range. 

Nevertheless, features never appear all the 

time, from massing, to organization, to detail. 

You would never fi nd that kind of relentless 

consistency in the jungle. 

Working this way with scripting produces 

a multiplicity of ‘found’ objects with openended 

potentials; nature, not coincidentally, 

always works from found objects as well. 

There is no such thing as a tabula rasa in the 

natural world. There are no beginnings and no 

ends, just sets of features and behaviors which 

are incrementally evolved, sometimes in baby 

steps through optimization, and other times in 

massive leaps through mutation. This process 

leaves a messy trail of excess, redundancy, 

obfuscated function, and non-optimal 

features. In any case, the complexity and 

distinctiveness of a species cannot be fully 

understood only by examining its evolutionary 

history, but rather by engaging it in its vital 

state, in all of its visual and behavioral beauty. 

What matters in buildings, in the same way, is 

not the sum of their history of production, but 

rather the real-time effects they generate. 


FORWARD 109

Dragonfl y 

Dragonfl y, done in collaboration with Buro 

Happold Engineers, was an experiment 

in hybrid pattern-formation and structural 

feedback loops in a canopy structure. The 

game was set up in order to elicit a variety 

of heterogeneous behaviors in response to 

its asymmetrical shaping environment and 

extreme cantilever. The name Dragonfl y is 

not a metaphor, but it does imply biomimicry. 

Borrowing from studies on dragonfl y wing 

morphology, we were interested in how wing 

performance was related to several discreet 

structural features. The most prominent is the 

hybrid cellular pattern which shifts from linear 

chains of four-sided cells, which operate well 

in bending, to honeycomb patterns which 

are fl exible and operate as membranes. The 

veins are deep and also pleated for additional 

stiffness, while the membranes are thin and 

slightly curved. We call this a ‘beam-brane’. 

The process of design was messy-- it involved 

a number of algorithms, populationengineering 

routines, and an overarching 

design sensibility of achieving heterogeneous 

Dragonfl y photography by Emergent 

patterning which could deal with extreme 

conditions without breaking its beam-brane 

syntax. Several boundary conditions were set 

up in ANSYS (a generative engineering tool) 

to be applied to the relatively uncharacterized 

starting condition of a Voronoi pattern 

(again, not a tabula rasa). Each boundary 

condition-- from cell morphology and density, 

to member depth and width, to local shape-- 

was used to generate populations of solutions. 

Rather than attempting to fi nd the ‘best of 

all possible’ structures, our team used these 

studies to generate simultaneously improved 

performance and aesthetic coherence and 

complexity. 

There is a temptation to understand the story 

of Dragonfl y as if engineering algorithms 

‘generated’ the project, but the reality is that 

the process was driven as much by the desire 

for particular architectural effects- coherency, 

smooth gradients, and radical shifts in depth 

and densities. Identifying moments in the 

structure which were ‘designed’ versus those 

which ‘appeared’ is an irrelevant distinction, 

as neither is more or less legitimate. 


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Dragonfl y engineering drawings by Emergent 

Dragonfl y engineering drawings by Emergent 


FORWARD 109

Novosibirsk Pavilion 

Gridshell structures, prevalent in the 1960s, 

are part of a lineage of experimentation into 

material intelligence and analogue shape 

computation leading all the way back to the 

Gothic era. The character of these structures 

is a function of their form-found curvature as 

well as their patterned relief which reduces 

weight while increasing stiffness. These 

solutions, while effi cient and elegant, were 

often limited by their inability to respond to 

local forces and multiple objectives. 

Our contemporary re-examination of the 

gridshell accepts the material sensibility of this 

earlier work while questioning its monotonous 

pattern geometry and tendency toward 

universal forms. This design is based on the 

simultaneous response of pattern to surface 

curvature and structural force pathways, 

generating a highly varied and informed shell. 

Variability in pattern morphology, density, 

and depth allow for a localized structural 

Novosibirsk Pavillion drawing by Emergent 

tuning which would be impossible with 

invariant pattern logic. Ultimately, limitations 

of traditional form-fi nding, where structures 

tend toward funicular forms, are lifted, and 

more heterogeneous shell shapes begin to be 

possible. 

The pattern logic of the stiffening veins 

was critical for the spatial sensibility of this 

project and it was painstakingly developed 

as a hybrid of several shape grammars and 

computational techniques. A base subdivision 

of the surfaces was achieved based on 

curvature where pinched or twisted regions 

of the surfaces were broken down into 

smaller and smaller quadrilateral cells. A 

routine for transforming this subdivision into 

a branching logic was developed in order to 

generate a more complex and robust network 

of structural pathways, one which could 

be easily re-adjusted based on engineering 

information and an evolving sensibility for the 

whole. 


FORWARD 109

Flower Street Bioreactor 

Flower Street Bioreactor drawing by Emergent 

Our point of departure for this project was 

to engage the nascent cultural paradigm shift 

from thinking about energy as something 

which comes magically from distant sources 

to something which can be generated 

locally in a variety of ways. Our goal was 

not, however, to undertake an engineering 

experiment, or to simply express material 

processes, although this is certainly one 

dimension of the project. Our primary 

goal was to create a sense of delight and 

exotic beauty around new technologies by 

decontextualizing them and amplifying their 

potential atmospheric and ornamental effects. 

The project is an aquarium-like bioreactor 

inserted into the facade of a building, which 

contains green algae colonies that produce 

oil through photosynthesis. The aquarium is 

made of thick transparent acrylic, molded 

to create the intricate relief on the front. 

This relief tracks along with and supports an 

internal lighting armature which is based on 

the Bio-feedback Algae Controller, invented 

by OriginOil in Los Angeles. Tuned LED lights 

that vary in color and intensity support algae 

growth at different stages of development, 

maximizing output. According to OriginOil, 

“this is a true bio-feedback system… the algae 

lets the LED controller know what it needs 

as it needs it, creating a self-adjusting growth 

system.” At night, when this system intensifi es, 

it generates a simultaneously urban and jungle 

affects: glittery refl ections on acrylic combine 

with an eerie élan vital of glowing algae. 

A solar array, used to collect energy during the 

day, winds up into the branches of an adjacent 

tree, jungle-style. This energy will be stored in 

a battery and used during the night to run the 

various systems. 

Flower Street Bioreactor drawing by Emergent 


FORWARD 109

Taipei Performing Arts Center 

The aim for this design for the Taipei 

Performing Arts Center is to create deep, 

varied, colorful Urban Cavities between 

and around the three given theater masses. 

These Cavities allow the city to penetrate 

the exclusive territory of the performing arts 

center type, creating a dynamic, 24-hour 

commercial and cultural zone. 

The morphology of the project is based on 

patterns of armatures and pleats which form 

an intricate ornamental network. Armatures 

are woven together to create circulation and 

structure, allowing views from the plaza into 

the building as well as from the building down 

into the Plaza and out into the city. Micropleats 

track along the armatures but also 

spread out along surfaces, spatially drawing 

visitors inward. The sensations produced 

by this fl uid geometry are heightened by a 

gradient of color which is most intense on 

the interior but fades out to the exterior of the 

building. 

Taipei Performing Arts Center drawing by Emergent 

NOTES: 

1. Gould, James and Carol, Animal Architects, Basic Books, New York (2007) 

p. 246 

2. Kipnis, Jeff, AADRL Documents 2: A Design Research Compendium, ‘Jeff 

Kipnis in Conversation’, Architectural Association Press, London (2009) P. 

