U-M architects win award for innovative tower design

Members of the University of Michigan's architecture faculty are reaching new heights -- literally. Periscope, the 45-foot structure created by full-time faculty member Wes McGee, director of the fabrication laboratory at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan and co-founder of Matter of Design Studio with Brandon Clifford, won the 10UP! National Architecture Competition recently held in Atlanta, Ga. The tower is built almost entirely from recyclable expanded polystyrene, which was cut into approximately 500 unique blocks on the FABLab's robotic hotwire cutting system. Once assembled, the tower is post compressed with a cable network. McGee, who has an industrial design background, explains that since the competition's guidelines were pretty open, his team wanted to take a more experimental approach. The geotechnical foam they used actually serves as infill for building roads. It's recyclable and easy to move, although it took up a surprising amount of space, he adds. "It's actually pretty strong for its weight," he says. "There was foam everywhere in the lab." After he and Clifford developed the concept in April, they didn't hear whether or not their idea had been accepted. They found out with only two weeks to spare, which meant nearly round-the-clock work. "Luckily, classes finished here right at the end of April," he says. They built pieces of the structure, which was then shipped to Atlanta, and assembled it there. McGee says they drew their inspiration for the hollow structure from the look of fabric stretched to make a tent, and knew they wanted to use the lab's robotic cutting tool even before they came up with a design. The proposed projects needed to cost less than $5,000 to create and assemble, in addition to being able to be assembled on site within 24 hours. McGee is interested in entering another competition like this in the future. "We keep a running list of these kinds of competitions," he says. "I don't know if we will build a 45-foot tower, but we are looking at using foam." Source: Wes McGee, faculty member and director of the fabrication laboratory at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, and co-founder of Matter of Design Studio Writer: Kristin Lukowski