waving walls

waving walls / professional / orproject / 2019

computational design, fabrication, assembly logic

waving walls is a permanent installation for the flagship store of fashion designer Amit Aggarwal. Based on the programmatic requirements within the store, the flowing spatial divisions are positioned to separate different areas across the space. These walls are designed as architectural-scale waving fabrics out of reflective sheet material that is hung from the ceiling.

with Rajat Sodhi, Christoph Klemmt, Komal Sodhi, Balaji Mohan Rajkumar

All photographs : Suryan/Dang and Orproject

The fashion designer’s studio is known for its use of novel materials and the textures, transparencies and reflections that it creates through custom fabrics and sculpted dresses. The wall partitions were designed to complement this approach by creating similar textures, transparencies and reflective spaces at an architectural scale.

The project focused research into bent material, using a network of transparent sheets in tension which were suspended from the ceiling. The reflective sheets were then compressed into the desired shape, which could then connect to adjacent sheets in a grid.

A system of 3D printed PLA molds was used to hand press the collected snow into shape. The geometry of the polyhedron geometries was analyzed to avoid undercuts and generate molds with minimum number of separable pieces. Also, key factors like snow feeding direction, pressing surface location and ease of demolding were taken into account. Using a combination of three mold families, 12 different polyhedral geometries could be created, which when placed into a larger volume could create formwork for graded concrete blocks. To avoid waste and enhance the texture on the outside of the blocks, a larger snow mold was created to cast the concrete into. With this, a single wooden formwork could be used as a stamp to create copies of the generic outer snow mold.