51-52 

3. Kipnis, Jeff, *@#*!#!!, SCI-Arc Lecture, January, 2008. 

4. Kipnis, Jeff, ibid. 

5. Testa, Peter. From informal discussions in our SCI-Arc Digital Design Studio, 

2006-9. 

Tom Wiscombe 

founded Emergent, a platform 

for researching contemporary 

models of biology, engineering, 

and computation to produce 

an architecture characterized 

by formal variability, high performance, and 

atmospherics. Emergent has developed an 

international profi le via an oeuvre of competition 

entries and installations, including the 

MoMA/ P.S.1. The work of Emergent is part of 

the permanent collection of the Museum of 

Modern Art, New York.Wiscombe was Chief 

Designer at Coop Himmelb(l)au for over 10 

years and teaches at SCI_Arc. 


FORWARD 109

THE SEMANTIC METAL SURFACE 

by L. William Zahner

When defi ning a logic to use a particular 

surface material, various aesthetic qualities 

such as color, texture, patterns and boundaries 

are often considered. In our pursuit to arrive 

at materials that perform over a lifetime and 

do not possess hidden cost to our children’s 

future, considerations of manufacture and 

eventual recovery and recycling of the 

material must also play a part. Architectural 

metals achieve these design requirements. 

They are durable and lightweight. They 

can be formed, shaped, pierced, cut and 

machined in ways only plastics can attempt to 

copy. 

Architectural metals are the family of materials 

that encompass aluminum alloys, copper and 

copper alloys, brasses and bronzes, iron and 

steel alloys including stainless steels, lead, tin, 

titanium, and zinc. 

Each of these metals has a vast array of 

fi nishes and textures that add color and 

interface with light like no other substances 

on earth. Many of these metals can be 

coated with other metals to enhance their 

performance or aesthetic appeal. For 

example, zinc in the process of galvanizing 

provides tremendous benefi t via galvanic 

protection to steel. Aluminum and steel are 

often painted to provide a particular color 

while adding a barrier to prevent the ambient 

conditions from affecting the base materials’ 

performance. In these cases, metals act simply 

as an affordable ductile form. 

Stainless steel, titanium and to a lesser degree 

aluminum, are known for their unchanging 

surface chemistry. They react with the 

surrounding environment, for the most part, 

at a very slow rate. Their oxides develop 

rapidly and resist additional surface attack. 

Other metals, such as copper and copper 

alloys, zinc, and the weathering steel alloys, 

are left exposed to react with the surrounding 

environment. These metals combine with 

substances in the air and develop very 

tenacious surface oxides. These oxides 

Previous page: The de Young Museum by Herzog & de Meuron 

photography by A. Zahner Company 

enhance the appearance of the metal and 

provide extremely impervious barriers. The 

barriers are very close to inert mineral forms 

that are found in nature. 

These inorganic surface coatings, commonly 

known as patinas, develop as the metal is 

exposed to external pollutants such as carbon 

dioxide, chlorine and sulfur. When you think 

about it, a copper roof is removing carbon 

dioxide and sulfur from the atmosphere and 

trapping it in inert mineral compounds formed 

on the metal surface. 

The metals used in architecture will not end 

up in some future waste heap 1 because of 

the inherent value they possess. The metal 

recycling business worldwide is a robust 

industry employing many thousands of 

people. No other materials used in building 

construction are so thoroughly recaptured 

and recycled for use over and over again than 

metals. Environmental issues surrounding 

the mining and concentration of metals are 

valid but often are taken out of context. 

Efforts are being made within the industry to 

address long term affects of metal mining and 

processing. Recycling of metals reduces the 

need for mining and reprocessing recycled 

materials uses signifi cantly less energy. 2 

Aluminum recycling, for example, has 

become a substantial secondary business. 

Reducing the ravages on the environment 

caused by mining, recycling bypasses the 

large ore refi ning costs. Aluminum refi nement 

requires tremendous amounts of electricity, 

some 20,000 kilowatt hours per ton of 

aluminum refi ned. Most small towns use less 

electricity per year than aluminum refi nement 

uses per day. The aluminum scrap recycling 

industry claims that recycled aluminum saves 

up to 80 million tons of greenhouse gas 

emissions per year. 

The same can be said for other metals. Over 

80% of the copper used to create the beautiful 

façade on the deYoung Museum of Art in San 

FORWARD 109 THE SEMANTIC METAL SURFACE 30

The de Young Museum by Herzog & de Meuron 



Metal Common Alloys Used in 

Architecture 

Aluminum alloys A3003, A3004, A3105, A5005, 

A5052, A5086, A6061, A6063 

Copper alloys C110 commercial pure copper 

Various Brasses: 

C220, C230, C270, C280, C385 

Iron Carbon Steel 

Weathering Steel 

Stainless steel alloys 304, 316 

Lead Commercial Pure (very limited 

use today) 

Monel Alloy of Nickel and Copper 

Tin Typically as a coating on 

Copper or alloyed with Zinc and 

coated on stainless 

Titanium Commercial Pure 

Physical Vapor coating on 

Stainless 

Zinc Commercial Pure 

Hot dipped coating on steel 

(Galvanizing) 

Architectural Metals 

Francisco was derived from recycled scrap 

metal that was recast and turned into sheet 

copper. Every single perforation and sheared 

edge left over from the process of creating the 

elaborate panels was collected and recycled 

at the fabrication facility. 

Copper has an infi nite recycled life. It can 

be used over and over again. In the event 

the deYoung is ever dismantled, one can be 

certain the surface will be recycled and used 

on the next great museum façade. Can you 

say this of other building materials? 3 There 

are no signifi cant recycling efforts underway 

for stone, concrete, glass, fi berglass or rubber 

membranes. Wood and brick have levels of 

secondary recycling potential but not anything 

remotely comparable to the infi nite recycling 

ability of aluminum, copper, steel, titanium 

and zinc. 

Metals are available in many forms designed 

to take advantage of the inherent character 

only metals possess. Metals can be rolled 

into extremely thin sheets, even foils, which 

have directional attributes such as grain, 

tensile strength and ductility. Even in these 

thin forms, corrosion resistance is not 

compromised. When correctly assembled, 

thin skins of metal can distribute the stresses 

that develop from changes in the ambient 

conditions without affecting long-term 

behavior. Creating thin surfaces of metal 

allows for optimizing the material usage 

while achieving very fl exible, yet durable, 

lightweight enclosures. This attribute of metal 

is the reason why aircraft and automobiles are 

shrouded in metal skins. 

For intricate building surfaces, metals offer 

similar advantages over other materials. Metal 

roofi ng has long been a lightweight surfacing 

material that provides protection from the 

environment. At the same time, metal can be 


Contemporary Jewish Museum 

by Studio Daniel Libeskind 

photography by Studio Daniel Libeskind 

THE SEMANTIC METAL SURFACE 33 

FORWARD 109

National Museum of the American Indian 

by Romona Sakiestewa 


a signifi cant design element used to defi ne the 

building geometry and establish the aesthetic 

image. 

Technological advances in fabrication 

processes have taken thin fl exible sheets of 

metal and created stunningly intricate wall 

surfaces for buildings. Perforating, pressing 

and forming of metal provides the designer a 

visual and tactile interface to offer his client 

and the public to experience. Incorporating 

shape and texture is no longer a signifi cant 

‘artistic’ premium. 

