core.form-ula

Given our predisposition for even greater control today over an ever-increasingly complex universe, the next generation of animate assemblies within the discipline of architecture will inevitably be comprised of a more complex amalgamation of scripted equations capable of reenacting the most spectacular effects. In response, our modular ceiling system and custom chandeliers for the Choice restaurant were specifically developed to test the potential of intricacy, animate form and material effects for an architecture of serial distraction.  -Evan Douglis

UPDATE: Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that our most recent project, Choice: Kitchens and Bakery,which was nominated as a finalist for the 2010 James Beard Award, has now been selected as a finalist for the distinguished; AIA: LA, 2010 Restaurant Design Awards. The competition is a Peoples Choice Award open to public voting.

Below is a link to the webpage where you can cast your vote for the competition.
The AIA: LA, 2010 Restaurant Design Awards

The Brooklyn emporium Choice has opened its latest location in Dumbo, and the new cafe reflects the district’s industrial-chic aesthetic. A subdued palette of tan Chinese stone, polished concrete, and Cor-ten steel offers a comfortable yet contemporary look, but a surprise awaits overhead in the cafe’s exuberant ceiling. With volutes and swirling forms that recall baroque and rococo decoration, the custom-made work bears the signature of Brooklyn-based design firm Evan Douglis Studio and the new Dean of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer.

Drawing on a longstanding interest in ornamental forms and emerging fabrication technologies, the architect created his new modular ceiling from a series of sixteen primary building components that were computer-designed and3-D printed. From these originals, the team cast a total of 635 lightweight urethane replicas. These elements are arranged to give an illusion of continual, swirling motion. Looking like dollops of whipped cream, the forms have a “magical and soothing quality,” said principal Evan Douglis, while containing the cafe’s sound and sprinkler systems within. Suspended from the construction are 45 hand-blown glass chandeliers – named Moon Jelly, the bubble-shaped pieces are like “fireflies that float underneath the night sky, ”according to Douglis – and add the final baroque flourish to this otherwise minimalist interior.

Rebecka Gordan, Editor / Architecture Newspaper