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Architect Elena Manferdini Completes the Colorful, Laser-Cut "Nembi" Installation in South Los Angeles

Architect Elena Manferdini Completes the Colorful, Laser-Cut "Nembi" Installation in South Los Angeles

Until recently, talented Los Angeles–based architect Elena Manferdini had practiced all over the world, but barely  in her own city. That has definitely changed. Earlier this year she worked on two shops in Venice, and her latest project is an art installation at the entry way of the Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center in South Los Angeles. The colorful project is part of the LA County Art Commission’s Civic Art project, a one percent program for county facilities.

Italian for “clouds,” Nembi wraps the entry’s concrete wall, folds back onto the ceiling, and then folds onto the front facade. Made up of laser-cut, powder-coated aluminum panels over an aluminum frame, its colorful bands riff on the green strip on the building’s facade; and its cloud-like shapes were inspired by the county’s desire to lift peoples’ spirits in a place that can often be depressing. The forms themselves emerged from a series of drawings produced by a script tracing and linking variable radii. Areas of the artwork were  perforated to filter the light coming from the existing light fixtures.

Manferdini is continuing with her LA momentum. She’s now working on Inverted Landscapes, a set of two larger installations for the San Fernando Valley Family Center. “I’m quite happy about working in LA,” she said. “All of my projects were so far away; I never got the chance to nurture them.”


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