PCG Public

Radlab, in collaboration with Stilfragen AAD, was commissioned to design a new public gathering space for the Piano Craft Gallery in Boston’s South End. Five pre-cast concrete benches were made from one kit of reconfigurable formwork parts. The notion of deforming one face of each block enabled identity to enter into the domain of repetition. The subtractive transformations are an approximation of a hyperbolic paraboloid, providing the formal stability needed to support the benches, yet with playful suggestions of instability. Although the geometry of each bench is the same, the change in orientation presents a discrete experience of the bench relative to its placement and context. The carved portions are turned toward one another, thereby suggesting a circulation path that cultivates a sense place. The anodized aluminum sign is folded over a painted plywood backer, with hose clamps for fastening to the existing posts. The sign is set low in an effort to link the outdoor space defined by the benches, to the indoor space of the gallery.

Status: Completed, 2014
Client: Piano Craft Guild Associates
Location: Boston, MA

Credits
Designed and Fabricated by Radlab in collaboration with Stilfragen AAD

Project Team
Matt Trimble
Ian Carney
Amanda Lee
Steve Listwon
Ethan Zisson