FLUIDEZ

CCA Studio Spring 2012: Body in Spectacle

Professor Sandra Vivanco HYPERLINK "http://www.a-plus-d.com" www.a-plus-d.com

Lead student designers:

Chris Baas

Kat VanCleave

Student Team:

Emilie Alongi

Vincent Nieto

Matthew Puckett

Oscar Ramirez

Hugh Vanho

Technical consultants:

Barker O’Donoghue construction HYPERLINK "http://www.barkerodonoghue.com/" www.barkerodonoghue.com/

FLUIDEZ responds to the challenge of designing a float for the 2012 San Francisco Carnaval Parade. The annual theme, “Crossing Borders, Bridging Cultures” combined with cultural local celebrations such as the Year of the Water Dragon provided the departure point for the initial design iterations. Throughout the design development, the team worked closely with a group of high school students as part of a collaboration between California College of the Arts and Out-of-Site, a non-profit organization devoted to teaching art in San Francisco public high schools.

The formal articulation was conceived intuitively through a series of physical and three-dimensional models, and was carefully refined in response to structural considerations and dimensional constraints. The resulting exoskeleton merges a free form with a geometric grid, creating a sense of tension and playful drama, embodying the culture of Carnaval.

The desire for homogenous materiality surfaced early in the design process as a way of evoking a sense of continuity and movement that would support the structure’s dual purpose-- a kinetic sculpture moving through the Mission street parade and as an installation piece designed to spatialize a gallery, creating both interior and exterior environments. Through a series of experimental material explorations, birch plywood was selected as the primary material. The final design is a culmination of intuitive design informed by structural considerations and refined by qualities inherent to the chosen materiality and the process of making.

Size: 30 ft L x 8 ft W x 9 ft H at its highest point

Material: Baltic Birch Plywood and steel hardware.