joshua howell :::: words and images on design and culture

glowing hair

2010-09-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

The pieces are finally starting to come together for our Glow installation, "Soft Underbelly". We've been working on this for 6 months now... only one more day left. We made a last minute decision to paint all of the hairs with UV glow in the dark paint and I think it was well worth the effort.

We're almost there! Glow is this Saturday

2010-09-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

I've been hard at work lately working on our installation for Glow 2010 in Santa Monica this coming Saturday. It's been an intense past week weeks and I haven't had the time to update this blog with our progress. This morning Joshua Howell and Aaron Zeligs were quoted in an Los Angeles Times article about Glow. Here is the link: Glow 2010
Also please check out our new website for more project images, plus some other projects we've got in office. Popup Design
If you are in LA this weekend, come by and check out the event! I'm sure it will be a bit crazy, but there are some cool projects.

Coke Zero + Mentos rocket car

2010-06-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

This video shows a special trike that is "rocket propelled" using nothing but Coke Zero and a few Mentos. Kind of the same idea as the baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that I would make as a kid, but of course significantly more awesome. They did a great job on the film too.

new popup website launched

2010-06-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

The PopUp website has been offline for several months, since closing down the food business aspect last year. PopUp was intended as a design based company since the beginning, but I just never found the time to get it up and running. Well, the wait is over... we have new partners, a new business plan and we hope to go public with everything very soon! In the meantime, I have put up a new PopUp website, which will feature our collective design work, a blog and some research projects.
UPPOPSPOPUP

glow project featured on the cliff garten studio website

2010-06-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

CLIFF GARTEN STUDIO

GLOW selected artists announced

2010-05-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

From the official GLOW website:

Over 100 artists responded to an open-call for proposals to Los Angeles County artists for Glow and ten were picked for funding. There is a vast range in approaches, from projects that use very advanced technologies to more traditional media. All projects do invite the audience to become engaged in the work in one form or another. Artists’ concepts were developed in response to the physical and/or cultural conditions of Santa Monica Beach and its environs. One project includes scuba divers, another uses the gymnastic equipment of Muscle Beach and a third uses the historic trellis structure in Crescent Bay Park. All projects are unique and Glow is delighted to make these artists and their work available to the large audience we expect on September 25. The artists (and artist teams) are:

Claudia Bucher
John Carpenter and Jerry Digby
Robert Chapin & team
Anne Herlihy
Joshua Howell & Aaron Zeligs
Gil Kuno
Corey Madden, Bruno Louchouarn & Keith Mitchell
Chris Nelson & team
Christopher O’Leary
Hadrian Predock & John Frane

The proposals were reviewed and artists selected by a panel composed of the following:

Rita Gonzalez – Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, LACMA
Lisa Melandri – Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs, Santa Monica Museum of Art
Aram Moshayedi, Assistant Curator, LAXART
Marc Pally - Artistic Director, Glow
Pam Posey - Artist & Director, Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School
Jay Yan - Artist, Glow 2008 participating artist

cut you down

2010-05-17T22:44:00.001-07:00

My hero

are the only people left in the city of Detroit complete idiots?

2010-05-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

Its no great secret that Detroit Michigan is arguably the worst city in the world. No jobs, high crime, inept and corrupt government and very slim chances of a successful future. But when the city tries to boost citizen morale and improve its image through a nicely designed $5 million pedestrian bridge, you would think it would be a source of neighborhood pride. I guess these happy citizens like to show their pride by destroying things. Check out this video of a woman vandalizing the new bridge on its opening. The amusing twist is that she isn't some hoodlum off the street, but a respected editor for the Detroit Free Press.
http://detnews.com/article/20100508/METRO01/5080331

pomplamoose!

2010-05-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

This due from the bay area is making some really catchy covers and great youtube videos. I hope they make it down to LA soon.

home recording studio is up and running!

2010-05-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

I love having semi-free weekends. I finally got my little home recording studio up and running today. A while back I found an older Tascam USB mixer that I tried to get working with my new computer. Problem was, it wasn't designed to work with Windows 7, so it would never show up and caused my machine to crash. After a little Google searching, it turns out that under "preferences" you can specify for the device to run in Windows Vista SP2 mode (it defaults to XP) and this provided the work around for Windows 7. Eventually, I think I'll need to invest in a proper recording program like Cakewalk, but in the meantime I have Audacity (free!!!) and it seems pretty simple to use.

