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Shape-Shifting Architecture: Material Morphs with Heat & Air

10 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

flexible-material-modular-p

This project asks a question that goes to the heart of how we think of buildings, asking: what if architectural shapes and structures could be more than just stable but also smart, responsive and flexible?

gravity actuated prototype design

Translated Geometries “is a performative prototype which exploits the Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) properties in order to generate responsive architectural behaviors” – it explores how heat, light, air and humidity can be utilized to deform and reform architectures. For instance, at higher temperatures the material is made more fluid, hardening into a new (or reverting to an original) shape when cooled.

shape shfiting form demo

A project of IAAC (the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia) students, tutors and faculty, this origami-like demonstration model uses triangular modules and responsive intersections to expand a surface to more than four times its original area.

A very early-stage iteration to be sure, there are many possible applications yet to be explored, perhaps first in larger demo versions then eventually in architectural facades and structures. Imagine buildings (or doors), for instance, that opened up naturally by day and closed at night, or let in light and heat when cool but converted to passive cooling via wind when too warm.

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

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Deserted for Decades: Derelict Old Building Houses New School

10 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

abandoned school reskinned

A remarkable example of architectural rehabilitation, this abandoned structure has been given a second life via a fresh facade that wrapping a rundown shell. The before-and-after shots illustrate the (realized) potential of even the most dilapidated-looking building, and in this case specifically: one that was exposed to the elements for over 20 years.

abandoned building before photo

abandoned building new view

abandoned building corner view

abandoned school other view

In the GELM annex, architect Víctor Díaz Paunetto AIA worked with a limited budget and existing building, effectively turning a stabilized ruin into the basis for a vibrant new structure boasting weathering steel and colorful accents. The building has already recieved Honor Awards from the AIA Puerto Rico Chapter in 2013, XIII Puerto Rico Architecture Biennale in 2013 and AIA Florida and the Caribbean in 2014.

abandoned school exterior skin

abandoned new stairway entry

abandoned building interior reuse

In alignment with the ecological focus of the school to be housed on the site, the client and designer agreed to maintain the existing structure at the core and to add exterior surfaces around it rather than demolishing it. Today, it is used for classes, meetings and gatherings as well as storage for the school and its students.

abandoned interior view back

abandoned building cut out

abandoned interior colors corten

From the designer: “This project aspires to be an example of how the recycling of existing structures can potentially serve as a vehicle for a sustainable development of our built environment. The challenges of demonstrating how adaptive reuse could be seen as a new model for redevelopment was intertwined with the challenges of a designer also working as the builder with an extremely limited budget and time for the execution of this project.”

abandoned building reused reskinned

abandoned building facade scheme

abandoned buiding site elevations

abandoned adaptive reuse

More about the design, site strategy, program and inspiration: “GELM Annex is a second commission of the joint Early Head Start and Pre-School Program of Guarderia Ecologica La Mina (GELM). The design solution for the rehabilitation of this existing structure dating back to the 1960’s and abandoned since the 1980’s had to strive for simplicity, uniformity and longevity. To this effect a corten steel skin perforated in a pattern derived from the abundant and extensive bamboo hedges that surround the site was designed in an effort to establish a dialogue with the immediate natural context. The skin becomes a sunscreen and jointly with the colored glass panels, introduced in reference to the existing pre-school the building serves, help bathe the interior space with filtered and colored light.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Looking Sharp: Blade-Like Bridge Slices Through the Air

09 Oct

[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

blade bridge 1

Five blade-like beams slice into the sky when this cantilevered footbridge in London’s Merchant Square rises to make way for boats moving along the Grand Union Canal. The movement of its dynamic design is inspired by the opening and closing of a traditional hand-held fan, the steel elements separating as they’re lifted into the air by hydraulic jacks.

blade bridge

blade bridge 2

Designed by Knight Architects and AKT II, the bridge spans a 20-meter (65-foot) section of the canal. The beams weigh six to seven tons each, and are balanced by a 40-ton counterweight. When fully open, the bottom blade hovers about 8 feet over the surface of the water. When closed, the bridge offers a flat and comparatively unremarkable surface that pedestrians can cross three-abreast.

blade bridge 3 blade bridge 4

Envisioned as a kinetic sculpture, the design beat out dozens of others in a 2012 contest. Like Thomas Heatherwick’s nearby Rolling Bridge, which curls into a ball as it opens, the new bridge rises every Friday and is considered a landmark for the area.

