CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA.

Located at the main pedestrian intersection on the CCA campus, the high-precision metal façade softly swells outwards in order to catch the viewer's eye. As one proceeds closer to the entry into the Wattis Institute Gallery, the façade's sectional curves visually recede as its form flattens. Openings within the surface of the façade now become visible and provide a clue into gallery spaces. The façade's variegated shifting and pooling of solid and void perceptually change relative to the viewer's position, and simultaneously acts as sign marker and porous threshold. Through these intended differentiations, the fixed façade visually transforms in real-time in response to programmatic functions.

The 122 unique aluminum pieces were laser-cut and precisely folded, then fastened in an alternating pattern to create self-supporting Vierendeel trusses. With economical constraints prohibiting the construction of a complex three-dimensional form, the sinuous warp of the façade is achieved by creating an implied form, where the curved surface is not fully constructed, but rather emerges via the layering of individual elements.