SCI-ARC GALLERY EXHIBITION
Ramiro Diaz-Granados
Amorphis
GO FIGURE
On view January 13 – February 26, 2012

Friday, January 13, 7pm: Opening Reception
Friday, February 10, 7-9pm: Exhibition Discussion with Ramiro Diaz-Granados and SCI-Arc Director Eric Owen Moss

Click HERE to watch a video of the installation.

Los Angeles, CA (November 30, 2011)—The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is pleased to announce the exhibition Go Figure by Los Angeles-based architect Ramiro Diaz-Granados of Amorphis, on view in the SCI-Arc Gallery from January 13 through February 26, 2012. Seeking to shift the role of the figure from a metaphorical device to a subliminal one, Go Figure promotes simultaneity in the evolution of the delineated figure by distributing cartoon and visceral features across a three-dimensional, spline based form.

A delineated figure is repeated four times into two symmetrical pairs. Each pair is situated in the gallery according to different transversal regulating lines stemming from the relationship between the ground and the ceiling. One pair is centered within the space, the other is centered under one of the structural bays. Together they fill the space in a composition that confounds the legibility of each figure in favor of more sensate qualities with allusions to calligraphy and graffiti. The figures are made out of powder-coated aluminum sheet, laser cut, and friction-fit. An assembly method has been devised so as to evade the conventional reliance on hardware. This pushes the project into further allusive territory, conjuring up the botanical (sprouting) and hvac ducting (crimping). The color palette consists of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Each figure is a unique combination of three of the four colors with a progression from one to the next allowing each color to be used three times and producing secondary and tertiary chromas which shift as one moves around and through the installation. The drawings represent a series of part-to-whole relationships with references to various painting/drawing genres. From one configuration to four elements to twelve strips to forty-eight segments to one-hundred-forty-four pieces.

About Ramiro Diaz-Granados
Ramiro Diaz-Granados is Principal of Amorphis, and is a full-time design faculty member and the graduate portfolio coordinator at SCI-Arc. A full service architectural design studio located in Los Angeles, Amorphis is engaged in speculative and building practices with an emphasis on a hands-on approach to experimentation. With services ranging from the design of objects and furniture to interiors, buildings, and landscapes, the studio limits the number of projects at a given time in order to produce deeply idiosyncratic works. As an advocate for a vitalist-materialist ethos in the production of architecture, Amorphis pursues a design agenda that oscillates within a matter/geometry complex. Prior to founding Amorphis in 2009, Diaz-Granados was co-principal of F-Lab with Heather Flood, where they won and placed in several competitions, including the SCI-Arc "Conference Room Table" (built), L.A. Forum "Liner Competition," and Mercedes-Benz "National Trade Show Pavilion." He also worked for and collaborated with the award-winning firm Gnuform. From 1997 to 2002, he was co-principal of Arxis, a Los Angeles architectural practice, where he designed and built several projects in Southern California and Mexico. Diaz-Granados received his Bachelor of Architecture from SCI-Arc in 1996 and a Master of Architecture from UCLA in 2003, during which he was awarded the Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Traveling Fellowship in Architecture. www.amorphis.com
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Public Programs
Ramiro Diaz-Granados’ Go Figure exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.
Parking and admission are free. No reservations are required. Lectures, talks, and discussions 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, between Traction Avenue and 4th Street in Los Angeles. The SCI-Arc Gallery is open daily from 10am–6pm; the Library Gallery is open Sunday through Friday, noon-6pm.

About SCI-Arc
The Southern California Institute of Architecture 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 is once again ranked second in design and computer applications in the recently released 2012 America’s Best Architecture Schools survey from Design Intelligence, and #1 graduate and #2 undergraduate architecture school in the Western U.S. SCI-Arc is located at 960 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013. For more information, please visit www.sciarc.edu.