Sean Canty: Spin-Offs

Abstract

Spin-off speaks to the thread of investigations at different scales between forms of rotation and forms that are axial. These formal investigations take shape as a series of pavilions. Without the requirements of sleeping, cooking, or washing, pavilion projects focus on the shape and the nature of spaces of gathering. With limited programmatic requirements, the series of pavilions focus on shaping the space of the commons through materiality, light, and scale. These ideas have informed SSC's approach to housing through a suite of strategies that combine multiple residences into the familiar shape of a single-family home. Toggling between the work of Studio Sean Canty and Office of Three, this lecture connects the ideas explored in pavilion projects to the design of housing projects.

Biography

Sean Canty is the founder of Studio SC, a design practice that shapes environments by conjoining discrete geometries, materials, and architectural types. Inspired by the ordinary, the intimate, and the playful, the studio’s work foregrounds collectivity in domestic and institutional spaces. Canty is an assistant professor of architecture at Harvard GSD and founder of Office III (OIII), an experimental architectural collective.  

Introduction by Mauricio Pezo