Project Drift Bench Author Amanda Levete Dimensions  Height: 420mm (Seat Depth: 420mm) x Length: 2880mm x Depth: 870mm Description A future classic from the Established & Sons stable.

The exaggerated, elongated form of the Drift bench has a modulated, fluid language that is characteristic of the work of Future Systems architects. With this design Amanda Levete has interpreted the company’s signature style within a piece of furniture design with extreme sculptural properties.

Materials & Finishes The Drift bench is available in satin-matt and high-gloss reinforced polyurethane.

Source: www.amandalevetearchitects.com/

Client: The Eden Project Size: 23,000 sq m Completion: 2001 Cost: £57m Structural engineer: Anthony Hunt Associates Services engineer: Arup Cost Consultant: David Langdon & Everest Main contractor: Mc Alpine Join Venture

The Eden Project is the largest plant enclosure in the world, built in the lightest most ecological way possible. The project is situated in a 15-hectare landscape site, formerly a worked-out Cornish clay pit. It was built in two phases, beginning with a hilltop Visitor Center, which opened to the public in May 2000.

The main focus of the Eden Project is a sinuous sequence of eight interlinked geodesic domes threading around the site, encapsulating humid tropic and warm temperate regions. The centre attracted almost 1,000,000 visitors to its showcase “Big Building”, which afforded visitors a view of the construction of these “biomes”. The biomes are an exercise in efficiency, both of space and material. Structurally, each dome is a hex-tri-hex space frame reliant on to layers. The efficiency of the frame depends on the components of the geometric shapes: steel tubes and joints that are light, relative small and easily transportable. The cladding panels, triple-layered pillows of high performance ETFE foil, are equally efficient, with maximum surface area and minimum perimeter detailing. This maximizes the amount of light penetration while minimizing the weight of the supporting structure.

Source: www.grimshaw-architects.com

Advanced computational modelling helped develop the product and establish a dialogue with Melissa and Zaha Hadid in order to bring the design to the production line. This challenging process employed 3D printing and rapid prototyping techniques as key tools for refining the ergonomics of the shoes. The fluidity of the design was a perfect match with Melissa’s plastic injection mould technology, generating great synergy between the teams.

http://vimeo.com/11499417

Freedom Of Creation (FOC) is where cutting edge technology meets design. FOC is a pioneering design and research company, specialized in designing with 3D printing technologies. The outcome of this work is either part of the FOC Collection or commercialized by other design labels. Since 2000, the extensive research conducted by FOC in design with 3D printing, has resulted in innovative and successful commercial products, the development of new industrial materials and even software products, and has been the foundation for significant R&D projects with a range of industrial partners.

Gaudi Chair was designed using the same method as Antoni Gaudi, who made models of hanging chains, which upside-down showed him the strongest shape for his churches. Additionally, to be able to determine the structure of the chair’s backrest, a software script was used.

The script was based on three steps: First the distribution of forces across the surface of the chair. Secondly the direction of forces defined the direction of the ribs. Finally the amount of force specified the height of a rib.

Materials and techniques were chosen to create a lightweight chair. The surface is of carbonfiber, the ribs are made of glass-filled nylon, by selective laser sintering.
The project researches how new technoloqy can be based on simple, logical concepts. In this case a concept which has proven it’s strength and beauty for over a hundred years.

by Gehry Partners
Las Vegas, NV, USA

The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is a health care facility specializing in research and care for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS, and Memory Disorders. The facility has approximately 31,000 square feet of clinical care and research space; and nearly 7,000 square feet is dedicated to the Museum of the Mind. Construction began in February, 2007, and completion was in 2009.

GT served as BIM consultant during design and construction to ensure Frank Gehry’s innovative designs for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute were fully realized. Project team members used Digital Project to create a 3D building model which allowed fabricators, erectors, and constructors to view building components layer by layer with a 360 degree viewpoint for exceptional detail, thereby removing ambiguity, ensuring design intent realization, supporting accurate fabrication and construction, and reducing change orders and requests for information. Three 3D models covered the building life cycle: the design model, the construction model, the as-built model. The project team kept the models synchronized.

Bathsheba Grossman, Santa Cruz, California has created this lamp which is a 3D sculpture. She says, “advanced prototyping went from something that was completely in-house at Boeing to something you walk in off the street and order. I can’t tell you how cool it is to have your own small hunk of metal.”

This shows that it is possible to print objects which interlock into each other. Also the precision allows perfect geometry to be created. There are instances when one can create an intricate jali system with the help of 3D printings.

The lamp

The tower with its skin acting as a structural element

The skin skeleton

The interior space

Geotube is a proposal from Berkeley-based Faulders Studio for Dubai (natch) that self-generates a salt-based skin with seawater.  The building’s skin is entirely grown and is in continual formation rather than fully completed.  The building sucks up water from the Persian Gulf through a 4.62 km underground pipeline, and then sprays it over its mesh facade. The water will evaporate in the hot Dubai sun, leaving behind crystallized salt deposits, transforming the tower’s appearance from transparent to a highly visible white solid plane. The building will be used as a specialized habitat for wildlife that thrives in this environment.