Thin, inexpensive surfaces of metal can 

enclose a building geometry and offer 

a lifetime of performance with little 

Various Forms of Metal 

Sheet, coil and plate 

Casting 

Extrusion 

Wire 

Powder 

Coatings – Physical Vapor or 

molten coating 

maintenance. A common means of achieving 

a metal surface is to assemble smaller 

elements known by various terms as skins, 

cassettes, or shingles. These thin, fl exible 

elements allow for intricate surfaces to be 

enclosed without compromising the longterm 

performance of the metal. Each shingle 

FORWARD FORWARD 109 THE SEMANTIC METAL SURFACE 34

acts like a scale on a fi sh, overlapping and 

engaging into the adjoining shingle. Stresses 

do not pass over to the next panel but are 

released at each edge. 

To make the thin surfaces work effi ciently, 

close attention to the edges are necessary. 

The edges are what the eye captures and most 

inconsistencies will manifest themselves at the 

boundaries. They can destroy the appearance, 

allow moisture to enter behind the metal 

surface, and add unnecessary clutter to the 

overall appearance. When skillfully executed, 

the edges defi ne the surface geometry and 

allow for the control and distribution of 

stresses and moisture. 

The tendency is to apply covers to overlap 

the edges of large sealant joints. It is cheaper, 

quicker and for the most part, it will deter 

moisture, but it will affect the aesthetic. It will 

require adjustment and reseal at some point 

and often can be less affective in performing 

the function of keeping air and water from 

entering behind the wall surface. It can be 

like having patches on a fi ne suit. One 

spends the money on the cloth but hires a less 

skillful tailor to assemble the suit. 

Metal in expert hands can deliver the artfully 

crafted surface that will stand the test of time 

and deliver unsurpassed performance. Metals 

used today will be recycled tomorrow and 

used over and over again. Metals speak to a 

logic that has a long-term purpose both in the 

designs that can be achieved when correctly 

executed and in the inherent nature of the 

material. 

Top and Bottom this page: 

Taubman Museum of Art 

by Randall Stout Architects 

photography by Timothy Dalton Photography 


Taubman Museum of Art 

by Randall Stout Architects 

photography by Timothy Dalton Photography 

NOTES: 

1 Composite materials that combine metal with plastic cores are not currently 

recycled. Thus, when their useful life expires, they are sent to the landfi ll - a 

true waste of metal. 

2 Recycled aluminum uses less than 4% of the energy needed in the aluminum 

refi ning process. It is predicted by the year 2020 over 30 million tons of aluminum 

will be from recycled scrap. This is equivelent to 18 years of primary 

production. Source: Recycle Scrap Industry. 

3 Excluding copper wire which often is created from refi ned copper ore, over 

75% of the copper used in castings, sheet material, brass and bronze work is 

recycled copper. Source: Copper.org 

L. William Zahner 

President and CEO of Zahner 

Company and Zahner 

Architectural Metal 

Consultants, has worked with 

many of the world’s leading 

architects, including Frank Gehry, Antoine 

Predock, Herzog and de Meuron and Tadao 

Ando. He has contributed to a number of 

high profi le projects using metal as a major 

building material, including the Guggenheim 

museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Experience Music 

Project in Seattle and the de young Museum 

in San Francisco. 


INSIDE IRAN 

Photography by Mark Edward Harris 

INSIDE IRAN

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INSIDE IRAN 38


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FORWARD 109

SULLIVAN'S BANKS 

by Stacey Zwettler Keller 

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, 

Of all things physical and metaphysical, 

Of all things human and all things super-human, 

Of all true manifestations of the head, 

Of the heart, of the soul, 

That the life is recognizable in its expression, 

That form ever follows function. This is the law. 

A Tall Offi ce Building Artistically Considered 

by Louis Sullivan 

Sullivan coined the phrase “Form ever follows function,” providing 

a model for a new typology, the tall offi ce building. Although 

modernists later used Sullivan’s statement to eliminate ornament and 

decoration from architecture – even to the extent that ornament was 

a crime – Sullivan’s buildings did not turn away from aesthetics or 

ornamentation. While his buildings could have a simple massing, 

he also incorporated highly intricate designs to highlight and 

complement the building massing. Dominating Sullivan’s later work 

were his banks. Those most notable are the National Farmer’s Bank, 

his fi rst, in Owatonna, Minnesota, the Merchants National Bank, in 

Grinnell, Iowa, and his last, the Farmers and Merchants’ Union Bank 

in Columbus, Wisconsin. These banks provided new challenges of 

image, massing, scale, and proportion. In these projects, Sullivan 

provided a selection of materials and ornament, considering patterns, 

reliefs, and colors, fi tting to a new challenge, elevating the bank 

within the public conscious. With the charge of a new typology, 

“Form follows function” stands as the continuous thread through the 

entirety of his work. 

At the turn of the century, following the Panic of 1893, the banking 

industry had lost the public’s confi dence. There was a need to 

reevaluate the industry relative to an uprising “atmosphere of 

progressivism.” In this new era of social change, a new bank could 

improve the surrounding town, as it expressed economic vitality 1 . 

Sullivan fi rst strove to eliminate the neoclassical temple form typically 

FORWARD 109 SULLIVAN'S BANKS 43

used in this era. He eliminated the podium 

and stairs as an exterior image to pursue a 

“Democratization of the form” 2 by freeing 

the building faces of historic references and 

creating a new iconography. Additionally, 

in the interior he provided purposeful plan 

layouts and cast light within the typical dark, 

compartmentalized interiors, releasing the 

“shrouded fi nancial transactions in darkness, 

imposing pagan rituals.” 3 

The development of his plan organization 

provided simple, open-scheme layouts 

directly accessed from the sidewalk. He “set 

the stage for the ‘ceremonial procession’ 

into and through the banks by arranging and 

alternating sequences of low, dark areas with 

high, brightly lit areas.” 4 The banking room 

was the ultimate open, tall, and elegantly 

Grinnell Bank Terra Cotta Shop Drawing by Louis Sullivan 

image from The Northwest Architectural Archives - University of Minnesota Libraries 

lit space. Even the vault door acted as an 

ornament to the room, symbolically placed on 

axis with the main entrance, calling attention 

to its “elaborate mechanism, reassuring 

symbols for patrons of both the availability 

and safety of their hard-earned assets.” 

Often a lounge or “farmers exchange” room 

was provided for the bankers to establish 

relationships with the community 5 . 

The surrounding buildings infl uenced many of 

the banks’ elevations and details, to highlight 

their integration into their communities. The 

elevations combined and continued the 

dimensions, rhythms and patterns of windows, 

arches, and horizontal bandings 6 . Sullivan’s 

sense of scale also took into account “the 

distance at which it was viewed” and “the 

materials in which it was to be executed.” In 


his buildings, the upper parts were construed 

in ornament of a larger scale, higher in relief 

and courser in detail than at the base. He 

also varied fi ne to course detail depending on 

the material; the fi ner in material, the fi ner the 

detail, as in metal, and the “greater breadth 

and depth” as in terra cotta 7 . 

