GuildWorks ~ Architecture of the Air

Going Up at Pickathon!

7/19/2019

Who’s excited for Pickathon 2019?! We are! Since 2005 - that’s 14 years! - GuildWorks has been installing tensile fabric structures that provide beauty, shade, and flair to the popular Pickathon Music Festival. Beautifully hand-crafted and colorful, these massive canopies hover ethereally over the grounds.

Built by our world-class design and sky teams, Pickathon's Mountain Stage is one of the largest temporary festival tension structures in the world. Our designs have gone on to create permanent tension structures for places like SOMO Village and the iconic Riverfront Park Plaza Pavilion at the former 1974 World’s Fair site in Spokane, WA.

Installation began last week! Over 250,000 square feet of hand-dyed fabric, 12 miles of rope, 1000 linear feet of stage truss, 10 miles of tension lines, tens of thousands of pounds of tension and thousands of work hours go into building the stage and audience array.

We’ll be at the 21st Annual Pickathon, August 2-4 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR. Come say hi...see you there!

Revitalizing an Iconic structure

7/16/2019

Using the existing 1974 US Pavilion cable net structure, Guildworks created a new partial tensile array that beautifully shades the ground where events take place. The new shade array falls within the overall design of the existing structure which was initially intended to be fully covered in fabric.

The historical cable net structure was extensively studied using modern tensile structure engineering software. Careful analysis shows that the iconic 1974 structure was not only well engineered and constructed for its time but that the work was quite impressive for predicting the overall shape without modern computing.

The new shade array nestles into the existing structure with minimal intervention so as to preserve and enhance the existing geometry. Struts and cables hold geometrical diamond membranes in a 3-dimensional shape, stabilizing the entire system and offering a unique visual experience year round. The array allows unobstructed views of LED light blades on the upper sections of the structure, as well.

The plans above show the overview of months of engineering studies of the original structure when covered with fabric, the existing cable net structure (as it exists today) as well as the new shading. The new shade array complements the original structure and honors the intent of the 1974 construction.

Guildworks Sets the Stage for SOMO Village

7/15/2019

Guildworks just completed the Sonoma Mountain (SOMO) Village stage canopy! This beautiful 30’ x 40’ permanent tension membrane structure gently spans the stage providing shelter as well as a dramatic contrast to the surrounding environment during events.

A specialized architectural membrane was laid out on our computerized plotter/cutting table and heat welded to create the permanent shade canopy.

SOMO Village is an internationally recognized redevelopment project located in beautiful Rohnert Park, California. The community is a leading example of a thriving and sustainable development committed to nature, culture, comfort, innovation and technology.

Guildworks strives to design and install permanent projects that share our values of sustainability, community, design, and function. As a forward-thinking company in a rapidly changing climate, we know our choices have a profound impact. We use highly durable and recyclable architectural fabrics that use a fraction of the materials used in traditional buildings. This material efficiency makes every part of our building process more sustainable.

Going Up at Pickathon!

Revitalizing an Iconic structure

Guildworks Sets the Stage for SOMO Village

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