ISSUES OF PRACTICE: ROOF JOINT FABRICATION (w. Madhura Kharche)

This partner project for the third year Issues of Practice course involved designing a piece that was integral to the development of our studio project. We were challenged to design a working joint in a deployable roof system that was to be integrated into the outdoor learning/collaboration area of the maker center.  With our partners, we had to create, specify, detail, and commission the physical fabrication of our piece by a fabricator in the Pittsburgh area. This project pushed us to deal head-on with the challenges and difficulties of translating our drawings into realized physical products.

We designed a track system that would allow sliding panels to collapse and deploy and become part of the water collection system of our building. We worked with Sean Smith, of Pittsburgh Foundry & Machine Co., to improve our design and make it feasible to manufacture within our budget, practical limitations, and class requirements.