The architects used ultra strong steel fabricated at a local factory – Rigidized Metals Corporation and tested its structural potentials. Texturing the sheet material strengthened it and allowed it to stand on its own without any additional support.
The team entered their first wall project in the TEX-FAB SKIN International Digital Fabrication Competition and revised the design to make it more porous and let more natural light through as it were a façade element after making it to the final stage.
Both projects were initiated as part of the university’s desire to transform Silo City from a dilapidatedindustrial site into a space for creative thinking. It looks like they are making progress as Bruscia and Romano have already converted an abandoned office building on the site into an architectural studio. The $10,000 prize money from the competition will be used to build a prototype of 3xLP in time for the Tex-FAB 5 Conference in Austin, where it will be exhibited in February.
+ University of Buffalo
+ TEX-FAB SKIN International Digital Fabrication Competition
Photos by Nick Bruscia, Chris Romano and Douglas Levere
