Some know and others do not, but I wanted to post here that my lamp has been entered into the ACADIA 2011 Design + Fabrication Competition, info here. The original deadline for submission was the day before my final Thesis review, so my good friend Max Taschek helped me get the final submission together. I have just been notified that we are a finalist and we should find out soon the final results. These are the final submission boards.
Beginning in 2005/6 I became interested in Digital Fabrication. At that time I was at Georgia Tech in my junior year of my Architecture degree when the school held a new distinguished chair position. It was called the Ventullet Chair and the first person to hold the seat was Monica Ponce de Leon from Office Da. Her motives in the chair position was to promote and explore digital fabrication techniques, to bring what she and Nader Tehrani had been doing in their office. The position was a year-long position, beginning with a design studio and ending with installation of the final pieces. That year there were five pieces installed (one in concrete, one in fiberglass, another aluminium, acrylic and the last in plywood. These projects were fascinating to me and I was instantly hooked. However, I did not participate in the studios as they were only open to graduate students. The following year while I studied in Paris, the Ventullet chair position was held by her partner Nader Tehrani and that year they produced one installation that to my knowledge still is in place.
I applied to graduate school not thinking I should study digFab and ended up here in Portland. However, I was very unhappy here as far as the school goes. All of my attempts at finding what really spoke to me in architecture what really moved me, failed. I was just here to get my degree to work in a firm.
Then my good friend Max Taschek showed me a video, a video of a bunch of students from Ball State University disassembling an old barn, reclaiming the wood and repurposing it for an installation.
PROJECTiONE began as a collaborative architectural thesis at Ball State University by Adam Buente, Kyle Perry, Elizabeth Boone and Eric Brockmeyer. Within the last year it developed into a start-up design/fabrication studio due to a number of client based projects, exhibitions and product designs. Their original thesis examined digital tools with analog methods materializing in fill scale prototypes, research and collaboration.
This is the project that reclaimed my studies. It is entitled “reBarn.” The team began by deconstructing a barn that was to be demolished. They examined the construction technique the age of the boards as they removed one by one, tagging each with its index number.
They then went through a design process and testing prototypes. A year later they had an opening celebrating the opening of the installation. The project is nice, it is considerate to both site and materials and does a good job of reflecting the techniques and design considerations they employed. However, it wasnt the image that struck me, but the video.
The video is simply images of the project from start to finish assembled into a video wrapper, but seeing the process, the deconstruction, fabrication and construction really spoke to me. video
This is their first project. Entitled Arcus Animus, it was done during a studio by Philip Beesley called “an Inconvenient Studio.” The project uses a variety of sensors, processors and actuators to sense human presence and respond by moving and shaking. video – An Inconvenient Studio – Arcus Animus
This project launched the collaboration of the four students to form PROJECTiONE.
Their works consist of projects that look at both product and architectural solutions to problems. This project is called plyLight. They inbeded touch sensors and LED in a laminated piece of plywood. The resulting product is a very elegant product that lights up upon your touch. One of the members of the team is now at Carnegie Mellon where he is pursuing a Masters in Tangible Interaction Design, he has taken the idea from the plyLight and incorporated it into a door, the touch LEDs become the coded lock for the door, resulting in a very seemless look for what is typically an obtrusive locking mechanism.
They began to study hardwood veneer and how it can be cut to form a structural system. A system that can support its on weight but create a form. These experiments began their study of luminaires.
LightForms is based on the same production ideas as Luminaire. It uses a simple joint system that fastens each column to the next and each row within the column to the next. The process begins with a profile curve which gets revolved to create the form. It is then analyzed and the individual interlocking shape is morphed onto the surface. This is then outputted on mylar by use of a laser cutter and hand assembled. Each luminaire can be a custom shape and the system can grow larger ro smaller. This project was the beginning of what is now myLight.
The myLight is the next iteration of this luminaire. Through many iterations they tweaked their script to produce the results they wanted. Using a script to control this project allowed them to tweak settings, to make corrections here and there and to accept a variety of input profile curves. Through the process of digital fabrication, they are able to make a new prototype in a short period of time, allowing them to create feedback loop which will then inform the next iteration.
The myLight is available for purchase in either pre assembled or a kit. The kit is considerably less expensive, but it requires a large amount of time for construction. Due to their material that they are using an infinite variety of colors are available, as the mylar can be printed on and then precisely aligned within the laser cutter, allowing each piece to have its distinctive color.
EXOtique is an exercise in quick design to fabrication techniques. Giving themselves 5 days for everything from design to fabrication and installation and a budget of $500, the team created this installation on the ceiling of the entrance to the architecture building at Ball State University. The system starts from a surface generated in rhino, it then goes into grasshopper where the components are created with all outputs for fabrication, this includes all joinery labels and tabs. The entire system is held together with slot connections with very simple details. The beauty behind these types of systems is that it allows everyone to understand its construction, it does not attempt to hide the system from people.
