Screen-fold

Project Team: Greg Bugel, Brittany Drapac, Michi Ushio + Rodrigo Zamora

Columbia University GSAPP: Surface, Screen + Structure / Joseph Vidich with Maloya Laser + Face Design

Site: 610 Broadway, New York, NY

Program: Attachable sunshade system to existing curtain wall facade

Size: 7,150 square feet of wall surface

Seamless white slivers of stainless steel traverse the facade from edge to edge, generating texture at street-scale and triangulated folds that diffuse light from within the store and offices. This sunscreen wraps the bustling intersection of Broadway and Houston, the site of Adidas’ Sport Performance Store and offices. Through a system of folded metal panels, we enfolded the building’s corner, transitioning from the lesser angle required to shade the south facade to the greater angle appropriate for the west facade. Since fabrication considerations were critical to the process, we designed a series of panels that can be riveted together at changes in the angle. Integrated gussets fold from the panel surface to attach to the steel angles that connect every two panels to the original facade. Such detailing allowed us to create visually continuous bands that stretch across the glass, at significant moments mimicking the motion of peering through blinds-- at a much larger scale.