John Voekel Wins seekingShade Design Competition

John Voekel wins seekingShade Student Design Competition, which challenged participants to conceive a shade structure for the forthcoming pedestrian bridge at the US Land Port of Entry in San Ysidro, CA.

John is a dual degree candidate at UC Berkeley pursuing a Master of Science in Structural Engineering and a Master of Architecture.

His proposal features a series of tetrahedral-shaped, modular shading devices arranged along the pedestrian bridge. Each module is comprised of canvas fabric stretched across lightweight steel frames. While the southern edge of each component is fastened to the bridge and provides pedestrians protection from the sun, the northern edge rotates freely and responds to breezes uniquely. The result is that the bridge appears to flutter as the wind blows and subtly links pedestrians to the environment surrounding them