August | 2003 | Interloop

EXIT is a custom exit light produced for The Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas. Interloop Architecture designed and fabricated the exit lights, working with engineers, fabricators, UL technicians, and the graphic design firm 2×4. In keeping with city, state, and federal safety standards, every emergency light fixture must undergo extensive testing by the Underwriter Laboratories Testing Center to meet a wide range of design criteria. These stringent technical requirements typically thwart innovation by limited new design, requiring the exclusive use of existing UL approved components.

On November 7, 2007, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, inducted E-X-I-T into the permanent collection. A design like E-X-I-T marks a departure in MoMA’s collecting policy, and as such, provides an early precedent in the acquisition of architectural signage.

Plug-On is the first in a series of product prototypes intended for residential structures. It was fabricated and assembled in Houston, then delivered and installed onto an existing modest one-story ranch style house in Richardson, Texas. The client was interested in an addition that would complement the existing language of the house and accommodate a sitting area to redirect the space of the master bedroom to the lush trees in the rear lawn. Our directive was to maximize the qualitative effect of the square footage. Plug-on is an eight-foot cube, fabricated entirely of stainless steel, glass and wood. It is structured as a cantilever using a concrete counterweight and steel beam fulcrum underneath the bedroom floor.