exploded cylinders  : :  cambered concrete walls  : :  gallery wall

In a second year studio, we were given the task to design a container around an object someone might collect. I chose my grandmother’s curling iron. Made of raw steel and wood, it is simplistic in its design and function but complex in its task. The metal absorbs the fire’s heated energy and transfers it into the bunched strands of hair, imbuing the once flimsy threads with the strength to become structural.

From studying the object, the container had to be derived from a twisted or curled structural system. Layers of chipboard were cut and coiled around one another to create a protective interior void which was then lined with fleece to prevent damaging the iron. To acknowledge the brevity of the strength given by the object, frays at the end of each layer were left exposed providing a protective spiked outer shell. The interior diameter is just wide enough that the curling iron must be rotated as it’s inserted into its container, reflecting the circular motion through which the strands are given strength.

After the object’s container, we designed a container for the collector – a private residence. In this stage, I found myself occupied with both the strength found within a cambered plane as well as the fray found in its failure. Set into a hillside, precast concrete cylinders are exploded and staggered to create various spaces both in their voids as well as in their relationships to each other. A massive structural wall holds all of the cylinders together providing both the gallery where the collected items are stored and displayed as well as the plane from which the lofted bedrooms are cantilevered. Wrapped in a translucent fabric, they glow above the open plan below. Where the cylinders emerge from the ground creates the boundary to the outside, staggered, pushed and pulled to create a community space and views out. The twisted planes of the roof protect from direct southern light, but their offsets allow for an illuminating indirect glow. 

location  |  Lawrence, KS

type  |  Private Residence

year  |  2006