The banks’ simple extruded mass provided 

the basis for design, with highlights of the 

signifi cant “entrance,” main banking room, 

and structure through ornament. These forms 

are initially created with “simple arithmetic 

proportions to integrate visually the solids 

and voids and the ornamental enframements 

of the parts with the whole.” 8 The recurrent 

forms of simple geometries of circles, halfcircles, 

and rectangles within the elevations 

express the architectural masses and structural 

components. The overall composition at 

Owatonna expresses a single semi-circular 

arch inscribed in a square. Within the broad 

semi-circles, he enframes the deep-set stained 

glass windows. This same fundamental 

mechanism can be seen in the preliminary 

sketches and shop drawings of the Grinnell 

Bank’s main elevation. The dominating 

circular window is enframed by rotating 

diamonds and squares to signify the main 

entrance, within the dominating square 

brick façade. Also at the Columbus bank, 

Sullivan used arithmetic proportions and 

geometric fi gures to resolve the asymmetry 

of the entrance to appear symmetrical. The 

entry itself is recessed under the separating 

terra cotta and marble plane, so the semicircular 

arched window banded with layers 

of brick and terra cotta can display its 

Grinnell Bank 4th Avenue Elevation by Louis Sullivan 

image from The Bentley Historical Library - University of Michigan 

SULLIVAN'S BANKS 45 

FORWARD 109

Detail view of the Grinnell Bank by Louis Sullivan 

photography by Stacey Zwettler Keller 

prominence. These primary forms, in turn, 

“generate the intricate ornamental surface 

patterns of abstract and foliate motifs rendered 

in color arranged according to sequence, 

combination, and repetition.” 9 

Sullivan referenced many Gothic precedents 

in the design of his buildings. With that 

said, this was not a copying of styles and 

recreating religious architecture, but instead 

provided a language to integrate nature with 

structural clarity and movement. It was this 

“essence” of Gothic, that Sullivan considered 

an “American architecture” devoid of historic 

connotations. He would compare his tall 

buildings to the vegetal origins of the Gothic 

cathedrals as “tree groves with vaults of 

branches interlacing high above ground.” 10 As 

these Gothic references translate to the banks, 

we see the use of tracery as he enframes the 

structure and windows. Medieval, battered 

wall buttress are positioned on the side 

exterior elevation of the Columbus bank. 

They serve a modern re-use by supporting 

the structural steel I-beams that span the 

ceiling, and frame the recessed arcades of 

stained glass windows (Weingarden, The 

Banks). Another Gothic reference is the rose 

window at the Grinnell bank. It represents 

the “symbolic key to the banking industry,” 

and is used as a recurrent dominant theme 

throughout the building. Also emulating 

Gothic statuary, Sullivan included griffi ns on 

the Grinnell bank, providing a progressivist 

symbol, signifying the bank’s function of 

“guarding valuable possessions.” 11 

The integration of nature into Sullivan’s 

banks can be seen in the many sculptural, 

polychromatic, foliate motifs. Sullivan’s 

vines, leaves, tendrils, and pods are obsessed 

with the notion of growth and germination. 

However their forms are not “an Art Nouveau 

vision of sensuous uninhibited nature. These 

forms are imprisoned in rigid geometrical 

spaces – writhing under confi nement.” 12 The 

patterns follow the basic geometric massings 

and enframements, or as rudimentarily set 

within the grid of the stained glass windows. 

Additionally, they all express notions of 

designing with an axis, although not always 

linear. “Any line, straight or curved, may be 

considered an axis, and therefore a container 

of energy and a directrix of power.” 13 His 

recurrent, axial Y-scheme, “Seed pod” is 

provided once again at the Owatonna bank 

in the many stencils and great spans within 

the bank, starting at the “next to lowest band 

with a roundish design, runs through curling 

symmetrical leaves, through large petals to a 

fl oriated form.” 14 

With Sullivan’s new challenge, the threads 

of his training, theoretical revelations, and 

elements of initial buildings prevail in the 

development of his banks. He reestablished 

the role of the banking industry within the 

community with a new image, typology, and 

iconography. His building compositions 

provided variations, utilizing his creative 


process of spontaneity, intuition, and rational 

solutions to practical problems. As left with 

us from J.R. Wheeler, the president of the 

Columbus bank, “You know, he never referred 

to this building as a bank. He always called it 

his jewel box.” 15 

NOTES: 

1. de Wit, Wim, “The Banks and the Image of Progressive Banking.” Louis 

Sullivan: The Function of Ornament, Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 1986. 

p. 159-197. 

2. Rebori, A.N. “An Architecture of Democracy.” The Architectural Record, 

May 1916, p. 436-465. 

3. Weingarden, Lauren S., Louis H. Sullivan: The Banks, Cambridge: The MIT 

Press, 1987. 

4. See note 3 above. 

5. Twombley, Robert, “Louis Sullivan’s First National Bank Building (1919- 

1922), Manistique, Michigan.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 

June 2001. p. 200-207. 

6. Seen note 3 above. 

7. Sprague, Paul, The Architectural Ornament of Louis Sullivan and His Chief 

Draftsman, New Jersey: Princeton University, 1969 


9. Weingarden, Lauren S., “The Colors of Nature: Louis Sullivan’s Architecture 

Polychromy and Nineteenth Century Color Theory.” Winterthur Portfolio Winter 

1985, pp. 243-260. 

10. Menocal, Narcisco. “Sullivan’s Banks: A Reappraisal.” The Midwest in 

American Architecture: Essays in Honor of Walter L. Creese, Chicago: University 

of Illinois, 1991. p. 99-108. 


12. Westerbeck, Colin, “Louis Sullivan’s Clay Gardens.” Art Forum, 1987, p. 

90-93. 

13. Huxtable, Ada, L., Note, Together with Drawings for the Farmers’ and 

Merchants’ Bank of Coulumbus, WI. A System of Architectural Ornament: 

According with a Philosophy of Man’s Powers by Louis H. Sullivan. New York: 

The Eakins Press, 1967. 

14. Turak, Theodore, “French and English sources of Sullivan’s Ornament and 

Doctrine.” Prairie School Review Fourth Quarter 1974. 

15. Szarkowski, John, The Idea of Louis Sullivan, Minneapolis: University of 

Minnesota Press, 1956. 

REFERENCES: 

1. Hope, Henry, “Louis Sullivan’s Architectural Ornament.” Magazine of Art, 

March 1947, p. 110-117. 

2. Severns, Kenneth, “Louis Sullivan Builds a Small-Town Bank.” AIA Journal, 

May 1976. 

3. Van Zanten, David, Sullivan’s City: The Meaning of Ornament for Louis 

Sullivan, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2000. 

Detail view of the Otwanna Bank by Louis Sullivan 


Primary facade of the Otwanna Bank by Louis Sullivan 


Stacey Zwettler Keller, Assoc. 

AIA 

is a Preservation Architectural 

Intern at Treanor Architects, 

P.A., in Topeka, KS, working 

on the renovation and 

restoration of the Kansas Capitol Building. 

She attained a Bachelor of Science in Architectural 

Studies in 2000, and a Masters of Architecture 

in 2006 from the University of Wisconsin 

– Milwaukee. She was a major proponent 

of the AIA 150 Topeka Riverfront program, 

and is now serving as one of the AIA Kansas 

Emerging Professionals Committee Chair and 

the AIA Central States Region’s Associate Director. 

SULLIVAN'S BANKS 47

REVOLUTIONS OF CHOICE 

by Frank Barkow 

Formation (Re)Formation: A Nomadic Garden, 11th Architecture Exhibition Venice 2008 

Architectural practice has transformed. As Architects are becoming 

research-based, our academic interests, practice, and internal 

research weave together to shape the identity of our work. It is a 

revolution of choice. In our offi ce, rather than rely on the standard 

building catalogue as a source for construction systems, we construct 

our own expertise in fabrication techniques and technologies that 

support our building projects. The establishment of an “atlas of 

fabrication” forms an archive led by student-interns who inventory, 

study, and learn the capabilities of emerging technologies – the tools, 

machines, and techniques – then apply them to materials in order to 

produce architectural prototypes independent from specifi c on-going 

building projects. 

