Materials & Applications picks the top three Staging Construction finalists

Last year, LA-based Materials & Applications launched Staging Construction as a call for projects that explores construction as both practice and performance. The competition responds to the increasing attention to “the unseen endeavors intrinsic to the production of architecture”, as seen in participatory design processes, satirization of DIY building culture, and competitions around demolition, for example.

Out of 75 proposals for an installation and public program, M&A selected three finalists: Michelle Chang (Houston, TX), Steven Chodoriwsky (Los Angeles, CA), and T+E+A+M (Ann Arbor, MI). who will advance to a second round of design development. Four honorable mentions went to BLB Collective with Peggy Noland (LA/NY/Boston); Curtis Roth (Columbus, OH); Outpost Office (Ann Arbor, MI); and Reimaging (Los Angeles, CA).

Finalist: ‘Scoring, Building’ by Michelle Chang, Houston, TX 

The proposal: “Scoring, Building operates with a standard building system, wood framing and sheathing, and extends the duration of the building act by repeating a set of instructions for a set length of time. The aforementioned intensification of labor practices on the front end of architectural design is met with this project’s intensification of labor practices in the late stage of construction. The recursive performance building instructions serve as a means of form-finding on the same level as drawing. The acts of cutting, scoring, nailing, screwing, and mudding soften hard edges, create gaps, holes, and cracks in the architecture’s material form.”

Finalist: ‘Lead Time’ by T+E+A+M, Ann Arbor, MI 

The proposal: “From the moment of extraction or the rst machine operation in a factory, materials are set in motion. They leave the mine, enter the factory, get on a boat then a truck, land on a site, are lifted with a crane, sit beneath carpets and behind walls, act as a backdrop for interior decoration, deteriorate with disuse, are slammed by a wrecking ball, dumped in a truck, and eventually dropped in a land ll. ‘Lead Time’ inserts another stop in the perpetual motion of architectural matter, diverting materials away from their eventual destination and into a temporary stockpile. These borrowed materials will form the basis of an immersive environment assembled on site and a digital platform that highlights the logistical networks to which they belong.”

Finalist: ‘Construction Company’ by Steven Chodoriwsky, Los Angeles, CA 

The proposal: “‘Construction Company’ envisions M&A as a space of incubation for alternative social/aesthetic forms of construction, in order to both dream new organizational structures or embed new tactics into existing ones. ‘Construction Company’ proposes a collaborative durational performance in which a group of participants embark upon a double task of assembly: one, to form a de facto construction company; and two, to stage a performed piece in which the result of that company’s labors—both as physical structure and acted narrative—is assembled, inhabited, and dismantled in realtime before a public audience. The goal is to produce a living text that both presents and simultaneously instantiates forms of construction through a single choreographic “learning play.” It is not enough to show, but rather to overthrow what is meant and understood as viable, pliable forms of construction for the built environment through the theatre act.”

The winner will receive $30,000 to fund material costs, fabrication, artist fees, travel and accommodations, and additional related public programming planned by the winner. The winning design is expected to be chosen by the end of 2018, and will be exhibited in 2019.

Check out some previous works of the honorable mention recipients in the gallery below.