Unit 23 operates as a critical practice
to establish and evolve the agendas,
methods, attitudes and directions
its graduates will take beyond
the institution. We approach the subject
and discipline of architectural
production as a broad and curious
field that oscillates between meaning
and means, representation and realisation,
experience and expertise. We
investigate and experiment within the
operations, protocols, roles, deceptions
and tales of making experimental
architecture. Students are expected
to take possession of their work
as critical research in developing
their knowledge, skill and ideas.
‘the silhouette of a foreground object in a video frame is subtracted from
the background and used as a two-dimensional slice. at user-defined intervals new slices are captured and displaced
along the depth axis. the result is a three-dimensional model defined by silhouette slices over time.’
For the full article click here For more 'fabrication-innovation' click here
running from october 23 until the end of march 2012, MASS MoCA will be exhibiting geometry death frequency – an external sculpture by frederico díaz. the scuplture is an aggregation of 420,000 black spheres – precisely milled glued and assembled by a team of robots and mechanical assembly lines (of which process can be seen below in the clip).
visually, geometric death frequency-141 combines diaz’s interest in the built environment, deep natural forces such as cellular growth, physics and fluid dynamics to create a massive wave confined within an invisible 50 by 20-foot tank that penetrates the wall of MASS MoCA’s lobby from the exterior of the museum’s main entrance courtyard. as the wave hits imaginary boundaries, it splashes back and up as high as the second storey galleries of the museum,
architecture critic and curator jeff kipnis calls diaz’s work “re-origination,” comparing it to the making of a book into a film. in one sense the film represents the book, yet does so in an entirely new medium, and through this becomes something completely different.i n the case of geometric death frequency-141, the “book” is a digital photograph of the museum’s clocktower entry courtyard as taken by the artist, which the artist then transforms into pure data, and modulates using analytical and fluid dynamic modeling techniques, finally rendering the data stream into a three-dimensional sculpture using state-of-the-art computer-aided manufacturing methodologies. the new work thus combines elements of photographic manipulation, data analysis, and computer programming, utilizing new techniques to produce a sculpture completely untouched by human hands.
check the wired site for further slides and the geometric death frequency-141 page @MASS MoCA
We caught a brilliant exhibition of prints by Piranesi at the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, supplemented by some fantastic three dimensional representations of his designs courtesy of Factum Arte and a sub-exhibition of Gabriele Basilico's comparative photography.
Brief Guardian article about the simultaneous evolution of tools and language, based on research using digital capture of analogue modes of making. Original research paper here.
"FABRICATE is an International Peer Reviewed Conference with supporting publication and exhibition to be held at The Building Centre in London from 15-16 April 2011. Discussing the progressive integration of digital design with manufacturing processes, and its impact on design and making in the 21st century, FABRICATE will bring together pioneers in design and making within architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, materials technology and computation.
Discussion on key themes will include: how digital fabrication technologies are enabling new creative and construction opportunities, the difficult gap that exists between digital modeling and its realization, material performance and manipulation, off-site and on-site construction, interdisciplinary education, economic and sustainable contexts."
"Airborne lasers have "stripped" away thick rain forests to reveal new images of an ancient Maya metropolis that's far bigger than anyone had thought."
Comparison of 3D scanning technologies from the perspective of conservators of the Naum Gabo collection at the Tate (Spiral Theme, 1941 shown above). The sculptures posed difficulties being reflective and complex, which meant that haptic means were necessary in addition to laser scanning and photogrammetry. Such documentation allows the rapidly degrading sculptures to be reverse-engineered into a kit of parts which allow their recreation or restoration.
[Last night's episode of the Bartlett International Lecture Series got us thinking, of course - thanks to Gramazio & Kohler whose work with industrial robots at ETH (as mentioned below) was a sight to behold...]
A discussion of Cedric Price's Fun Palace at the Geological Society on 22nd March 2010:
This new series invites critics to propose and make a case for what they believe to be London’s most significant and important building. A panel of respondents will debate and discuss the chosen building, and encourage the audience to share their own views. Hans Ulrich Obrist is the Co-Director for Exhibitions and Programmes at the Serpentine Gallery. He has curated over 200 exhibitions and his recent publications include Formulas for Now, which invites contributors from the fields of art, science, mathematics, music, architecture and literature to express their understanding of contemporary life. The unrealised Fun Palace (1961–74) was planned as a multi-purpose complex for theatre and cultural projects, addressing the urgent need to connect different disciplines and practitioners in a world of ever-changing parameters.
Graffiti Research Lab have been developing an eye-tracking system based on open source software and off-the-shelf hardware. It is has been used to enable paralysed graffiti writer Tony Quan to create public artworks again, from his hospital bed, using some components of the Projection Bombing kit.
Decode is an exhibition of interactive artworks at the Victoria and Albert Museum until April 11th. It's a small show, but dense, high calibre, and well-presented. Most of it was working too!
