Preoccupations of color and surface continue in the fourth Big Ten Burrito project. Building on the logic of the PLY_paper lights where two thin surfaces intersect to create a rigid form, a wall surface was developed to link the different areas of the interior. At one point the surface is wall and another it creates a bottle display for tequila behind the bar. Working with awkward existing conditions, a small kitchen is hidden behind a wall that defines a backdrop for eating and drinking.

The powder-coated aluminum wall panels use the logic of one simple cell that varies in size and relationship across the field. The depth and frequency produce optical and programmatic opportunities from simple wall relief to bottle containment behind the bar. A parametric model was used to design and fabricate the interwoven surfaces, that were then industrially laser-cut and hand assembled. The parametric model allowed for continual modification to the overall pattern and the cell throughout the design process.

Experiments for the second BTB interior also emerge from a series of questions about the relationship between the craft of making and new technologies of digital fabrication. These new methods are often employed in the fabrication of complex forms which often result in inordinately large quantities of wasted material as the complexity of form precludes the efficient use of standard, flat sheet products. A mixture of both advanced digital design techniques and traditional labor produced a ceiling where each part was custom and different from the part next to it.

The subtle variations in pattern and spacing for the ceiling make it simultaneously open and closed depending on the perspective. The open and closed nature of ceiling also allows for the lighting and mechanical to be concealed above. The reflective nature of the raw aluminum acts as an illuminated surface where reflections of both spot lights and traffic from outside create various shimmering effects.

Experiments for the Big Ten Burrito interior emerge from a series of questions about the relationship between the craft of making and new technologies of digital fabrication. These new methods are often employed in the fabrication of complex forms which often result in inordinately large quantities of wasted material as the complexity of form precludes the efficient use of standard, flat 4’ x 8’ sheet products.

This project illustrates our desire to produce complex formal and spatial readings with an economy of means while allowing the plywood panels to retain their integrity. The joint and surface are of particular interest as a means of simultaneously articulating and obscuring their individual reading in an effort to create an intimate space with sensuous materials.

The design of Omi grew from a desire to make a very clear, bold, and graphic statement with the space that would function as a place and as an identity. The pill-shaped section breaks from the given interior envelope and defines the space as something spatially and programmatically new, a sushi restaurant in East Lansing, Michigan. The simple section as an overall form is further defined by a series of programmatic and technical issues. The ceilings over the two side dining areas are lowered, to not only define an intimate dining zone, but to also provide space above for large make-up air units. The poche between the existing walls and the new section are used for built-in benches, concealed lighting, and storage. The ceiling plane breaks to define a central space with a higher ceiling. The lower ceiling height is reestablished as a transparent surface by a field of suspended light fixtures. The continuity and coherence of the section gives the dining area a much larger feel within a very tight area.

This project developed as a synthesis of a furniture/field relationship. The extremely limited construction time (2 weeks from demo to grand opening) led to a strategy for building furniture scaled elements off site to be delivered “just in time” for installation.

As a result of the compressed schedule, the design and construction process relied heavily upon full scale, material tests. Beyond a basic plan, the only drawings produced were directly linked to fabrication. The project exploits the potential of common materials to be worked, handled, and configured in a manner that intensifies their qualities, in essence using the technology to reposition assumptions.

This project for a two-story apartment in a converted racket club in downtown Ann Arbor reconfigures and redistributes thespatial arrangements of the apartment within the 20’x40’volume of an existing racquetball court. The tight spatialconstraints and the single exterior orientation led to a spatial strategy of consolidation. Special emphasis was placed on thespiral stair as a necessary element use to minimize the space allocated to vertical circulation and as the main space definingelement- unfurling it across the width of the apartment.

The exterior cladding for the Ostafin-Smillie Residence uses pre-manufactured fiber reinforced concrete planks to unify the exterior form of the addition and capture exterior space between the weather enclosing membrane and the exterior surface of the wall.

The planks are used independently of the weather-proof membrane allowing the possibility of a porous spatial separation between layers of material forming the exterior cladding. The expansion and contraction of this space varies as the formal configuration of interior rooms shifts based on internal relationships. The cladding is held in a uniform plane giving the exterior surface the qualities of a tight wrapper stretched across an assembly of variously sized rectangular volumes.

In addition, the siding takes advantage of the flexible nature of the 1/4” thick planks, twisting them along their length. The twisted planks stretch across the screen porch acting as horizontal louvers that modulate the southern light as they exaggerate the wrapping of space and form.

Our work at the Lamb Residence involved a complete reworking of an existing 1000sf rental house on 13 acres of an existing horse farm. The project includes a new arrangement of living spaces, a new garage and shop and a new image for the exterior of the house.

The mountain retreat is sited on a wooded piece of land in the heart of the Smokey Mountains in East Tennessee. The wood framing and siding of the cabin were cut entirely from seven pine trees which were cleared from the site to make room for the house. The cabin’s simple geometry, the board and batten siding and the 5-V galvanized roofing recall the vernacular language of the barns and outbuildings of the surrounding farms. However, investigation into spatial relationships and interiority render the cabin distinct from the neighboring utilitarian buildings whose construction was driven by pure necessity.

The house was designed as a one room building. Contrary to the development of the one room glass box conceived of with the intention of blurring the distinction between inside and outside, our cabin attempts to heighten the tension between inside and outside by exploring the means through which interior figures are defined and articulated. The exterior form of the cabin is a simple shed-like volume but employs a thickened wall to the west which contains the bathroom. The space of the room is produced through intersection of several three-dimensional volumes lined with a single surface material. The second means employed to explore the definition of multiple volumes of space while allowing an uninterrupted flow between them incorporates a second surface which is manipulated like a ribbon draped across and wrapping the different function of house, such as the cooking, eating and sleeping.