Stephen Deters from UCLA visited i.M.A.D.E as a research fellow to conduct a 3-day studio workshop to examine the performative capacities of materials–specifically, $20,000 worth of donated hardwood veneer. The resulting Bodhi Tree is comprised of laser-cut veneer components created specifically for curving, twisting, and layering in order to negotiate structural capacity with aesthetic sensibilities of lightness, patterning, and light/shadow.
A lecturer at UCLA, Stephen Deters has practiced architecture in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. His experience covers a broad scope of building typologies through all stages of design and construction, from furniture to skyscrapers to urban design. He has worked in the offices of Eric Owen Moss (LA), Kohn Pedersen Fox (NY), Pei Cobb Fried (NY), Beyer Blinder Belle (NY) and Fujikawa Johnson Gobel (CHI). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Architecture from the University of California Los Angeles, where he now teaches. He has also studied at the Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles (FR) and the Universitat fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna (AU) under Zaha Hadid. He has been a licensed architect since 2003, and is founding principal of Deterfabrik.