I can finally start to work with the various instruments I have been collecting over the past year... a telecaster with P90 pickups, an electric drum set, a MicroKORG synthesizer, a Korg Kaossilator and various guitar effects pedals. Its safe to say no real work is going get accomplished for the rest of the afternoon.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2010-04-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

I did actually have chicken for dinner tonight, and it was delicious.
I received an email today from the City of Santa Monica informing me that my design was selected for part of GLOW 2010, being held on Santa Monica pier/beach. I co-designed the proposal along with my good friend Aaron who I knew from grad school and we're both quite honored and excited to be one of the selected teams. One of the exciting things about working in the public art realm is that it provides the opportunity to create experiential spaces without many of practical restrictions of architecture. If you are unfamiliar with GLOW, it is an all night festival held on the beach and consisting of dozens of interactive lighting based installations. Aaron and I were able to come up with a scheme that choreographed an experience for the visitor, without having to worry about long term durability, weatherproofing, seismic forces, etc. As an architect, I am interested in defining space, but the art arena seems to be an ideal testing ground for ideas. This installation will fall somewhere between an object (ie. sculpture) and an enclosure.
More musings to follow. Today is the first step in a long process. I will be sure to post updates along the way and show images/video of our process.

Vintage Polaroid Camera Lamp

2010-04-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

There is something very sacrilegious about this next project. A while back I picked up a 1967 Polaroid Land Camera on eBay with the intent to convert it to use 4x5 sheet film. The conversion looked fairly easy, but in order to develop the film, I would have had to carry around a portable developing tank. This seemed like a real hassle, so I decided to just put the camera on my shelf as a conversation piece.
After gathering dust for months, I struck upon the idea tonight to remove the lens from the camera and turn it into a lamp. A quick Google search for "Polaroid Camera Lamp" yielded no relevant results and I decided that I might have come up with a completely unheard of creation, or at least something that hadn't been tried since before the invention of the internet. My theory is, if you can't find it by page 3 of Google, than it doesn't exist.

The following images are a photo documentation of my little Frankenstein operation, courtesy of my camera phone (still haven't got around to replacing my stolen camera). I'm really digging the result, but something felt very wrong about destroying a 43 year old relic. I still need to remove the outer lens from the faceplate, which will also help keep the light bulb in place more snugly. It was looking like I would have to conduct a bit of surgery with my Dremel in order to get that lens out, so I am going to finish up tomorrow.

Loney Dear live at KCRW

2010-04-28T19:51:00.001-07:00

Probably my favorite artist at the moment. Video of a live session at KCRW in Santa Monica.

Eclectic NY Loft

2010-04-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

I saw this wonderfully eclectic loft in NY while browsing through one of my favorite design blogs, The Jailbreak. I love their collection of retro, borderline nerdy stuff juxtaposed against the very hip, wood and exposed brick space. The neon tube television sign is my favorite piece. Some of the comic books and kids toys get to be a bit too much for my taste, but in general I'm digging this D-I-Y project. The red tiles in the kitchen work well with the subtle light pink and green to create a sort of country home kitchen meets 1950's suburbia feel.

Modernism is so boring, I love seeing people showing some personality in their design!

the power of taking time off

2010-04-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Being young and self employed, it's really started to hit me lately how much work must be accomplished before I feel comfortable taking even a few days off. This isn't really a financial constraint, but more a factor of having no one to hand work off to, so responsibilities tend to hang around like those stray cats in my parking lot who poop on cars and sharpen their claws on convertible soft tops. One of the highlights of when I was in school and working summers, was stopping work two weeks before school started and having the time to do whatever I wanted. Time off wasn't about travelling to some exotic place, but it was the ability to appreciate your surroundings and let your mind explore and grow.

My friend sent me the TED lecture below by one of my favorite graphic designers, Stefan Sagmeister, about the importance of taking a sabbatical. I don't see taking an entire year off as a realistic possibility for me anytime soon, but certainly on a smaller scale it seems manageable. When your mind doesn't have to focus only on whatever is immediately in front of you, your creative abilities are expanded. When you do return to work, the quality will improve and over time the sabbatical periods will actually increase profitability.

lost my camera when I need it most

2010-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

I'm actually about 95% done with this little loft interior build out that I have been creating for myself. Problem is, I left my camera on the bar at the Standard while I was paying my tab and it disappeared. I put the camera down and walked all the way to the elevator before remembering that I had forgot my camera. Was probably only gone 2 minutes at the most and it was gone. So... something else to add to my need-to-buy list.

