School of Architecture to showcase latest technologies’ take on craft traditions in ‘*.tpo’ exhibition

School of Architecture to showcase latest technologies’ take on craft traditions in ‘*.tpo’ exhibitionMarch 14, 2005Jaime Winne Alvarez jlwinne@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s School of Architecture will present “*.tpo: technology performance ornament,” an exhibition of recent work by five architectural designers addressing issues of ornamentation and material performance through innovative uses of digital-fabrication technologies.

The exhibition will be on display March 21-April 1 in the School of Architecture Gallery, located in Room 103 of Slocum Hall, Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

The exhibition will feature the work of Ben Pell, SU School of Architecture; Jeremy Ficca, North Carolina State University School of Architecture; Paul Andersen, Cornell University Department of Architecture; Marc Swackhammer, University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; and Blair Satterfield, Rice University School of Architecture.

While it may resemble a computer file-name extension, “*.tpo” is actually a play on the letters used in the real-world system of file names. It is an acronym of “technology performance ornament”, because-in addition to the fact that they all work with digital files-these are the three issues that unite the work of all four exhibitors.

Pell’s project, “Walldrobe/Wearpaper,” proposes a clothing system that is designed to hang flat on a wall, rather than on hangers in a closet. The system is fabricated using a computer numeric-controlled (CNC) laser cutter, producing multiple custom-garment patterns from commercially available leather.

Ficca’s work explores ideas of material transparency, using CNC milling to augment the performance of standard materials such as fiberboard and plywood. Andersen’s projects include entries from two international competitions addressing the production of ornament through stereolithography models. Swackhammer’s and Satterfield’s “Dwell House” provides housing units for the homeless which are produced through standardized digital fabrication techniques, yet remain flexible and customizable by the occupant.

“The selected projects yield an understanding of the relationship between the newest technologies of fabrication and ornament,” says Mark Robbins, dean of the School of Architecture. “Though ornament is often associated with earlier craft traditions, this work reveals an expanded vocabulary for the production of contemporary architecture and design.”

Paid public parking for the exhibition is available in the Comstock Avenue lot.