Volvox Labs - Physical Design Intern

Interview Materials - 240429

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

1) Raptors (full scale walking puppets)

2) Parametric Design to Fabrication (coursework)

3) Memba Music (experiential multimedia design)

Raptors Construction at Michael Curry Design

The first components of this project I worked on were carbon fiber heads and bodies. In the composites shop at Michael Curry Design, we laid fiberglass and carbon fiber into molds, mixing resins and vacuuming out all excess air. Later, I became part of a small team that was responsible for fitting the whole raptor assemblies together. I helped make sure we were on schedule, test fit the performance of the pieces, and inspected for quality. I systematized our process for creating the scale-like fabric skins, spending countless hours in a spray booth. I built flexible tails, and I shaped aluminum and steel components before affixing them to the carbon bodies.

During this phase, I helped build over 10 raptors, at one point we had 8 going at once in two different colors. I developed an understanding of a wide variety of materials and helped make minor adjustments along the way to create a more lightweight and durable product. I also worked on a Triceratops puppet that involved two performers walking together.

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Parametric Design for Fabrication

Jason Ivaliotis, my instructor for Representation and Spatial Analysis 2, structured an assignment around designing within grasshopper for a bent metal fabrication process. Leading us through a base script, that would populate flat faces between points, and then arraying those modules evenly on another surface. I explored tent-like structures by arraying my module on a conical form. After many iterations, I found a way to alter this module so that the tent could be unfolded into 8 spiraling flat pack panels, which could then be assembled on site.

In the end, the school resources were not on par with Jason’s expectations, as far as being able to CNC aluminum panels… and he was a little out of touch with material costs… but I was able to alter my module and mockup a portion of the design with CNC’d plywood. The connection type was out of scale, but it was a good learning experience and also a circumstance that required quick problem solving – with only a couple weeks left for fabrication.

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Multi-Media Design and Event Production

A long-term collaboration began with a logo. For MEMBA MUSIC, Will Curry and Ishaan Chaudhary wanted something that would evoke the future and the ancient simultaneously. Once their music began gaining traction, they wanted to launch their live shows as something much more than a typical EDM DJ set. The first show was an ambitious use of front and rear projection in a 100-person Bushwick art studio space. They performed between two scrims, while I had a projector mounted on a pole lifted by a bike stand – with a midi controller out in the crowd triggering clips and effects live. They evolved by constructing custom midi inflatable drums in multiple iterations.

For two of their first experiential events/concerts, I acted as a video projection performer, working video effects live in VDMX. I also acted as an event producer/installer - wearing whatever hat needed wearing.

I was planning to work as a tour manager for much of their 2020 headline tour, but that was cancelled due to COVID, and after a while longer working at Michael Curry Design, I switched gears and began my architectural studies at Parsons.

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Current Focus

I moved from Oregon to NYC to attend Parsons for a pre-professional Master of Architecture program. The school takes the task of training architects willing to tackle the climate crisis seriously. Amidst all my training has been a focus on alternative materials and I have worked as a research assistant for Martina Kohler diving into embodied carbon. I have enjoyed the technical side of things, also being asked to work as a teaching assistant for our Structural Technology class. My thesis is focused on rebuilding Middle Church in East Village using mass timber, exploring what role historic preservation has when a building has been completely removed. I have explored mycelium and its potential for architectural building material applications - can some version of it replace foam in prototyping processes?

Future Focus

My long-term aim is to work at the intersection of fabrication and architecture, promoting technology, resilience, and biogenic materials. I have been studying architecture with the aim of working with teams on things that are larger than what I could complete alone. I would eventually like to develop some aspect of my work that functions at a civic or infrastructural level. One of my primary plans forward, has been to work in architecture until I get licensed, and then transition into a more diverse set of projects that allow for quicker turnaround and inventiveness – whether that is for experiential environments or kinetic sculptural elements like at Michael Curry Design.

I would also like to work into my future practice a closer response or investigation of nature, plants and animals, that seems to be a tenant of your work at Volvox labs.