Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/638772
palletcentral.com PalletCentral • January-February 2016 39 construction materials we used to continue to have a life after the festival," Bell added. The design team kicked around ideas and brainstormed various possible materials including bamboo and different forms and types of wood. "We considered a lot of interesting materials that we ultimately decided were not suitable," said Jesse Pollard, a PSU School of Architecture graduate student and core team member. "We needed to be able to count on having a sufficient supply of the material, something that was workable and relatively predictable in terms of size and dimensionality. It had to be a material that would feel substantial and have a certain degree of uniformity. And again, we wanted something diverted out of the production stream that could go back to its day job after the festival was over." Once they settled on the idea of using shipping pallets, the team poured over esoteric concepts of tectonics, of how the materials would create space and give an open field a sense of place. They also addressed many practical and mundane issues such as the need to build a solid foundation and then construct long, tall, opaque walls, as well as the logistics of sourcing the pallets. "We initially thought we could forage around the city and find enough pallets on our own. Once other students became aware of our project, they started leaving us presents, and nearly every morning when we got to the design studio, there would be a pallet or two that people had brought in overnight. It would be like Christmas. We didn't realize at that early stage that pallets are not all uniform," said Pollard. The design team spent many hours exploring the possibilities of pallets. "We asked ourselves: how many different ways can we use pallets?" said Pollard. "It was not a linear process. We made sketches and digital models of pallets dancing in various configurations. The more we worked with pallets, the more we realized that their design language was robust and there were many, many ways they could be used." As the project evolved, the design-build team constructed and studied models in order get to know the depth and character of the material. They developed a complete modularized model of the stage at a scale of 1"=1'0" and experimented with simulated configurations that were aligned, radiated, turned, stacked, serpentined, and woven in a basket weave. "To the audience, the pallets may have looked random, but the ultimate arrangements were actually very composed and thoughtful," noted Bell. The team eventually settled on standard 48x40 pallets. Uniformity was important because they needed to build a structurally sound foundation and upright walls, and they needed to interlink the disparate patterns and sections of the stage securely. Fortunately, they were able to source a sufficient number of uniform, high quality pallets from a Portland manufacturer, Oregon Pallet Repair, Inc. "They were an extremely helpful partner," noted Bell. "They were willing to work with us and transport the pallets to the site in two shipments. They bought them back from us after the stage was dismantled." During the construction phase, the PSU team expanded to include approximately 20 undergraduate students and school alumni. This group spent two weeks during the summer of 2014