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Founded by Mark Foster Gage and Marc Clemenceau Bailly

in 2004, Gage / Clemenceau Architects is at the forefront of a

new generation of architects working to combine architectur-

al practice with the innovative use of today’s most advanced

technologies. The work of the firm ranges from large-scale ar-

chitectural projects, including a ten million square foot ware-

house facility for Industrias Correguea, to retail, commercial,

exhibition, residential, and renovation projects. In addition to

architectural design, Gage / Clemenceau is actively involved in

interdisciplinary collaborations, most recently with Lady Ga-

ga’s Fashion Director and Creative Director for Mugler, Nicola

Formichetti. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York,

the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Deutsches

Architektur Zentrum in Berlin have all exhibited the work of

Gage / Clemenceau Architects. In 2010 Gage / Clemenceau

was selected as one of the architecture firms representing the

United States in the Beijing International Biennale. The firm

recently received an American Institute of Architects NY De-

sign Award, and was named an “Avant Guardian” of architec-

ture, by Surface Magazine. Gage / Clemenceau was nominat-

ed as one of thirteen international architectural firms for the

prestigious Ordos Prize in Architecture – a select group that

Rem Koolhaas referred to as “the next generation of great ar-

chitects.” Gage / Clemenceau’s work has been featured in The

New York Times, MTV, Vogue, USA Today, Mark, Harper’s Ba-

zaar, Wired, Fast Company, PBS, as well as numerous books.

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Using automotive design concepts to create in-

novative architectural forms. Inspired by the

surface modeling and design techniques of au-

tomotive designers, Gage/Clemenceau Archi-

tects used 3D modeling tools to design their en-

try for the Estonian Academy of the Arts Design

Competition.

Conceptual Design. Gage/Clemenceau Archi-

tects use automotive design tactics as a way to

develop new techniques for manipulating sur-

faces in architecture. This project provided an

ideal opportunity to apply these advanced sur-

face design techniques and strategies.

Design Iteration. Using software built for auto-

motive design, the team created over 100 dif-

ferent formations and iterations. These unique

architectural forms are more robust—and less

expected—than those created with software

used specifically for architectural design.

Surface-Based Geometry. Instead of relying on

rectilinear geometries that typically guide ar-

chitectural design decisions, the facade of the

Estonian Academy of the Arts is wrapped en-

tirely in what the automotive industry refers to

as Class-A surfaces that produce maximum

aesthetic effect with minimum mathematical

description.

Surface Styling. The proposed facade is made

from both purely aesthetic fluid ripples and con-

tours, as well as performative scoops, tunnels,

and vents that funnel fresh air to all areas of the

building from the lobby to the interior courtyard.

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Gage / Clémenceau

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Gage / Clémenceau

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Proposal of Academy of Fine Arts in Tallin, Estonia

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Detail of Academy of Fine Arts in Tallin, Estonia

Gage / Clémenceau

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Detail of Academy of Fine Arts in Tallin, Estonia

Academy of Fine Arts, Tallin, Estonia

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Visu

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The project L.E.S. Residential Building is a building designed to be

convenient, but no less important it is to be noticed. It contrasts with

the typical New York architecture. On the one hand there is contrast

in the volumes. Like a Dutch house, the building is narrow and elon-

gated. On the other hand, the massive decorative facade becomes a

unique feature among the orderliness of a classic street.

Recent projects from Gage / Clemenceau Architects, such as the

competition entry for the Estonian Academy of Art, have actively re-

searched the digital tools used in distant design disciplines in an

attempt to move beyond normally unchallenged design boundaries

within the architectural profession. The facades, apertures, and

large courtyard manifold openings of this project are designed using

the software package Alias Studio, which is typically used for auto-

motive design. Instead of relying on platonic geometries which typ-

ically guide architectural design decisions, the facade of the Acad-

emy is entirely, and tautly, wrapped in what the automotive industry

refers to as “Class-A” surfaces. Surfaces which produce the maxi-

mum aesthetic effect with a minimum of mathematical description.

Gage / Clémenceau

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Interior of L.E.S. Residential Bulding, New York

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Gage / Clémenceau

Exterior of L.E.S. Residential Bulding, New York

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Michael Hansmeyer is an architect and programmer who

explores the use of algorithms and computation to gen-

erate architectural form. In his role at the CAAD group,

he teaches courses at the bachelor, master, and postgrad-

uate levels. He is coordinator of the Master of Advanced

Studies program.

He holds an MBA degree from Insead Fontainebleau as

well as a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia

University. He previously worked with McKinsey & Com-

pany, J.P. Morgan, and at Herzog & de Meuron architects.

Architecture stands at an inflection point. The confluence

of advances in both computation and fabrication technol-

ogies offers architects the possibility of designing and

constructing hitherto unimaginable forms. With increases

in processing power, the roughly triangulated geometries

and simple blobs of the early 2000’s have given way to the

possibility of complex geometries at multiple scales with

details approaching the threshold of human visibility. In

parallel, advances in additive manufacturing technologies

have put us at the verge of printing any form. Recent ma-

chines with print spaces of many cubic meters make it

possible to print not only small architectural models, but

full-scale architectural components. As a result, a form

with a few million surfaces is as easy to print as a form

with a few dozen.

From making of

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Michael Hansmeyer

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For the first time, complexity is not an impedi-

ment to design and fabrication. Rather, it is an

opportunity that is waiting to be explored. For

years, it was information technology that con-

strained architects. Arguably, this relationship

has reversed: it is now architects who are con-

straining the possibilities of information tech-

nology. This development raises the questions:

How can we best explore the opportunities that

information technology offers us? How can we

understand the possibilities?

To truly exploit the possibilities, we can no longer

draw by mouse in CAD programs. A single object

with millions of unique facets would take years

to draw. Neither can the new opportunities be

fully exploited using parametric approaches, as

these usually involve morphing existing geome-

tries using control parameters, rather than cre-

ating geometries that are genuinely new.

What is needed is a more abstract and open-end-

ed method: a computational approach. In com-

putational design, parameters do not control

the geometry directly. Rather, they control the

operations of a time-based, predefined process

that is itself transforming or generating geom-

etry. These processes strike a delicate balance

between the expected and the unexpected, be-

tween control and relinquishment. These design

processes are deterministic – so as not to rely

on randomness, but not necessarily entirely pre-

dictable. Instead, they have the power to sur-

prise. Once formulated, such a computational

approach can be applied again and again. One

no longer designs an object, but a process to

generate objects. It is no longer necessary to

successively refine a singular design, as one can

work with many variants in parallel. These vari-

ants can be bred and cultivated into entire fam-

ilies of objects by combining and mutating their

constituent process parameters.

A computational approach enables architecture

to be embedded with an extraordinary degree of

information. Structure and surface can exhibit

hyper-resolution, with seemingly endless dis-

tinct formations. The processes can generate

highly specific local conditions, while ensuring

an overall coherency and continuity. As such, the

resulting architecture does not lend itself to a

visual reductionism. Rather, the procedures can

devise truly surprising topographies and topolo-

gies that go far beyond what one could have tra-

ditionally conceived.

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Michael Hansmeyer

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Subdivided Columns - A New Order

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Dig

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Michael Hansmeyer

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