In the meantime, I took a few photos of the progress with my camera phone. Using the loft bed design really opened up the floor plan. There are a few things that I still need to finish up. I need to hook up the pulley system to that I can raise and lower the bed. With the bed raised to the ceiling, I'll have about 7'-6 underneath so that will really make the whole apartment feel much more spacious. I also want to put some curtains up in front of the shelving under the bed. Shelves tend to get cluttered quite quickly and I always feel more at ease in a clean and well organized work area. More posts to follow.

Why we need real healthcare reform

2010-03-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

I don't normally like to think of this blog as something political, but I came across an interesting article in the LA Times this morning and thought it is important to pass this along. The story is of an LA man who needed a liver transplant to save his life. Blue Cross agreed to pay for the transplant, but the waiting list at UCLA medical center was so long that the man feared he would die before he was able to get the transplant. He chose to go to Indiana instead and waited 6 weeks instead of over 2 years. Blue Cross refused to cover the out of state procedure and the man was left on the hook for $206,000.
This is a clear right vs. wrong situation. The purpose of a healthcare system is firstly to save lives, plain and simple. Blue Cross, being driven by greed and willing to do whatever is necessary to keep their pockets fat was willing to let a man die over $200 grand. Now the court has ruled that not only must they pay his medical fees, but also his legal fees which I am sure will be far greater.
This is a feel good story, but I can only imagine what would have happened if the average middle or lower class person was in this same situation. They would have either lost their life or lost everything they owned to pay for the procedure. This is a perfect example of why the only solution to the healthcare mess in this country is to create a not for profit public insurance program. There are problems with any system, whether it is a for profit company such Blue Cross, or a public government run system such as in Europe or Canada and most other civilized countries, but a not-for profit system will put the needs of its clients first. In the last several years, we have seen massive greed and aloof management bring down many banks and other large companies. The greed that controls the health insurers will only insure that things get worse for their customers.

How to live in under 500 square feet, part 1

2010-03-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

One of the many projects I have been working on recently is the interior design for my own small studio apartment located in Downtown Los Angeles. The entire apartment is just under 450 square feet but the main room seems smaller than it should due to fairly large bathroom and eat-in kitchen. I am the process of moving into this apartment from a large shared house, which offered more than enough space to indulge in my habits of collecting musical instruments, books and assorted E-Bay bargains. Obviously the challenge of this project is to fit my ten pounds of junk into the five pound can I am about to move into.
The first step was to build as much shelving space as possible. However, this all needs to be accessible and while storage space is great, I also don't want to look like I am living in the middle of a walk-in closet. Secondly, I am unwilling to give up my large bed which offers an additional impediment to my rapidly shrinking floor area.
The solution had to be either a bed which folder up and out of site, ie. a Murphy bed, futon, or hide-away couch. The problem with all of those options is that they either take away from floor or wall space. The second option would be a loft bed. I took this a step further, what if the loft bed also could raise or lower so that you could still have enough room to stand under the bed when it is fully lifted. Therefore, option two it is! I am still able to have shelves on all walls, plus the bed can move out of the way when it is not needed.
I'll post some photos soon. In the meantime are some digital images of how the project is developing.

Gadeokdo Competition Detail Images

2010-03-08T23:30:00.001-08:00

The following images are some close ups from our competition boards.

Recap followed by additional posts

2010-03-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

Obviously my New Years resolution to write posts on a regular basis didn't last too long. To make up for this, I will do a quick recap of the last two months, followed by a flurry of posts which will add up to the correct amount of posts, had I been blogging diligently.
My office, Studioreverse, partnered up with United Lab in Los Angeles to participate in the Gadeokdo Gateway City competition in South Korea. We had been talking for months about doing a competition together and were waiting until the right opportunity came along. The project was located on an island just off the coast of Busan. The city is building a massive bridge which will connect the city center of Busan with Gadeokdo island and a string of islands surrounding the coast. The competition asked for us to make a new gateway city, with an emphasis on sustainability, and including a new airport as part of the plan.
Our proposal was to make this island a case study of intelligent and sustainable city planning. The plan centered around a "super hub" located in the north of the island. This hub had an underground network of roads and parking, keeping the surface streets from from cars entirely. A network of canals and some streets provided a mass transit network of water taxi and electric buses. We also made the decision to locate the ticketing, baggage check, waiting areas and support offices of the airport in the heart of the city. Once checked in, passengers could venture out from the airport and see the city - grab a bite to eat, watch a show, go to the park etc. When it was time for the flight, passengers would take a dedicated tram to the airport island, locate a few kilometers away.
Unfortunately our proposal was not selected as a finalist. We still are generally pleased with how the project turned out and will try to develop this further. I will publish close ups of the boards in a post to follow.

