tensegrity aviary

Winner of the 2012 American Institute of Architect's 10UP Design Competition, this project aimed to celebrate the Beltline’s ground-breaking urban strategy that restores wildlife habitats devastated by 20th century industrialization. Instead of resisting the ecological forces present within the place, the project questioned whether design could achieve a form of longevity through the embodiment of such conditions. Collaborating with Chip Clark, a modified tensegrity aviary was developed for the Beltline that served as a place of cohabitation between local bird species and wildlife enthusiast. The lightweight cloud comprised of compressive bird feeders and tensile bird perches floated overhead, projecting over 75’ beyond its small 5’ x 10’ footprint, mapping the local system of ecology onto a unique force-expressive system. Finite element analysis models and full scale functional prototypes were used to test the performance of this new system which enabled the structural dynamics of the system to be calibrated prior to being transported to the site for final installation.