Project Type: Pavilion
Project Lead: Vivian Lee
Hair, Spikes, Cattail, and Turkeyfoot is a research project funded by the University of Michigan’s Research Through Making grant. The goal of the grant is to explore an architectural topic of compelling interest to contemporary design and produce a built form that exemplifies such research. Our interest is in roofing with thatch material - specifically its use as a sustainable material that is gathered through the harvest cycle - and its ability to invoke many ideal building traits, such as rain-shedding and thermal insulation, when aggregated. Our extensive research and diagramming of vernacular thatching influenced our design of a streamlined system that combines the form, structure, and material effects of thatched roofing into one component piece. The result is “comb jammer”, inspired by the rake and pitchfork, used in vernacular thatch to respectively finish the roof and to hold and transport thatch, becomes a “comb jammer”. A comb jammer is entirely made from a piece of folded water-jet cut sheet metal. It is at once a tool, a securing device for thatch material, and the substructure - combining the essential elements of vernacular thatch into a singular object that creates new and exciting formal opportunities.
