A Generous Space

Showcasing his interest in giving as well as creating, interiors partner Stephen Apking serves on the board of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. Through his involvement, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has participated in Dining by Design, DIFFA's annual benefit featuring self-contained table-setting installations by notable firms. The effort does more than wow the crowd and support a worthy cause. Apking feels that the event provides a valuable opportunity to try out new techniques. "Whenever we innovate on a new project for a client, we always need to experiment first," he notes. "DIFFA is an excellent testing ground for that."

For the 2005 event in New York, Apking's installation looked like it was carved out of a solid block of white Corian, table and all, and he saw the display as a welcome chance to perfect his computer-assisted sculpting techniques: Elements of the curvilinear geometry first seen at DIFFA were later replicated at a World Trade Center marketing center for Silverstein Properties. His 2006 effort again involved computer modeling—this time to create folded planes in plastic laminate by means of an experimental robotic cutting technology controlled by CAD files. Not only blurring the boundaries between the vertical and the horizontal but also changing dramatically depending on a viewer's location, this angular enclosure managed both to shelter diners and to display them. Coming soon to a building near you.

Opposite: At DIFFA's Dining by Design benefit dinner in New York, 2006, the firm's installation was illuminated by LEDs controlled by computer and synchronized with piped-in music.

From top: Plastic laminate sheathed the installation's shell inside and out. An early rendering shows how the space would appear to change shape as attendees passed by. The firm experimented with folding and wrapping planes.

From top: The 2005 pavilion was made of molded Corian. Custom-patterned Way carpet tile anchored the installation. The canopy housed strips of LEDs, illuminating tableware by Walter Gropius.

From top: Rhino software allowed the testing of numerous options for the plastic laminate pavilion. These are the final designs before fabrication. Each participating firm received an 11-foot-square space.

PROJECT TEAMS: CHRISTIAN ARKAY-LELIEVER; IVAN PAZOS; MARY BROADDUS; STEVEN ABEL; CLAES APPELQUIST; J.R. MARTINE, JR .SURFACING (2006): FORMICA CORPORATION. LED FIXTURES, LIGHTING CONSULTANT: ELEMENT LABS. TABLE: KNOLL. CHAIRS: GUBI. PLATES, STEMWARE: ROSENTHAL. FLATWARE: SAMBONET. MILLWORK: BAUERSCHMIDT SONS. GRAPHICS CONSULTANT: DIGITAL PLUS. SURFACING, ICE BUCKET MATERIAL (2005): DUPONT. CARPET: MILLIKEN COMPANY. LIGHTING CONSULTANT: SCHARFF WEISBERG. GRAPHICS CONSULTANT: PRINT ICON. INSTALLATION CONTRACTOR: STRUCTURE TONE.