SCALED RESOLUTIONS - UFG FASHION SHOW - 2013
DESIGN TEAM: Matt Fajkus, AIA, Armand Hadilou, Travis Cook
MY ROLE: Project Manager, Fabricator
The University of Texas Fashion Group is an interdisciplinary collective that hosts an annual runway show featuring the collections of senior fashion and textile designers. MF Architecture designed, fabricated and installed the backdrop on an extremely limited budget and timeline.
MATERIAL + HUMAN
4’x8’x4” EPS Foam panels make up a 40’ long, linear backdrop element. Scales of desired view and transparency are blended with scales of the human body, specifically, Le Corbusier’s iconic Modular Man proportioning system. The result is a sinuous distortion of a morphologically identical unit along X, Y, and Z axes.
MF Architecture
MATERIAL + TOOL
Both the material and the fabrication process bring inherent surface resolutions to the finished form. The EPS Foam consists of beads of expanded polystyrene, giving the panels a visible grain. A 3/8” diameter fluted router bit with a 50% stepover leaves a visible signature of its path across the material.
MF Architecture
MATERIAL + LIGHT
The result is a backdrop that ‘functions’ at a variety of scales. The overlayed ‘resolutions’ of ‘grains’ of the material and the fabrication signature affect the visual quality of the backdrop, evoking a materially ambiguous perception of the element.
Varied lighting strategies produce diverse readings of the materiality of the backdrop, from flat matte, to highly textured, to dramatically backlit.
Huge Thanks to the UTSOA, particularly John Vehko, Eric Hepburn, and Thom Wolfe.