3d Holographic Architectural Imaging

2010-01-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

My business partner showed this video to me. It is quite amazing how they can create the illusion of a 3d model with just a simple glass plane

Holographic Architectural Imaging by Zebra from Core77 on Vimeo.

Arduino code for four lasers

2010-01-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

This is some of the code I am working on for the MFA project that I mentioned in the last post. Right now I simply have four photocells, each controlling an LED. Next week I plan to get one of these so that I can replace the lights with a triggered sound. This might require significant reworking of the code... we'll see.

First the video, then the code:

/*
Created 11 Dec 2009
By J Howell
modified 14 Dec 2009

*/

int ledPinA = 10; // LED connected to digital pin 10
int ledPinB = 11; // LED connected to digital pin 11
int ledPinC = 6; // LED connected to digital pin 11
int ledPinD = 5; // LED connected to digital pin 11
int val0; // define variable for photoresistor 0
int val1; // define variable for photoresistor 1
int val2; // define variable for photoresistor 1
int val3; // define variable for photoresistor 1
int ledBrightness; //

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600); // sets the serial port to 9600
}

void loop()
{
val0 = analogRead(0); // read analog input pin 0
val1 = analogRead(1); // read analog input pin 1
val2 = analogRead(2); // read analog input pin 2
val3 = analogRead(3); // read analog input pin 3

if( val0 < 400){
// fade in from min to max in increments of 1 points:
for(int fadeValue0 = 0 ; fadeValue0 <= 255; fadeValue0 +=1) {
// sets the value (range from 0 to 255):
analogWrite(ledPinA, -(fadeValue0));
}
}
else{
digitalWrite(ledPinA, LOW);
delay(10);
}
if( val1 < 400){
// fade in from min to max in increments of 1 points:
for(int fadeValue0 = 0 ; fadeValue0 <= 255; fadeValue0 +=1) {
// sets the value (range from 0 to 255):
analogWrite(ledPinB, -(fadeValue0));
}
}
else{
digitalWrite(ledPinB, LOW);
delay(10);
}

if( val2 < 400){
// fade in from min to max in increments of 1 points:
for(int fadeValue1 = 0 ; fadeValue1 <= 255; fadeValue1 +=1) {
// sets the value (range from 0 to 255):
analogWrite(ledPinC, -(fadeValue1));
}
}
else{
digitalWrite(ledPinC, LOW);
delay(10);
}
if( val3 < 400){
// fade in from min to max in increments of 1 points:
for(int fadeValue0 = 0 ; fadeValue0 <= 255; fadeValue0 +=1) {
// sets the value (range from 0 to 255):
analogWrite(ledPinD, -(fadeValue0));
}
}
else{
digitalWrite(ledPinD, LOW);
}
}

Some recent work

2009-12-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have been extremely negligent about publishing posts. Its nearing the end of 2009 and I'll go ahead and make my first new years resolution right now: I am going to try to update this blog at least twice per month.
There is actually quite a lot going on for me right now. I recently completed two sculpture projects for Cliff Garten Studio, the first a bench/sculpture at the new Sacramento Valley High School Library and the other is a collection of small columns in front of the Academy of Art University in North Hollywood. Both pieces use a simple array of stainless steel rods bent into the same profile and welded together at connection points. It is a very simple design which work well for these low budget projects, but I am pretty pleased with how they look when lit up at night. The Sacramento photos were taken by my friend Linda Dang.

I am also working with my friend Liz Terschurr on the design and electronics for the set of a dance performance this coming February at UCLA. The stage will be crisscrossed with visible laser beams that control sound effects. The dancers are choreographed to interrupt the beams at key moments and create a real-time background score for the performance. Essentially this is a larger version of this laser harp but the beams will actually cross parts of the stage rather than being confined to a small area. I will post some videos and the code I am working on shortly. As always comments and suggestions are appreciated since I am a bit rough in my knowledge of writing code.

These are great!

2009-06-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

I really like this installation:

Cliff Garten Studio Unveils Avenue of Light, Fort Worth TX

2009-06-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Cliff Garten Studio in Venice CA has recently unveiled The Avenue of Light in Fort Worth, TX.

