D E S I G N /// ck

This is the project I'm working on right now: A facelift for the Tennessee School of Beauty. They're located in a nondescript strip mall in West Knoxville, definitely the antithesis of beauty. So the owner has asked us to give the School a better presence on the exterior, calling attention to the sections of the strip mall that they reside in. A limited budget dictated that not much could be changed about the building itself, so I focused on an intervention that could be "clipped on." Taking cues from the from the colors of the client's logos and branding, I explored a geometric metaphor of strands of hair and created three faceted bands of tensioned fabric:


The "strands" are held to the facade by simple aluminum trusses. This is a relatively inexpensive re-imagining of what an "awning" can be. The bottom strand wraps toward the entry, continuing as a ceiling element in the lobby.

Any of you who are familiar with the so.zo coffeehouse will see that this is a continuation of that design thesis. I have a meeting with the client on Thursday, so I'll update you here as the project evolves.