JJ Hat Center in Manhattan hired me to design and fabricate a window installation for their storefront.

The project centered around creating an installation that could change with the seasons, and serve as a classy backdrop for a wide range of hats and accessories. I chose to design a set of buildings emblematic of classic New York architecture along with a set of turned hat stands in a matching blonde maple.

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I designed the building facades and details in Illustrator, and then brought the files into SolidWorks to engineer the construction method. I experimented with different methods for getting the maximum detail and visual impact out of the design, as additional time spent machining the pieces would directly add on to the cost of production.

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The hat stands were designed in SolidWorks. Each consists of a custom maple turning and a handful of routed plywood pieces.

The buildings also feature a simple remote controlled lighting system. This allows the folks at JJ’s, dressing the window display, to experiment with contrasting colors to fit the season from the outside of the building, from the same perspective as a passing customer.