The Avenue of Light, anchors the Lancaster Avenue Corridor Redevelopment Project and is nearly half a mile long. Lancaster Avenue was severed from Fort Worth’s downtown in the 1950s with the construction of the elevated I-30 freeway, but in recent years the freeway was relocated and the area has begun to be redeveloped into a pedestrian friendly community with a renewed appreciation for the history of the site. CGS won a national invitational competition administered by Fort Worth Public Art to secure the commission. The challenge of the project was to use the median design and sculptures as the entry and civic spine of the new Lancaster District. It treats the median's landscape and sculptures as one integrated work of art.

The project was also recently featured under the "Avant Garde" section on Kanye West's blog.

Check out the studio website: http://www.cliffgartenstudio.com

Also blogged at:

beautylabny

archinect

designboom

StudioReverse: tea set

2008-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

This past summer I started a side office with several former UCLA classmates. Currently we're working on several renovations and additions here in Los Angeles, but I have also been toying around with designing a tea set that we'll try to get manufactured.

The cups are inspired by traditional Asian tea boxes, but blends the boxy cups with more figurative baroque geometry. Each cup uses supple spline curves for ergonomics while maintaining selective creased edges to define the form. When all four cups and saucers are placed together, they become periodic, creating a larger symmetrical composition. In section, each cup thickens towards the base and where ones fingers would rest, so as to provide insulation against the hot liquid. The cup thins out by the rim.

The first pass was an attempt at making a western style set with rounded cups with handles. I felt like the set was looking too figurative and wanted something simpler. The boxy cups provide a good background to more complex patterning.

Currently we're working on designing the tea pot, and looking into some graphic options to apply to each cup. I'd like for the tea pot to somehow complete the set, perhaps sitting on top of the cups or nesting on a side.

The entire set, composed into a square

Individual Cups

Plans and Elevations

A first pass at patterning using the scriptographer plug-in for Illustrator. The pattern is an array of rotating and scaled hearts which wrap the cup. Ideally, the pattern is something which has commercial appeal, but also can be appreciated for technique and aesthetic effect.

so its not architecture....

2008-10-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

recycled toy furniture video

2008-10-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is the video from the recycled toy furniture project that I worked on this past summer at Greg Lynn's office. The project was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won the Golden Lion award for best installation.
While the actual toys used in this project were not recycled, the idea is for them to be in the future. At the office we have digitized versions of several different plastic toys, which can allow us to custom make any piece of furniture from our library of toys. Since each toy is individually cut via robotic arm, the complexity of the overall composition is almost irrelevant. As an idea I think this is quite provocative and forward thinking, but it is still in the early stages of implementation.

Greg Lynn Form

Santa Monica Parking Garages

2008-08-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Since completing school in June, there isn't much work that I am able to post on this blog. Most of my professional work at the moment is still in schematic design and somewhat secret for the time being. I did stumble across the following post on Curbed LA Blog for the Santa Monica Parking Garages renovation that I worked on while at Pugh Scarpa. One of the garages is a renovation to Frank Gehry's original Santa Monica Place parking garage from I believe 1967. Didn't double check the date on that, but I seem to remember reading that at one time.
I did most of the design and presentation work on the garages and were the last project I worked on prior to leaving P+S.
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/08/santa_monica_approves_pugh_scarpa_parking_garage_designs.php

Hernesaari Yacht Club Final Images

2008-07-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Following are images from the Sotamaa research studio final review as well as project descriptions:

The research studio, titled “Spasms, Convulsion, Eruptions”, explored sensations of movement in architecture at both the scale of a building as well as at the scale of the city. These sensations of movement were first explored through still images, carefully analyzed for visual traits which conveyed movement. A gradient of light, blurry colors, contorting linework or ripples in a surface are all visual signs of physical movement. When translated to an architectural scale, these sensations move architecture from a purely functional endeavor, but instead provoke an emotional response from the viewer and directly engage them in the work. This studio focused on the role which aesthetics play in design and how to integrate aesthetics with functional concerns.

Architectural examples of movement based design, most notably the work of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Aero Saarinen, and Antoni Gaudi were studied for the experience they produce. These architects, without being directly metaphorical in their approach, managed to create work which moves beyond the practicalities of program and context and engage the user at an emotional level. At a smaller scale, we also researched automobile design and specifically the use of lines, creases, and folds as a graphical means conveying emotion in design. Car designers are able to highly specifically create designs which are “aggressive”, “cute”, or “rugged”. This kind of design integrates aestheticism and functionalism without becoming superfluous.

This sensibility reinterprets the baroque into an architecture conveyed with a high level of detail articulation, but without superfluous formalism. The Hernesaari urban proposal is treated holistically, not as a collection of individual elements, but as a series of untraceable design moves working in concert to produce overall sensations. Just as in product or automotive design, lines serve both an aesthetic and functional purpose. The site linework both develops structure and program as well as aesthetically ties together the vertical accumulations to the horizontal landmass.

