David Costanza Studio TipTap

TipTap is an interactive urban object that seeks to bring together the diverse social and cultural bodies in Houston though coordinated play and draws upon the studio’s existing research project, Rocker. TipTap is half hammock/half see-saw, and its alternating motion is controlled through the occupation of its woven surfaces.

David Costanza is the director and lead designer of DCS (David Costanza Studio) as well as the Technology Fellow at Rice University School of Architecture. Through practice and teaching, his research addresses the emerging digital and technical advancements reshaping the discipline. The work aims to establish a dialogue between representation, computational design tools, digital manufacturing, and the innovative use of building materials. David Costanza is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received a Master of Architecture (MArch) and a Master of Science in Architecture in Building Technology (SMArchS BT).

David Costanza Studios would like to acknowledge the following people and groups for their support in the funding, design, and production of TipTap. Funding assistance came from Rice Design Alliance: Initiatives for Houston Grant 2016, Rice Architecture: Faculty Research funding 2017, and Lawndale. The design team: David Costanza, Ekin Erar, Philip Niekamp, and Samantha Schuermann. The production team: David Costanza, Ekin Erar, Philip Niekamp, Samantha Schuermann, Claire Wagner, Yumeng An, Qi Luo, Daniel Kleeschulte, and Michael Hernandez. Thank you to Piergianna Mazzocca for her essay on TipTap.