core.form-ula

Exhibition discussion with Eric Owen Moss, Lisa Iwamoto, Craig Scott and representatives from Buro Happold: Friday, 08.15.08 at 7pm

The SCI-Arc Gallery is pleased to present Voussoir Cloud, a site-specific installation by San Francisco based architecture and design practice IwamotoScott in collaboration with Buro Happold. Voussoir Cloud’s design explores the coupling of potentially conflicting constructional logics – the pure compression of a vault with an ultra-light sheet material. Opening August 8, this installation will be fabricated by IwamotoScott in association with SCI-Arc students.

Voussoirs, the wedge shaped masonry blocks that make up an arch, are redefined in Voussoir Cloud using a system of three-dimensional modules formed by folding paper thin wood laminate along curved seams. The curvature produces a form that relies on the internal surface tension to hold its shape and allows for a structural porosity within the constraints of sheet material. The resulting dimpled, concave modules pack together; naturally creating vaulted forms with a light porous surface. The form-finding exploration of the whole is thus dependent on the geometric performance of the individual units and their relation to the gallery walls. read more

Text and images from BMW

The  Visionary Model. Innovative approach and optical expression of creative freedom.

The key to affecting the development of tomorrow’s mobility lies in our readiness to challenge what is established and in the ability to present new options. In order to meet these objectives, BMW Group Design taps into the potential of the GINA principle (Geometry and Functions In “N” Adaptions) which promotes innovative thinking by allowing maximum freedom of creativity. GINA produces dramatically different solutions that affect the design and functionality of future cars. The GINA Light Visionary Model is an optical expression of selective, future-oriented concepts which provide an example of the manner and extent of this transformation. read more

PHILLIPS DE PURY & COMPANY, NEW YORK PRESENTS ATMOSPHERICS, A GROUND-BREAKING GALLERY EXHIBITION OF “OBJECT ARCHITECTURE” BY ASYMPTOTE FOUNDER HANI RASHID

Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to announce the groundbreaking exhibition Atmospherics, by Asymptote founder Hani Rashid. The works presented in this important show embody Asymptote’s radical architecture practice built on hybridity and spatial explorations. All of the works in the show are linked by their shared, formal exploration of objects subjected to speed and movement such as auto bodies or aerospace prototypes.

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Horizon: Computing a Sustainable Surface by Dave Mans + Matthew Standeven

Between the earth’s ever-changing surface and the performative light of the sky there exists a reciprocity of horizon. The house here operates as a moment between two systems, a covariant derivative between light and ground. Within the natural system that is life, energy exchange is essential and cyclical. Energy is consumed in order that it may further consume, stored only to be later utilized, and emitted back into a ubiquitous system for retrieval at another time. Its use is multifaceted, yet its essence is singular. Horizon House provides a rhythm and a structure against which all other systems are measured. read more

Ritual Flux by Adrian Lo + Peter VanHage

Ritual Flux reflects the synthetic nature of ideas, technology, and the reciprocal relationships between the body and the built environment. The anatomy of any domestic terrain requires an ingrained flexibility to sustain the broad spectrum of generic processes shared by all humans, while maintaining certain cultural or regional specificity. read more

Three Pratt Institute Sponsored Research Studios for Sustainable Architecture and Design

Containing work from the studios of Richard Sarrach, Lonn Combs + Mark Parsons, Anthony Caradonna + Francine Monaco

OPENING & RECEPTION
TUESDAY MAY 20, 6-9PM.
PRATT MANHATTAN GALLERY
144 WEST 14TH STREET, 2ND FLOOR

“Manufactured Surfaces” is an exhibition of design research that represents a unique collaboration between Pratt Institute and three progressive corporations that make architectural products and materials. Each corporation is partnered with a design studio comprised of architecture and interior design students. The intention of their research is to transform the character and performance of a particular product into something completely new that draws upon recycled material sources, enhances the sustainable qualities of buildings and spaces, and is adaptable to new geometries that respond to natural light. The work in these studios, while experimental in nature, is applied research that results in full-scale design-build proposals or achievable deployment strategies. These studios present a magically new and exciting direction in design research and education, made possible by the imagination and generosity of the sponsors and their faith in the creativity of our students. read more

Instructors Lonn Combs and Mark Parsons conduct a collaborative studio environment of material research based on the window covering products of Hunter Douglas. Using an inherently energy efficient material, new applications of architectural space are explored that expand the potential product uses from a window covering to architectural partitioning of space that emphasizes light, acoustic, and thermal properties. The research includes the development of a full scale structural weave that integrates into the lightweight fabric to achieve free-standing material configurations. In parallel to the real concerns of construction and environmental effect, the fundamental phenomena of the material and its reaction within the environment address the cultural concepts of beauty, transparency, publicity, privacy, and the ability of manipulated light to induce specific categories of ambience. read more

With studio instructors Francine Monaco and Anthony Caradonna, students develop new material surface products for Designtex, manufacturer of architectural wall coverings, fabrics, and panels. By employing strategies of no-waste manufacturing and recycling, designed surfaces emerge as full-scale prototypes that explore pattern, repetition, and transparency at multiple scales while rethinking the architectural surface through environmentally responsible design methodologies. read more

image by hiepler-brunier

A dialogue between a system of shifting angles to generate a filtration surface that begins to suggest the collection of water. The gradual shifting of the skylights starts to propose an outline of continuous flow through the surface and allows for an intake of different intensities of sunlight and ventilation. read more

FLARE is a modular system to create a dynamic hull for facades or any building or wall surface. Acting like a living skin, it allows a building to express, communicate and interact with its environment.

Not sure if the image and movie are renderings or the real thing. Either way the site opens up the process and technical underpinnings that are valuable in an of themselves. If they ever  get this built I  am sure it will be mesmerizing.

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