Each tower is programmed using ratios of residential, office, entertainment, retail, essential commercial and hotel which are applied to each tower individually based on contextual information, parking, transportation infrastructure, views and proximity to boat berths. After the program ratio is determined, a scripted process creates the inner core to each tower. This process offsets the tower surface to create an inner skin. The offset distance varies depending on the program mixture. The residential spaces receive a low offset, so that they sit very close to the outer surface, while entertainment and commercial spaces get offset farther inwards, creating a situation where the public programs sit within the poche space of the wall section.

HERNESAARI YACHT CLUB

The yacht club is located at the narrowest point of the site, and is situated almost entirely underwater. The yacht club questions the relationship between the marina and the city. While the use of the water is public, yacht clubs traditionally are highly exclusive environments which attempt to isolate themselves from the rest of the city. In our proposal, this isolation comes through the use of water as a material.

Rumble and the end of academic life (at least for a few years...)

2008-06-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

June 9/10 saw the first annual "Rumble" being held at UCLA AUD. All student projects from the undergraduates to the graduating third years were on display and the entire architecture building was turned into a big gallery. Many alumni, local architects and a handful of "stars" made it to the opening show on Monday night. I think everyone was a bit apprehensive in the weeks leading up to rumble as to whether such a large scale operation could be pulled off successfully. Despite a minor few equipment problems everything went very smoothly and the actual event was deemed a success by all in attendance.

I'd like to extend a special thanks to everyone in the Sotamaa research studio, and especially my group partners for their hard work in both completing their own studio projects, but also in setting up the studio's exhibition.

Cool Graffiti Video

2008-05-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Tokyo Now Colloquium

2008-05-29T14:58:00.001-07:00

Joshua Howell and Aaron Forbes will be presenting a paper titled "Tokyo: Techno City, a Study of Theory, Architecture and Popular Culture" at the Tokyo Now Colloquium this coming Saturday, May 31 at UCLA AUD. The colloquium will be held from 9am-3pm in DeCafe.

Paper Synopsis:
Since the 1960's, personal electronic devices and mass communications has altered the physical development of the urban fabric. Theorists from all social and cultural arenas have hypothesized how these mobile objects could become primary agents of the next generation and impact every facet of culture. This paper simultaneously traces social theory, architectural projects and popular culture examples of how mobile electronic devices and mass communication have altered urban environments.
Raynor Banham, in the 1960's writes of small self contained, low cost, electronic devices which have the ability to transform circumstances into conditions of human desires. Banham's vision has become a reality in modern day Tokyo, where personal electronic devices have given people more power than all of Banham's gizmo's combined. The extraordinary power of these devices have called into question the need for physical space and transformed the way in which architects and planners design environments.
The screen becomes the new cross roads of Tokyo. Cell phone and text messaging have reduced physical landmarks to a relic of the past and even begun to eliminate the need for face to face physical interaction. Electronic communication mediums break down cultural distinctions of language, and location through the use of universals such as sequential images and soundtracks. In this new electronically immersive environment, the mobile telephone is no longer just a device to talk into, but a remote control for your life.

Installation Update

2008-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

A few images and video from the interactive installation I am working on with two other UCLA students. Using code written in processing, the servos will be controlled through an ultra-sonic proximety sensor. The box for the installation is divided up into 5 zones, each with its own servo. A single sensor is able to control behavior for all 5 servos separately based on distance of an object (person).

Hernesaari Urban Plan: Tower core and surface articulation

2008-05-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

As a programmatic strategy, we have been working towards creating a "vertical urbanism" within the towers. This idea obviously ties back to several previous posts about the vertical urbanism of Tokyo, yet in this situation we are dealing with a new development in a significantly lower density urban milieu. However, Helsinki already has an interesting mixed use typology already in place, which we are closely trying to follow. There are many vertical and underground shopping centers which are very different from developments you would see in the US. There are also several successful instances of restuarants and bars being located on the top of residential and office towers, which is an example of time based use as a device to increase the vibrancy of singular buildings. This was a large part of the thesis for my Little Tokyo project from last Winter Quarter.

