Not Whole Fence in Texas by Ball-Nogues Studio

Article source: Ball-Nogues Studio

Not Whole Fence pays homage to the simpler days of baseball, of watching the great American past

ime through a wooden fence. Imagine a child, peeking through the knotholes with the impressionable canvas of youth, evoked by a sense of wonder and hope or devoted fans who cannot afford tickets, sneaking glances through small openings with playfully mischievous eyes, excited by the possibility of joyous victory or getting caught.

Image Courtesy © Marty Snortum

• Architects: Ball-Nogues Studio
• Project: Not Whole Fence
• Location: Texas, US
• Photography: Pat Dalbin, Marty Snortum
• Designers and Principals in Charge: Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues
• Project Manager: Mora Nabi
• Ball-Nogues Project Team: Andrew Fastman, Michael Anthony Fontana, Christine Forster-Jones, Emma Helgerson,  Cory Hill, James Jones, Allison Porterfield, Rafael Sampaio Rocha, Forster Rudolph.
• Engineering Consultant: BuroHappold Los Angeles, Jean-Pierre Chakar, PE

Image Courtesy © Marty Snortum

Located along Santa Fe Street at the northeast corner of Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas, Not Whole Fence acts as a buffer between the ballpark and a children’s playground. The structure provides the safety of a sturdy partition, while also facilitating coincidental encounters with the game, spurring inspiration in children and passers-by.

Image Courtesy © Marty Snortum

The structural quality of the fence creates a sense of mystery. By allowing mostly partial views of the action inside the ballpark, it calls for the imagination to conjure up the rest of the picture, creating a sense of fantasy and infinite possibilities.

Image Courtesy © Marty Snortum

Not Whole Fence also seeks to monumentalize a single wooden picket by turning it on its side and zooming in to appreciate its unique grain pattern in detail. The stencil, with its undulating waves dotted by anchored knotholes, reminds us of the earthy and organic and the dreamlike at once.

Image Courtesy © Pat Dalbin

The fence is fabricated of custom aluminum extrusions, which have been milled away. Milling on both sides of the pickets allows one side to make the wood grain pattern while the other creates the appearance of knotholes.

Image Courtesy © Marty Snortum

Image Courtesy © Ball-Nogues Studio

Image Courtesy © Ball-Nogues Studio

Image Courtesy © Ball-Nogues Studio

Tags: Texas, US

Categories: Hospitality, Sculpture, Stadium

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