We discovered as a Berlin-based practice that the European 

competition system, while very rigorous and competent, is not 

always the best site for experimentation. As a result, in recent years 

we established an area of work within the practice that supports 

experimental research as an autonomous but benefi cial discipline 

for the practice. In addition, we are less hierarchical than 15 years 

ago. It is now more likely that a student-intern will bring in new 

software know-how as more experienced staff. We also fi nd ourselves 

working intensively with fabricators, or structural engineers, or energy 

engineers from the outset of a project. 

The fabrication research evolves, grows, and is available to on- 

FORWARD 109 REVOLUTIONS OF CHOICE 48

An Atlas of Fabrication, AA School of Architecture, London 

photography by Sue Barr 


FORWARD 109

going building projects. It has also been 

supported and given direction by architectural 

exhibitions. Exhibitions have transformed from 

gallery shows of architectural representations 

including drawings and models to installation 

scale exhibitions or demonstrations of our 

architectural prototypes. Here the architectural 

exhibition is not referring to an architecture 

outside of the gallery so much as actually 

producing an architectural event of its own. It 

represents nothing other than its own material, 

spatial, and experiential effect. The one-to-one 

scale architectural prototype has become the 

single most important instrument in our work 

for gauging or determining an architecture’s 

success aesthetically and performatively. 

A prototype that is wind and rain tested is 

also tested for its visual effect and economic 

viability. This is a way for us to close the 

historical gap between representation and a 

building. The prototype does not represent an 

architectural condition so much as it precisely 

duplicates and forecasts its material, tectonic 

characteristics, and performance. Recent 

exhibitions such as our project “Nomadic 

Garden” for the 2008 Venice Biennale, 

Beyond Building, Arsenal show, Re-visiting 

Ornament, Swiss Architectural Museum, 

Basel, “Atlas of Fabrication” Architectural 

Association, London, or The Pavilion, 

German Architecture Museum, Frankfurt, 

provide forums for our material research 

to be presented in a more speculative and 

provocative manner. 

The aspect of ornament or the decorative 

in our work is an outcome rather than an 

a-priori goal in recent work. Machines enable. 

Design follows technology. Despite Adolf 

Loos’s famous credo of “ornament as crime”, 

representative of an ethical/ philosophical 

dilemma, ornament disappeared in 20 th 

century architecture as a result of economic 

barriers and the disappearance of a viable 

culture of hand craftsmanship. We now 

have available emerging technologies that 

can reassume a fi ner level of detail not 

seen since the 30’s in America and Europe. 

Emerging technologies include two and three 

dimensional laser cutting of sheet metal and 

tube sections. We can also weld and infl ate 

sheet metal or bend it into a multitude of 

forms digitally. We cut sustainable glu-lam 

engineered timber parametrically where 

each joint and each piece can be unique and 

contribute to complex structural forms. Digital 

machining is indifferent/ modulation is over. 

We now can make digitally shaped formwork 

for pouring concrete or plaster. We work 

inclusively: digital tooling is equally legitimate 

as working with “low-tech” handcrafted 

systems where available. More important 

is how an action can transform a material. 

We work around the idea of “action-verbs” 

where the formal outcome results in how 

materials are transformed by tools. This is a 

fundamentally different approach than using 

software to produce forms and render it 

materially. 

We “search for an idea of an architectural 

prototype that emerges from the control of a 

technical system“ prefaced our unit work at 

the Architectural Association in the late 90’s. 

What has changed signifi cantly is that we are 

newly empowered as architects. We are better 

positioned than ever in selecting the materials 

we use and fi nding new ways to confi gure and 

locate them in our architecture. We embed 

smart ways of working into our buildings that 

“trickle-down“ into everyday building. It is 

a resourceful way of working where we can 

react to a problem and evolve. 

Ornamental Structure/ Ornamental Surface 

Three recently completed buildings: the 

gatehouse and cantina for the German 

machine-tool company Trumpf in Stuttgart 

and the AIA National Award winning Trutec 

in Seoul Korea are examples of our research 

work crossing over and driving building 


FORWARD 109

Gatehouse, Ditzingen, Germany 

photography by David Franck 

Gatehouse, Ditzingen, Germany 

photography by David Franck 


FORWARD 109

Trutec Building 

photography by Corinne Rose 

fabrication. Our materials research allows us 

to scale up or down, from a recent pavilion 

project (in collaboration with Werner Sobek) 

for the German Architectural Museum to 

a customized a “light structure” for the 

Hans Peter Jochum gallery in Berlin. Our 

projects utilize scripting software to resolve 

geometrical problems and digital fabrication 

for structural and cladding systems. 

Trumph Gatehouse and Cantina 

The two Stuttgart projects employ structural 

roof patterns that appear ornamental. 

The cantilevering gatehouse roof consists 

of triangulated webbing that changes 

geometry and density in response to loading 

requirements. An organic logic is legible as 

a parametrically variable gradation from the 

column points to the extent of the cantilever. 

A decorative infi ll of gradated Plexiglas tubes 

forms a sunscreen within a 20cm double 

façade entirely constructed of glass. The 

steel and glu-lam timber roof of the cantina 

is organized as a honeycomb cell-structure 

whose depth responds to structural loading. 

The individual cells are designated for 

natural day lighting, artifi cial lighting through 

defl ectors, or as acoustical panels combining 

performative characteristics with ornamental 

effect. 

Trutec 

The faceted, mirrored façade of the Korean 

Trutec building acts as a liminal kaleidoscope 

mediating between the private offi ce and 

showroom spaces of the interior and the 

public exterior. Within the unpredictable 

emerging master plan of the Seoul’s Digital 

Media City the phenomenal effect of the 

façade was a way for us to situate our building 

in a context that was unknowable in its 

entirety from the onset of the design process. 

These surfaces are transformed by moving 

pedestrians, cars, weather, and the adjacent 

LED advertising in the night sky. It refl ects, 

refracts, and assimilates itself into an animated 

urban context. 

These techniques and capabilities are all 

means for us to expand our knowledge where 

we mediate imagination with the reality of 

technology as it becomes available to us. We 

feel this empowers us as architects where 

we situate ourselves precisely at the point 

where we have the best chance to predict 

and control the buildings we make. It is an 

incredibly fascinating and challenging time 

to be an architect where the trajectories 

of emerging technologies, materiality, 

stainability, and imagination intersect. 

Frank Barkow 

studied architecture at 

Montana State and Harvard. 

He has been visiting professor 

at the Harvard Graduate 

School of Design and the University 

of Wisconsin, Milwauke. In 1993 Frank 

Barkow and Regine Leibinger founded their 

offi ce in Berlin. Their focus on industrial architecture 

includes masterplanning and building 

representational and functional buildings for 

production, logistical and offi ce spaces. 


FORWARD 109

COMPUTATIONAL DETAIL 

by Stephen Lynch and Jonathan Taylor 

As architects continue to experiment with computational design 

tools and simultaneously become more familiar with the technical 

limitations of specifi c fabrication methods, the pace of changes in 

the fi eld is impressive. These new tools foster the ability to manage 

greater levels of complexity in form, pattern, and part making. 