In the programming of the towers, we have developed ratios of residential, office, entertainment, retail, essential commericial and hotel which are applied to each tower individually based on contextual information, parking, transportation infrastructure, views and proximety to boat berths. For example, the two largest towers are located at the entrance to the development, with the best access to public transportation (tram and bus) as well as close proximety to the bridge connecting Hernesaari with the new development being planned for the peninsula directly West. These towers at 20 stories also have the best views of the city, ocean and marina, as well as being a logical transition between the city of Helsinki proper and the new cruise ship terminal on our site. Because of these factors we have given the towers a ratio of 40% high end residential, 30% office, and 30% recreational shopping.

For the articulation of these program mixtures, we've scripted a process which offsets the tower surface to create an inner skin. This offset distance varies depending on the program mixture. The residential spaces receive a low offset, so that they sit very close to the outer surface, while entertainment and commercial spaces get offset farther inwards, creating a situation where the public programs sit within the poche space of the wall section. As a happy, but unintended side effect of the script, this also tends to create "bleb" spaces... to borrow a term from Greg Lynn. These blebs topologically follow the surface direction and curvature, but also as applied ornament.

The script is posted below:

/* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFSET POLYGONAL SURFACE BASED ON PROXIMITY TO LOCATORS

begin by manually locating locators in space to define offset amount. polygons will offset linearly from locator through distance
defined by variable "offsetDist". first select object for offset prior to running the script. can use a maximum of 3 locators.

script written by Joshua Howell
UCLA Spring 2008, Kivi Sotamaa studio

Status: 05-25-2008: working!

*/

$cvCount = polyEvaluate -v;

$list = `ls-sl`; //define variables
$object = $list[0]; //define object for offset

int $offsetDist = 3;
rename "object";
xform -cp;

vector $ptLocatorA = `pointPosition -w ("locator1")`;
vector $ptLocatorB = `pointPosition -w ("locator2")`;
vector $ptLocatorC = `pointPosition -w ("locator3")`;

for ($i = 0; $i<= $cvCount; $i++) { vector $ptObject = `pointPosition -w ("object" + ".vtx[" + $i + "]")`; float $aa = (($ptLocatorA.x) - ($ptObject.x)); float $ba = (($ptLocatorA.y) - ($ptObject.y)); float $ca = (($ptLocatorA.z) - ($ptObject.z)); float $ab = (($ptLocatorB.x) - ($ptObject.x)); float $bb = (($ptLocatorB.y) - ($ptObject.y)); float $cb = (($ptLocatorB.z) - ($ptObject.z)); float $ac = (($ptLocatorC.x) - ($ptObject.x)); float $bc = (($ptLocatorC.y) - ($ptObject.y)); float $cc = (($ptLocatorC.z) - ($ptObject.z)); float $da = sqrt(((($aa*$aa) + ($ba*$ba) + ($ca*$ca)))); float $db = sqrt(((($ab*$ab) + ($bb*$bb) + ($cb*$cb)))); float $dc = sqrt(((($ac*$ac) + ($bc*$bc) + ($cc*$cc)))); select ("object" + ".vtx[" + $i + "]"); if (($da<$db) && ($da<$dc) && (($offsetDist-$da)>0))

moveVertexAlongDirection -n (-($offsetDist-$da));

else

if (($db<$da) && ($db<$dc) && (($offsetDist-$db)>0))

moveVertexAlongDirection -n (-($offsetDist-$db));

else

if (($dc<$db) && ($dc<$da) && (($offsetDist-$dc)>0))

moveVertexAlongDirection -n (-($offsetDist-$dc));

else
moveVertexAlongDirection -n (-0.5); //move faces too far away from locators 1/2 meter in from outer surface

}

Yacht Club Mid Review 05.19

2008-05-19T19:13:00.001-07:00

Helsinki Hernesaari Yacht Club and Marina

2008-05-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

Mid review model photos from Kivi Sotamaa's research studio, "Spasms Convulsions Eruptions: New Sensations of Movement".

Render Tests

2008-03-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Medium Cool + Studio Update

2008-03-11T01:35:00.000-07:00

A lot has been happing in the past month. The week of February 11-15 I participated in the Medium Cool workshop here at UCLA. Four up and coming Japanese architects taught a fast paced design charrette looking at medium density housing solutions for Los Angeles. I worked under the direction of Kumiko Inui, who is well known for her simple, but elegant retail designs in Tokyo. The client was Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the LA Times, who owned a house in Eagle Rock (near Pasadena) and was looking to build a new house on the lot with potential for expansion. Working with two undergrads and another graduate student, our proposal created a micro-urban condition on the site with four separate buildings. We pulled the buildings in towards the center of the site, keeping the site corners as garden space so as to create a buffer between the street and neighbors.

