Periscope: Foam Tower

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Periscope: Foam Tower

Firm

Matter Design

Type

Government + Health ›

YEAR

2010

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

Charged with the task of designing a rapidly deploy-able,
temporary installation, on a limited budget, with a limited plot ?
we propose a tower of foam. Through vertical expansion via the
omission of a vertical restriction, this tower will engage a broader
audience, inviting them to the event similar to searchlights in
the night sky. At first glance, the tower appears to be a tensile fabric pulled
vertically by compressive rods, much in the same way a one
conceives a deploy-able tent. In fact, the tower functions in
opposition to the initial reading. Where the eye reads tensile
fabric is truthfully compressive foam, and the compressive rods
are actually performing as tensile cables. This rhetorical
inversion invites spectators in for closer inspection to find the
tower is not constructed of thin surfaces at all, but rather carved
from solid blocks of EPS foam. Upon
discovering this illusion, the spectator observes their first
glimpse into the means and methods of fabrication that make the
tower possible. EPS foam is the backbone to this design.
This foam is 90% air by volume, meaning it is inherently
volumetric, inexpensive, and lightweight. In addition to these
qualities, EPS foam contains no CFC?s and is 100% recyclable/reusable.
Foam is so also extremely lightweight, meaning few people can
handle large assemblies. This premise responds to the competition
brief?s requirement for a structure that can be rapidly deployed with a
minimal number of workers. This proposal takes advantage of
larger than life size building blocks to achieve a quickly
constructed, and relatively large installation.
A common critique of many digital fabrication exercises is
the enormous material waste. We take this concern very seriously.
Beyond the efficiency of unit nesting, the methods of fabrication
(robotic hotwire) produces no kerf waste and the minimal waste
produced in starting and stopping a stock block produce 100%
recyclable material. The research and development behind the means
and methods of fabrication speak to our approach to design ?
reciprocity between drawing and making.