In addition, designers can now better explore multiple options, 

evaluating aesthetic and performance based criteria earlier in the 

design process while signifi cant layout decisions are still being 

made. On a detail level, new technology allows for a level of craft 

characterized by an intricacy in joinery and part articulation that 

overcomes the limitations set by the high costs of skilled labor, 

resulting in new developments in the language of detail as ornament. 

The following projects are each discrete components of larger 

buildings: a façade, a wall sculpture, and a stair. Like many projects 

by Caliper Studio, they illustrate an interest in exploring a set of 

fabrication techniques for functional and expressive potential. 

Refl ective Tiled Sculpture 

photography by Caliper Studio 


FORWARD 109

Metropolitan Cinema and Apartments photography by Caliper Studio 

With a controlled set of design criteria each 

project allowed for a rigorous focus on the 

development of an interconnected system of 

parts that relate to each other and the whole 

through a strict set of rules. As a result of 

these relationships, a pliant overall geometry 

was developed that dynamically responded to 

the goals of the project. 

Because we conceive of our projects as a 

system of similar parts, we analyze both 

micro and macro scales at the same time. 

We balance the overall programmatic and 

aesthetic goals of the project simultaneously 

with the development of the components 

and joining methods. Each of these projects 

utilized scripting tools for 3D modeling 

software to establish parametric relationships 

and enable the ability to loop through and 

evaluate multiple solutions, confi gurations, 

and patterns. In more complex applications 

the use of search algorithms and performance 

analysis were employed to achieve even 

greater control and precision in the design 

process. 

Cassandra Cinema and Apartments 

For the public face of a new independent 

cinema in Brooklyn we developed a custom 

zinc panel and glass lens façade that wraps 

three new stories added to a former industrial 

building. The façade design was driven by 

the programmatic need to visually identify 

the building as a cultural institution coupled 

with the practical consideration that the 

building also houses 9 residential apartments. 

Rather than adding a traditional marquee, the 

solution was to develop a patterned feature 

on the façade itself using cast glass lenses and 

low voltage LED lights. The rain screen panel 

system allowed the LED lights and wiring to 

run outside the membrane weather seal, yet 

behind the metal skin ensuring that no light 

from the façade was visible from inside the 

apartments. 

The pattern of circular lenses on the façade 

had its origin in the dot templates used 

by Roy Lichtenstein (the clients had a 

close relationship with the artist and were 

FORWARD 109 COMPUTATIONAL DETAIL 54

Metropolitan Cinema and Apartments photography by Caliper Studio 

immediately attracted to the idea of using 

dots as the organizational design element.) 

The objective of the design was to present 

an irregular pattern with an underlying 

visual logic. This led to a process of working 

with an undulating surface, cutting contour 

lines, projecting those lines to the façade 

surface and laying out circles along the lines. 

Using Rhinoscript we designed a series of 

automated operations to help us loop through 

multiple alternatives, each one testing for 

certain characteristics including: a greater 

density over the theater entrance, a natural 

tendency to fl ow around the windows, 

and a rationalization of the wire lengths 

required for each panel. The panel layout 

was also designed using a custom script with 

parametric relationships that allowed us to 

proceed with fabrication drawing prior to 

having fi nal fi eld dimensions. Our offi ce 

generated detail drawings for each panel, 

which were laser cut and bent by an outside 

vendor and sent back to our shop for fi nal 

assembly and installation. 

Refl ective Tiled sculpture 

This project originated as a sculpture 

commission for an unused brick niche in the 

rear yard of a SoHo loft. The wall, a remnant 

from the building’s previous industrial use, 

was a suitable location for an outdoor 

sculpture that satisfi ed the client’s desire for 

a distinctive art piece that incorporated water 

and light. 

The conceptual core of the project was to 

capture the expressive power of water’s 

rippling surface in folded metal. Using 

this as inspiration, we began to explore the 

disturbances created by manipulating the 

corner points of a standard panel grid in both 

plan and section. 

To defi ne the system we developed a set of 

rules based on fabrication constraints that 

resulted in a limited number of irregular 

Refl ective Tiled Sculpture photography by Caliper Studio 


FORWARD 109

Refl ective Tile Sculpture drawing by Nicholas Desbiens 

shaped brake-formed panels. We developed a 

search algorithm that packs these panels into 

a predetermined grid spacing – 6 x 6 in this 

instance – within the boundary of the niche 

opening. 

The subtle torque created by the varying 

corner heights presented a number of 

challenges both computationally and 

materially. Mockups were necessary to 

evaluate panel thickness and a CNC laser 

cut backer panel was designed to provide 

anchoring, hidden panel connections and 

resist the resultant “spring” of the torqued 

panels. Mirrored stainless steel, chosen for its 

natural resistance to the elements, created a 

strong contrast to the weathered brick wall. 

The rule based system led to unexpected 

patterns and symmetries which amplifi ed the 

dynamic visual properties of the mirrored 

torqued surface, creating an unmistakable 

allusion to water. 

Genetic Stair 

The Genetic Stair became the impetus for 

testing the use of a genetic algorithm during 

the design phase to evaluate and improve 

the structural performance of a Manhattan 

apartment’s feature stair. Conceived as a 

freestanding truss with four straight runs and 

three landings, the stair winds 270 degrees 

supported only at its top and bottom. The 

material palette includes a stainless steel 

frame with translucent Corian treads and a 

glass guardrail. The system of fabrication 

chosen for the project involved laser 

cutting holes in the tube truss chords and 

plug welding the truss rods into the laser 

cut holes thus providing a perfectly clean 

joint. The precise hole layouts in the laser 

cut tube served as self jigging elements, 

enabling triangulated rods to line up with the 

appropriate holes only when the tubes were 

correctly positioned. 


FORWARD 109

Genetic Stair drawing by Nicholas Desbiens 


FORWARD 109

Genetic Stair 

photography by Ty Cole 

While the structural performance of the stair 

was a primary requirement, the placement of 

the rods within the supporting truss became 

an opportunity to express more directly the 

multiple force directions passing through the 

stair. As a result, the rod layout became the 

focus of the genetic algorithm. The GA set up 

a loop which generated rod confi gurations, 

exported them to a fi nite element analysis 

tool for frequency and defl ection testing, 

compared the results to other confi gurations, 

then combined better performers and added 

a randomness factor before starting the loop 

again. The result was a random appearing 

confi guration of rods which satisfi ed the 

structural requirements of the design by 

selecting rod locations in direct correlation 

with the force patterns. In practice, the 

learning curve in establishing such a tool 

in-house was substantial but proved to be 

invaluable in demonstrating the potential of 

iterative performance based testing during the 

design process. 

Stephen Lynch, LEED AP 

and Jonathan Taylor 

founded the multi-disciplinary 

design and fabrication business 

Caliper Studio in 2003. 

Caliper Studio has grown to 

include a 7,000sf shop with six full time employees. 

Projects incorporate a diverse range 

of scope, scale and complexity including custom 

rainscreen facades, panelized cladding 

components, atria, stairs, sculpture and furniture. 

With a hands-on design sensibility, the 

fi rm has developed a particular expertise in 

detailing building components with the level 

of sophistication increasing on each project. 


FORWARD 109

EVERYDAY INSPIRATION 

by Eduardo Cadaval 

Susana Solano Exhibition 

photograph by Adrià Goula 

FORWARD 109

Ornament need not be limited to mere 

decoration. When taken to its full potential, 

ornament can abandon its embellishment 

attributes, become architecture, and defi ne 

space. In the Susana Solano exhibit we 

analyzed the ability of a material to change 

viewers’ spatial experiences depending on 

their approach and interaction with a wall. 

