Seattle Public Library | Seattle, WA
Spring 2007

Why do animals adapt to look like the environment around them? How are patterns on sea shells created? The answer to these questions taught to us was that every object and process has an inherent intelligence to it. This project encouraged the students to explore the Seattle Public Library, and find an intelligence from which to derive our designs from. My project was influenced by the quantity and movement of the people inside the library. We were sent through a gauntlet of study phases, including mediums like clay and plaster, paper, ink, and digital software. I focused on the building’s inhabitants for the driving force in my design. An average person at rest can produce over 200 Btu/hr, walking will increase that quantity dramatically. By calculating the amount of heat produced by each area’s occupants, I was able to derive a final form for my project.

This installation project was informed from a series of material studies. Graphite, pen, paper, plaster and finally digital explorations lead me to my final design. These images are of the two most influential of my project. I created rules for folding the paper, which strung along and built upon itself as long as I followed the rules set in place. This was the foundation of my structural design.

The plaster was poured, along with sand, into an acetate mold I created using a heat gun. Once the plaster solidified and could hold its shape, I removed the mold. The sand would then fall away from the cast, creating beautiful negative spaces within the structure. This aesthetic pattern was implemented in my final process.