The Platonic Solids project by computational architect Michael Hansmeyer explores how a purely operations-based geometric process can generate complex form. Rather than studying the possibilities in combining numerous primitives, this project examines the potential inherent in a single primitive given an appropriate process. It takes the most primitive forms, the platonic solids, and repeatedly employs one single operation – the division of a form’s faces into smaller faces – until a new form is produced. Read the rest of this entry »

ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Denmark’s second largest city’s is newly crowned with a glass rainbow ring that transforms the cities vista into ever changing hues. Olafur Eliasson’s “Your rainbow panorama” is the final level of the museums symbolic ascension through Dante’s 9 circles of hell in the Divine Comedy. The circle, set above the rooftop, is the crescendo of that journey into light. Measuring 52 meter in diameter and 150 meters long the skywalk is entered from a roof deck. The full spectrum of colors is achieved by sandwiching up to 6 colored sheets in-between two plates of glass. The effect of the circular walk and slowly transitioning changing in color acts as a visual meter of the city view. Read the rest of this entry »

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This project by computational architect Michael Hansmeyer involves the conception and design of a new column order based on subdivision processes. It explores how subdivision can define and embellish this column order with an elaborate system of ornament. An abstracted doric column is used as an input form to the subdivision processes. Unlike the minimal input of the Platonic Solids project, the abstracted column conveys a significant topographical and topological information about the form to be generated. The input form contains data about the proportions of the the column’s shaft, capital, and supplemental base. It also contains information about its fluting and entasis.

The input form is tagged to allow the subdivision process to distinguish between individual components. This allows a heterogeneous application of the process, with distinct local parameters settings. In addition to distinguishing among tagged components, the process parameters can be set to vary according to the input form’s topography as well as its topology. Finally, an environmental specification of parameters is possible to allow regional phenomena to occur. Read the rest of this entry »

The London-based art and design practice United Visual Artist presented a series of light installation titled “Speed of light”. The project was commissioned by Virgin Media to commemorate the tenth anniversary of broadband in the UK. It is not a matter of chance that the UVA team was chosen, as their trajectory is more than impressive since they have made tour visuals for Massive Attack, U2, UNKLE and The Chemical Brothers, installations for the Victoria & Albert Museum and fashion show light visuals for Y-3 and Vivienne Westwood. Read the rest of this entry »

The Plein & Pavilion project was conceived by the Battery Conservancy to create an extraordinary ‘outdoor living room’ for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and a gleaming white, state-of-the-art pavilion for visitor information and delicious locally grown gourmet food. Designed by UNStudio in collaboration with Handel Architects LLP, New York serving as associate architect. The project’s landscape was conceived by Parks Dept. Landscape Designer Gail Wittwer-Laird.

UNStudio’s design for New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion creates a 5,000 square-foot, carefully programmed space located within Peter Minuit Plaza, housing regional organic food by Merchants Market, as well as the Alliance for Downtown New York’s Visitor Information Booth. This highly sculptural pavilion stands as a gateway to the Battery’s park and waterfront, with an expressive, undulating roofline and curving walls; a compact little building with the authority of a major landmark, evoking a flower opening to its surroundings. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2008 a prestigious competition to design Dublin’s new National Concert Hall had two finalists narrowed down from a shortlist of prominent architectural firms. 3XN and Henning Larsen Architects, both Danish Studios, presented powerful design ideas. However, due to client’s difficult financial situation caused by the global economic crisis, appointing of a final winner has been cancelled.

3XN’s proposal for the Concert Hall is a sculptural composition of volumes reflecting the interior layout of the building. Three Halls, each different in size, function and acoustic objectives, are connected by a foyer promoting flow and social interaction. The foyer expands and contracts, adapting to the new structure.

From the garden side, a transparent façade cascades down from the three Concert Hall volumes, drawing the gardens forth into the foyer and extending into a new public plaza towards Hatch Street.

The design concept from Henning Larsen Architects follows an entirely different logic. The Symphonic Hall is located at the heart of the site, becoming a pivotal point and affecting the entire organization. The Hall’s unique acoustics and lightness affect the performing act by discreetly creating unity between art and audience. Read the rest of this entry »

Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish have recently completed a traveling installation dedicated to Muhammad Ali.

From the Designers: “Designed as collaboration between Oyler Wu Collaborative and Michael Kalish, this traveling installation is built as a tribute to the life and cultural significance of Muhammad Ali.  The project is aimed at exposing a new generation to this larger than life character by building an appreciation for the nuanced emotional, aesthetic, and technical principles that collectively form experience – a concept that holds true as much for human persona as it does for architecture.

Conceived of as an experiential 2-D image, the core of the project is a seemingly random field of 1300 boxing speed bags that, when viewed from a single vantage point, form a pixilated image of the face of Muhammad Ali.  The structure is designed with the intention of simultaneously supporting the clarity and focus from that vantage point, while enriching the experience of the piece from all others, through a combination of dense structural bundles, material effects, and geometrical repetition.

The need for viewing the image from a single vantage point set in motion a series of essential design decisions.  First, the overall form of the piece is defined by the cone of vision between the viewer and the image, growing from front to back both in plan and in section.  In order to minimize the impact of the structure from that vantage point, its form from that location can be seen only as a simple frame that surrounds the image- one that is careful not to detract from that likeness.  Once the viewer moves away from that location, even the slightest, the bags explode into an unrecognizable array, with the surrounding structure serving as a complimentary and integral part of the system.

As a way of further highlighting the 3-dimensionality of the field of bags, the structure is split down the middle, with half of the bags pulled forward and the other half pushed backward, effectively elongating the field of bags.  Similarly, the structure is divided in such a way as to cantilever both forward and back, creating the rotational effect of the overall form.  In addition to supporting the bags, this strategy allows for portions of the bags to be viewed separately from the structure in elevation. Read the rest of this entry »

LAVA has unveiled their EVOLUTION lamp in collaboration with Philips, the global leader in lighting. The lamp is on display at Handmade during the fair.

Chris Bosse, Asia Pacific Director of LAVA says: ‘the challenge was to re-imagine an object that everybody knows, to break up preconceived ideas. The playful reinterpretation of a sculptural table lamp resembles a plant rather than a desk light’.

Rogier van der Heide, Chief Design Officer at Philips Lighting, says: “With the EVOLUTION desk light, Chris Bosse of LAVA has created a new design language in luminaire design. The desk light is also a great representation of Philips’ people-focused approach to lighting: a friendly product, based on a humanistic design concept while delivering state of the art LED technology, all of this in a very attractive way. The design posed many technical challenges such as thermal management and a complex double curved shape – however, close collaboration between LAVA and Philips has ensured that the EVOLUTION lamp exceeded our expectations in terms of design and engineering.”

EVOLUTION is inspired by the growth in plants. LAVA’s design and architectural concepts emulate the structural principles of nature such as cells and leaves in order to be more efficient – lighter, stronger, and ultimately more beautiful. Read the rest of this entry »

Power Flower is an exploration by Amsterdam based NL Architects to create aesthetically pleasing and adaptable windmills for use in all environments, particularly in urban settings. To create a design that is one part power plant one part art, NL asked themselves the question: “Can we turn windmills into objects of desire?”

NL began by examining current windmill design: the typical three-rotor, and horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) design. These windmills require a large amount of space around them to operate safely and efficiently. This of course leaves significant unworkable space between mills that could be used to capture more energy. Not to mention they must be placed at a safe distance from homes, where that energy is needed, a particular hindrance to use in urban settings. Read the rest of this entry »