The Susana Solano exhibit aims to create 

intimate experiences within a larger, more 

expansive exhibition room. A system of 

Susana Solano Exhibition at the ICO Foundation, Madrid, Spain 


Susana Solano Exhibition 


delicate, translucent, white walls frame and 

highlight the heavy, sturdy objects it holds 

- a fragile envelope acts as a sacramental 

body that receives and counterbalances 

the sturdy display pieces. In addition to a 

dialogue between the exhibit walls and the 

display pieces, we desired a cross dialog 

within pieces. The viewer could understand 

throughout the exhibit that each art piece 

is the result of a long process that may 

conclude in several creations and that some 

ideas or forms are referenced throughout the 


FORWARD 109

Susana Solano Exhibition Construction Process 

drawings and photographs by Cadaval & Sola-Morales 


FORWARD 109

artist’s development. As a result, the walls’ 

materiality was crucial. It had to provide a 

double reading: a powerful envelope that also 

provides a subtle transparency and allows 

multiple readings of the exhibit. 

Intimacy and scale were important features 

for the envelope construction. The delicate 

walls are created from the layering of a 

standard prefab honeycomb paper used to 

structure standard doors; all the layers are 

embedded within two of those same standard 

doors (top and bottom). The doors behave 

as the main structure – one is attached to the 

ceiling and the second rests on the fl oor. The 

paper’s ornamental nature was intrinsic to 

our material studies. We were interested in a 

material that allowed for a number of readings 

beyond a simple envelope. We created a 

thick wall comprised of several layers of 

recycled standard honeycomb paper. When 

viewed perpendicular to the wall, the layers 

create a moiré effect that offered transparency 

to the spaces within. A more tangential view 

would reveal a solid texture that defi ned the 

limits of a constructed space and framed the 

solid art pieces. 

As with many of our projects, we appropriated 

references from popular culture and everyday 

utensils rather than allude to extravagant, 

high-tech objects. In this instance the paper 

lamps from fairs and parades made of fragile 

honeycomb paper inspired the design. 

Like the lamps, the exhibition walls have a 

volume built from air and inventiveness. We 

searched the paper industry for an existing 

material that would not only meet our 

aesthetic goals of mimicking the qualities 

exhibited by paper lanterns, but was also 

ecologically friendly and economical. We 

searched for a determinate texture made from 

existing machinery that could be produced 

industrially. Our research led to a materiality 

discussion involving those in the door and 

paper industry, researching paper thickness, 

weight and transparency. We also considered 

elements of effi ciency such as standard 

dimensions, strength of the glue to hold the 

honeycomb together, and the paper weight 

and strength necessary to create a sandwich 

panel made of layered honeycomb paper. 

Initial tests were done with single layers 

of paper, to test its internal structural and 

material qualities over time. Afterwards, full- 

scale sandwich panels were executed to study 

the interaction between layers and to test how 

this solution would facilitate and optimize 

construction. Ultimately our research led 

to the creation of an exhibit that considers 

ornament beyond decoration – through the 

consideration of intimacy, scale, transparency 

and materiality we derived a solution that 

evolves industrially produced objects beyond 

effi ciency and constructability into the poetics 

of space. 

Eduardo Cadaval, RA and 

Clara Sola-Morales, RA 

Eduardo holds a BA from the 

National University of Mexico 

and a Master of Architecture 

in Urban Design from Harvard University. 

Currently he is an associate professor of 

urbanism at Barcelona’s School of Architecture 

ETSAB, UPC. Clara has a degree in 

Architecture from the Escola Tecnica Superior 

d’Arquitectura de Barcelona, ETSAB, and 

holds a Master in Architecture from Harvard 

University. She is currently an associate professor 

of architecture at Tarragona’s School of 

Architecture ETSAT, UPC. Eduardo and 

Clara’s shared practice, Cadaval & Sola-Morales, 

was founded in New York City in 2003 

and moved to Barcelona & Mexico City in 

2005. The studio operates like a laboratory in 

which research and development are important 

elements of the design process. The mandate 

of the fi rm is to create intelligent design 

solutions at many different scales, from large 

scale projects to small buildings, from objects 

to city fractions. 


FORWARD 109

DEEP SURFACE 

by Brock DeSmit and David Cheung 

photography by Bennie Chan 

FORWARD 109

Although Belzberg Architects regularly 

employs software and similar modeling 

techniques from project to project, it is 

diffi cult to study each projectís formal 

output in sequential order to uncover a 

logical evolution. The fi rm does not engage 

in a singular academic pursuit, we simply 

understand space to be defi ned by surfaces 

which posess the potential for signifi cance 

beyond spatial confi nement and material 

selection. F.O.A. conveys in Phylogenesis 

that the character of a surfaceís physical 

construct can be expressed in a multitude 

of ways. 1 What Belzberg Architects often 

confronts with built work is the relationship 

between a surfaceís intrinsic qualities and 

a host of extrinsic factors including the 

clientís perception. While it is the fi rm’s 

Ahmanson Founders Room 

photography by Benny Chan 

desire to innovate, communicating the 

affective qualities of unfamiliar surface 

ornamentation remains diffi cult as clients 

frequently struggle to comprehend the 

purpose of the unconventional visuals 

presented to them. In an effort to connect 

to the concepts, clients and occupants often 

delve into their own cultural backgrounds to 

extract symbolism or metaphor which may 

alleviate their anxiety. Jeff Kipnis writes, 

“Social, cultural or intellectual ambitions, if 

any, are the prerogative of the client.” 2 For the 

three projects described herein, there exists 

a meaningful, yet ambiguous, reciprocity 

between culture (of use, location and 

occupants) and the artistic pursuit of surface 

ornament. 

FORWARD 109 DEEP SURFACE 64

Drapes & Waves 

The Ahmanson Founders Room is an exclusive 

lounge space for supporters of the Music 

Center in downtown Los Angeles. We desired 

to instill a feeling of opulence through the 

use of surface ornament and exploit the 

richness of material. Additionally, we had 

to develop a strategy to design the bounding 

surfaces without the benefi t of natural light. 

This encouraged us to integrate a lighting 

strategy within the 3-dimensional textures of 

the walls and ceiling. The wall panels were 

perforated with holes of varying diameters 

and back-lit. This allowed the sinuous pattern 

of the ceiling to be extended to the vertical 

wall surface. The back-lit panels also provide 

illumination of the ceiling panels and allow 

for a variegated, visual experience as the light 

and texture interplay; the surfaces portray 

physical and visual depth. 

Numerous meetings with the Founders 

revealed their trepidation to dive into a 

Ceiling rendering for the Ahmanson Founders Room 

drawing by Belzberg Architects 

contemporary design. To allay their fears 

without sacrifi cing the design concept, the 

presentation of the computer-driven design 

for the ceiling and walls focused on the 

sensations and warmth of the space rather 

than the technical aspects of generating the 

design. While we envisioned the smooth 

undulations carved into the surfaces as 

promotion of a unique brand to the space and 

hoped the Founders would connect with the 

design on that level, many relied on familiar 

metaphors likening the textures to drapes 

and sound waves. It was at this moment, 

when our work masqueraded as a fi gural 

representation, that we were confronted 

with the diffi cult task of mediating our own 

rigorous research with our client’s desire to 

relate the design to a tangible reference. 

