Project makes art from political signs by: Jessica Testa

Jason Griffiths, an ASU architecture professor, oversaw the creation of several sustainable shade structures that are now on display at the ASU Art Museum. The project is titled “Political Ply.”(Scott Stuk | The State Press)

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Looking up at the umbrella of hexagons, an image of a young girl smiles down. Fragments of bold, oversized letters are sprawled across panes and the word “County” is just barely legible.

The hexagons are puzzle pieces of an old political sign, scrambled and put together to create dome-like shade structures located on the north court patio of the ASU Art Museum.

Created last spring by ASU design students, the structures, called “Political Ply,” are now on display as part of the museum’s fall “Defining Sustainability” season.

Architecture professor Jason Griffiths, who oversaw the studio course, said the project began as a contribution to the “Earth Day Feastival” on the Polytechnic campus last April.

“Their primary job is to provide shade and provide it in an efficient way,” he said. “They have a measure of practicality that could be a good solution to the overexposure and heating issues in Phoenix.”

But for the students, the project went beyond making simple shade structures, Griffiths said.

To build the domes, the team used old political campaign signs — a foreign material for the typical design student.

“In architecture, students learn a great deal through learning how to understand material,” Griffiths said.

The lightweight, colorful material was also cheap and in surplus, making the atypical medium not only ideal for construction, but also “aesthetically exciting,” he said.

Because the material serves a new purpose as part of a sustainable shade structure, Griffiths said he prefers the term “repurposing” instead of “recycling.”

“Its former life appears in the way in which we repurpose it,” he said.

Manual misters also add a unique, energy-efficient touch to the structures, Griffiths said. In the middle of each hexagon is a hole for a hand-pump mister system that the students designed using plastic VOSS water bottles, valves and mister heads.

“People can interact with the structure,” Griffiths said, more so than with a conventional structure.

For the project, the small group of students had to take on individual responsibilities and work together to create something totally unique, Griffiths said.

“We’re looking directly at the details. That’s where the design discussion lies,” he said. “The process doesn’t exist without that collaboration.”

Project manager Brian Lee, who graduated from ASU in May, said he agreed the team aspect of the project was invaluable.

“Having the chance to actually build something, you understand the actual process of constructing and fabricating the parts,” Lee said.

The structures are distinctive because they are moveable and made from non-traditional material, he said. The work process — specifically the constraints of the project —consequently provided a unique educational experience.

“Where the materials are coming from, how they are coming to the site … seeing all of the constraints of an actual building project is really important in understanding the realities of architecture,” he said.

The team, led by Griffiths and Lee, won the AA Fabrication Award from the Architectural Association in London and an honorable mention in the Environmental Protection Agency Lifecycle Building Challenge.

Other project members included then-ASU architecture seniors Eric Stewart, Taylor Ahlmark, Miljan Glogovac, Jamison Vaughn, Hussam Khoury and Susan Franco.

Griffiths said the studio introduces students to unconventional architecture and allows them to explore new ideas within the field.

“They’ve done three-and-a-half years,” Griffiths said, “but what they actually discover is skills they didn’t know they had and new ways of thinking about design.”

ASU Art Museum curator Heather Lineberry said the “Political Ply” project’s focus on design adds to the theme of the “Defining Sustainability” season — innovation and creativity across disciplines.

“The structures provide an inspiring and fascinating use of material,” she said.

Lineberry said “Defining Sustainability” ultimately aims to exhibit functional and non-functional works that “can spur us to change our ways.”

“We wanted to rethink the way we live,” she said.

Reach the reporter at jessica.testa@asu.edu.