Generally the people we study are practitioners, people who have backing by a University or clients. ProjectiONE inspires me because they work within the same bounds that we do. They have a few more resources available to them in the form of a dedicated Institute for Digital Fabrication, but the tools are the same. This inspires me to drive and push our school. We have the resources we need in the form of both machines and knowledge, it’s a matter of getting enough interest to bring in lecturers like Frank Barkow and David Celento. These people are at the front end of emerging digital design and media.
Through my research in this class I have found great inspiration in the works of Alex Posada. His amazing installations and interactive pieces are quite amazing not only technologically, but also visually. He has taken light and shadow to a world where the user experiences a stimulating environment that is altered willingly or unwillingly by the user. This technology used is quite amazing, and has insired me to look for its potentials in an architectural manner. Alex’s and his colaborators ability to alter space with through interaction with light is mind blowing. Take a look.
Millet, M. S. (1996). Light Revealing Architecture. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
I love the subtleness of this book. The images in the book display simple ideas of the use of light in space. One of my favorites: the images and section drawing of Alvar Aalto’s library at the complex of Seinajoki in Finland.
Swirnoff, L. (1989). Dimensional Color. Design Science Collection. Boston: Birkauser.
The combination of color diagrams and photos and paintings in this book connects our natural attraction to color to the science behind it. The volume and void diagrams on pp. 69-78 give a beautiful illustration of how color reveals volume. I am fascinated by how this same diagrams can reveals such a variety of forms.
Butterfield, J. (1993). The Art of Light and Space. Abbeville modern art movements (1st ed.). New York: Abbeville Press.
The beginning chapters of this book look at the work of Robert Irwin and James Turrell. What I find most interesting about these two artists is their exploration. I feel that they both work to find new and creative ways to experiment with light. And, most interestingly, they use their own work as inspiration and precedent for future projects.
Stattmann, Petra Schmidt & Nicola. Unfolded. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag AG, 2009.
This beautiful book display an array of work associated with cutting and folding paper. I was particularly inspired by the simplicity of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Your House (2006),’ project. The 454 pieces of paper that make up the house give a beautiful view of how the voids and solids create space. The origami work of Richard Sweeney also provided a form inspiration for my light fixture.
Vyzoviti, Sophia. Folding Architecture: Spatial, Structural, and Organizational Diagrams. BIS Publishers. Amsterdam, 2010.
This miniature picture book was an inspiration for my early explorations for my light fixture. The images, models and diagrams in this book have a rough character that allude to the beauty of exploring through making. This book inspired me to be more playful in my explorations with paper.
Grynsztejn, Madeleine, ed. Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson. Thames & Hudson. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
I have never experienced an Olafur Eliasson installation. I find it difficult to judge his work through looking at images of the installations. I feel the depth and feeling of the experience of the pieces is probably far more intriguing. This book displays the difficulty of preserving an art of impermanence.
Works Cited
Hensel, Michael, Achim Menges, and Michael Weinstock. Emergent Technologies and Design. Oxon, [U.K.: Routledge, 2010. Print.
This book shows how generative design could be used to create interesting building facades. This book could be used to inform how each of my shading panels could be interact and create a dynamic facade.
Iwamoto, Lisa. Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2009. Print.
This book consists of exhibitions which use computational tools to produce physical material. Much of the work involves producing small prototypes, which when combined, create the final presentation. This is similar to my final project.
Vyzoviti, Sophia. Folding Architecture: Spatial, Structural and Organizational Diagrams. Amsterdam: BIS, 2007. Print.
This book shows how different folding techniques are used to create a variety of spaces. For example, bends created different lighting conditions than creases. The book also has examples of the Miura Ori folding pattern.
I unintentionally left this one source off my bibliography. To all of the loyal followers of my blog: I apologize. I hope no one lost sleep because of its absence.
Weibel, P., & Jansen, G. (2006). Light art from artificial light: Light as a medium in 20th and 21st century art. Jahrhundert. Ostfildern, Deutschland: Hatje Cantz.
This volume has a great number of inspiring art pieces created with artificial lighting. One that particularly caught my eye was Jorge Pardo’s Ohne Titel (Lamp), found on page 608. It’s a very dynamic and sculptural luminaire that is almost explosive in nature, but very balanced in its use of color and form. I particularly enjoy the cool blue exterior, and the mechanical warmth of the interior in its yellow glow and the metal erector-set style frame.
Inspiration Presentation Write-Up
The manner in which Aqua Creations synthesizes traditional craft and natural metaphor into their contemporary luminaires and furniture is very inspiring to me. They employ hand-stitched silk over welded metal frames for many of their lighting designs, and the general pattern is more or less similar from design to design. The shape of the welded frame gives each one a unique identity though, despite the commonalities they share in technique. The works of theirs that I enjoy the most are ones that approach their siting in a unique way.
