Artist:
Benjamin Ball, Gaston Nogues
Title:
Table Cloth
Year:
2010
Adress:
Schoenberg Music Building
www.dezeen.com:
Called Table Cloth, the installation features furniture components joined together to form an platform and backdrop hanging from one wall of the courtyard.
It will be used throughout the summer as a backdrop for performances by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, with audience members sitting on and gathering around the low tables.
The concept for the site emerged from a collaborative process between the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design (AUD) and the UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts. AUD lecturer Benjamin Ball and collaborating partner Gaston Nogues, of the Los Angeles–based Ball-Nogues Studio, completed "Table Cloth" after leading AUD graduate students in a class in which they explored different design ideas for the Schoenberg site.
Los Angeles designers Ball-Nogues Studio have collaborated with UCLA Architecture and Urban Design students to create a courtyard stage set made of coffee tables. UCLA Architecture and Urban Design unveils innovative 'Table Cloth' installation.
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music has a new performance space in the courtyard of the Schoenberg Music Building on campus. "Table Cloth," a collaboration between faculty and students, is an innovative and experiential set piece that will serve as a backdrop for the performing arts and everyday social interaction.
The students discussed how to create an impermanent architectural installation for the performing arts that would be sustainable and allow the building components to be easily adapted for other purposes once the usefulness of the performance space is complete.
"Table Cloth" is comprised of hundreds of individual low, coffee-style tables and three-legged stools. The tables and stools link together collectively to create a "fabric" that hangs from the east wall of the courtyard. When it meets the ground, "Table Cloth" unrolls to form an intimate in-the-round performance area. The audience can sit on the tables and stools within this area.
"Tables are places for social interaction," Ball said. "Dining tables, specifically, facilitate organization and communication within the typical American home. We see this project like the cloth adorning a dining table; however, at Schoenberg, it will adorn the courtyard, an important social hub, and will facilitate community at the scale of the university."
After the structure has served its use as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller-scaled household commodities, tables and seating. This process, referred to as "cross-manufacturing" by Ball-Nogues, creates small products made from the parts of a larger product. It moves beyond recycling, which down-cycles material into a less valuable state.
The space will host a variety of community-oriented activities, from musical practice to performance, dance to lectures, and social interaction to academic discussions. Because of the work's size and the materials used, its presence will reduce reverberation and alter other acoustical phenomena within the space. "Table Cloth" will embellish the courtyard during the 2010 spring and summer quarters.
Funding for the project was made possible by grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the UCLA Arts Initiative. Structural engineering was provided by Buro Happold, Los Angeles (Matthew Melnyk, lead engineer).
www.ball-nogues.com:
Table Cloth is a new performance space in the courtyard of Schoenberg Hall at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in Los Angeles. Ball-Nogues Studio designed and fabricated the installation. The project is a result of ongoing research into the reuse of temporary structures and installations. A collaboration between the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, the Herb Alpert School of Music, and the UCLA Design Media Arts; Table Cloth serves as an integrated set piece, backdrop, and seating area for student musical performance and everyday social interaction. It is made of hundreds of individual low, coffee-style tables and three legged stools. Each of these household items is a unique product (no two are alike), fabricated specifically for the installation by Ball Nogues. The public can take home the tables and stools after the run of the installation. The tables and stools link together collectively to form a “fabric” that hangs from the east wall of the courtyard. When the Table Cloth meets the ground, it unrolls to form an intimate “in the round” performance area. Visitors can sit on the tables and stools within this area. “Tables are places for social interaction,” explains Ball-Nogues. “Dining tables, specifically, facilitate organization and communication within the typical American home. We see this project like the cloth adorning a dining table; however, at Schoenberg it will adorn the courtyard, an important social hub, and will facilitate community at the scale of the University.” Used for a variety of activities, from musical practice to performance, dance to lectures, and from casual conversations to academic discussions; it will embellish the courtyard throughout the summer of 2010. Because of the work's size and the materials used, its presence within the space helps to reduce reverberation and alter other acoustical phenomena. The processes of designing manufacturing, assembling, and dismantling the performance space are examples of a unique design and manufacturing methodology that moves beyond and constructively critiques the three “R’s” of sustainability – recycling, reuse, and repurposing, processes that typically down-cycle material into less valuable states. After the structure has served its function as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller scaled household commodities, - tables and seating. This process, referred to as “Cross Manufacturing” by Ball-Nogues, is an integrated design and manufacturing strategy that harnesses digital computation and fabrication technologies to make architectural scaled installations that become collections of smaller scaled products. The items will be immediately available and given away as consumer goods, once the installation is dismantled. This approach moves beyond recycling and reuse By using a consumer good as its basic building block, the project expands and critiques notions of “green" architecture. As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and temporary pavilions we construct are impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials. Outside of its environmental considerations, the Table Cloth dramatically re-contextualizes consumer products - symbols of mass consumption and standardization– into alternative gestures of hope and