GRADIENT DESIGN STUDIO

Gradient Design Studio was founded by Ben Krone in Brooklyn, New York in 2006. Originally conceived as a design collective exploring the intersections of graphic art and architecture, Gradient has established itself as a full service architecture and design firm specializing in cost effective means for producing high-end design through the use of computer-aided precision tools and manufacturing processes. After graduating first in his class from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Ben practiced for seven years with the architecture firm SHoP Architects in New York City where he held a lead role on a number of projects, including the Virgin Atlantic First Class Lounge at JFK and three residential developments in New York City ranging in scale from 15,000 to 50,000 square feet. Under the umbrella of Gradient, Ben has designed and constructed a wide range of projects and exhibitions, including a number of high-end private residences, restaurants, objects, and art installations. Gradient employs a philosophy of design which focuses heavily on process and operates free of any limitations of project scale or typology. Ben is a full-time lecturer and design critic at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Architecture and Design as well as Upenn's school of Integrated Product Design, and simultaneously utilizes this time in the classroom for testing new ideas and balancing research with practice.

Madison Ave Residential Development

Located between 30th and 31st street on Madison Ave in NYC. The twelve story 21,000 square foot residential development integrates the existing brick infrastructure with a modern insertion. Prefabricated steel framed window boxes are projected out side of the existing building envelopes creating a full-length continuous sitting sill within. The two upper Penthouse spaces are made up of cantilevered steel and glass-stacked boxes with traversing spandrels clad in a prefabricated zinc façade system. The spaces within maximized light penetration from the East and West facades through the use of skylights on a stepped floor plate and windows that project beyond the building envelope. The finishes within contrast warm walnut wood floors and details with sleeker white lacquer and stone. Designed with SHoP Architects.

Completed February 2008

www.m127building.com

This restaurant facade plays off the contextual nature of Washington DC's historical use of brick work, while maintaining a neighborhood requirement for 50% transparency on the street face. All facets of the layered facade system are parametrically linked such that any variation of openings, sizes of bricks, door placement and associated structure for window openings maintain a similar set of relational values. Behind the brick is a simple modular steel and glass window system which allow light, view and airflow across the entire facade. Limitless gradient patterns are possible and can be adjusted based on opening requirements, the desired brick size, or the number of window bays. The facade and interiors are currently in design and development.

The Cho residence at 79 Laight street is located within a historic landmarked sugar warehouse in New York city’s Tribeca neighborhood. The modern interior plays of the dichotomy between old and new through the use of subtle curvatures in the surfaces that peal away to reveal warm materials and existing infrastructure behind. Fully integrated custom cabinetry hold a variety of programmatic elements including informal eating areas, several work stations, a wine bar, a library and a tv and entertainment area. The surfaces are made of thermoformed polished Corian over walnut infill. A forming mold for the surfaces are CNC routed MDF translated from digital files.

Franklin street Loft

After working on an initial design in 2001 with Valerio Dewalt Train architects, Gradient Design Studio further defined this flexible Tribeca loft space with a new lighting, Graphic, and furniture scheme. Large-scale graphics, in collaboration with photographer Susan Fan, and visual artist Leah Raintree, are integrated to tie the warmth of the wood floors and trim with the sleek texture of the sheet metal space dividers. The concept was to bring the occupants closer to the array of surfaces defining the space. All of the furniture was designed specifically to rest directly on the floor, in order to break down the barriers between entertainment areas and play space for the young child.

Completed initially Summer 2001, renovation Winter 2005

Washington Street Loft

The industrial loft conversion combines two penthouse units into a single flexible living and workspace for an artist. The concept is to create highly flexible programmatic spaces that can be modified based on their use. The design attempts to find balance as a contemporary insertion within a historically landmarked industrial loft. Raw materials are finely detailed to serve in more domesticated functions. All of the bathroom components are custom designed and made to spec at a lower cost than off the shelf units.

Completed Fall 2010

4th Street MicroLoft

This 400 square foot studio apartment is converted into a flexible live work space by adding a sleeping loft, a deployable dining table and a combination breakfast bar and desk area which are designed as two floating Corian surfaces which slip past one another and curve in two directions. One surface keys into the existing kitchen counter top, the second below creating storage and a full size desk. The steel and thermoformed Corian loft edge peels away from the entry wall and hangs onto the existing steel column. The underside of the loft is a cnc cut hole pattern which is parametrically scripted and machine cut revealing the diffuse light source below. The project was designed and executed as interior furniture — no building permits were required.

Completed Winter 2010

The objective of this space was to create a flexible, small white box that is defined enough to accommodate a young child, but is capable of expanding in a way to appear large and open. Two primary walls, which separate the bedrooms, slide open to reveal the entire floor area. Floor to ceiling cabinetry covers the two primary walls and is integrated with the required programmatic elements, from a hidden office, to closets and bicycle storage.

Completed Spring 2006

Fat Radish Restaurant

The new 2000 sf restaurant is situated on the ground level of the 15,000 square foot mixed use development and is a gut rehab of an existing seven story Chinatown sausage processing facility located in the historic tenement district of New York City. Through the subtle use of natural materials and refurbished antique fixtures, the new storefront and restaurant interior are a contemporary interpretation of the historic nature of its context. Weathering steel is used to frame the original detailed cast iron structure. Two angled plate steel boxes mark the two distinct residential and commercial entrances. Wired glass transom windows above set a rhythm for the custom steel and glass storefront while transitioning the upper residences from the restaurant space below. The restaurant interior fit out was executed in collaboration with restaurant owners Ben Towill and Philip Winser.