[ By Steph in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Urban Subversion: 13 Radical Examples of Guerrilla Housing

09 Oct

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

guerrilla housing dumpster 3

Vacant lots, billboards, rooftops and even dumpsters are hacked into inhabitable spaces in these examples of often-illegal guerrilla housing. All manner of urban surfaces can be subverted into safe, dry shelters, often taking examples in gray areas of local laws or flying under the radar simply because they blend so well into the city environment.

Billboard Housing

guerilla housing billboard 1

guerilla housing billboard 2

Belgian artist and hacktivist Karl Philips focuses on “themes such as gaps in legal, economic and social systems, the omnipresence of advertisement, unrestrained capitalism and consumerism, etc” so it’s no surprise that he decided to turn a billboard into an illegal parasite apartment. Invisible from the street, the apartment consists of a simple wooden platform and a clear plastic enclosure. Another more capitalism-friendly project in Mexico City attached a 170-square-foot house onto the back of a billboard as a residence for artists, who hand-painted the billboard for paper company Scribe.

Inflatable Parasite Housing

Attach a specially-crafted plastic shelter to an air vent on a building and you’ve got an instant inflatable shelter for the homeless. Michael Rakowitz creates these ‘paraSITE shelters‘, which narrowly fit the legal definitions of temporary structures due to their size, on a budget of less than five dollars each.

Dumpster Housing

guerrilla housing dumpster house 2

Artist Gregory Kloehn turned an ordinary dumpster into a pop-up shelter with a working kitchen and toilet, storage and sleeping areas as well as a modular rooftop deck, outdoor shower, flower beds and even a bar. It took six months to modify the Brooklyn-based house, in which Kloehn actually lives part-time. Perhaps the ultimate in urban camouflage, the dumpster looks no different from any other trash container when it’s all closed up.

Shopping Cart House

guerrilla housing camper cart

It may not be spacious, but artist Kevin Cyr’s pop-up camper cart takes advantage of ubiquitous shopping carts to offer a dry, portable place to sleep. When not in use, the whole thing folds down into an inconspicuous wooden box that fits within the cart.

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Urban Subversion 13 Radical Examples Of Guerrilla Housing

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Real Holodeck: 360-Degree Immersive Home Gaming Environment

08 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

interactive gaming room design

Using a series of networked camera-and-projector units, this working demonstration turns an entire living room into and interactive gaming environment. Dubbed RoomAlive (a successor to IllumiRoom, featured previously), this augmented reality expansion from Microsoft could transform not just the way we game but ultimately the way to interact with everyday spaces both private and public.

Existing objects and furniture within the space are automatically mapped and integrated into a given game or experience. The constituent procam units are auto-calibrating and can self-localize so long as there is some overlap in their fields of view. The entire array is designed to be simple to install and use – it effectively sets itself up once you put the technology in place.

3d mapped room interior

generated virtual creatures holodeck

The system creates a depth-aware 3D model of the room, identifying vertical and horizontal surfaces, which is plugged into a Unity gaming engine. It then populates the space with whatever the user desires, from passive environments to active games. Virtual characters can navigate along the floor then up along the walls, for instance, but users can also dodge and shoot, interacting as characters themselves. Items in the room can also become props, toys or tools within a programmed scenario.

roomalive live demo illumiroom

virtual character gaming control

This particular demo integrates six Kinect cameras to show various scenes and scenarios – just the tip of the iceberg. These could, of course, also be deployed in other settings to turn public or institutional spaces into fully interactive environments. For now, this is just a demonstration, but as these technologies become less expensive and more accessible it is easy to imagine commercial applications of all kinds.

