Hi All, Take a look at this short video explaining some of the thinking behind the design and materiality of the light rail stops on the way to UNSW. Troy Donovan, speaking in the video, was trained as an Architect and has worked around the world specializing in facade systems. His Instagram account is @the_donnies ... there you'll see loads of beautiful drawings of architectural details, well worth a follow; we do.
Hi All, This is very important, so please read the below very carefully: Please be aware that using someone else's model in your work without referencing them is considered plagiarism. Also, you won't be credited for that part of your work, so limiting it to supporting models (such as people, vehicles, furniture ... i.e. things to reinforce scale and give context) is advisable. In other words, if a model that was created by someone else is a major part of your design it's unlikely that you will pass, even if it is correctly referenced. Finally, if you plagiarize and are caught the consequences are very severe. So please, if you are tempted, talk to someone to get help or find another way. Regards Russell and Andrew
Hi All, Here are a few plugin's for sketchup you might like to try (we've not used them all, but some ARCH1101 Students are using them to create curving/intricate shapes): 1. Soap Skin and Bubble (Extension Warehouse ... under Window > Extension Warehouse > Search) 2. Bezier Curve Tool (Extension Warehouse) 3. 3d Trusses: A student in James Pedersen's group last year, Jason Yan, shared how he created the 3d trusses in his designs here: http://whatsupjasonyan.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/trusses-tutorial.html
You can get JHS Powerbar here, and s4u to Components at the Extension Warehouse. Regards Russell and Andrew
Hi All, Take a look at this video discussing the production of one of Sol Lewitt's artworks from 2007 Lewitt worked in the office of Architect I.M. Pei before becoming an artist and is famous for inventing Conceptual Art. In Conceptual Art the idea, or concept, of the work is in some ways independent of its materiality; in this way Lewitt can specify the end result and employ others to realize it. An example of this is “all combinations of two lines crossing, placed at random, using arcs from corners and sides, straight, not straight and broken lines” from 1972. While these works seem totally deterministic and under complete control of the artist Lewitt recognized that people understood words differently and made lines differently. Your task this week, to draw 36 textures from dark to light follows this tradition. (Another of Lewitt's works, a series of sculptures called Incomplete Open Cubes, is also worth taking a close look at). Regards Russell and Andrew
Hi All, The second theme presented as an option for EXP2 is Sustainability, below are three examples for inspiration:
Achim Menges - HygroScope - Here the timber is laminated in such a way to replicate
the way plants naturally open and close due to the sun. His research is based on
studying systems found in nature and recreating them with robotic fabrication -
so it's a bit of a mix of sustainability and technology.
Menges is from the Institute of
Computational Design in Stuttgart and is giving a (free) lecture at UTS on
April 24; see further details here.
On
a larger scale and mechanical... the Al Bahar Towers in the Middle East. Here you'll see a fully
responsive operable facade.
Finally, and back to the small scaled end of the spectrum again, below is a video about a project which my colleagues
did in London last year - Circular House. It explored the concept of the
Circular Economy, where all materials are re-used, recycled, upcycled, and
constructed in a way that it can all be reused again.
Hi All, Just a friendly reminder that class is still on this week (we started a week late, so we're making up that class in non teaching week). There will be another task for you to do as normal. If you'd like to get ahead you might like to download and read this article on laziness. Regards Russell and Andrew
Hi All, One of the themes for EXP2 is Technology. With that in mind we ask if Robotics might be the future of construction ... or if they are the present of construction? Here is an Australian firm with an approach that mixes the old with the new. Wolf D Prix is one of the founding partners of Coop Himelblau a firm that has been at the cutting edge of Architecture since the 1980's (when many of their early contemporaries have become quite conservative). And finally, a super fast 3d printer; imagine this scaled up to building size! Russell and Andrew
