Fabrication & Modularity
Given a tight build schedule and no room for failure, the design prioritized flexibility and error-tolerance. We used PVC pipes as table legs. Each tabletop was designed with cutouts for legs at each node on its underside, allowing us to place leg positions on site based on the need according to stability and proportions. This system made it easy to reorient tables according to the space - accommodating rug alignment, structure, lighting, and foot traffic. Circular nodes and interchangeable parts allowed for on-site improvisation, ensuring we could respond to any last-minute spatial changes.
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Process Images (Left to Right)
1. Priming & painting table surface
2. Configuring system according to site
3. CNC cutting modular pieces for assembly
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Process Images (Left to Right)
1. Configuring modular pieces
2. Sanding and routing cutpieces
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Activated &
In Use
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Visual Design System
The exhibition visual identity was built around a modular shape system, derived from Swiss Designer Armin Hofmann’s principles of structural order and form variation. Each cohort member generated a unique Hofmann shape - serving as their personal visual mark within a cohesive grid-based framework. This identity extended across all designed media: posters, signage, bookmarks, and booklets.
This same logic of freedom within constraint became the foundation for the spatial design. Just as the 2D shapes supported visual coherence and variation, they were reimagined in 3D as modular display surfaces - becoming platforms that held each designer’s work.
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Design Constraints & Challenges
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25 ft x 14 ft room with one entry, windows on two walls, and a dominant patterned rug created a pre-determined circulation pattern
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No modifications to walls, floor, ceiling, or window zones allowed
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Temporary installation requiring quick assembly and easy deinstallation
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To accommodate and showcase various typologies of work of 8 designers with space for visitors to move, read, and interact.
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3 week timeline left no room for prototyping and error - requiring a highly adaptable design and fabrication
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Space was to be consistent with visual branding
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Design Decisions & Pivots
In response, I conceptualized a central modular furniture system grounded in the logic of Hoffman forms that stretched across the room and defined a focal point. Key features included:
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Segmented tabletops based on each cohort member’s Hofmann shape allowing for individual display within a cohesive system.
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Modular system allowing for easy reconfiguration, assembly and transportation on site to minimize error in a short turn around time.
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Diverted attention from the loud rug without violating site rules using bright colours and scale.
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Variable table heights encouraging multiple modes of engagement - from standing and browsing to sitting and reading.
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Photo of finished styled table
Materials:
3/4" MDF
PVC pipe
Lattice:
MFA exhibition
As the lead spatial designer for 2025 MFA in Design Exhibition at the University of Texas at Austin- I designed, developed, and built the spatial design system. The project involved extending a flexible, grid-based visual identity system into an adaptive, interactive and human-centered physical space that showcased eight designers’ work.
Spatial Experience · Modular Design · Visual Identity · Adaptive Planning · Furniture System Design · Fabrication
