Ramiro Diaz-Granados and Heather Flood
F-Lab is the Los Angeles-based design practice of Ramiro Diaz-Granados and Heather Flood. The firm is committed to the production of architectural form and its relationship to contemporary culture, both pop and sub. Their multidisciplinary approach interrogates material dynamics to produce spatial and organizational models that enhance lifestyles and create new modes of environmental expression. F-lab's recent commissions include a retail expansion strategy and store prototype for a new frozen yogurt brand, the design and installation of an exhibition that showcased the work of 45 contemporary designers, and the design and fabrication of their winning scheme for a Board of Director’s conference table for SCI-Arc.
Ramiro received his bachelor’s degree from SCI-Arc in 1996 and a Master’s degree from UCLA in 2003. At UCLA, he won the prestigious SOM Traveling Fellowship and took part in the first architecture biennale in Rotterdam. He was previously a principal with Arxis Design Studio, where he completed several houses in Southern California. His collaboration with Georgina Huljich resulted in a winning entry in the Graham Foundation’s 21st century park Competition in Chicago in 2003. More recently, he collaborated with GnuForm on the Hair Style piece and with Jason Payne on a the Vertical Garden competition organized by the MAK Center. That piece is now in the MAK Center’s permanent collection in Vienna.
Heather was educated at SCI-Arc and at Michigan State University, and prior to F-Lab was a founding partner, with Jeffrey Inaba, in HOLA, where she completed projects for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Nissan, Infiniti, CKOne, Coca-Cola, Samsung and many other organizations.
Both Ramiro and Heather currently teach design studios and visual studies seminars at SCI-Arc. Both have previously taught at UCLA and Ramiro has also taught at Woodbury.
Hitoshi Abe
Hitoshi Abe returned to Los Angeles last spring to take over as chair of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA. He comes to UCLA from Tohoku Institute of Technology in Sendai, Japan, where he was professor in charge of the Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory and director of the Architectural Design Education Committee. Hitoshi’s last stint in LA ran from 1987-1992, in which time he earned a Master’s Degree from SCI-Arc and spent four years in the LA office of COOP Himmelb(l)au.
Hitoshi left LA to open his own atelier in Sendai in 1992, after winning the competition, at the age of 30, for the Miyagi Stadium, which was completed in 2000. Fifteen years in Japan left Hitoshi with an impressive portfolio of built work ranging from large scale infrastructure such as the Miyagi Water Tower, a series of alphabetically named residential projects, and a collection of elegant furniture, including the Cow Table. In 1993 he completed a doctoral degree at Tohoku University. The office has won awards for the Michinoku Folklore Museum, thee Shirasagi Bridge, the Tokyo House, and many other projects. Publications include three monographs, the most recent of which is Flicker. Prior to UCLA, Abe taught at UC Berkeley and Tohoku Institute of Technology.
also, we need a few volunteers to help set up, man the info table, serve beer, etc. Free Forum membership in return for a few minutes of your time. If you're interested email me.
Last week's event with Hitoshi Abe and F-lab was great. We had a great turnout, saw some great new projects from both firms, and had a great post-lecture discussion. Looking for more of the same Thursday night, and we'll have more refreshments on hand to keep those conversations well-lubed.
This week at the MAK Center, LA Forum presents Michael Kovac and Rene Peralta. Thursday night, 7:00pm. see www.laforum.org for more.
The pairing of Hitoshi Abe with F-Lab was very interesting. Ramiro and Heather went into tremendous detail about a table. But the table was loaded with issues inherent in digital design and they were dealing them with an interest in craft and material logic. Hitoshi Abe was dealing with similar issues on a different scale. Absolutely beautiful work that was pushing the boundaries of construction potential in an art gallery project that invented a double layer, dimpled steel wall system and a restaurant that was skinned with a backlit, perforated steel sheet. (The perforation was a digitized image of a forest)
Perhaps most image was the latent divergence in attitude toward digital production evident in the projects. F-Lab endeavored to expose issues of fabrication in the staggering of joints, accentuation of the joints, the exposure of layers of wood, etc., while Hitoshi Abe endeavored to abstract production, for example in the restaurant, the insane hand drilling of additional perforations where the steel seams occurred. (It had to be thousands of holes)
Looking forward to the next one.
Sep 19, 07 1:48 pm ·
·
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.
Out There Doing It
LA Forum kicks off their fall 2007 Out There Doing It Lecture Series on Thursday, 13 Sept 2007, 7:30pm at the MAK Center featuring:
Hitoshi Abe
Atelier Hitoshi Abe, Sendai, Japan, and Los Angles
Ramiro Diaz-Granados and Heather Flood
F-Lab, Los Angeles
visit www.laforum.org for more info.
Ramiro Diaz-Granados and Heather Flood
F-Lab is the Los Angeles-based design practice of Ramiro Diaz-Granados and Heather Flood. The firm is committed to the production of architectural form and its relationship to contemporary culture, both pop and sub. Their multidisciplinary approach interrogates material dynamics to produce spatial and organizational models that enhance lifestyles and create new modes of environmental expression. F-lab's recent commissions include a retail expansion strategy and store prototype for a new frozen yogurt brand, the design and installation of an exhibition that showcased the work of 45 contemporary designers, and the design and fabrication of their winning scheme for a Board of Director’s conference table for SCI-Arc.
