NJIT

Design/Build Masonry Competition 2014

Newark, NJ

The installation explores the relationship between material, geometry and methods of aggregation for masonry construction, as a way of specifying the spatial and tectonic condition of a constructed object.

Using a standard masonry module, the project focuses on how to manipulate the aggregation of that module to create a wall, whose form is disciplined by the unit of construction that constitutes it. The sculptural result of the wall is a consequence of its material and its aggregation proposition.

Wrapping a 8’ x 6’ concrete pad, the installation investigates how the aggregation proposition can transform the quality of a wall along its length, making every condition in its elevation specific and customized. In this regard, the manipulation of the stacking methodology transforms the quality and nature of the wall: from a single wythe wall into a double wythe wall; from a closed, opaque wall into an open, light wall; from a running bond wall into a stack bond wall; from a surface like wall into a pier like wall.

As the wall transforms as it wraps the pad, the corners become the moments of tension that resolve how the wall turns 90 degrees as it transitions between two different conditions. Each corner is resolved in a highly specific manner that articulate each of the different transformations.