ZZ Top

2011 Artist’s Statement:

A door represents enclosure and containment. Our concept was to turn the door inside out, embracing the space around it versus its historical use of enclosing space.

To accomplish this we decided to basically “fold” and fragment the door. Early schemes were overly fragmented and distorted, which we felt lacked sensitivity to the original form of the door. Through a process of refinement, we were able to retain the identity of the door while still deconstructing it.

Inspired by the works of Gordon Matta-Clarck and Donald Judd.
It's a coffee table.
We named it ZZ Top.

Progress!!!

For those of you, including me, who were starting to doubt the team could pull something together, I am proud to say that we have an official concept!! Earlier this week, Conley and Jason seemed to be heading in opposite directions creatively. In a last ditch effort to spur some new ideas, I sent an email to the team with some contemporary lighting designs for them to to see. Not 15 minutes later, the team was huddled over Conley's desk as Jason and Conley furiously sketched their way to a a hanging light concept. In that amount of time, the team went from parting on creative differences to kindling a renewed sense of excitement as the design began to take shape. An official meeting was called and with the wisdom of Jay, a seasoned woodworker, the structure has emerged.

Door Deconstruction

Members of the team got together this past weekend and dissasembled the door. Braving the heat, Conley and Brandon used hammers, chisels, and multiple saws (both electric and hand wielded) to cut and pry the door apart. To Conley's dismay and Brandon's delight, no glass was broken. There are also multiple models that have been created. Whether it's rectangles, cubes or strips, the door is going to be further dissasembled. Now it's up to the designers to work their magic.

Stack Slideshow Door Deconstruction

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Third Meeting

Still unsure of the concept, the team has decided to disassemble the door over the weekend and create a model, both physical and in Sketchup. The idea of cutting the door into small uniform pieces is still holding the team's interest, but the glass is posing a problem for some of the ideas.

Second Meeting

More than a month has gone by and lack of organization and busy project deadlines have kept progress to a miniumum. An emergency meeting was called and the team finally came up with some tangible, hopefully buildable ideas.


In keeping with the stack theme, we discussed the idea of breaking the door down to small pieces and using those to shape a new concept. This concept could possibly be another lamp with a long cantilevered section of stacked wood pieces.


It seems that the glass may prove to be more of a curse than a blessing. The team has stalled in how to implement the glass pieces into any of the proposed structures. Regradless, the designers have three days to place their concepts into Sketchup so that when we reconvene on Friday and demolition/construction can begin over the weekend. The deadline is fast approaching and this project may slip away from us.

First Design Meeting

Here's a slideshow of our first design meeting. Early concepts are beginning to form as seen by the scribbles of Jay, Conley and Jason.

Stack Slideshow 2010

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Stack 2010!

It's back! The Memphis Heritage Adapt-A-Door project is in full swing. Door has been picked, sketching has commenced and may the best team win. Last year, the TRO Jung|Brannen won Best In Show and managed to raise a good bit of money for Memphis Heritage. This year, the team has introduced a new element to the design effort.

Glass.

Also new to the team is Conley Reilly, who after a failed attempt to complete an Adapt-A-Door project on his own last year, has decided to bring his woodworking craftsmenship to the TROJB team. Absent from the team will be Susan Golden. This little guy is keeping her busy at home right now.

As planning gets under way, it remains to be seen if the cohesiveness of the team can remain intact without Susan, our fearless project manager. Someone will have to step up and take on that role. This thing may fall apart before it even gets started...

The 2009 Project

From

to

Design Philosophy/Process

From the beginning, the team agreed that we wanted to create something simple and functional that would still relate to the door in some way. The panels of the door offered the only unique design feature so after much discussion, the idea of dividing the door into separate panels was found to be the best way to honor the form of what would forever be remembered by the team as Door Number Four.

In the initial brainstorming sessions, the idea of transforming the door into a clock or a lamp was discussed. Building upon the strengths of the individual team members, we decided that the combination of Brandon’s master electrical skills and the impeccable woodworking genius of Jay lent itself to forming some sort of lamp. In true architect fashion, Jay, Susan and Jason began feverishly sketching, drawing and redrawing; arguing, hypothesizing, and charretting themselves into a frenzy as the non-architects, Brandon and Andy looked on, occasionally offering sound, practical and often unpopular words of wisdom to the growing cloud of paper, pen and egos. In the end, it was decided. The panels would be stacked, and that stack would become our lives for the next two months.

Throughout the design and construction phases, many iterations of the stack idea were presented. Most of these were fortunately tabled as the team sometimes became enamored with their own creativity but then frustrated by their lack of ingenuity. Thus the edits continued until the whole team felt comfortable with the final product.

The door was cut into rectangular boxes, representing the panels on the façade of the door. Furniture-grade plywood was mixed in to contrast the old, paint flecked exterior of the boxes, and copper was introduced as a structural as well as artistic element to the piece. In keeping with the spirit of preservation and conservation, the lighting took a fluorescent route, and the light box was kept clean and simple to accent the individual stacked panels.

In the end, the design is clean, simple and distinctly architectural. From Jason’s overly artistic viewpoint, the lamp represents the contrast of old and new with the light itself symbolizing the rebirth of the door. The copper expresses a richness that evolves over time as the patina settles in. For the rest of us, we think it’s just a damn cool lamp.

Check out the slide show below to see a more in-depth look at how this project unfolded.

Stack

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The Bolt Race

About the firm

TRO JungBrannen is an international architecture, interior design, engineering and master planning firm that is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2009. The firm is guided by its vision to create exceptional and responsive design, using leading-edge technology to develop projects that perform beyond our clients’ expectations. We pride ourselves for building long-standing collaborative partnerships with our clients and partners. While our reach is global, our true success relies on the personal and individual attention paid to each client and project.

The Memphis office of TRO JungBrannen, formerly JMGR, has a long history of designing landmark buildings throughout the Midsouth, including the Southern College of Optometry, the Shrine Building and the Hilton Hotel. Recently completed local projects include the Memphis Humane Society and the WKNO headquarters. The firm is also currently working on the Salvation Army Kroc Center and the Methodist Le Bonheur Women's and Children's Pavilion in Germantown. With a firm-wide commitment to historic preservation, TRO JungBrannen strongly supports the work of Memphis Heritage and AIA Memphis in their continued efforts to promote preserving Memphis' rich architectural history.