Petal Project 5 was developed for DesCours 2008, an AIA New Orleans sponsored event, by TZCO (Thaddeus Zarse and Clare Olsen). Anticipating New Orleans’ courtyards—hidden pockets of green within the French Quarter—Petal Project 5 was developed based on a desire to assimilate with an existing courtyard through a subtle insertion to achieve our two programmatic goals, which were seating and lighting.

The petal-form seating, when nested together (which was the formation during the CNC manufacturing process), create a closely packed petalscape for intimate conversation. Otherwose, the seating can be spatially distributed to create a landscape of discrete pieces. Each petalform seat is embedded with its own solar panel that powers an LED light strand. The strands emit a subtle glow, but when the petals are nested together, the collective petalscape produces a more intense luminosity.

i.M.A.D.E consulted with TZCO on the CNC fabrication of the foam forms for Petal Project 5’s seating. Each petal-form seat was sectioned and CNC milled by i.M.A.D.E students in advance of the site assembly and installation work.

Petal Project 5 now has a website to visit for photographs of the petal-form seating installed: http://www.petalproject5.com/

It was great working with TZCO and we look forward to future collaborations or consulting with them.

Consulting Team:
Dustin Headley
Joshua Vermillion