The project is a permanent long-span aluminum shade canopy constructed out of over 600 unique powder-coated, folded pieces that are at once the form and the structure. The canopy shades a reclaimed wood deck for a private bar.

Material efficiency is achieved through the integration of form, structure and function.  The components are riveted together preserving the integrity of the individual components but acting as a whole in a manner similar to a space frame. Spanning 20’ longitudinally and 12.5’ in the transverse direction, the canopy uses no intermediate or secondary structure. The installation’s form developed via a deliberate and specific combination of hand drawn geometry and computer scripting. Manual interventions made during the design phase introduced directionality, grain, rhythm, and asymmetry into the piece—a counterpoint to the regular and regulated output of computational algorithms. Software tools and analog manipulation produce the ultimate formal exploration and the final fabrication. The parts are tightly packed and laser cut from 10’x5’ aluminum sheets. The parts are then folded with an industrial grade break.

The project investigates a new order at the intersection of multiple opposing forces: organic versus computational, hand versus machine, and biological versus mechanical—provocations that challenge the primacy of the purely digital object and set forth an embodied structural methodology.