April 2008
- The model is the result of an exploration of shapes suitable for larger buildings covered in part with the K-Method (see below).
The five story structure could house offices and halls for concerts, lectures and exhibitions.
Images
May 2007
Study unsolicited
- The complex of five buildings, located in a New Mexico desert, was designed to house an 80 room hotel, convention facilities, a spa, and an educational visitor center.
Design Concept
Building Complex
Drawings
May 2007
Studies
2006-2007
- Recognizing that the building industry caters to housing that breaks up families by clustering generations into separate communities, the SMART VILLAGE introduces housing that corrects this prevailing social oversight.
The proposal provides accommodations that sustain family relationships without disrupting the life styles of different generations.
Description and Drawings
Additional Studies
A study
March 2006
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- The study of a private residence was completed in March 2006. The undulating roof, shaped by the Kasuba Method, is to be clad with curved aluminum plates as seen in shell dwelings.
A building permit is pending.
Drawings and study models
Floor plan and exterior/interior walls
The membrane
3-D Computer Renderings
Final Model - May 2006
November2005
- Can a tensile membrane shape sculpturally expressive permanent buildings?
- Can an unconventional building method be less expensive than the methods in practice?
Environmental artist Aleksandra Kasuba asked these questions some twenty years ago. To explore the possibilities she moved to a high mountain desert in New Mexico where, relying on her 30 year experience with tensile fabric structures, she built two prototype buildings. Successfully completed last spring, the shell dwellings are presently used by invited artists, writers and students of The University of New Mexico.
THE METHOD
with
Metal Plates
2005
Work in New Mexico
2001-2003
At the foot of a mound on a 70-acre high desert tract of land a complex of shell houses will be built. The aim is to experiment with unconventional building methods and materials, and take the ideas projected in Imagining the Future a step further--use membranes as a guide to produce curvilinear walls for housing.
- Description of Project - Site & Models
- Updates: Nov. 2001 · Feb. 2002 · July 2002
- Rock Hill House / compl. Oct. 2002
- Exterior Details / Interiors
- Shell Dwellings
- Foundations and Framings / Nov. 2002
- Wire Membranes / Jan. 2003
- Kitchen · Attaching Wire to Frame · Studio · Bedroom
- Shell Assembly / March 2003
- Lining the Membrane · Attaching Pleats to Membrane · Polyurethane Foam
- Stucco / July 2003
- Lath for Stucco · Applying Stucco
- Temporary Finishes / August 2003
- Painting on Stucco · Kitchen and GuestHouse Painted · Exterior Details · Summation of Project
Curved Surfaces
1969-1989
The www.curvedsurfaces.com website pertains to fabric structures in the round, focusing on the dynamics of forces active in tensile fabric shells. The principles detected indicate that tension can be employed as a shape-giving force to great advantage. The methods developed are presented in detail to pass on what has worked and why, so that those who want to work with this new vocabulary of forms would not have to start from scratch.
Works from
1952-1985
Selected public installations executed in granite, bricks, pebbles, or marbles. Also some early works.
Not-So-Still Life
ShockWave Movie
Originally Not-So-Still Life was shown in 1974 during an Award Presentation Dinner given by the Carborundum Corporation in Niagara Falls, New York. During the showing projections of fruit, each ten feet in diameter on a wall, diminished gradually to core, peel, or seed, the process timed to last 90 minutes. (Here it takes 2 minutes)
Downloading might take a minute. To view, you may need to download the free Shockwave plugin from Macromedia.
Utility for the Soul
Illustrated Booklet
A Retreat House, open year round for the employees of a corporation and maintained at its expense, is designed for relaxation and contemplation. In an environment where everyone wears uniform attire and no one is talking for 48 hours, and where the senses are engaged at every turn, the visitor has a chance to reconnect with a self forgotten or neglected.