home living room design

immersive gaming experience design

From from the Microsoft development team: “RoomAlive is a proof-of-concept prototype that transforms any room into an immersive, augmented entertainment experience. Our system enables new interactive projection mapping experiences that dynamically adapts content to any room. Users can touch, shoot, stomp, dodge and steer projected content that seamlessly co-exists with their existing physical environment.”

interactive living room gaming

textured map room holodeck

“The basic building blocks of RoomAlive are projector-depth camera units, which can be combined through a scalable, distributed framework. The projector-depth camera units are individually auto-calibrating, self-localizing, and create a unified model of the room with no user intervention. We investigate the design space of gaming experiences that are possible with RoomAlive and explore methods for dynamically mapping content based on room layout and user position. Finally we showcase four experience prototypes that demonstrate the novel interactive experiences that are possible with RoomAlive and discuss the design challenges of adapting any game to any room.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Gaming & Computing & Technology. ]

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City Cinemagraphy: Animated Photographs of Urban Motion

07 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

urban puddle test

With compelling attention to depth, detail and movement, French photographer Julien Douvier uses cinemagraphic techniques to capture everything from fleeting moments to frustrating routines that define life in bustling contemporary cities.

urban freeze frame photo

endless escalator

urban leaf bench motion

nature path fall leaves

urban puddle reflection

Working both in black-and-white as well as color, depending on what he is trying to depict, many of his works are simple loops of short time periods – typical cinemagraphs – but others go beyond that basic typology, too.

urban daily grind loop

urban walking routine

urban walking route

urban routine two

urban routine

In his Routine series, for instance, individuals are looped but also overlaid in multiples within the frame, creating a sense of infinite or endless repetition – in other sets (examples shown below) he utilizes transparency, nature and reflections to enrich each frame.

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City Cinemagraphy Animated Photographs Of Urban Motion

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Surfing Without Waves: Electric Wakeboard Powers Itself

07 Oct

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

electric wakeboard 5

Surfers living inland, or anyone who’s ever eyeballed their city’s river wishing they could use it to get around stalled traffic, could make their waveless surfing dreams come true with a self-propelled electric wakeboard. Developed by Swedish water sport company Radinn, the board is controlled via a wireless handheld remote and can zoom along the surface of the water at up to 30 miles per hour.

Electric wakeboard 4

Electric wakeboard 3

electric wakeboard 7

Jet-propelled by lightweight lithium batteries, the board is small enough to carry and has a carbon fiber body. It’s compatible with standard wakeboard bindings. Radinn created several generations of prototypes, testing and refining the design to prep it for production of the first batch of pre-orders this winter.

electric wakeboard 1

Electric wakeboard 2

electric wakeboard 6

That means you can take it virtually anywhere, freeing the sport of surfing beyond the confines of beaches that get good waves. The electric wakeboard takes urban surfing even further than artificial waves in places like Munich’s English Garden, making it possible to cruise along virtually any body of water.

[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Balancing Buildings: 14 Seemingly Gravity-Defying Structures

07 Oct

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

Balancing Buildings Cubic Houses 2

Heavy structures seem to hover in mid-air, supported only by spindly poles or narrow beams of concrete. Towers lean toward the ground at alarming angles. Narrow houses jut out over cliffs. Whether cantilevered, tilted or strangely stacked, these 14 buildings sometimes seem physically impossible.

Perched Partition by Niizeki Studio

Balancing House 1

Balancing Buildings Niizeki 2

In response to a narrow 2.5-meter-wide space crammed between two neighboring buildings, Japanese architects Niizeki Studio created a metal volume perched on a slice of concrete. The result is a hovering home that feels separate from the structures around it, and maintains an open space at the ground level. The cantilevered portion of the home is connected to a more grounded volume in the rear of the property.

Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank Creates its Own Shade

Balancing Buildings Alphe 1

Balancing Buildings Alphe 2

Unlike a certain other infamous building in Italy, the Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank leans at a dramatic angle on purpose. The passive solar design tilts the entire building 14 degrees to the south so the upper portion provides shade to the lower portion.

