plasma cutting our connectors

After a few weeks off for spring break, Nick and Nate headed over to Willamette High School with AAA’s model shop supervisor, Tom Coates. Tom works at the high school where they have a giant model shop equipped with their own plasma cutter. He was very generous with his time and suggested we use him as a resource to fabricate our own connectors for the bike shelter. So after finding some scrap metal at Coyote Steel for $10, we came up with a quick, inexpensive way to attain some custom connectors to attach the wood beams to the steel purlins. Below are some pictures of the original design, the plasma cutting, and the final product.

This is right on the heels of a guest lecture in the Architecture Department by Frank Barkow of Barkow Leibinger Architekten. Much of his work revolves around digital fabrication and the role of parametric design in architecture. A large contributing factor of his success comes from the fact that his firm develops relationships with outside professionals who have the tools and the knowledge to fabricate components of their design (e.g. Campus Restaurant and Gate House). In one project (Trutect Tower), they actually designed and fabricated a full scale curtain wall in their own office and sent their collaborating engineer to Seoul in order to teach the Korean manufacturers how to put it together.

Between the work at Barkow Leibinger, and a similar mode of operation at SHoP Architects (where they partner with their own construction firm), it’s clear that architects are responsible for making again. Our bike shelter, on a much smaller scale, has been a process of collaboration and professional outreach just like these larger projects.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.