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Posts Tagged ‘Topographic’

Topographic Tables: 12 Terrain-Inspired Furniture Designs

19 Aug

[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

Topographic Furniture Abyss Duffy 4

Meandering rivers, icebergs and a deep blue abyss are invoked in layers of blue-green glass, burled wood and cast concrete and translated into tables. Ranging from self-taught artists crafting each piece by hand to high-end designers using precision laser-cutting machinery, these three sculptors and furniture makers take inspiration from the natural world to make practical pieces that mimic topography.

River Collection by Greg Klassen

Topographic Furniture Klassen River 1

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 2

The naturally wavy edges of discarded lumber, considered too imperfect for standard usage in construction and furniture, are aligned just right and joined with strips of pale blue-green glass to become watery landscapes.

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 3

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 4

Taking inspiration from the beautiful natural scenery of his home in the Pacific Northwest, theologist-turned-furniture-maker Greg Klassen sources his wood at construction sites and from fallen trees in the forest. “I Love the idea of taken a discarded tree and giving it a new life,” he says.

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 5 Topographic Furniture River Klassen 9

“The collection is inspired by the exciting edges and vivid grains found in the trees sustainably taken from the banks of the Nooksack River that twists below my studio.”

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 7

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 8

Topographic Furniture River Klassen 10

Designs include the striking River Console, with its undulating ribbon of water, the Pond Table carved from a massive maple trunk, and Folded River, an asymmetrical L-shaped design in which the glass trails down one side.

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Topographic Tables 12 Terrain Inspired Furniture Designs

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[ By Steph in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Augmented Sandbox: Realtime 3D Topographic Landscaping

18 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

gif-water-island

Simulating an amazing array of natural environments and phenomena, this dynamic playspace turns ordinary hand-sculpted sand into vividly colorful landscapes in the blink of an eye.

gif-volcanic-mountain

A real and working augmented reality sandbox, the system is designed to help educate students about earth sciences with a uniquely responsive and intuitive interface.

gif-interactive-volanco'

A team of data visualization and earth sciences experts, mainly from the University of California, created the setup using a Microsoft Kinect camera coupled with topographic visualization software and a 3D data projector.

From rough prototypes to its present state, the project has come a long way in terms of the level of rendering detail and response speed.

augmented reality sandbox

Tapping into a familiar form of childhood play, the project “allows users to create topography models by shaping real sand, which is then augmented in real time by an elevation color map, topographic contour lines, and simulated water. The system teaches geographic, geologic, and hydrologic concepts such as how to read a topography map, the meaning of contour lines, watersheds, catchment areas, levees [and more].”

Of course, one can imagine an array of applications of this technology beyond classrooms and science museums, from Minecraft-style, construction-centric games to simulators and modeling tools for landscape architects and urban designers.

interactive 3d projected sandbox

More about this amazing project: “UC Davis’ W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), together with the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Lawrence Hall of Science, and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, is involved in an NSF-funded project on informal science education for freshwater lake and watershed science. The sandbox hardware was built by project specialist Peter Gold of the UC Davis Department of Geology. The driving software is based on the Vrui VR development toolkit and the Kinect 3D video processing framework, and is available for download under the GNU General Public License.”

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Topographic Interiors: Pair of Stacked Plywood Storefronts

02 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

wood storefront

This set of two spaces in Osaka, an information hub and public cafe, each employs layers of horizontal wooden sheets that stack up vertically to form seating, shelves, standing desks and work surfaces.

wood plywood design japan

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma worked with their client, a regional restaurant guide requiring a physical presence in a space open to the public, to shape both essential elements and opportunities for unexpected interactions.

wood interior custom space

wood layered ply seating

Alternating layers of recessed and black-edged boards create a heightened contrast with their bright, naturally wood-colored counterparts sticking further out from the walls.

wood layered desk shelves

wood separated storefront japan

Both rooms are set in the bottom of the same structure but are separated by outdoor space, so their common (and unusual) material language helps them connect across the void.

wood layered exterior view

wood custom casework system

By using light colors and through bright illumination, people passing between the rooms are meant to find them surprising, distracting and engaging. The composition was made, in part, to draw in pedestrians on their way through the central passage that bisects the spaces, a visual ‘hook’ for busy commuters in the bustling city.

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