Elastic Plastic Sponge @ Coachella 2009
Experience: Designed and developed with Joanne Angelus a low cost structural unit using a unique 3d looping sequence, which was chosen to be developed as a studio into a full scale installation for Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2009 -
The Elastic Plastic Sponge was created by a group of students from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in a studio led by Benjamin Ball, Gaston Nogues and Andrew Lyon of the Ball-Nogues Studio. The Elastic Plastic Sponge is a large scale installation and can be twisted, arched and curled to form different types of space including a lounge, a theater, or a large sculptural Mobius strip. In the desert heat of Indio, the architectural installation will provide a respite from the sun by making shade and mist while at night, each “cell” within the Elastic Plastic Sponge supports a fluorescent tube–the tubes shift in orientation relative to each other to create the effect of sweeping motion. The motion effect is evident from close-up as well as impactful from across the vast festival grounds–an important asset in an environment of throngs of festival-goers and competing spectacles.
Within the studio the team of Benlloyd Goldstein and Joanne Angeles had been studying bowing and looping plastic tubing into individual cells (or what came to be known as “gems”). The gems had springiness to them which was very interesting. The gem also occupied a lot of space while using very little material – an important factor in this project.
The multiplication of these units created a fabric like material that was used to create a unique and lovable spatial experience for the event.
Press : http://Archinect.com feature article | LA Times | LA Times Blog | DesignBoom
