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The Vermont high-rise luxury apartments in Los Angeles are now home to a dramatic new work of art that incorporates a dual-purpose Cascade Architectural Fabricoil™ coiled wire fabric system. The system is made of interlocked strands of coiled wire formed into flexible fabric and engineered for interior and exterior customizable architectural building systems.
For this project, the Fabricoil system serves as both a canvas for the artwork and a façade for The Vermont’s parking garage. Titled, “Los Angeles Opens its Heart of Compassion,” the artwork by Cliff Garten of Cliff Garten Studio, Venice, Calif., was completed in January
A 20-foot-tall, suspended, three-dimensional sculpture is the centerpiece of the work. It’s made of 100 laser-cut aluminum “lotus petals” extending outward from a steel armature. The sculpture is framed by the undulating 75-foot by 45-foot Fabricoil system that itself is a striking component. LED lighting showcases the art from the front, back and sides.
“The sculpture is bathed in an intense white light, while the screen and its corresponding line drawing move through a light show of rich changing colors,” says Garten. “The swells of color captured by the curving screen deepen in relation to the amount of natural daylight.”
Fabricoil systems look and perform like traditional woven metal mesh, but have a far lower installed cost. Fabricoil architectural coiled wire fabric is manufactured in a wide variety of weaves, metals, gauges and finishes – all suitable for both interior and exterior applications.
For The Vermont project, Cliff Garten Studio utilized a 5/16”, 14-gauge aluminum Fabricoil system with a clear anodized finish. The Clamp engineered attachment system, designed by Cascade Architectural, was selected by Cliff Garten and the structural engineer to attach the Fabricoil system to the building.
Lower install cost was made possible by the unique design of the Fabricoil material: interlocked strands of wire shaped into a coil form. This spiraling gives it structure and spring-like characteristics that allow for greater degrees of tensions and compression without permanent deformation. Also, the systems are lighter and so have reduced structural embed requirements.
Environmentally sustainable and made in the USA, the coiled-wire fabric has also been shown to save energy and increase thermal comfort when used as window treatments or exterior shades and scrims.
Cascade Architectural, based in Tualatin, Ore., is the international manufacturer of Fabricoil™ The systems are manufactured from a range of materials and offered in a variety of colors, finishes and sizes.