In this 3rd floor addition in San Francisco, CA, the program requires that most new walls remain devoid of architectural detail in order to maximize available surface areas for the owner’s vast art collection. Therefore, the viable area for design investigation is the ceiling plane. A geometric pattern is invented that visually deforms the ceiling plane into a shifting presence of valleys and bulges. Designed to sheath the entire top floor, this lining unifies the spaces with constantly alternating figurations that emerge in time as the viewer passes through the spaces.

Rather than pre-establish heightened zones of deformation, our efforts focus on providing a random distribution of lines, and when viewed from different vantage points, would create continually changing and emergent alignments. Defined by a set of geometric rules, each ceiling plank is individually cut via digital milling in collaboration with Studio Under Manufacture. The effect is a ceiling pattern that visually realigns at all times, making the viewer’s presence in space the central thesis to the project.