Portfolio / CNC Routing Display Pedestals

Architects Seth McDowell and Rychiee Espinosa founded their practice mcdowellespinosa in 2010 with the goal of transforming “waste, excess, and the ordinary into new spatial and material realities.” In 2015, they were selected os one of the six winners of the the prestigious Architectural League Prize. Winners of the prize present their work in lectures as well as an exhibition presented by the Architectural League.

We were asked to fabricate a set of six pedestals to display their architectural models for the exhibit held at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons in New York. They wanted the models illuminated from below, so the top of the pedestals were designed to hold a translucent acrylic panel. While the acrylic panel was laser cut, the rest of the pedestals were fabricated from MDF on the CNC router. The precision of the CNC made assembly fairly quick, and the pedestals were finished with flat white paint. Since the lighting would be installed and adjusted by the clients in the gallery, an adjustable shelf below the acrylic panel was designed to hold the lights at any height, with enough space for any switches and cords within the body of the pedestal.

Images of the finished pedestals with models at the Architectural League exhibition provided mcdowellespinosa.