Fabricating The Real

The Architectural Review selected Unit 23 as one of its top ten london architecture units.

Unit 23 article here.

Some fresh making by Orawee Choedamphai

"an excavation in the non retinal order of architecture"; incredible archive of projects by James Cathcart, Frank Fantauzzi and Terence Van Elslander..

They always say its never great to do welding in a hurry, but just sometimes you have to..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8659398.stm

zimoun via the trilogy tapes

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.

Informative slideshow about practicing stonemasons. Back to the old school...

edit: (23.03.10) Modern Britain, it seems, is not much fussed about the skills and knowledge that exist only in the minds, eyes and hands of people who make things – our living vernacular heritage - further reading from the Guardian again.

edit: (31.03.10) Handmade shoes - and again.

edit: (08.05.10) stonemasonry versus office work - guess where...

Using industrial robots to introduce curved folds into sheet metal.

Lecture at the London Knowledge Lab on Tuesday 9th February: Curved Folding: from Craft to ROBOFOLD®

[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...]

Read this

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.