TESSE[LIGHTED] INSTALLATION

Since 2012, Matt Fajkus Architecture, LLC has worked with Tribeza Austin Arts + Culture Magazine on the backdrop for their annual Fashion Show, a culmination of Austin Style Week. This year's installation is a collaboration with the University Co-op Materials Lab and is an interpretation of Texas landscape. Corrugated metal panels salvaged from an airplane hangar at the Austin Haile Flight Center are punctuated by undulating forms of sheer fabric stretched over welded rebar frames, backlit by fluorescent tubes. The materials reference the varied Texas Landscape as a metaphor for the skin and bones, layers and formations associated with the making of garments and the fashion industry.

The warehouse venue, Fair Market in East Austin, was booked the days prior and following, so installation and takedown of the backdrop had to be done mere hours before and after the show. To streamline the process, the entire backdrop was assembled in modules off-site, each of a dimension that could be handled by a single person and would fit in the bed of a standard pickup truck.

Location: Austin, Texas | Phase: Completion 2014 | Project Manager: Thomas Johnston and Jen Wong - UT Mat Lab | Design Team: Matt Fajkus, Thomas Johnston, Jen Wong | Design & Fabrication Support: Mitch Peterson, Jordan Teitlebaum, Jody Broccoli-Hickey, Yang Chen | Event Partners: TRIBEZA Magazine and UT Materials Lab