los angeles CALIFORNIA + quito ECUADOR

suckerPUNCH: describe your project.

ana maria BORJA + radha MISTRY: We examined alternative methods of design, construction and assembly as it related to product design. The “pomegranate luminaire” featured a composition of laser-cut and folded colored vellum “seed pods”, embedded with LEDs, held within a 3D printed shell. The form was generated by diagramming and abstracting the natural growth and decay processes of the pomegranate fruit form.

In this “concept-abstraction” we chose to focus on three integral phases:

1 hard protective exterior shell with seed pods within
2 protective shell begins to disintegrate and mold to interior seed pod form
3 shell begins to split to expose seed ponds in interior

We also tested out various fold/cut patterns which were laser cut into red vellum sheets to form the interior “seed pods” that contain the LEDs, and
were encased within a “split” 3D print shell stitched together with steel wire.

Projects were generated as a result of early explorations of digital fabrication techniques, specifically within the context of 3D printing and laser cutting; examining the role of digital fabrication methods, and their potential to inform the initial design process, rather than merely functioning as a means of representation for the “finished” product.

The objective was to take an identifiable element (such as fruit, a sea organism, etc) and abstract it in a manner that could then be translated as a physical model, exclusively through a digital fabrication process [taking into consideration available materials, methods, etc], while maintaining the essence of the original form.

sP: what or who influenced this project?

aB+rM: the growth and decay process of pomegranates; digital fabrication methods; ammar eloueini

sP: what were you reading/listening to/watching while developing this project?

aB+rM: reading > Nature Design: From inspiration to innovation; Catalytic Formations; Digital Ground:Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing ; Society of the Spectacle, a lot of random design theory [rahim, tschumi, hashim sarkis, bruce mau, stan allen, marc augé, bergdoll, kwinter]

listening > radiohead, santigold, apparat, massive attack, harry potter books on tape, girl talk, yelle, temper trap, the knife

watching > archer, it’s always sunny in philadelphia, random TEDtalks, true blood

sP: whose work is currently on your radar?

aB+rM: nendo, NOUSgallery, anastasiya komarova, polynoid, anish kapoor, apologue, amanda levete, massimiliano fuksas, jason bruges, diller+scofidio renfro, christo+jeanne-claude, cecil kim, meso, klein-dytham, zaha hadid