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FAB FESTIVAL 5TH & 6TH JULY // DIY Drones

admin — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:11:12 +0000

This and more at FAB FESTIVAL

FAB FESTIVAL 5TH & 6TH JULY // FAB SKATE

admin — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:04:56 +0000

This and more at FAB FESTIVAL

FAB FESTIVAL 5TH & 6TH JULY // Poppy project: open-source 3D printed humanoid robot and the FabLabs

admin — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 18:56:25 +0000

FAB FESTIVAL

Poppy project: open-source 3D printed humanoid robot and the FabLabs Lapeyre Matthieu

DEMO @ 10:00 – 20:00 SAT, 5 JUL

“The Poppy project (http://www.poppy-project.org) aims at building an Open-source humanoid platform based on robust, flexible, easy-to-use and reproduce hardware and software. In particular, the use of 3D printing and rapid prototyping technologies is a central aspect of this project, and makes it easy and fast not only the reproduction, but also the development of morphological variants.

Poppy responds first to the scientific objective to study the role of morphol- ogy in cognitive development, in particular for motor control and human-robot interaction. It appears today that a suitable design of a robot morphology can greatly simplify control problems, increase robustness, and open new modes of interaction with the physical and social world. Thus Poppy aims to enable and simplify the experimentation, the reproduction and the modification of the mor- phology in research laboratories. It also allows collaborative working, sharing and replication of the results on these issues between laboratories. The ambition is to become a reference platform for benchmarking and dissemination of scientific results.

Thanks to its properties, this platform also meets a growing societal need: education and training in technology combining computer science, electronics

and mechanics, as well as a training tool to the emergent revolutionary 3D printing process. With its openness, its design and its rather lower cost, Poppy provides an object and a unique context for experimentation and learning of these technologies in a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach. Several experiences with Poppy in colleges, high schools, Science museums and Fablabs in France and abroad are already underway and will be discussed in the incoming sections.”

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 4 & 5

admin — Mon, 19 May 2014 20:44:49 +0000

Days four and five of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar – both days on the site at the Valldaura Self Sufficient Labs – kicked off with a collective effort to finish mounting the Laser-cut cardboard pieces that were used as guides for the construction process. These were attached to the wooden formwork. The steel frame and foundations were then set, and the cardboard guides removed, to give way to the beginning of the brick laying phase. Thin bricks are starting to be laid, held in place with the help of the steel rod structure, and fast setting concrete. Once the first layer of bricks is in place, the metal substructure will be removed, and two more layers of bricks will be placed, finally leading to the completion of the structure in question.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // LIGHTWEIGHT STRUCTURES 1:1 // day 1 to 3

admin — Sat, 10 May 2014 13:28:05 +0000

The Practise Fabrication // Lightweight Structures 1:1 Seminar, led by Silvia Brandi and Rodrigo Rubio, with the collaboration of Pepe Ballesteros (Prototipolab) and Maria Kupstova, is focused on the digital fabrication of lightweight 1:1 scale spatial installations, based on the expertise of Experimental Structures, and the further development of some concepts proposed in Public Space Capsules Seminar from Term 2.

The aim of the Seminar is to realize lightweight spatial installations (embedding textile materials) that are demountable, digitally fabricated, and eventually performative.

The students have formed 4 different groups, each one working on a different structural prototype implementation. In these first 3 days of the seminar each group worked their concept design, testing the structural capacities through the production of small scale prototypes.

The course counts on the collaboration of the company SERGE FERRARI, an international producer of flexible composite materials and membranes of high performances for architecture, who will provide the material for the construction.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 3

admin — Fri, 09 May 2014 09:58:20 +0000

Day three of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar – and second day on the site – kicked off with a collective effort to finish the wooden formwork. Once finished, the wooden formwork was carried and installed to the site, a process that required a lot of manual labour. Laser-cut cardboard pieces that will be used as guides for the construction process were then attached to the wood. The concrete foundations were laid, always keeping in mind the protection of the soil, as the site is situated in the heart of the Collserola natural park. Sheets of plastic were introduced before the concrete was poured, in order to prevent contamination.

