Designed by Oyler Wu Collaborative in partnership with artist Michael Kalish, this traveling installation is built as a tribute to the life and cultural significance of Muhammad Ali. The project is aimed at exposing a new generation to this larger than life character by building an appreciation for the nuanced emotional, aesthetic, and technical principles that collectively form experience - a concept that holds true as much for human persona as it does for architecture.
Oyler Wu Collaborative Project Team
Dwayne Oyler, Jenny Wu, Paul Cambon, Chris Eskew, Matt Evans, Ehab Ghali, Jake Henry, Huy Le, Jacques Lesec, Nathan Meyers, Mike Piscitello, Scott Starr, Sanjay Suckie, Vincent Yeh, Han Zhang
Video documenting the development and fabrication of the 2011 reALIze installation, a tribute to Muhammad Ali, by Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish. www.oylerwu.com www.realizeali.com www.themtoo.com Video produced by Them Too Productions. Oyler Wu Collaborative Project Team: Dwayne Oyler, Jenny Wu, Paul Cambon, Chris Eskew, Matt Evans, Ehab Ghali, Jake Henry, Huy Le, Jacques Lesec, Nathan Meyers, Mike Piscitello, Scott Starr, Sanjay Sukie, Vincent Yeh, Han Zhang Michael Kalish Project Team: Michael Kalish, Robert Lepiz Buro Happold Engineers: Matt Melnyk, Eurico Leong Photography: Dwayne Oyler, John Davis, and Buro Happold Engineers.
Conceived as an experiential 2D image, the core of the project is a seemingly random field of 1,300 boxing speed bags that, when viewed from a single vantage point, form a pixilated image of the face of Muhammad Ali. The structure is designed with the intention of simultaneously supporting the clarity and focus from that vantage point, while enriching the experience of the piece from all others.
Fabrication was conducted in the back lot of M&K metal company located in Gardena, CA by a select team of architectural interns and fabricators. The complete construction and assembly of the twenty-six foot tall wood jig and aluminum structure took several months and countless hours of hand building.
Built by Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish
Having taken part in the construction of reALIze at its remote location, I was again commissioned to help facilitate the transportation and assemblage of the piece to be showcased to the public. reALIze was on exhibition April 9-23rd at the Los Angeles Convention Center.