Voussoir Cloud
This site-specific installation of a compressed vault system at the SciArc Gallery, Los Angeles, uses a featherweight sheet material, intentionally confusing structural and material strategies. The project attempts to defamiliarise and create conflicted readings of normative architectural typologies. Voussoirs – wedge-shaped masonry blocks that form an arch – were created by folding paper-thin wood laminate along curved seams. A digital design and fabrication process enabled the exploration of the spatial consequences of mathematical relationships, such as curvature, number, size and relative position of components. The result has a strong sensorial presence: a light, porous surface of luminous wood pieces. Voussoir Cloud manages to engage its viewer on both a cognitive and sensual level. IwamotoScott is a San Francisco based architecture and design practice. Photography: Judson Terry.