Interestingly, four years earlier the same 

metaphore arose. During our intial foray into 

surface ornamentation at the Patina Restaurant 

at Walt Disney Concert Hall we presented 


FORWARD 109

our design for CNC-routed wood panels as 

“curtains” which were absent within the 

concert hall’s unique theater-in-the-round 

design. At that time, the fi rm was eager to 

employ digital fabrication techniques and the 

use of metaphor was envisioned as the selling 

point to enable us to do so. Having had the 

opportunity to build several more challenging 

and unique surfaces since then, our sentiment 

toward metaphor has changed substantially. 

The surface ornament at Patina Restaurant and 

the Ahmanson Founders Room is powerful 

not because of the back story, but because it 

opens a new way of seeing and using material 

to the occupants. 

“There’s something about the texture 

of elephant skin…” 

The Laboratory of Art + Ideas at Belmar 

(The Lab) is an institution established 

within a development on the outskirts of 

Denver, Colorado. The streets are lined 

with commercial properties including an 

overwhelming majority of retail spaces 

displaying their brands, logos and products. 

It is a hyper-visual environment which 

desensitizes passersby and weakens the 

effectiveness of individual graphic campaigns. 

C+ (Above Average) Products, the internal 

marketing group established to compliment 

the attitude of The Lab, was charged with 

the the task of providing witty graphics and 

humorous advertising ploys. The architecture 

needed to reinforce this identity without 

drowning in the pictorial deluge from its 

neighbors. We generated a rendering of a 

simple, curvaceous surface which saturated 

the lobby with an unusual display of light 

and shadows. To contrast the glaring graphic 

texture of neighboring retailers, the fi berglass 

wall integrates a physical aggregation of 

ripples and bumps to incite the curiosity of 

passersby and invites patrons to touch and 

engage. These textures were the product of 

research into the integration of varying scales 

of ornament within a single surface. In this 

Entrance lobby for The Laboratory of Art + Ideas (The Lab) 

instance, the translation of research into a 

product of personal signifi cance from the 

client’s perspective occurred fl uidly for one 

principle reason—the mission statement of 

The Lab, “to embrace difference and foster 

curiosity” was identical to the intent of the 

design. It may be happenstance alone that the 

director of The Lab saw something fascinating 

about greeting patrons with the texture of 

“elephant skin” on their walls, however, it was 

the culture of the institution that promoted 

the open-ended interpretation. In this project, 

a bizarre and seemingly out of place object 

required nothing more than to be just so. 

With the Ahmanson Founders Room, a fi gural 

representation was associated with the surface 

ornament that never seemed to escape the 

process. Minor changes occurred throughout 

design development and construction, yet 

there were limitations on those changes once 


FORWARD 109

Articulated ceiling in the Conga Room at L.A. Live 


the notion of drapes and sound waves were 

established by the client. The Lab, conversely, 

was free of such constraints and the design 

was able to work outside the confi nes of a 

realist interpretation. This facilitated and 

ensured a consistency from design intent 

through client interpretation. 

Dance Steps & Flower Petals 

For over a decade, the Conga room has been 

a Los Angeles cultural landmark as LA’s center 

for Salsa and Rumba. The original location 

closed in 2006 with the goal of opening a new 

venue in an existing building within the new 

L.A. Live complex in Downtown, Los Angeles. 

The new home would contain a live music 

and dance space comprising a multitude of 

programs each requiring that it be separate 

from the others. As a result, the risk was 

ever present that the fi nal design could lack 

cohesiveness. The only consistent element 

was the ceiling plane, which necessitated 

mitigation of existing building infrastructure 

and the complex infrastructure associated 

with a live music venue (ie. multiple lighting/ 

audio-visual systems, acoustical, mechanical, 

and fi re/life safety systems). 

The Conga Room, as a case study for 

this article, diverges from the previous 

examples, as the ornamentation of surfaces 

was mandated by the client to be a direct 

interpretation of Latin dance culture. In 

this scenario, a fi ne line existed between 

integrating ornament and stereotyping a 

culture. We had originally envisioned the 

ceiling as a tessellated surface constructed 

as an assemblage of triangular panels. 

The agility of a tessellated assembly was 

desirable because of the varying and complex 

infrastructure it would span throughout 

the space. Additionally, the presentation 

of a diagram of the classic Cuban Rumba 

dance step—a coupled triangle progression, 

“dancing throughout the space”—fulfi lled 

the client’s need for a cultural signifi er. 

However, as the design developed further, 

the purpose of the metaphor dissolved. 

Each panel became known as a Petal while 

groupings of six Petals constituted a Flower. 

The Flowers, once aggregated, defi ned 

an undulating surface that waned and 

blossomed, delineating each of the unique 

environments within the club. As an event 

attractor, the ceiling panels converged into a 

20-foot tall, glowing Tornado that penetrated 

the dance fl oor, inviting and guiding patrons 

up to the activities in the club. Ultimately, 

the language used to refer to the design 

became superfl uous. Ornament, as a device 

for communication, was rendered ineffective 

when diluted with comparative references. 

Space is defi ned by surfaces, and ornamenting 

those surfaces adds sensorial depth to 

the experience of the space it defi nes. 

This implies that ornament is a means of 


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o Club entrance with Tornado in background in the Conga Room at L.A. Live 


Tornado seen from the ground fl oor in the Conga Room at L.A. Live 



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Fabrication diagrams for the Conga Room at L.A. Live 

drawings by Belzberg Architects 

Refl ected ceiling plan for the Conga Room at L.A. Live 

drawings by Belzberg Architects 


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communicating affect provided by deep 

surfaces and should be differentiated from 

the more common tendency to attempt to 

understand ornament on its own. Introducing 

unfamiliar visual detail and texture can cause 

a rift in the traditional means of evaluating 

space. For instance, a wall is drawn as a 

line, or series of lines, in plan view with the 

innermost line representing the extremity of 

a space. When we ornament a surface, it 

requires a deeper understanding to explain 

its visual and spatial impact. This invites 

interpretation and provokes wonderment— 

the ideal scenario for the architect as artist. 

On the other hand, for the architect as 

commissioned service professional, presenting 

architecture as an indefi nite experience 

can often be inadequate and is diffi cult to 

justify through mere verbiage. Impositions 

of fi gural reference on ornament while often 

unintentionally cursory associations, are 

unavoidable. While we do not choose to 

actively participate in the fi gurative reference 

of our work, we have taken the attitude 

that those supplementary readings are fed 

back into the deepening of the surface and 

ultimately consider them part of its success. 

NOTES: 

1 Foreign Offi ce Architects, “Phylogenesis: foa’s ark,” (Actar, 2004) 

2 Jeff Kipnis. “About Communication,”What we got need is – failure to 

communicate!!—Quaderns Issue 245 (April 2005), 99 

Brock DeSmit and 

David Cheung 

Belzberg Architects is a group 

of young designers guided 

by the experience and 

curiosity of Hagy Belzberg. The staff is energetic 

with an eclectic background of combined 

design experiences. The fi rm believes 

that their diverse educational backgrounds 

and apprehension toward defi ning a routine 

working methodology contributes to the 

uniqueness of each project and the fi rm’s ability 

to handle the demands of any given project 

typology. Brock DeSmit and David Cheung 

have both worked on numerous projects with 

Hagy Belzberg for over fi ve years following 

their studies at SCI-Arc and the University of 

Pennsylvania respectively. 


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FALL 


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ORNAMENT - The American Institute of Architects

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