Kinematic Bloom is an interactive project designed by Daekwon Park, founder of the web-based Meta-Territory_Studio. The project took shape within the framework of Augmented Architectures course at Harvard Graduate School of Design. The course focused on the idea that spatial experience can be conceived, understood and designed as a series of reactive computational events. The goal of the course was to explore the realms of theory, visualization, design, and production of augmented architecture. It engaged in a critical discussion on the impact that our daily digital experiences have on the perception and expectation of physical experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
Kinematic Bloom Installation / Daekwon Park
Furniture Design Informed by Gaudi’s Parabolic Structures / Studio Bram Geenen
The design follows methods used by Gaudi for his church projects. This specific approach involved hanging the chains upside-down, showing the most opportune rib disposition and letting the gravity determine the strongest shape for the future building. Used in the chair design, the chain-models are combined with a software script to generate the structure of the ribs, informing of the complexity of the forces in a chair’s backrest. The chair is created by Studio Bram Geenen, for their online Open Design Platform. The project was developed as part of the Furnistructures initiative, which involves extensive researches into structural systems, as found in nature and architecture, and the possibilities of designing lightweight furniture using such systems. Read the rest of this entry »
White Elephant as Micro-building and Macro-furniture / Jimenez Lai
The White Elephant is a building inside a building. It’s a 10’x10’x10’ object which can assume different positions and orientations in space, while maintaining its basic purpose. “Somewhere between a super-furniture and a small house”, as the creators state, it is robust and sheltering, but also soft and inviting. Through use of digital fabrication, the piece is assembled, with its core accessible to visitors. It is a small scale experiment that engages with general issues of spacial versatility- the ability of built space to transform, conforming to its users as well as surroundings. The object is exhibited at Land of Tomorrow (LOT) Gallery in Louisville and designed by Jimenez Lai, Thomas Kelley, Cyrus Penarroyo, Andrew Akins, with Jimenez Lai as design leader. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-engineering a 1950’s Classic: The Acapulco Chair
The Acapulco Chair is one of the most celebrated chair designs of the 20th Century. It is an anonymous design that emerged in the 1950’s in Hollywood’s favorite beach destination: Acapulco, Mexico.
The chair was born next to the famous “La Quebrada” divers cliff, a place visited by Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and where John and Jacqueline Kennedy headed for their honeymoon.
The design enjoyed continuous success for almost five decades – being a designer’s favorite for its clean lines and comfort. It was manufactured by several artisanal workshops in Mexico, slowly disappearing from the market at the turn of the 21st Century.
After several design improvements, the chair is once again available with Electrostatic powder-coated steel frame and recycled UV filtered PVC woven cord shell, which makes it ideal for indoor and outdoor use.
The chair is available at thecommonproject, a design initiative based in Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Mexico City. In addition to this classic design, thecommonproject offers a stunning rocking chair version, as well as a kid’s size in both designs. Subtle and vibrant cord colors are the perfect accessory for any location. Read the rest of this entry »
Morpholio merges presentation, critique & collaboration into a single elastic platform
The proliferation of device culture, social networking, and cloud technology is changing the way we work and connect on a daily basis. For designers, this means that technology is not only transforming the process of production, but also the processes through which we share, critique, and organize ourselves around the work we do. It has been predicted that in 2020, there will be 50 billion mobile internet connections worldwide, the equivalent of seven devices per person. Morpholio is not simply about the existence of technology, but rather is a tool for and an experiment in how we might better harness its power.
What is the future of critique, the driver of design culture, in this increasingly connected world? Is the speed at which images circulate around the globe, advancing the level of conversation within and amongst design disciplines? When placed in opposition, the time honored design school tradition of convening public debate around a set of images and ideas, presents a stark contrast to the typical comment forum found in social media. Taken together, however, a new spectrum of valuable means of gathering feedback about one’s work becomes visible. Its continued evolution will be impacted by the tools we create for sustaining and magnifying meaningful conversation, critique, feedback, and debate with a global community.
The Morpholio Project begins by re-imaging the portfolio. “Although essential to design culture, the current methods of creating and sharing design portfolios and presentations still ultimately rely on fixed notions of time, media and outdated technologies of sharing,” says Anna Kenoff, Co-Creator. The design world lacks the tools needed to understand how our work is consumed and experienced by those we most want to reach. The project ultimately asked, what would happen if you could merge processes of presentation, critique and collaboration into a single elastic platform? Read the rest of this entry »
Black Narcissus is Parametric Designed Installation Based on Contemporary Fashion
Black Narcissus highlights the importance of encompassing all methods of fabrication; digital and analog in terms of technology, management efficiency and time towards the production the project. The piece is constituted of 1,000 pieces including the 644 pieces of CNC routed syntra, 50 large flowers with jewel like crowns and 100 small flowers. The idea was to produce a structure that combines a parametrically designed large form ornamented and gardened with nonparametric flowers. Through this gardening process of aggregation, the flowers produce a sensation of excess in a garden of delight. Read the rest of this entry »
Shadow Pavilion Informed by Biomimicry / Ply Architecture
The cellular Shadow Pavilion is the result of simple materials lightly manipulated and connected to dramatic effect. More than one hundred aluminum sheets, laser cut and rolled into cones of various sizes are attached in pre-assembled clusters from offsite. The lowest row buried in the soil of Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, Michigan anchors the project. PLY Architecture developed the self supporting structure using software modeling to determine shadow patterns, material efficiencies, geometric tethering and assembly. Read the rest of this entry »
Drawing and Design – Italian patents and creativity
From now until January 29, 2012 the Rotonda di via Besana in Milan will host the exhibition “Drawing and Design – Italian patents and creativity” produced by Fondazione Valore Italia and the Ministry of Economic Development and promoted by the Department for Culture, Expo, Fashion and Design of the Municipality of Milan. Read the rest of this entry »
Luminescent Limacon integrates equation-based geometry with 17th century fashion
The award winning lighting design is based on the effects of the Dutch ruff, a decorative linen collar considered fashionable in the 1600’s. The collars required several yards worth of linen, and had to be starched and ironed into pleats, or even supported on wires, in order to achieve their voluminous appearance. Inspired by the way Flemish baroque painter Cornelis de Vos illuminated these items, Andrew Saunders created the similarly shaped Luminescent Limacon. The design integrates historical referencing to the contemporary fabrication techniques, transforming the traditional piece of garment into a vehicle for manipulating light. Read the rest of this entry »
Swarm Urbanism / Zhaochen Wang
This project is Zhaochen Wang’s Master of Architecture thesis developed at the University of Southern California. The project is an investigation of swarm intelligence and slime mould and its translation into urban and architectural design. Read the rest of this entry »