BALL-NOGUES STUDIO
YEVRUS 1, Negative Impression
June 1 – July 8, 2012
SCI-Arc Gallery

Friday, June 1, 7-9pm: Opening Reception
Monday, June 25, 7pm: Exhibition Discussion with Benjamin Ball, Gaston Nogues and SCI-Arc Director of Academic Affairs Hsinming Fung

Los Angeles, CA—The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is pleased to present “Yevrus 1, Negative Impression,” an installation designed for the SCI-Arc Gallery by alumni Benjamin Ball (B.Arch ‘03) and Gaston Nogues (B.Arch ‘94) of Los Angeles-based Ball-Nogues Studio, opening June 1 at SCI-Arc.

Constructed from non-architectural artifacts, Yevrus 1, Negative Impression is a disposable architecture of literal references that calls into question the contemporary architectural vogue for digital complexity and abstraction. The cast impressions of 1973 Volkswagen Beetles and speedboats unite to form a strong structural whole that serves as a lookout tower in the SCI-Arc Gallery. 

The designers chose the individual components from within the Los Angeles suburban-scape for their iconic and structural potential, as well as their availability. Once chosen, the parts were digitally scanned in three dimensions and cast in biodegradable paper pulp using a proprietary technique the studio refers to as a “Yevrus”—the word “Survey” spelled backwards.  With this work, the first in a series of experimental Yevrus projects, Ball-Nogues rethinks the purpose of the site survey. No longer seen as a simple tool for construction and engineering, the survey becomes an instrument for finding form, seeking structural stability and realizing iconic meaning. 

About Ball-Nogues Studio
Ball-Nogues Studio is an integrated design and fabrication practice operating in a territory between architecture, art, and industrial design. Essential to each project is the "design" of the production process with the aim of creating environments that enhance and celebrate the potential for social interaction through sensation, spectacle and physical engagement.  The Studio has exhibited at major institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum; PS1; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Venice Biennale; the Hong Kong | Shenzhen Biennale; and the Beijing Biennale. They have received numerous honors including three American Institute of Architects Design Awards, United States Artists Target Fellowships and a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In 2007, the Studio was the winner of the Museum of Modern Art PS1 Young Architects Program Competition. Recently, their work became part of the permanent collections of both MoMA and LACMA and in 2011, they were one of the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices. The partners have taught in the graduate architecture programs at SCI-Arc, UCLA, and USC in Los Angeles. Their work has appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Architectural Record, Artforum, Icon, Log, Architectural Digest, and Sculpture. www.ball-nogues.com

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Special thanks to ScanLAB Projects, Buro Happold, and Eric Kim for their invaluable contributions to this project.

Public Programs
Parking and admission are free. No reservations are required. Events are broadcast live online at www.sciarc.edu/live.

SCI-Arc Public Programs are subject to change beyond our control. For the most current information, please visit www.sciarc.edu or call 213-613-2200.

Parking and Hours
The entrance to SCI-Arc's parking lot is at 350 Merrick Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013, between Traction Avenue and 4th Street in Los Angeles. The SCI-Arc Gallery is open daily from 10am–6pm.

About SCI-Arc
The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is dedicated to educating architects who will imagine and shape the future. It is an independent, accredited degree-granting institution offering undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture. Located in a quarter-mile-long former freight depot in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles, the school is distinguished by its vibrant studio culture and emphasis on process. SCI-Arc’s approximately 500 students and 80 faculty members—most of whom are practicing architects—work together to re-examine assumptions, create, explore and test the limits of architecture. SCI-Arc faculty and leadership have garnered more than 300 national and international design awards and recognitions, including Progressive Architecture awards, American Institute of Architects (AIA) awards, and the prestigious Jencks and Pritzker architecture awards. SCI-Arc is ranked second in design and computer applications in the 2012 America’s Best Architecture Schools survey from DesignIntelligence, and #1 graduate and #2 undergraduate architecture school in Western U.S. SCI-Arc is located at 960 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. www.sciarc.edu