Cubic Houses by Piet Blom

Balancing Buildings Cubic Houses 1

It’s more than a little disorienting to gaze up at Rotterdam’s Cubic Houses from ground level – not only does it seem as if these geometric volumes are going to come tumbling down off their perches, they’re also tilted at such unusual angles that it’s difficult to picture what the interiors look like. Architect Piet Blom took inspiration from Le Corbusier in designing a complex that elevates inhabitable volumes on narrow trunks to give residents great views while maintaining open space on ground level.

Balancing Barn by MVRDV

Balancing Buildings MVRDV 1

Balancing Buildings MVRDV 2

The gleaming metal Balancing Barn by MVRDV looks more like a sculpture than an actual house, but this seemingly teetering vacation rental in the English countryside is quite comfortable inside. The architects describe it as “boldly designed to provoke a gut response to architecture and nature over a short stay.”

CCTV Headquarters by OMA

Balancing Buildings CCTV 1

Balancing Buildings CCTV 2

At 75 meters (246 feet), the cantilevered portion of the jaw-dropping CCTV Headquarters building is as wide as many skyscrapers are tall, and it’s supported only by two leaning towers. It’s hard for anyone without a pretty good grasp o advanced engineering techniques to understand how the whole thing doesn’t just topple over.

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Balancing Buildings 14 Gravity Defying Structures

[ By Steph in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Aerial Rugs: Images from Above Converted to Carpet Patterns

06 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

aerial dimensional carpet design

Created by an architect and landscape enthusiast, this limited edition series of custom textiles derives its geometries and colors from aerial views shot around the world.

aerial landcarpet custom series

aerial urban suburban image

Florian Pucher, an Austrian designer now based in Beijing, has long traveled by day to take in as many sights from the sky as possible. Since 2007 he has collaborated with graphic designer Sophia Liu Bo to redraw and abstract images shot from above, turning them into unusual rugs using high-quality New Zealand wool.

aerial carpet urban center

Each LANDCARPET creation is 1 of 88, signed and numbered in the spirit of traditional artistic prints.

aerial carpet with cow

aerial carpet cow scale

The subjects cover the globe, from Europe and the USA to Africa and Asia, urban settings to rural sites.

aerial carpet signed dated

aerial rug design detail

There is a rich variety from one to the next, showcasing an array of lines, curves, organic land forms, urban topographies, and other natural and man-made patterns and features.

aerial carpet city grid

aerial carpet grid pattenr

Each edition takes approximately five weeks to produce, combining real depth and hand-tufted textures.

aerial rug topographic detail

aerial rug colorful topography

The source images range from aerial photographs and satellite images to maps and other views from above. His work as an architect exposes Pucher to all kinds of site maps, master plans and other inspirational materials.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Empty Chambers: 10 Closed & Abandoned Gun Stores & Shops

06 Oct

[ By Steve in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

abandoned Chet's Gun Shop Detroit 1
If your business involves getting fired, going off half cocked or triggering bankruptcy, you just might be one of these 10 closed and/or abandoned gun shops.

abandoned Chet's Gun Shop Detroit 2

abandoned Chet's Gun Shop Detroit 3

“Chet” sold guns (and gun accessories) in Highland Park, Michigan for a very long time – his weatherbeaten but still-legible store sign appears to predate the neon era. Eventually, economic conditions and crime got so bad in Detroit that even a gun shop couldn’t make ends meet. Remarkably, Chet’s Gun Shop has been reborn into the world of online gaming – you can find it (or a representation thereof) at Second Life, for instance.

Guns & Butches

closed Butch's Guns 1

closed Butch's Guns 2

closed Butch's Gun Shop

Someone better buy Butch’s Gun Shop (just $ 499,000!) before the rest of the letters decay. One has to wonder why Butch’s couldn’t cut the mustard… maybe it was just too wild & woolly for today’s Seattle. Then again, who wouldn’t want to get a haircut at a combo gun shop / pawn shop?

