Ball-Nogues Studio Explained

Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues
Education:Southern California Institute of Architecture
Known For:Architecture, Public Art, Installation Art, Site-specific Art
Notable Works:Maximilian's Schell, Air Garden, Pulp Pavilion, Cradle

Ball-Nogues Studio is a design and fabrication practice based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, and currently led by Benjamin Ball. The studio's work falls between the categories of art, architecture and industrial design.[1] [2] The practice is known for creating site-specific architectural installations out of unorthodox materials such as stainless steel ball-chain and spheres, paper pulp, garments, and coffee tables.[3] [4] The studio focuses on the process of creation,[5] with an emphasis on the research and exploration of materials and fabrication methods. Much of the studio's work involves expanding the potential of materials [6] and manufacturing techniques.

Biography

Ball was born in Waterloo, Iowa, where he was influenced by his mother's role as a theater director, while Nogues, from Buenos Aires, was inspired by his father's work in aerospace engineering. The two met as undergraduate students at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in the early 1990s.[7] Upon graduation, Ball worked as a set and production designer for films (including work on the Matrix series),[8] music videos, and commercials with influential directors such as Mark Romanek and Tony Scott. He also contributed to more traditional architectural projects including working on medical facilities, residential projects, and commercial projects such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

After graduating from SCI-Arc, Nogues moved directly into a position at Gehry Partners, where he worked in product design and production, becoming a specialist in creative fabrication. He remained at Gehry Partners until 2005, except for a one-year stint in 1996 as an assistant curator at a fine arts publishing house, Gemini GEL.

Work

Ball and Nogues collaborated on their first joint project, entitled Maximilian's Schell, in 2005. The installation was located in the courtyard of Materials & Applications, an architecture gallery space in Los Angeles, California. The piece was a multi-story structure made of semi-translucent, semi-reflective Mylar petals that resembled a colorful vortex.[9] [10] The work received substantial recognition, including a Los Angeles American Institute of Architects Design Award in 2006, I.D. Magazine’s Annual Design Review for Best of Category for Environments in 2006; and as an Emerging Architecture Finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize in 2014.

The studio has also completed three installations for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: Copper Droopscape in 2008, Elastic Plastic Sponge in 2009, and Pulp Pavilion in 2015. In 2015, Architect Magazine bestowed the First Award for its 2015 R+D Awards to the studio for Pulp Pavilion, noting that the “project’s innovative design, ambitious scale, and novel use of a recycled material wowed the jury.” The pavilion was made of recycled paper pulp, a material that the studio had been experimenting with and developing for several years. It comprised seven 20-foot-tall woven tree forms and spanned 1,300 square feet.[11]

Other notable works include Skin and Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture, a temporary installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), a temporary event environment for Tiffany & Company’s formal introduction of the Frank Gehry jewelry and accessories line, made of 4,000 layers of corrugated cardboard sandwiched together, and Liquid Sky, a kaleidoscopic Mylar shade structure created by the studio as the winner of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) P.S.1 Young Architects Program competition.[12]

List of selected artworks and exhibitions

Permanent commissions

Temporary commissions and installations

Group exhibitions

Recognition

Ball-Nogues Studio has received three American Institute of Architects Design Awards, United States Artists Target Fellowship and a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. In 2007, the Studio was the winner of the Museum of Modern Art PS1 Young Architects Program Competition. Their work is part of the permanent collections of both MoMA and LACMA. In 2011, they were one of the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices and, in 2014, they were finalists for the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture's Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize.

Benjamin and Gaston have taught in the graduate architecture programs at SCI-Arc, UCLA, and USC. Their work has appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Architectural Record, Artforum, Icon, Log, Architectural Digest, Mark and Sculpture.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Young. Paul. Ball-Nogues makes architecture for the moment.
  2. Web site: Nouwens. Monica. Emerging Voices 2011: Ball-Nogues Studio. The Architects Newspaper.
  3. Web site: Walker. Alissa. Ball-Nogues Turns the Tables on UCLA.
  4. Web site: Kolson Hurley. Amanda. Why A Building Made From Papier-Mâché Isn't As Crazy As It Sounds.
  5. Book: The Architectural League of New York. 30 Years of Emerging Voices. 30 June 2015. Princeton Architectural Press. 978-1-61689-197-8. 245.
  6. Web site: Nouwens. Monica. Emerging Voices 2011: Ball-Nogues Studio. The Architect's Newspaper.
  7. Web site: Young. Paul. Ball-Nogues makes architecture for the moment. Los Angeles Times.
  8. Web site: Nouwens. Monica. Emerging Voices 2011: Ball-Nogues Studio. The Architect's Newspaper.
  9. Web site: Young. Paul. Ball-Nogues makes architecture for the moment. Los Angeles Times.
  10. Web site: Chang. Jade. Courtyard Vortex. Metropolis.
  11. Web site: Humphries. Courtney. First Award: Pulp Pavilion. Architect.
  12. Web site: Pogrebin. Robin. Two Low-Key Young Architects With an Attitude, a Vision and Now a Prize. The New York Times.

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