As it happens in the lines of nature, Ito seeks formal freedom in the design that best adapted to the needs of their spaces. Ito embraces the apparently irregular qualities of nature’s ever-evolving presence. The capabilities of the current collaboration between design and structure calculation allow this game. The design is composed of three covered areas strung. Each shell is partially covered by glass roofs articulated in a scale-like manner; the rest is covered by vegetation. Thereby, it creates a continuous surface that twists into different vaulted spaces, adjusted to the scale of greenhouse contained. Thus we understand the building as an area that stands over the natural floor, creating spaces below and above it.

New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion in New York

UNStudio’s initial conceptual design for New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion calls for a 5,000 square-foot,  carefully programmed space located within The Battery’s Peter Minuit Plaza, named for the enterprising Dutch Director-General who in 1626 consolidated the early settlements at the tip of Manhattan – a grouping that came to be known as New Amsterdam. Within the open space of the Plein, visitors will find UNStudio-designed seating and tables.  These will surround a highly sculptural pavilion with an expressive, undulating roofline and curving walls – a compact little building with the authority of a major landmark, evoking a flower opening to its surroundings.  The pavilion will be equipped with an electronic facade LED system that allows for a constantly changing light show at night, “an experience that will carry the animation and drama of the day into the evening,” according to van Berkel.    Van Berkel’s pavilion will offer “a superb culinary experience, great visitor orientation information and materials, and an iconic, recognizable spot for residents and visitors to rendezvous.” New Amsterdam Plein will also feature berms and perennial garden planting beds, designed by New York City Parks & Recreation using the color palette of Piet Oudolf, who created The Battery Bosque Gardens and the Battery’s Gardens of Remembrance. New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion will be a dramatic space where more than 5 million people a year, including 70,000 daily commuters and 2 million annual tourists, can find an extraordinary “outdoor living room” for spontaneous and scheduled activities, public markets, seating and shade, and an iconic state-of-the-art pavilion for food and information.

http://plusmood.com/2009/09/new-amsterdam-pavilion-by-ben-van-berkel-unstudio-unveiled-in-battery-park-new-york/

The Chair One by Konstantin Grcic, is a beautiful structure inspired chair that is both simple and complex. Its simplicity is seen in its defined lines and its complexity is highlighted in the engineering ingenuity that is behind it. It was inspired by a football, which is created by assembling a number of flat surfaces @ different angles, hence creating a three dimensional form. This structural logic was reached after many sketches, cardboard models, and  prototypes. The final chair design was composed of  treated aluminum and a polyester powder coating.

The Burnham Pavilion by Zaha Hadid Architects triggers the visitors’ curiosity and encourages them to consider the future of Chicago. “It’s about reinvention and improvement on an urban scale and about welcoming the future with innovative ideas and technologies. Our design continues Chicago’s renowned tradition of cutting edge architecture and engineering, at the scale of a temporary pavilion, whilst referencing the organizational systems of Burnham’s Plan.” said Zaha Hadid. “The structure is aligned with a diagonal in Burnham’s early 20th Century Plan of Chicago. We then overlay fabric using contemporary 21st Century techniques to generate the fluid, organic form – while the structure is always articulated through the tensioned fabric as a reminder of Burnham’s original ideas.” The pavilion is composed of an intricate curved aluminium structure, with each element shaped and welded in order to create its unique fluid form. Fabric skins have been tightly zipped around the metal frame to create the curvilinear shape. The interior skin also serves as the screen for a video installation by Thomas Gray that explores Chicago’s past and future.

“Fabric is both a traditional and a high-tech material whose form is directly related to the forces applied to it – creating beautiful geometries that are never arbitrary. I find this very exciting.” explained Hadid.

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/04/16/burnham-pavilion-by-zaha-hadid-architects/

Sculpture of Morton C. Bradley, Jr.

 These two mathematical sculptures by Morton C. Bradley are 16″ and 20″ in diameter, respectively, made from 2-ply Strathmore paper. The geometric forms are each based on twelve copies of a Kepler-Poinsot polyhedron, with twelve great dodecahedra on the left and twelve small stellated dodecahedra on the right. If you want to try putting together your own paper models, all you really need to know is that, in each case, the visible facets are isosceles triangles in which the ratio of one edge length to the other is 1.618. In the form below-left, each triangle has two equal short edges and one longer edge; at right, they have two equal longer edges and one short edge.

(C)SPACE PAVILLION – Temporary Pavilion for the DRL10 (AA)
ALAN DEMPSEY+ALVIN HUANG
London, United Kingdom
October 2007 (Competition winner announced)
Febrary 2008 (Expected completion)
Area – 100mq

[C]SPACE is the winning competion entry in the ‘AADRLTenPointZero’ Pavilion project, an advanced technology concrete structure that was erected in Bedford Square (London) in February, 2008 as part of the ‘AATen’ Exhibition.

The striking presence of the pavilion invites inspection from a distance and upon closer interac!on reveals its ambiguity through the merging of sinuous curves, structural performance, and programma!c functions into a single continuous form. Fibre-C elements perform as structure and skin, floor, walls and furniture.
The joining system in the pavilion exploits the high tensile strength of Fibre-C using a simple interlocking cross joint which is tightened by slightly bending each element as it is locked into consecutive cross elements. Consultation with the Fibre-C technical department in Austria has suggested that a flex of 15-20mm per metre can be applied without affecting the structural performance of the material. The appearance of small micro cracks on the surface is mitigated by using lighter material colours and a Ferro finish. The pavilion is fabricated from curved profiles that are nested on standard 13mm flat sheets and water cut. Once delivered to site the entire pavilion can be constructed by hand.

RADIOLARIA – Gazebo
ANDREA MORGANTE (FUTURE SYSTEMS) – ENRICO DINI
Produced by Monolite UK Ltd, London, United Kingdom
2004
Price: 200€(!!!)

This picture shows how “Radiolaria” appeared just after breaking the self-built shell at the end of the two week building process and after one week finishing by hand.

It is a two meter tall monolithic sandstone structure printed using approximately 200 -10mm thick layers of sandstone rejects, aggregated by a new revolutionary inorganic binder.
It is the first ever example of classic stereolithography being applied to the building industry and it is a huge innovation of both product and process.
This Gazebo was designed by London architect Andrea Morgante based on a small micro-organism called ‘Radiolaria’ and was printed (scaled 1:4 in respect of final dimension) with a 3D Printer developed by the Italian Engineer Enrico Dini.

Seen from the exterior, Monolite appears like a big aluminium structure inside which the building will be constructed. The printing starts from the bottom of the construction and rises up in sections of 5-10mm. Upon contact the solidification process starts and a new layer is added. The new material has been submitted to traction, compression and bending tests. The results have been extraordinary! The artificial sandstone created has excellent resistance properties.

Dini’s machine marks a vital step change from the shoebox-size 3D printing of today, to tomorrow’s ability to print complete structures on site. Although others have been working hard on the prototype, Dini’s machine is ahead of the pack, with the Architectural Association beating several others to get to the first marketable version.