Behin Ha Design Studio LLC

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

COSHOCTON RAY TRACE INSTALLATION

Behin Ha

ARCHITECTS
Behin Ha

MANUFACTURERS
Snyder Manufacturing

CATEGORY
Temporary Installations

LOCATION
Coshocton, United States

CLIENTS
Pomerene Center for the Arts

AREA
650 ft2

ENGINEERING
TTR Engineers

YEAR
2019

PHOTOGRAPHS
Brad Feinknopf

DESIGN TEAM
Behrang Behin and Ann Ha

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

Text description provided by architect.

Behin Ha's Coshocton Ray Traceemploys scrap material from a coated mesh fabric manufacturer to create a temporary installation at a community park in Coshocton, Ohio.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

The installation engages the community both by involving its members in its construction, and by creating an unexpected point of attraction near the town square. 

The structure is operated by the Pomerene Center for the Arts as a meeting place for the community over the summer of 2019, at the end of which it is dismantled and sent back to the manufacturer for recycling.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

The Pomerene Center for the Arts commissioned Behin Ha Design Studio to design a temporary shade structure at artPark, a public park in Coshocton, Ohio, for the Summer of 2019.

Located at the site of a burned-down hotel building in Coshocton's downtown, the artPark was created and maintained by the Pomerene Center as a way of engaging the community in the arts at an otherwise blighted site.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

Behin Ha's installation was to work around and with the various interventions that had been made over the years at the artPark.

Furthermore, the new installation, intended to provide a meeting place for the community, was to engage the community in its construction and to use local recycled or up-cycled materials.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

Behin Ha's design works with existing structures on the site, tensioning light ribbons of a coated mesh fabric between an existing steel balcony structure and the ground.

The fabric is scrap material from Snyder Manufacturing in nearby Dover, Ohio. As wide rolls of the fabric are produced in Snyder's manufacturing line, the two ends of the roll are trimmed to provide straight edges.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

The trimmings, which are normally recycled back into the production line, were given new life as a canopy structure in the installation, and are returned to Snyder at the end of the Summer to be recycled back into their manufacturing process.

The assembly procedure was made intentionally straightforward so that the community could be involved in the installation.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

After some preparatory work by local contractors, assembling the structure was a simple matter of tensioning the ribbons between pre-designated anchor points and stapling them in place.

The anchor orientation at the top and bottom create a twist in the ribbons which makes the installation more transparent at eye level and more opaque on top and towards the southern direction.

Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
© Brad Feinknopf

The bright orange color of the installation invites curious passers-by to come into and explore the park.

The installation has also been used for various formal gatherings, including city council meetings and music performances.


Coshocton Ray Trace


Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
Front elevation
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
Elevation
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
Axonometric
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
Details
Coshocton Ray Trace Installation
Plan

Behin Ha Design Studio LLC
T +1 510 6846177
Behin Ha Design Studio LLC
888 Newark Ave #520, Jersey City, NJ 07306, United States