SEGD_Design - (Page 40) From vision to reality San Diego-based Fabrication Arts was responsible for translating Visual Asylum’s design intent into threedimensional reality. “This is the kind of project we love doing,” says John O’Connell, vice president. “We enjoy helping to create sculptural elements and working with designers on materials, finishes, and processes.” Fabrication Arts used aluminum extensively in the project, beginning with the banner poles and banner blades with digitally printed faces. The sculptural birds atop the banner poles were waterjet-cut from _-in. thick aluminum and protected with Matthews polyurethane. A major fabrication challenge was creating elements that could stand up to potential thieves and vandals. Heavy coats of colored paint may fool thieves looking to steal metal, says O’Connell, but if that doesn’t work, tamper-resistant hardware requires special wrenches the typical thief won’t carry. Creating the circular shape of the interpretive kiosk was also a challenge, in addition to engineering it for weather and vandal resistance. “And we had to make sure that children didn’t mistake the spinning elements of the kiosk for more playground equipment,” says O’Connell. Three roll-formed, conical aluminum panels spin on a central pole in lazy Susan fashion, allowing visitors to learn about the park and its indigenous birds. Interpretive graphics were embedded into Fossil high-pressure laminate covering the panels. “It’s a very vandal-resistant way to embed graphics subsurface,” O’Connell adds. Braille was also required for the project, so it was embedded in the HPL on a non-rotating panel. Tweet Street won a 2008 Orchid Award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation. Jurors called it “an urban gem that steals back an unused Caltrans right-of-way to create a much-needed shady green space. Bravo! We need a hundred more of these.” Above: AIGA San Diego invited local artists, designers, and architects to create urban birdhouses that would attract indigenous birds back to the neighborhood. Right: Designers realized that families would also want to bring their dogs to the park. A garden of colorful fire hydrants was planted to entice dogs and help preserve landscaping. Below: Tweet Street has become a welcoming oasis for local families. TWEET STREET PARK Location: San Diego Client: Centre City Development Corp. Design: Visual Asylum Design Team: MaeLin Levine (principal, project creative director), Amy Jo Levine (principal, project signage designer), Joel Sotelo (senior designer, project identity designer) Consultants: Estrada Land Planning (landscape architecture), Nasland Engineering (engineering) Fabrication: Fabrication Arts Suppliers: Fossil Industries (highpressure laminate), Matthews Paint (polyurethane finish) Photos: Jim Coit segdDESIGN 37
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