one of a kind manufacturing. Table Cloth will be the site of performances hosted by the Herb Alpert School of Music through the summer of 2010. Please see the Herb Alpert School of Music Website to confirm dates and start times. Project Theory: Spatial installations represent a growing phenomenon within our culture. There is a new demand for “instant” architecture. We see this in entire environments which become advertisements, like subway platforms; stage sets; window displays; and event spectacles. They have become forums for the production of architecturally scaled structures and spaces that exist for only a limited period. Our installation explores the making of structures which produce very little waste when their usefulness as architecture is complete. While there is an increasing interest among artists architects in recycling and repurposing their urban scaled creations, our project moves beyond this approach to consider life cycle through the development of a "cross manufacturing" strategy. Cross manufacturing is a design and production approach that considers objects as part of a continuum. After the structure has served its use as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller scaled commodities, immediately available as coveted products - in this case tables and seating. Unlike recycling, which down-cycles material into a less valuable state, this scenario foresees small products made from the parts of a larger product (the installation itself). “Diversified series” is a fitting description for the resulting products rather than the “standardized series” that typically results from a mass production approach. Each of the tables and seating elements will be fabricated using industrial methods but will still be unique, contrasting the anonymity inherent in most industrially manufactured goods. At the end of the life of the installation, the approximately 500 tables and stools, no two alike, will be given away to the UCLA community. By using a consumer good as its basic building block, the project expands and critiques notions of “green" architecture. As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and pavilions we construct although seemingly timeless, are actually impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials. Outside of its environmental commentary, the installation dramatically re-contextualizes consumer products - symbols of mass consumption and standardization– into alternative gestures of hope and one of a kind manufacturing.
Table Cloth is a collaboration between the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, The Herb Alpert School of Music, and UCLA Design Media Arts.
It is made possible by generous support from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the UCLA Arts Initiative. Principles in Charge: Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues Structural engineering and analysis by Buro Happold Los Angeles. Matthew Melnyk lead engineer Software Development: Ayodh Kamath Project Team: Benjamin Jenett, James Jones, Jonathan Kitchens, Alison Kung, Deborah Lehman, Brian Schirk, Rachel Shilander.
Herb Alpert School of Music - Schoenberg Hall Courtyard, University of California, Los Angeles 2010.
www.ball-nogues.com:
Ball-Nogues Studio is an integrated design and fabrication practice operating in a territory between architecture, art and industrial design, led by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues. Their work is informed by the exploration of craft. Essential to each project is the “design” of the production process itself, with the aim of creating environments that enhance sensation, generate spectacle and invite physical engagement.
Called Table Cloth, the installation features furniture components joined together to form an platform and backdrop hanging from one wall of the courtyard.
It will be used throughout the summer as a backdrop for performances by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, with audience members sitting on and gathering around the low tables.
The concept for the site emerged from a collaborative process between the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design (AUD) and the UCLA Department of Design | Media Arts. AUD lecturer Benjamin Ball and collaborating partner Gaston Nogues, of the Los Angeles–based Ball-Nogues Studio, completed "Table Cloth" after leading AUD graduate students in a class in which they explored different design ideas for the Schoenberg site.
Los Angeles designers Ball-Nogues Studio have collaborated with UCLA Architecture and Urban Design students to create a courtyard stage set made of coffee tables. UCLA Architecture and Urban Design unveils innovative 'Table Cloth' installation.
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music has a new performance space in the courtyard of the Schoenberg Music Building on campus. "Table Cloth," a collaboration between faculty and students, is an innovative and experiential set piece that will serve as a backdrop for the performing arts and everyday social interaction.
The students discussed how to create an impermanent architectural installation for the performing arts that would be sustainable and allow the building components to be easily adapted for other purposes once the usefulness of the performance space is complete.
"Table Cloth" is comprised of hundreds of individual low, coffee-style tables and three-legged stools. The tables and stools link together collectively to create a "fabric" that hangs from the east wall of the courtyard. When it meets the ground, "Table Cloth" unrolls to form an intimate in-the-round performance area. The audience can sit on the tables and stools within this area.
"Tables are places for social interaction," Ball said. "Dining tables, specifically, facilitate organization and communication within the typical American home. We see this project like the cloth adorning a dining table; however, at Schoenberg, it will adorn the courtyard, an important social hub, and will facilitate community at the scale of the university."
After the structure has served its use as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller-scaled household commodities, tables and seating. This process, referred to as "cross-manufacturing" by Ball-Nogues, creates small products made from the parts of a larger product. It moves beyond recycling, which down-cycles material into a less valuable state.
The space will host a variety of community-oriented activities, from musical practice to performance, dance to lectures, and social interaction to academic discussions. Because of the work's size and the materials used, its presence will reduce reverberation and alter other acoustical phenomena within the space. "Table Cloth" will embellish the courtyard during the 2010 spring and summer quarters.
