Industrial Art and Design has transformed a burned out storefront on Minneapolis' northeast side into an veritable idea foundry. With a philosophy and portfolio developed through years of academic, professional and personal experimentation, fabrication and old fashioned tinkering, IAD has a uniquely holistic perspective on tap for any challenge.
Our Portfolio
Design, Prototyping, & Fabrication
Modular Prefab Architecture
Marc Swackhamer and Blair Satterfield
slv design
Drape Wall
For the 2003 HOME House Project competition, slv design, which includes Marc Swackhamer from the University of Minnesota's College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, proposed Draft House, which then evolved technically into the project, Drape Wall, that is presented here.
This full-scale section presents energy innovations through new approaches to cooling, heating, ventilating and lighting for an inexpensive house. The wall is assembled quickly and inexpensively by stacking high-strength, low-weight exterior bricks, which are held in place by interlocking interior bricks. When assembled with a pattern of clear openings, they allow light into the house interior. They also can rotate, to face the sun, reducing the need for electric lighting. Openings Holes in the brick pattern open up the wall for natural ventilation, reducing cooling costs. Some portions of the wall can be used for storage, reducing the floor area needed for that function and saving costs.
The drape wall, a A quilt-like fabric on the interior surface of the wall, makes use of an innovative materials and design to create an interactive weather seal. Because of the relationship between the hard outer shell and the design of the soft inner fabric, the homeowner can control the interior environment in response to outside conditions, such as temperature, humidity, weather, light levels, and desired views.
The quilt is created from multiple layers of materials. Some layers keep water out (the blue layer). Others provide insulation (inside, not visible), and others provide a soft, acoustically absorptive surface that homeowners can customize with colors and patterns according to personal taste (white layer of industrial felt). The fabric incorporates waterproof zippers for opening and closing specific pockets of the wall. Some pockets allow breezes to come through the wall, facilitating ventilation, while other pockets keep air out but allow for light infiltration. Other pockets simply access storage space created in the empty zone between the quilt and shell, while others open up to outside views.
Future prototypes of Drape Wall will incorporate even more innovative materials. Luminescent fabrics will supply interior light at night, recharging passively during the day through photovoltaic paint and batteries printed directly on the quilt's exterior. A layer of "aerogel" also will hang inside the quilt. Aerogel is a material that is 99.8 per cent air, 1000 times less dense than glass, and provides 39 per cent more insulating value than the best fiberglass insulation. Other elements being explored are sewn-in, flexible tubes containing radiant heating and cooling liquid as well as a grid of electrical wiring.
Credits
Design Criticism
Pat McGlothlin - Lazor Office, Minneapolis
Adam Rouse - Roy Design, NYC
Karl Wallick - Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati
Drawing / Modeling
Don Vu - Graduate student, College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota
Prototype Production
Susanna Hohmann - Terrazign, Inc., Portland (quilt)
Dave Hultman, Industrial Art and Design (panels and frame)
Rob Tickle, Industrial Art and Design (panels and frame)
David Wulfman - University of Minnesota (panels and frame)
Antonio Rodriguez - Graduate student, College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota (construction and assembly)
Contributors
Dayton Hudson Faculty Fellowship, Metropolitan Design Center, College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota
Weisman Art Museum
