Melissa Schoch is a Senior Design Coordinator at th+a, Associate AIA. Advocating design in all th+a projects, she recently received Honorable Mention for her poster in the Dallas AIA RETROSPECT graphics competition. Meredith Hunt is a Senior Project Coordinator at th+a, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C, ID+C. She was recently named an Associate at th+a and serves as the Sustainablilty Manager, leading the firm in finding sustainable solutions for all projects.
As a firm, we approached our 2013 Retrospect Exhibit with interactivity in mind. We not only wanted visitors to view the piece, we wanted them to be a part of the creative process as well. What better way to convey the value of design?
Armed with sketch paper, pens, and large geometric eyeglasses, our group settled in for some serious brainstorming. We soon had a pile of concept sketches, which we assessed as a group. We honed in on the final design by testing the concepts for constructability, efficiency, and sustainability. Could we craft it ourselves, within the tight time frame and budget, with readily-available, sustainable materials and tools?
We had a winner! Our final design met our criteria and incorporated recycled materials from our interior and architectural libraries along with aircraft cable, one of our favorite materials. The structure—a rectangular frame enclosing a sculptural wire helix—represents the multiple facets of architectural design. The two solid sides feature our firm’s new logo, and represent the professional business side of our practice. The cross/plus sign bridges the two sides and merges with the central helix; this signifies our firm’s healthcare and education design teams. (Fun fact: We chose this symbol because it reflects the iconic “cross” for healthcare and the “plus sign” for education.)
We wanted the interior of the box to represent the more sculptural, engaging aspect of architecture. Something that is pure yet interactive, much like the design process. There is a special client-architect relationship represented with the bar, and if there is communication, the bar will be able to move up and down successfully to create different shapes of the helix.
Once we had finalized the design, we built a small mock-up of the helix to make sure that everything would work properly. With that confirmed, we planned the fabrication and began construction. Teamwork was incredibly important at this point, as we would be handling this project on top of our already-full workdays. This meant lots of late nights and early mornings at the office! Luckily, we’re incredibly passionate (and we have delicious coffee).
Putting the helix together was the most extreme part of the assembly process. The cable that we used was more than 170 feet long, and to cut down on hardware costs we kept the cabling all as one strand. This meant that we had to push 2,040 inches of galvanized steel wire through 96 holes! To keep the cable from tangling, we uncoiled it down the entire length of our office and had two “runners” wrangle the length while we fed it through each hole.
Knowing that the exhibit’s interactive nature would result in significant wear and tear, we added reinforcement and purchased additional supplies for backup. Thank goodness we planned ahead. Once installation was complete, we were delighted to find that visitors were as enthusiastic as we hoped. So interactive, in fact, that we’ve been back regularly to make repairs and touch up the paint! We hope everyone has enjoyed the installation as much as we have enjoyed designing, constructing and maintaining it.
Be sure to stop by and check out all the cool exhibits. They’ll be at NorthPark Center through Sunday, April 21.
