Monday, August 26, 2013

Report on “Ready to Build” by Ken Shulman


From Metropolis Magazine July-August 2013 issue
            This article reflects on Brandon Clifford and Wes McGee and creating Matter Design. McGee was a graduate student in industrial design with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and went to Graduate school of design at Harvard to run a digital fabrication lab (which he was recommended to by Clifford). Clifford was an undergraduate in architecture with interest in theory and history. The following year of their conference they created Matter Design.
            Matter design looks for ancient architecture and their methods to bring into the modern world. Their vaulted ceiling La Voute de LeFevre, made of plywood supports itself entirely. The article takes us through the process of how they designed their helix staircase from CAD to computerized machine-code files and was completed in early 2013. This helix staircase was a series of interlocking case concrete blocks with only a center core support. They idea of interlocking came from the Incan walls.
            Matter Design is a well thought out combination of for McGee and Clifford, combining theory and history with architecture skill. Their ideas of creating modern innovations with past architecture and methods can produce industrial structures. Today domes and vaults are not as common but taking the ideas and turning them modern could create diverse architecture.
Pictures by Matter Design

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