Project Description:

The ingenuity of the Shaker Culture was the focus of Spring Semester, 2010. We analyzed Shaker artifacts and furniture, and translated the performances thereof into architectural consequences.

Certain design anomalies of the Shaker Stand with drawer, circa 1820, provided the basis for the project. The small lip on the work surface's periphery, instrumental in its function for seed-sorting, formed a point of convergence at the corner, and the rectangular top on a tri-pod base made the table inherently unstable. Undulation, transience and convergence became the driving forces behind the design of a new Shaker Archive and Exhibition Center. As one example, "convergence" translated into radially sectioned structural members. The radiating fins flow seamlessly into the floor plates and roof, creating a skeletal network. This network also provides unique curatorial opportunities.