Skip to content

Press Release

DesignNewswire · COMO, Italy ·

The Forum Pavilion by Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee Is Granted the Golden A' Design Award in 3D Printed Forms and Products Design

Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee acknowledged for 3D printed forms and products design by the international grand jury of the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 15, 2024 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that The Forum Pavilion by Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee, designed for Figur Inference, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the 3D Printed Forms and Products Design category. The award was conferred within the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

About the Golden A' Design Award

The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.

Regarding The Forum Pavilion

The Forum is a pavilion designed as a venue for gatherings, public programming and the arts. The structure works as a stage, a screen and a backdrop, so the space can be adapted to different uses. Structure and facade are unified in one language of fluid surfaces made of aerospace grade aluminium. Sixty-six unique panels were shaped by digital sheet forming, without tooling or dies, in under twelve hours. The result is a large, lightweight and modular structure that is quick to produce and can be assembled with basic hand tools.

About Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee

Justin Nardone is the Founder and CEO of Figur, a hardware company that is changing the way industries are manufacturing sheet metal components. He has over 15 years of experience in design and fabrication of supertall towers, kinetic buildings, digital fabrication and 3D printed structures. Early in his career he founded a company centered around designing human interfaces to technology for commercial and residential spaces. Following that he worked for Gehry Technologies – the software spinoff from architect Frank Gehry. He went on to work in Skidmore Owings and Merrill and then Thornton Tomasetti.

Award Record

This recognition makes Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' 3D Printed Forms and Products Design Award

The A' 3D Printing Design Award is an international 3D printing design competition recognizing good 3D printed works by designers and creators worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to 3D printing designers, industrial design studios, product designers and 3D printing brands from all countries. Entries typically include products designed and realized with latest technologies, 3D printed products, prosthetics, architectural models, jewelry and furniture. Awarded 3D printed designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/3d-printing

About A' Design Award & Competition

A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

###

Fact Sheet

The Work

Project
The Forum Pavilion
Function
Pavilion
Category
3D Printed Forms and Products Design
Discipline
Industrial Design
Industry
Manufacturing and Innovation
Colors
Gray, Dark Gray, Rosy Brown, Dim Gray and Silver
Images
5
Client
Figur Inference

The Recognition

Laureate
Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone and Joonhaeng Lee
Country
United States of America
Recognition
Golden A' Design Award
Edition
2023 - 2024
Design ID
#160252

Credits

Team
Joel Putnam, Justin Nardone, Joonhaeng Lee
Image Credits
Nick Ulivieri; Forum Team

Design Details

Unique Properties
The Forum will be a stage, a screen, an instrument, and a backdrop, creating space that can be transformed through its use as a venue for convening, public programming, and the arts, fostering a sense of community and encouraging social interaction and engagement. Forum is a prototype for a new way of using new digital sheet metal forming technologies to create large scale, lightweight structures that are easy to produce and quick to assemble.
Inspiration
The Forum design and structure was inspired by construction and assembly methods not typically found in architecture and the built environment. Specifically in aerospace and automotive manufacturing, sheet metal often has multifunction utilization. By using a single material to perform the tasks of structure, enclosure, and design we are able to create a cohesive and efficient object that becomes a blueprint for a new and unique method of construction.
Research
The team was deeply interested in the physical manifestation of objects - how they’re conceived, designed, and the craft of making. The tectonics of an object are a direct reflection and representation of how they are used and what they can achieve. It is with this understanding that we will rehearse new modes of manufacturing, assemblage and organization
Challenge
The goal of the project was to create a new language of construction utilizing a state for the art manufacturing method. Designing and constructing a large scale installation that was lightweight, structurally sound and easy to assemble with basic hand tools were all goals of the project. The modular nature of the construction and ability of the manufacturing method to adapt to unique shapes allowed the creation of a unique modular structure.
Realization and Technology
The design was created in Rhino and Grasshopper with special attention given to design capabilities and constraints of the manufacturing process. Figur digital sheet forming technology was used to create each unique panel without any tooling or dies. Average time to form each aluminum component was approximately 10 minutes. The structure and façade are unified into one language of fluid surfaces composed of aerospace grade aluminum. 66 unique panels create both structure and form, created using digital sheet forming machinery in under 12 hours.
Project Duration and Location
The project was first exhibited in Chicago during the Chicago Architectural Biennial in 2023. It is currently being reassembled in its permanent home in a gallery space in Chicago.
Specifications
12700mm x 5700mm x 3100mm
Keywords
3D printed, digital manufacturing, parametric modeling,sheet metal forming

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

Nominate Your Work for the A' Design Award.

Nominate