Ramiro received his bachelor’s degree from SCI-Arc in 1996 and a Master’s degree from UCLA in 2003. At UCLA, he won the prestigious SOM Traveling Fellowship and took part in the first architecture biennale in Rotterdam. He was previously a principal with Arxis Design Studio, where he completed several houses in Southern California. His collaboration with Georgina Huljich resulted in a winning entry in the Graham Foundation’s 21st century park Competition in Chicago in 2003. More recently, he collaborated with GnuForm on the Hair Style piece and with Jason Payne on a the Vertical Garden competition organized by the MAK Center. That piece is now in the MAK Center’s permanent collection in Vienna.
Heather was educated at SCI-Arc and at Michigan State University, and prior to F-Lab was a founding partner, with Jeffrey Inaba, in HOLA, where she completed projects for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Nissan, Infiniti, CKOne, Coca-Cola, Samsung and many other organizations.
Both Ramiro and Heather currently teach design studios and visual studies seminars at SCI-Arc. Both have previously taught at UCLA and Ramiro has also taught at Woodbury.
Hitoshi Abe
Hitoshi Abe returned to Los Angeles last spring to take over as chair of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA. He comes to UCLA from Tohoku Institute of Technology in Sendai, Japan, where he was professor in charge of the Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory and director of the Architectural Design Education Committee. Hitoshi’s last stint in LA ran from 1987-1992, in which time he earned a Master’s Degree from SCI-Arc and spent four years in the LA office of COOP Himmelb(l)au.
Hitoshi left LA to open his own atelier in Sendai in 1992, after winning the competition, at the age of 30, for the Miyagi Stadium, which was completed in 2000. Fifteen years in Japan left Hitoshi with an impressive portfolio of built work ranging from large scale infrastructure such as the Miyagi Water Tower, a series of alphabetically named residential projects, and a collection of elegant furniture, including the Cow Table. In 1993 he completed a doctoral degree at Tohoku University. The office has won awards for the Michinoku Folklore Museum, thee Shirasagi Bridge, the Tokyo House, and many other projects. Publications include three monographs, the most recent of which is Flicker. Prior to UCLA, Abe taught at UC Berkeley and Tohoku Institute of Technology.
i thought this was one of those public sex threads. damn.
This is the full schedule for the fall:
September 13 at MAK –
Hitoshi Abe, Atelier Hitoshi Abe
Ramiro Diaz Granados and Heather Flood, F Lab
September 20 at MAK –
René Peralta, Generica
Michael Kovac, Kovac Architects
September 27 at MAK –
Anthony Guida, LushLife LA
Roger Sherman with cityLAB, Greg Kochanowski, and office42
October 4 at MAK –
Alexander Elias, Alexander Elias Architecture
Wes Jones, Jones, Partners: Architecture
October 11 at MAK –
Gaston Nogues and Benjamin Ball, Nogues Ball Studio
Darin Johnstone, Darin Johnstone Architecture
October 18 at LACE –
Mario Cipresso and Chris Warren, Studio Shift
Chava Danielson and Eric Haas, DSH
October 25 at MAK –
Paul Murdoch, Paul Murdoch Architects
Tom Wiscombe, Emergent
November 1 at LACE –
Florencia Pita, Florencia Pita MoD
Kivi Sotamaa, Sotamaa Design
also, we need a few volunteers to help set up, man the info table, serve beer, etc. Free Forum membership in return for a few minutes of your time. If you're interested email me.
Hey, I know one of those guys
The format is for a lecture from both presenters and then an informal discussion with both of them.
It should be a lively discussion and the LA Forum is working towards a publication to document the series - both past and present.
New and improved -- now with more beer.
Last week's event with Hitoshi Abe and F-lab was great. We had a great turnout, saw some great new projects from both firms, and had a great post-lecture discussion. Looking for more of the same Thursday night, and we'll have more refreshments on hand to keep those conversations well-lubed.
This week at the MAK Center, LA Forum presents Michael Kovac and Rene Peralta. Thursday night, 7:00pm. see www.laforum.org for more.
is that a proclamation of 'hey we actually build stuff unlike those other peeps"?
something like that. turns out, everything shown last week was built or being built.
The pairing of Hitoshi Abe with F-Lab was very interesting. Ramiro and Heather went into tremendous detail about a table. But the table was loaded with issues inherent in digital design and they were dealing them with an interest in craft and material logic. Hitoshi Abe was dealing with similar issues on a different scale. Absolutely beautiful work that was pushing the boundaries of construction potential in an art gallery project that invented a double layer, dimpled steel wall system and a restaurant that was skinned with a backlit, perforated steel sheet. (The perforation was a digitized image of a forest)
Perhaps most image was the latent divergence in attitude toward digital production evident in the projects. F-Lab endeavored to expose issues of fabrication in the staggering of joints, accentuation of the joints, the exposure of layers of wood, etc., while Hitoshi Abe endeavored to abstract production, for example in the restaurant, the insane hand drilling of additional perforations where the steel seams occurred. (It had to be thousands of holes)
Looking forward to the next one.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.