Paul Hughes, Regional Sales Manager, was approached by the professor of architecture at Columbia University to sponsor material for a course project. The course requires students to create new methods of fabrication, using industry standards, to realize innovative solutions to both structure and form.

Rebecca Book, Adjunct Assistant Professor, said her students found that Unistrut was the best option for creating rigid, unobtrusive, and collapsible frames.

“We developed a design for a pavilion which utilized rubber latex tubing to create a flexible sense of enclosure, as well as a playful atmosphere accentuated by the vibrations of the rubber. During the prototyping, we found that most structural systems could not withstand the force generated by 3,000 ft. of tensioned rubber, which cracked earlier models built with wood and acrylic frames, bending low quality steel brackets and even snapping some of the hardware.

After extensive research and prototyping we found the Unistrut system to be ideal for our project because of its strength, flexibility, and ease of assembly. It also provided a safe structure for children to enjoy.”

Book said her students were on a tight deadline because of finals and needed the material as soon as possible. The Unistrut team, Jake Shaw and Paul Hughes worked to get 900 ft. of P4100 Unistrut Channel along with a host of fittings and accessories delivered, meeting the project’s deadline. The design was featured at Columbia University and then later at the Figment Arts festival in New York City.