April Fools DTC — Joe Luciani

In Northwestern University's Design Thinking and Communication (DTC) course, the rite of passage for freshmen was a notoriously rigorous foam core modeling assignment. Students were tasked with producing orthographic and isometric drawings of a specific house and a set of chairs, followed by translating those drawings into physical models. The grading was unforgiving, with a hyper-focus on neatness, precision, and flawless build quality. After watching the students agonize over hidden seams and perfectly flush joints, Pam Daniels, Brandon Williams, and I decided it was time to turn the tables for April Fools' Day.

Our plan was simple but ambitious: recreate the exact same house and chairs, but at a massive four-foot scale. We took over the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center at midnight, committing to the exact same exacting standards we demanded of the freshmen. Because scaling up foam core introduces massive edge-hiding challenges, we couldn't just tape it together and call it a night. We engineered and fabricated on the fly, 3D-printing and laser-cutting custom tools specifically designed to miter, conceal, and cleanly fold the giant foam core corners. We spent hours measuring, cutting, and meticulously hiding every corrugated edge to ensure the craftsmanship was absolutely flawless.

By 4:00 AM, the massive, pristine model was finished. We positioned the giant house and chairs right in the center of the Ford lobby—a surreal, scaled-up mirror of the students' ongoing torture, ready to greet them for morning classes. We left the installation completely uncredited, save for one tiny, hidden easter egg. Hanging on the interior wall of the giant house was a framed picture of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich: a quiet nod to the midnight architects, Pam, Brandon, and Joe.