Tesla Showroom

This new automobile showroom is located where the Third Street Promenade meets Santa Monica Place. The main objectives of this project were to design a building façade that conceptually represents Tesla and functions as a passive solar screen.

Inspired by the scientific underpinnings of electromagnetism, the animated screen façade is derived from the work of Nikola Tesla and magnetic flux diagrams. The electrical resonant transformer circuit, or Tesla Coil, produces high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity. This design captures the relationship of magnetic flux to electron decay when translated to graphic form.

When rationalized from the median and average amplitudes, a relative shape emerges that corresponds to the natural loss in kinetic energy. Abstracted and randomized, the pattern creates voids in the aluminum panels of the building façade. Smaller perforations interspersed among the larger shapes add more visibility and controls sunlight. 

The result is a linear expression of the energy release of electrical propulsion. The highly functional exterior façade system filters excessive heat and light while evoking the dynamic transfer of energy.