Projects: Small Installation

Edie Cohen -- Interior Design, 12/1/2011 2:00:00 AM

Winner: Patrick Tighe Architecture
Project: Out of Memory
Location: Los Angeles

We got to investigate structure, materials, and technology," Patrick Tighe says of his experiential installation at the SCI-Arc gallery in Los Angeles. Part of an eight-year series of installations melding design and art, Out of Memory added music as an integral part of the project. Carvings inside the 18-foot-high parabolic form were generated by digitally mapping a composition by Ken Ueno-he and Tighe met at the American Academy in Rome, where they spent six months in 2007 as winners of the Rome Prize. Tighe constructed the form, capped by an oculus, from soy-based polyurethane spray foam. Here's how music entered the picture: A spectrogram of Ueno's arrangement was translated into data that could be read by a six-axis CNC router, which milled the required shapes over a week's time. Speakers and LEDs were then embedded in the surface, inviting visitors entering the dimly lit space to sit, observe, listen, and discover.

Merit: Ippolito Fleitz Group
Project: Burkhardt Leitner Constructiv booth
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany

To introduce two exhibition systems at EuroShop, unfurled umbrellas sported the names of the international cities where this company has offices.

Merit: John Lum Architecture
Project: "Dining Womb"
Location: San Francisco

Over 1,000 cardboard sheets were glued,  then carved, to create an integral table and benches for 20 guests at DIFFA's Dining by Design benefit.

Merit: Shelton, Mindel & Associates
Project: "Ad Infinitun"
Location: New York

In a window at Barneys New York, mannequins in Azzedine Alaïa dresses posed on a staircase spiraling horizontally into infinity, thanks to mirrors on both sides.