This museum-quality model was constructed for the Matters of Sensation show at Artist’s Space in New York.  Jason Payne’s renovation of an existing one room schoolhouse, built in the early 1900s, features long, slender shingles that are intentionally attached improperly to encourage premature furling of the kind already seen in the existing southwestern façade.

The challenge of constructing the model was two fold. First, to develop a system to mass produce shingles that would mimic the flamboyant and irregular characteristics of natural weathering.  And second, the intricate model needed to withstand shipping from Los Angeles to New York. 

After extensive testing, I developed a strategy whereby we used a variety of hair curlers to curl birch wood veneer strips at varying radii. To address shipping concerns, I designed the model to come apart at the foundation as well as at the roof line.  Each element had to be independently structurally sound as well as precisely constructed so the components would fit together seamlessly.