Completed Winter 2010

Goyesque Festival: Arles Arena Floor

The Arles France arena floor was designed for the yearly Goyesque festival in collaboration with painter Ena Swansea. The concept was to create a projected three dimensional surface pattern which would be perceived to have great depth from the various levels of the arena stands. A simple bull silhouette pattern was traced in Rhino and arrayed at various scales and densities. A three dimensional curved surface was laid over the arena floor area and the bull pattern projected and then once again flattened. The pattern was converted to a stencil template, cnc cut from computer files in heavyweight vinyl, and then unrolled onto the arena floor. The pattern was laid down with color pigment and the stencils removed and reused for each quadrant.

Completed September 2010

Atlantic City Holocaust Memorial Competition

Visitors approaching the Atlantic City Holocaust Memorial encounter a displaced and fractured segment of the boardwalk that unearths an imprint of the massive number of people murdered during the Holocaust. As they move through this disrupted landscape, visitors walk a fault line taking them past a series of ground fragments that represent each of the major concentration camps used by Nazi Germany and mark the years that they opened. The memorial depicts a collective memory of the Holocaust re-emerging for future generations. It records the voices of survivors, historians and theorists on the faces and in the cracks between its walls. Tally marks engraved in the exposed marble strata commemo- rate the dead as well as convey the magnitude of the event. This multifaceted memorial invites visitors to place a rock along the walls in memory of the victims and as a marker of their presence.

Proposed 2010

This solid walnut cabinet was designed to conceal high-end audio equipment while maintaining the necessity for continuous airflow over its surfaces. Two sliding panel doors are mounted over the 'box within a box' configuration allowing constant airflow at the perimeter even while the doors are closed. The inner cabinet is designed with continuous slats and adjustable shelves within to prevent heat conduction between components and keep all surface areas free from obstruction. The media cabinet is designed to be completely customizable for individual hi-fi systems and is currently in production for several clients.

Conceptual thesis on woven textures as structural systems is first defined through an understanding of warp and weft relationships in various fabrics. Each system is understood for both its material and structural properties, as defined by the frequency, and layering techniques of the individual threads. Patterns are understood solely on the basis of surfacing characteristics and further developed into structural and panelization systems to create a range of enclosure types. The resulting technique generates an inherently flexible design system where pattern, texture, structure and enclosure are entirely integrated. The array of results is limitless. The project shows examples of three woven enclosure systems developed from weaving technique to final enclosure system.

Research Spring 2004

A school for the highline in New York City juxtaposes 'centrality' with experiential learning. By dismantling the barriers between educational and public spaces, the school repositions what has become a traditional, centralized institutional orientation to exist under the most flexible of circumstances. The repositioning facilitates direct interactions between students, working people, and members of the surrounding neighborhood. The school intervenes directly in the public realm. It draws upon a planned expansion of the abandoned elevated rail line slated to be converted to a public park. The public and private spaces mediate the existing structure and take advantage of the park space above.

Research November 2002

A series of space dividers and wall panels are digitally designed and manufactured. Based on an array of surfacing techniques, three dimensional computer files generate cutting and tooling paths for a CNC router. The textured panels have been installed as both ceiling and panelized wall systems in lobbies, offices and studios.

Ongoing

Project To Surface is a dynamic collaboration between five visual artists and an architect in rendering the artists concepts into three-dimensional form through the use of design fabrication tools and techniques. An important element of Project to Surface is the partnership of the artists vision with the architects hand and sense of spatial theory. This process begins as a simple dialogue but then explodes into something more complex and unexpected, morphing into a series of individual narratives. Together, these narratives document the experience of this exploratory collaboration. In applying advanced design and fabrication tools to project the artists visual concepts into physical objects, Project to Surface also seeks to explore the frontier of creative possibilities as well as the balance of intersecting art and architecture.

Open May 2007 - August 2007

www.projecttosurface.com

The 'shift exhibition' design for Dreamsomuch art collective places 5 custom Japanese bicycles on display for both the Brooklyn, New York and Tokyo openings. Each bike is set at alternating heights such that they all revel themselves upon entering the space. Light boxes below each bike 'up light' both the customized details and act as a ballast for placing the hanging bike in tension between the ceiling and the floor.

Completed December 2004

Rococo The Continuing Curve: Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum

The Bloom Field Corian piece, designed in collaboration with visual artist Leah Raintree, was selected for a four-month exhibition at Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. The Exhibition is a retrospective of design in the Rococo era as well as examples of how it continues to influence design today. The piece exemplifies how digital design and manufacturing processes are being utilized to create objects which are influenced by Rococo forms and lines. The Exhibit was curated by Ellen Lupton, Gail Davidson, and Sarah Coffin and was on display during the summer of 2008.

Piece completed May 2007, exhibition July 2008

rococo.cooperhewitt.org

FESTARCH, SARDINIA ITALY

Digital/ Manual

The lecture Digital/ Manual was specially written for the prestigious ‘Festarch’ international architecture and design conference in Sardinia Italy. The lecture discussed the reality of designing in an environment where methods of construction have not caught up to advancements in sophisticated digital design techniques. The talk then presents through the lens of several of Gradients own built projects, different methods for translating complex designs into a language that the common carpenter and contractor can understand and implement. The lecture was presented in July of 2008 in Sardinia Italy.

www.festarch.it