MEDIA COVER BY boston.gov

2026
Alfonso Parra Rubio · Erik Strand
Folded aluminum · 18 × 18 × 7 ft
In close collaboration with Riccardo Foschi, Rupert Maleczek, Tomohiro Tachi, and Neil Gershenfeld

Lexicon is a large-scale structural shell assembled from origami-folded aluminum cells. Developed as the culmination of doctoral research at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, the project investigates how folding and assembly can realize lightweight, load-bearing freeform structures at the architectural scale.

The overall geometry is derived from a modified (p,q) torus knot, producing a continuous form with double curvature, twist, and three apexes. The surface is constructed from folded aluminum cells that lock together into a woven structural lattice, transforming a simple sheet material into a rigid architectural shell. Through the combination of geometry, folding, and assembly, Lexicon explores how complex forms can emerge from lightweight and efficient systems of construction.

Created specifically for the Boston Public Library’s Deferrari Hall, Lexicon responds to the layered histories embodied within the building. Its geometry-driven shell pays tribute to both halves of the Library: to Rafael Guastavino, whose structural vaults demonstrated the expressive potential of unreinforced masonry shells, and to Philip Johnson, whose modular architectural vocabulary is reinterpreted through folded aluminum.

Yet the work does not seek reconciliation. Its continuous curvature and reflective surface introduce a quiet tension into the room, placing Guastavino’s structural optimism and Johnson’s architectural inheritance into dialogue without resolving their differences. In doing so, the sculpture acknowledges that architecture is never only a matter of form, but also of the histories carried by the figures who shape it. Rather than commemorating those histories uncritically, Lexicon invites visitors to reflect on and inhabit their complexity.

Lexicon was realized through a collaboration between the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms (MIT CBA), the Boston Public Library (BPL), and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC). Conceived as part of the City’s initiative to open civic institutions to research and experimentation, the project brings research into public space while exploring how cultural institutions can converge through shared acts of making, connecting local design and fabrication as a model for Boston’s creative future.

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Credits

• Concept, Design & Fabrication
  
  
  Alfonso Parra Rubio · Erik Strand
  
  
  
• Research Collaborators
  
  
  Riccardo Foschi · Rupert Maleczek · Tomohiro Tachi ·
  
  
  Neil Gershenfeld
  
  
  
• Fabrication & Assembly Contributors (alphabetical)
  
  
  Jeff Adams · Camron Blackburn · Quentin Bolsee · Ben
  
  
  Carter · Camille Cunin · Dimitar Dimitrov · Daniel
  
  
  Joseph · Gabi Jorge · Ameet Kallarou · Nina Kallarou
  
  
  Kat Kormilitsyna · Lee Marom · Eve Meltzer · Christina
  
  
  Meyer · Jack Muller · Chucho Ocampo · Sarah Oh · Eyal
  
  
  Perry · Jake Read · Alexandre Roux · Jurģis Ruža ·
  
  
  Felipe Sanchez · Jan Tiepelt · Sarah Tobias
  
  
  
  
• Engineering
  
  
  Nate Roy and Pencheng Zhou (LeMessurier) as Structural
  
  
  Engineering Review
  
  
  
  Nicholas Christie as Engineering Advisor
  
  
  
  
• Boston Public Library Coordination
  
  
  
  Gianna Gifford · Jill Maneikis
  
  
  
  
• MIT Coordination
  
  
  Kara Pendlebury · Marissa Marcoux
  
  
  
  
• Lifting
  
  
  Shaughnessy Crane Services
  
  
  
  
• Photography
  
  
  Vikram Valluri
  
  
  
  
• Graphic Design
  
  
  Vera van de Seyp
  
  
  
  
• Special Thanks
  
  
  Joseph Henry and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
  
  
  
  
  David Leonard, for his generosity and for the freedom
  
  
  to intervene within the Boston Public Library.