E-FAB PAVILION

By pettydesign / 10 December 2007 / portfolio / No Comments

Undergraduate Work

Undergraduate Work
10 weeks
Fall 2007
Prof: Santiago Perez
Collaborators: Life Robinson, Fizza Hasan
University of Houston

As a semester long exploration of fabrication at the 1:1 scale, the 13 student efab studio was dispersed into 5 teams. Each team was to focus on a different aspect of shelter: frame, skin, panel, floor, wall. The frame is built and designed as a simple continuous ring that comes together as a kit of parts.

The frame is built using laminated marine plywood, which is divided into 8 parts and is easy to transport and can be carried by one person. The pieces of the frame come together with 18” long steel plates that slide in the middle of each joint. The steel plate and the joints are then held in place with common nuts and bolts. There are 7 purlins in each bay between the two frames that stabilize the pavilion.

HOW TO BUILD A FRAME

1. assemble a team: james, fizza, life
2. locate proper equipment: burdette keeland center
3. cut down sheets of 4’x8’ exterior grade plywood
4. cut down lots of sheets of 4’x8’ exterior grade plywood
5. use bandsaw to cut curves
6. use sanders to create more defined curves

7. lay out all pieces and test for sizing
8. glue sheets together to create member size
9. reserve every clamp in keeland center
10. seperate pieces and cut to correct size
11. drill 212 holes with 128 being counter-sunk
12. design steel connections and have fabricated off-site

13. sand all members and apply special eurathane coating
14. nap whenever possible
15. lay out all pieces and prepare to assemble
16. connect splice plates
17. raise frame and connect stradles
18. apply tensioning to tighten the frame and reduce “wobble”

As a member of the 3-person frame team, I became responsible with management of off-site fabrication as well as a primary labor force in construction. I also took responsibility for documentation of the studio project in the form of photography, a published book, time-lapse video of construction process and online documentation.

E-FAB 2007 from James Petty on Vimeo.

During the final 3 weeks of production, I placed my digital camera in the midst of all the fabrication. I recorded over 50 gigabytes of video and compiled it into a 42 minute time-lapse video documenting the process. This video was then projected during the final jury presentations.

I collaborated with two fellow students to create a permanent documentation of our studies and fabrication of the studio. This publication is available for purchase at: lulu.