HEDGE

HEDGE design collective was established in the Spring of 1995 as an alternative to the conventional evolution of the architectural graduate into professional practice. Comprised of 18 independent designers from Canada, France, and the U.S., HEDGE seeks to continue the critical and creative working environment that a majority of its members experienced during their graduate studies at SCI-Arc. With a diverse range of backgrounds and interests, the studio environment becomes a critique of the specialization of the profession, and engages a wide variety of design work ranging from architectural projects, product and industrial design, exhibition and set design, landscape and urbanism projects, graphic design, as well as recent ventures into the fashion and food industries. The repertoire of projects reflects an environment which encourages a broad range of influences.

Over the past two years HEDGE has evolved at rapid pace. Since its humble beginning in an unfinished corner studio at SCI-Arc (to whom we owe much gratitude for those first three months) it has settled into a Culver City storefront. The scale of projects has gradually evolved from modelmaking and light construction, to current designs for a clothing boutique in San Diego and a speculative housing development in Malibu. Other built works such as Whelan Elementary School Playground, The Library Ale House, JOW Commercial Center, Speedway restaurant and several commercial and residential renovations, have created a strong professional base for the group. In house projects and exhibitions such as HEDGE 2000 - Return of Utopia, and HEDGE: deep plastic emotion < fantastic architecture 100ft. continue to uphold the theoretical momentum of the studio, recontextualizing millenial issues of optimism and progress, through the critical appropriation of image and culture.

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