Naoki Sullivan

Work · Wood

Alaia

Western red cedar and redwood

Alaia: a twin-fin surfboard form with laminated cedar rails and diagonal redwood slats, mounted on a white wall. images/alaia-01.jpg
Alaia, installed.5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)

About the work

Alaia is a wall piece in the shape of a twin-fin fish surfboard, built as an open frame of cedar and redwood.

The rails are laminated from western red cedar and shaped round like the rail of a real board, so the glue lines show as curves along the edge. Redwood slats run diagonally from rail to rail across an open deck.

The wall shows through between the slats, and light from above casts their shadows onto the wall behind.

The name comes from the alaia, the thin wooden board ridden in Hawaiʻi before foam and fiberglass.

Work
Alaia
Type
Wall piece
Form
Twin-fin fish surfboard
Rails
Laminated western red cedar
Deck
Open, diagonal redwood slats
Length
5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)
Status
Complete

Drawings

Alaia, shop drawing. Designed and drawn, each strip cut to its own length, then assembled into one form.Sheet 01

In an interior

Alaia on a plaster wall above a wooden bench in a Hawaiian living room open to the ocean. images/alaia-room.jpg
Alaia, shown in a concept interior. Rendering.5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)

Details

Side view along the laminated cedar rail and redwood slats.images/alaia-02.jpg
Laminated cedar rail and redwood slats.
The rounded cedar rail seen edge-on against the wall.images/alaia-05.jpg
Rail profile.
The nose of the board seen from below, with slats meeting the cedar rail.images/alaia-03.jpg
Nose, from below.
The nose of the board, showing the redwood slats against the wall.images/alaia-04.jpg
Nose and slats.

Commissions

Alaia pieces can be made in other board shapes, sizes and woods, including timber from a client’s own site.

Commission a work