House Of Gunja?

abandoned House Of Guns 1

abandoned House Of Guns 2

When Washington state’s started taking applications for retail marijuana stores, prospective operators found they had to clear a number of regulatory hurdles. One of these was a requirement that such stores had to be more than 1,000 feet from day care centers and similarly classed facilities. As the Trike Stop Infant Care Center was just 381 feet (as the crow flies) from the former House Of Guns, an application to open a “pot shop” in the abandoned gun shop was rejected. Selling guns less than 400 feet from a day care center was perfectly OK, though.

Last Meal

abandoned Hollywood gun shop diner Grants NM 1

abandoned Hollywood gun shop diner Grants NM 2

Was the “Hollywood” in Grants, New Mexico a gun shop or a diner… OR BOTH?? Flickr user Robby Virus came across the tattered remnants of the odd old establishment’s sign while traveling through Cross County in December of 2010. What would it have been like to enjoy a meal at the Hollywood? It seems we’ll never know but one thing’s for certain: it was probably the WORST place to try a dine & dash.

360Photography

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

Shape-Shifting Architecture: Material Morphs with Heat & Air

Deserted for Decades: Derelict Old Building Houses New School

Looking Sharp: Blade-Like Bridge Slices Through the Air

Urban Subversion: 13 Radical Examples of Guerrilla Housing

Billboard Housing

Inflatable Parasite Housing

Dumpster Housing

Shopping Cart House

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Urban Subversion 13 Radical Examples Of Guerrilla Housing

Real Holodeck: 360-Degree Immersive Home Gaming Environment

City Cinemagraphy: Animated Photographs of Urban Motion

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
City Cinemagraphy Animated Photographs Of Urban Motion

Surfing Without Waves: Electric Wakeboard Powers Itself

Balancing Buildings: 14 Seemingly Gravity-Defying Structures

Perched Partition by Niizeki Studio

Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank Creates its Own Shade

Cubic Houses by Piet Blom

Balancing Barn by MVRDV

CCTV Headquarters by OMA

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Balancing Buildings 14 Gravity Defying Structures

Aerial Rugs: Images from Above Converted to Carpet Patterns

Empty Chambers: 10 Closed & Abandoned Gun Stores & Shops

Guns & Butches

House Of Gunja?

Last Meal

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Empty Chambers 10 Closed Abandoned Gun Shops

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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Shape-Shifting Furniture: Interactive 3D Surfaces from MIT

Dynamic Shape-Shifting D*Haus Rotates to Follow the Sun

Material World: 8 Substances That will Shape the Future

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Then & Now: Hybrid Images of a Deserted School in Detroit

3-Story Floating School in Nigeria Rides on Recycled Barrels

15 Cool High School, College & University Building Designs

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Apostrophe-Shaped Bridge Doubles as a Ride for Pedestrians

Grass-Covered Bridge in Amsterdam Doubles as Public Park

Wild Water Crossings: 14 Bold & Crazy Bridge Concepts

Billboard Housing

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Dumpster Housing

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Urban Surfing: City Dwellers Catch Radical Artificial Waves

Homeless & Nomad Culture: Car Living to Couch Surfing

Urban Glider: Compact Portable Electric Unicycle for Cities

Perched Partition by Niizeki Studio

Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank Creates its Own Shade

Cubic Houses by Piet Blom

Balancing Barn by MVRDV

CCTV Headquarters by OMA

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Gravity-Defying House Gives Visitors Climbing Power

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Kite Cameras: Aerial Photography Accessible to Anyone

Magic Cement: Hidden Concrete Patterns Appear with Water

21 Radical Rugs and Must-See Modern Mat Designs

Guns & Butches

House Of Gunja?

Last Meal

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The Bucks Stop Here: 9 Closed & Abandoned Dollar Stores

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Urban Subversion 13 Radical Examples Of Guerrilla Housing

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City Cinemagraphy Animated Photographs Of Urban Motion

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Balancing Buildings 14 Gravity Defying Structures

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Empty Chambers 10 Closed Abandoned Gun Shops