Daniela Bertol and David Foell: Sun Farm

Daniela Bertol is an architect, designer, and artist working at the intersection of art and science. Her projects encompass several disciplines and media including astronomy, land art, geoglyphs, architecture, design, digital models, photography and video.

Bertol was born and grew up in Rome, where she earned a Masters degree in Architecture; in 1985 she moved to the United States. Bertol's early projects explored geometric space and virtual environments using digital models, where geometric forms evolved in organic components, similar to shapes found in nature. Bertol founded space ink in 1989 as a multidisciplinary laboratory embracing experimentally built and published projects as well as theoretical works focusing on the transformation of architecture and its integration with digital space. Her vision is that technological advancements should establish continuity with the past-instead of creating a fracture-and has been expressed in architectural and educational projects, art installations, artwork, furniture and graphic design.

Her site-specific environment and art installations have been exhibited in the United States and Italy. She has published numerous articles in art and science journals and lectured at several congresses and symposia worldwide and is the author of two books on architecture and digital space: Visualizing with CAD (Springer-Verlag, 1994) Designing Digital Space (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). Bertol has been consulting for over fifteen years with major New York City architectural firms. She was involved in the planning and design of the American Airlines Terminal at the JFK Airport for TAMS Consultants, where she developed design studies using computer modeling and visualization to generate several alternatives for this two million square foot facility.

Bertol's most recent project
and work in progress
is Sky Spirals, a series of places devoted to sustainable design: the shaping of the landscape based on intersecting spirals follow solar and celestial alignments. Sky Spirals began as a conceptual work based on digital models, maps and aerial photos. As the work developed, the virtual model and diagrams were translated to a physical site in Claverack, New York. They became Sun Farm, the first site of the Sky Spirals concepts. The interest in sustainable architecture has inspired solar based design, such as the house at Sun Farm; contemporary architectural vocabulary and materials re-propose design intention from early civilizations. Bertol's design vision is noted for integrating principles of eastern philosophies and practices with contemporary architectural theories and research.

David Foell, AIA, was educated at Cornell School of Architecture. He has designed in the fields of retail and residential interiors, furniture design, and transportation infrastructure. Since 1991 has worked as Design Manager in the architecture and engineering department of NYC Transit. He has managed the design of $10-$100 million station rehabilitation projects including such as well-known stations as 72nd Street/ Broadway, 116th Street / Columbia University, and the Bowling Green entrance. He is coauthor of the book Designing Digital Space (John Wiley & Sons, 1997).

Sun Farm is multidisciplinary project/place and experiential garden created by architects/artists Daniela Bertol and David Foell. The 60-acre (240,000 m2) site is located in Claverack, New York, about 110 miles (180 km) North of New York City, and includes land art constructions, geoglyphs, architectural fabrications and sculptures. The shaping of the landscape and structures is oriented to solar and celestial alignments in a dual effort to capture the sun's energy and to celebrate the cosmos. The work unveils as a built philosophical statement of awareness of being in time and part of a system.

• Folder 1: Sun Farm Timeline
• Folder 2: Concept Development
• Folder 3: Surveys and Sun Farm House
• Folder 4: Sunset Farm Design Drawings 2000 - 2003
• Folder 5: Design Drawings 2002 - 2011
• Folder 6: Business Plan
• Folder 7: Writings
• Folder 8: Events
• Folder 9: Richard Sena Gallery Exhibition
• Folder 10: Press
• This archive is arranged into 10 folders:

• CAE1042: Lita Albuquerque: Stellar Axis, Antarctica
• CAE1112: Simon Balm: Stellar Axis: Antarctica