This form-finding operation took place in Jennifer Akerman's Fall 2016 Design Principles studio, as a predecessor to the Ijams Hiker's Retreat proposal. The idea was to find a way to create a new, organically-shaped form for use as a building material unit. We were advised to use concrete as a medium but from there were urged to develop our own unusual type of formwork.

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Since I had already spent some time studying the Tennessee Cave Salamander, I decided that I would like to find a way to develop a building unit that mimicked the natural, carving elements of a cave. This process required several iterations using various types of formwork. In some cases, polyurethane spray foam was used for the entirety of the formwork. In others, a combination of PVC and wood formed the exterior boundary while polyeurythane spray foam helped define the interior spaces.