The samesame light attaches to a thin horizontal surface, such as a shelf, and wraps underneath it. From what I can tell, the unit is battery-operated, freeing it from the aesthetic and physical limitations of a power cord. The Ease7 light is a chandelier mobile that reacts to breezes in the space, causing us to reconsider lighting’s potential as an active, kinetic force within a room. The positioning of a mobile-style luminaire adjacent to HVAC systems could be utilized as a generator for the kinetic motion of one of these lights. In practice, this could provide a visual complement to the “dashboard” feature of many sustainable buildings.
Though I found their work inspiring, I was unable to hone my craft well enough to produce a luminaire with the same techniques that Aqua Creations utilizes. Their work is in the back of my head though, and will more directly influence some future projects that I would like to pursue.
samesame
Ease7
 ADDITINAL ANNOTATED SOURCES:
Egeraat, E. V. (2005). Erick Van Egeraat Associate Archtiects: 10 years realized works. Mulgrave: Images Publishing.
            Enjoying tremendous success in the last decade, in this collection of works master architect Erick van Egeraat discusses his philosophies and vision for his office demonstrated through his firm’s work. As an extensive portfolio the book showcases significant projects that define the architect’s style of viewing architecture as fashion and treating each project differently with a new perspective. The introduction by Philip Jodidio is an excellent summary of Egeraat’s evolution of style with each milestone of his career.
Â
Millet, M. S. (1996). Light Revealing Architecture. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
                      Profiling numerous historic examples like Luis Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum and Le Corbusier’s La Tourette Monastery, the author describes historic spaces purely from the perspective of lighting. Having studied these significant projects before, it was refreshing to learn about each architect’s design intents through the use of light. The extensive uses of natural lighting in these projects remind contemporary designers of the power and potential of light. The working sketches of Luis Kahn were also a resourceful way of gaining insight into the design process for lighting strategies.
 Â
Swirnoff, L. (1989). Dimensional Color. Design Science Collection. Boston: Birkauser.
            As a series of simple design explorations using color and specifically the effects of bounced color, and how it can play on our perception directly influenced the design of my double layered light modulator screen. The mystery of bounced color sources and the additional effects materials can generate without revealing their sometimes very simple identity is an intriguing area to explore.
Â
Butterfield, J. (1993). The Art of Light and Space. Abbeville modern art movements (1st ed.). New York: Abbeville Press.
            Describing the works of Robert Irwin as a simplified way of introducing light, in an effort to begin to interpret its basics and how we perceive it. Through a series of installations in the reading Irwin’s phenomenological effects using light and simple surfaces break down preconceived notions as each installation plays on light’s ability to blur our perception of boundaries. The work is minimalistic and powerful using empty rooms as a canvas for light.Â
Â
Guzowski, Mary. “Carbon Neutral Daylighting Design.� Carbon Neutral Design Project 2011 May 2011.  <http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/carbon-aia/strategies1e2.html>
          The seven prescribed strategies of Guzowski toward zero carbon lighting strategies include not only environmental control measures, but suggest the need for mindset changes in the design community toward prioritizing the use of daylight. Strategies like passive integration, being modest toward lighting requirements, incorporating responsive envelopes in buildings are a few examples the reading mentions that will be crucial in achieving performance of buildings that use significantly less artificial sources of light and energy. These constraints can be viewed as significant design opportunities utilizing the phenomenological effects of lower light levels as they can significantly influence the mood of occupants. These notions guided my exploration of my light modulator as a creator of ambiance lighting.
Moholy, Nagy. Vision in Motion. Chicago: Paul Theobald , n.d.
In the eyes of Moholy my porous screen is a light modulator. While whe doesn’t take into account color important variable in the craft of our light modulators, she recognizes that the form, texture, and transparency of the material are critical to how the light with react with it. In her book she experiments with the many screens, photographic images, and simple modulations of forms, and like my bounce colored modular screen the creation of the form was critical its performance with light. I found her ideas inspiring and useful towards the begin of my exploration because she tells a good story about how different materials photographed under different lighting conditions can produce dramatic effects if design carefully.
Swirnoff, Lois. Dimensional Color. Boston: Birkhauser Boston Inc., 1989.
The reading of Patterns as Projections in Space was fundamental to my creation of the Modular bounce color screen. The idea of projecting color into a space was, beyond the boundaries of its physical dimension was my take way for this reading. While Swirnoff is speaking directly to the phenomenon that I explored, I combined his ideas with artist like James Turrel, John Carpenter, and Olafur Eliasson to create the modular screen of color. As stated before the ideas presented from Swirnof were highly important in my direction. While he looked at opaque planes of color in space, I choose to look and reflected planes of color in space. Both methods achieve the same goal, but it was my intention to a quality for a space and just an object within.