Funding for the project was made possible by grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the UCLA Arts Initiative. Structural engineering was provided by Buro Happold, Los Angeles (Matthew Melnyk, lead engineer).
www.ball-nogues.com:
Table Cloth is a new performance space in the courtyard of Schoenberg Hall at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in Los Angeles. Ball-Nogues Studio designed and fabricated the installation. The project is a result of ongoing research into the reuse of temporary structures and installations. A collaboration between the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, the Herb Alpert School of Music, and the UCLA Design Media Arts; Table Cloth serves as an integrated set piece, backdrop, and seating area for student musical performance and everyday social interaction. It is made of hundreds of individual low, coffee-style tables and three legged stools. Each of these household items is a unique product (no two are alike), fabricated specifically for the installation by Ball Nogues. The public can take home the tables and stools after the run of the installation. The tables and stools link together collectively to form a “fabric” that hangs from the east wall of the courtyard. When the Table Cloth meets the ground, it unrolls to form an intimate “in the round” performance area. Visitors can sit on the tables and stools within this area. “Tables are places for social interaction,” explains Ball-Nogues. “Dining tables, specifically, facilitate organization and communication within the typical American home. We see this project like the cloth adorning a dining table; however, at Schoenberg it will adorn the courtyard, an important social hub, and will facilitate community at the scale of the University.” Used for a variety of activities, from musical practice to performance, dance to lectures, and from casual conversations to academic discussions; it will embellish the courtyard throughout the summer of 2010. Because of the work's size and the materials used, its presence within the space helps to reduce reverberation and alter other acoustical phenomena. The processes of designing manufacturing, assembling, and dismantling the performance space are examples of a unique design and manufacturing methodology that moves beyond and constructively critiques the three “R’s” of sustainability – recycling, reuse, and repurposing, processes that typically down-cycle material into less valuable states. After the structure has served its function as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller scaled household commodities, - tables and seating. This process, referred to as “Cross Manufacturing” by Ball-Nogues, is an integrated design and manufacturing strategy that harnesses digital computation and fabrication technologies to make architectural scaled installations that become collections of smaller scaled products. The items will be immediately available and given away as consumer goods, once the installation is dismantled. This approach moves beyond recycling and reuse By using a consumer good as its basic building block, the project expands and critiques notions of “green" architecture. As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and temporary pavilions we construct are impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials. Outside of its environmental considerations, the Table Cloth dramatically re-contextualizes consumer products - symbols of mass consumption and standardization– into alternative gestures of hope and one of a kind manufacturing. Table Cloth will be the site of performances hosted by the Herb Alpert School of Music through the summer of 2010. Please see the Herb Alpert School of Music Website to confirm dates and start times. Project Theory: Spatial installations represent a growing phenomenon within our culture. There is a new demand for “instant” architecture. We see this in entire environments which become advertisements, like subway platforms; stage sets; window displays; and event spectacles. They have become forums for the production of architecturally scaled structures and spaces that exist for only a limited period. Our installation explores the making of structures which produce very little waste when their usefulness as architecture is complete. While there is an increasing interest among artists architects in recycling and repurposing their urban scaled creations, our project moves beyond this approach to consider life cycle through the development of a "cross manufacturing" strategy. Cross manufacturing is a design and production approach that considers objects as part of a continuum. After the structure has served its use as a performance space, the components comprising the installation will be dismantled to become smaller scaled commodities, immediately available as coveted products - in this case tables and seating. Unlike recycling, which down-cycles material into a less valuable state, this scenario foresees small products made from the parts of a larger product (the installation itself). “Diversified series” is a fitting description for the resulting products rather than the “standardized series” that typically results from a mass production approach. Each of the tables and seating elements will be fabricated using industrial methods but will still be unique, contrasting the anonymity inherent in most industrially manufactured goods. At the end of the life of the installation, the approximately 500 tables and stools, no two alike, will be given away to the UCLA community. By using a consumer good as its basic building block, the project expands and critiques notions of “green" architecture. As a visual concept, the installation serves as a symbolic gesture of sustainability and a poetic reminder that the buildings and pavilions we construct although seemingly timeless, are actually impermanent: frozen moments in an ongoing flow of products and materials. Outside of its environmental commentary, the installation dramatically re-contextualizes consumer products - symbols of mass consumption and standardization– into alternative gestures of hope and one of a kind manufacturing.
Table Cloth is a collaboration between the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, The Herb Alpert School of Music, and UCLA Design Media Arts.
It is made possible by generous support from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the UCLA Arts Initiative. Principles in Charge: Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues Structural engineering and analysis by Buro Happold Los Angeles. Matthew Melnyk lead engineer Software Development: Ayodh Kamath Project Team: Benjamin Jenett, James Jones, Jonathan Kitchens, Alison Kung, Deborah Lehman, Brian Schirk, Rachel Shilander.
Herb Alpert School of Music - Schoenberg Hall Courtyard, University of California, Los Angeles 2010.
www.ball-nogues.com:
Ball-Nogues Studio is an integrated design and fabrication practice operating in a territory between architecture, art and industrial design, led by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues. Their work is informed by the exploration of craft. Essential to each project is the “design” of the production process itself, with the aim of creating environments that enhance sensation, generate spectacle and invite physical engagement.