ALPI & Parsons

Pansa/Panze

The Alpi + Parsons collaboration celebrates student design and exploration of Alpi’s innovative reconstituted wood veneer; a material developed 50 years ago which continues to lead in areas of environmental responsibility, quality, and focus on design. Led by adjunct faculty William Haskas the course Temporary Environments challenged students across undergaduate and graduate programs in Architecture, Interior, Lighting, and Product Design in the Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments Temporary Environments elective to investigate how the sum of parts creates a whole.

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Titled Pansa/Panze Haskas states that the installation’s name is “derived from the German word that signifies shell, and the Spanish which colloquially signifies belly. The Pansa concept embodies the language of an armature that intertwines and fluidly twists around one another.” Each component is CNC milled double ply .006 thick Alpi Veneer (nested to minimize  waste). The cut veneer yields a flat unit with multiple fibers or fingers that elastically weave into a structural yet naturally ordered bulbous form. The project is composed of 280 individual units (a total of 4,480 woven fibers) that dynamically respond to complex behavioral forces (either internally generated by the system or external considerations).  MFA Industrial Design program director Rama Chorpash states that Haskas’ students “pushed the veneer to a sublime technological and poetic form. Following dozens of full-scale models, Pansa/Panze  appears to float like a cloud still-life.”

Student Designers and Fabricators:
Samuel Falco
Ariel Gonzalez
Olivia Marrese
Giulio Milano
Semi Park
Manvee Sharma
Caleb Sillars
Joeseph Spinnato
Laura Suppan
Berna Yilmaz

ALPI  is the main sponsor for the “temporary environment project”  created by students at Parsons School of Design at The New School, under the tutelage of NYC designer William Haskas using ALPI reconstructed wood. Parsons’ goal is to explore the use of ALPI reconstructed wood as a space-defining element and create a public installation of a collaborative project. The design and fabrication of a single, full-scale, interior environment to be displayed during WantedDesign 2015 in New York. One of the goal of this project is to encourage exploration and innovation of ALPI materials with Parsons students and faculty.

ALPI Group is the world leader in the manufacture of decorative wooden surfaces. ALPI was the first enterprise in the world to industrialise the composite wood manufacturing process. Our primary objective has always been to offer our clients technologically-advanced materials that respect the environment and natural resources. End-to-end control of the wood production chain, from forestry management all the way through decorative veneers, ensures that everything ALPI does is imbued with the principles of quality, innovation, design and eco-responsibility.

Parsons School of Design at The New School is a global leader in design education, with programs that span the disciplines of design and the fine arts. With the launch of its fashion design program in 1904, Parsons is credited with the rise of Seventh Avenue, the epicenter of American fashion. Parsons offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design, Associate Degrees in Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing, and a Master of Fine Arts Program in Fashion Design and Society that was initiated through the support of Parsons alumna Donna Karan. Parsons has educated generations of leading American fashion designers, including Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Tracy Reese, Narciso Rodriguez and Anna Sui; and rising talents Prabal Gurung, Derek Lam, Ohne Titel, Thakoon Panichgul, Proenza Schouler, Vena Cava, Alexander Wang, and Jason Wu. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu/parsons.