After a full day of hard work, students and staff set up a sunday barbecue in the Masia terrace, while the sun was setting behind Montserrat.

Most preparations are now over and construction with bricks can start in the next session, a week from now.

PRACTISE FABRICATION // BRICK WORKS THIN-TILE VAULT // day 2

admin — Wed, 07 May 2014 13:04:11 +0000

Day 2 of the Brick Works Thin-Tile Vault Seminar was and intense and productive day at the Valldaura Self-Sufficient Labs.

The day started out with recycling wood for the formwork necessary to accomplish the structure, that was later assembled. The group of students and tutors also dug the soil for the foundations, then laying out the plastic protection for the soil.

Construction will start on Day 3, so stay tuned for the next steps.

EVA FRANCH // Anger, imposibilidades y objetos

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 20:20:40 +0000

Tonight, as part of the IAAC Spring Lecture Series, we had the pleasure of hosting Eva Franch presenting a lecture on Anger, Impossibilities and Objects.

Eva Franch is an architect and founder in 2003 of OOAA (office of architectural affairs). Since 2010, Franch is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture. She studied at TU Delft and earned an M. Arch from ETSAB-UPC, and an M. Arch. II from Princeton University. She has lectured internationally on art, architecture and the importance of alternative practices in the construction and understanding of public life. Franch has taught at State University of New York Buffalo and at Rice University where she directed the Masters Thesis studio. At Storefront, her most recent projects include the launch of a new publication Series in partnership with Lars Müller, exhibitions such as No Shame: Storefront for Sale and POP: Protocols, Obsessions, Positions, the launch of the Storefront International Series and projects such as WorldWide Storefront, commissioning major design projects such as the Speechbuster, and developing projects like the Competition of Competitions. Most recently Franch, together with a curatorial and design team, has been selected by the State Department of the United States to represent the U.S. Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.

EXPERIMENTAL STRUCTURES SEMINAR – CONSTRUCTION WEEKEND WORKSHOP

admin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:58:11 +0000

This weekend we had an intensive workshop at IAAC building our 1:1 pavilions for the experimental structures course. Next Monday the 11th of March there will be the final presentation.

Machinic Conversations II

admin — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:59:01 +0000

During this 4 days workshop, students from the Fabrication Ecologies research line of the Master in Advanced Architecture 2013 were able to develop and test a new fabrication protocol deploying Hemp fibres by means of an industrial robot.
Through the production of a 1:1 scale prototype, the 4 teams explored the design opportunities arising from 2 different fabrication techniques developed within the Fabrication Ecologies Studio, focussed on the production of:
- an aggregate substratum via pick and place of fibrous component units.
- a non-woven fabric skin via robotic spraying of row hemp filaments.

The collaborative effort progressed in loops, with the work of one group informing the operations of the next. The feedback was mediated by a set of interfaces for real-time scanning (Kinect) and digital generative modelling (Grasshopper). The fabrication process than evolved into a conversation between designer, machine, material system, designer, prototype, machine, designer, and so on; each loop driven by a set of negotiations and specific design decisions.

Such fabrication protocol opens the possibility for a new form of participatory mass-customisation, ones that operates in real-time during and takes into account multiple factors such as design intentions, material behaviour, mechanical constraints and microclimatic conditions.

Machinic Conversations II on Vimeo.

Program Directors: Marco Poletto, Claudia Pasquero,

Workshop tutors: Andrea Bugli, Alexandre Dubor
Students: Jean Akanish, Drew Carson, Franciso Castillo, Marisa Charusilawong, Alexander Dolan, Kartik Gala, Sofokli Giannakopoulous, Gabriela Gonzalez, Vincent Huyghe, Yogesh Karekar, Stefanos Levidis, Iker Luna, Peter Malaga, Niccolo Marini, Priyanka Narula, Venkatakasi Raju, Aishwarya Sampath, Ahmed Selim, Jin Shihui, Georgios Soutos, Ali Yerdel