The final review was filmed and covered by A+U Magazine (I should have a few quotes in the article when the issue comes out). The jury consisted of Greg Lynn, Sylvia Lavin, Neil Denari, Jeff Inaba, Hitoshi Abe, Christopher Hawthorne, Roger Sherman and Dana Cuff.

Below are a few images from midreview for my studio project. The design is driven by a continuous parking ramp which winds to the top of the building, feeding a central commercial core and infilled with residential units. Several "attractor" commercial programs such as movie theaters, atheletic centers and high end restaurants are strategically located within the structure. These attractors then serve to feed the secondary commercial programs and open spaces.
The images are several weeks old... Final reviews are in a little over a week and there is a lot to be done still.

Research Studio Update

2008-02-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Last fall we conducted visual based research on illusions of movement, specifically looking at classifying effects and the resultant affect. The quarter culminated in a small publication of found images and "recipes" of each type of movement (ie. contortion, billowing, turbulence, etc) and how to produce that illusion of movement.

This winter quarter we are doing brief computer modeling exercises to try to produce the same movement effects we studied in the fall. Nothing is meant to be "architectural" yet, it is designed to produce a arsenal of techniques which can be later used with greater rigor in an architectural project.

The effect I was attempting to produce was "contortion", as defined by moi:

Carries traces of a violent transformation. Registers primarily in a skin or surface. This movement appropriates the traits of other movements such as flow and bubbling. When light wraps the surface, it is caught between ripples and vibrates back and forth against dimples and pockmarks. This is not a constant speed, but flexes and releases with violent force, creating smooth flows punctuated by uncontrolled moments of release. Contortion bends and twists, appearing sinuous and muscular but frequently working a surface beyond its capacity, leading to misshapen lumps and tears. When viewed monocromatically, and broken down into its simplest elements, the movement can be seen as transitioning between point clusters and lines.

The techniques used were: Maya particle fields, Real Flow fluid animation, and Maya hair.

Tokyo - Vertical Urbanism

2008-02-02T23:45:00.001-08:00

Arrived back in Los Angeles this morning after an overnight flight from Tokyo. I didn't have access to a computer while in Tokyo, so the plan for daily updates never materialized.

The density of Tokyo was different from anything I have seen in the US or Europe. This isn't high-rise density in the sense of NY city, but a vertical urbanism in which the street is carried up vertically through the buildings. In Tokyo there is a common building typology which positions vertical circulation on the front of the building, accessible from the street, and layers different shops and programs vertically. Each shop has its own signage visible from the street. This vertical ordering creates very interesting interior "streets" in which interactions can take place in a stairway or elevator lobby. In the US, it is not uncommon to see shops or restaurants located on the ground level of a building, and residential units located above, but the prevailing train of thought is that only the ground level of a building can function successfully as a retail space.

Another interesting result of extreme density is how Tokyo makes use of awkward and left over spaces to develop usable program. Some examples are: an outdoor soccer field on top of an 8 story retail building, a park and sports fields located between a train line and street, "golden gai" - a collection of tiny bars each of which can only seat about 5-7 people and are accessed by a 2 meter wide pedestrian street, and "memory lane" a collection of yakitori restaurants and bars located in a narrow alley behind a new retail establishment.

The Japanese also have an interesting habit of arranging objects or stores into highly organized similar collections. On an urban scale, Tokyo arranges shops which sell similar things into zones, ie: bookstores, music stores, motorcycle shops, bars, or sushi restaurants. This organization carries down to the object level, where similar objects are classified and organized by type.

Live From　Tokyo... update #1

2008-01-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

Kom ban wa! I am posting live from a manga kissa in 私塾Tokyo. We arrived last night、and after a wonderful dinner and too much soju, we finally went to bed after about 30 hours straight. Today has been spent touring the Shinjuku area with Dr. Julian Worrell from Tokyo. The city is quite overwhelming, but amazing. The density is obviously much greater than in Los Angeles, but we are noticing significant urban planning differences and a entirely different set of building typologies. One interesting thing we`ve noticed is that it is common for many commercial areas to have 4 + levels of retail program, but each floor is an entirerly different store. Currently I am writing this from the red light district were the massage parlors and love hotels have provided much amusement for a group of 14 Americans.
Apparently my time limit is up on this computer station, so I will have to cut this post a bit short. I will try to upload some pictures soon. If I can find a computer, I am hoping to post regular entries of our daily activities.
Osaki ni!

chapel in the park - model photos

2008-01-09T00:13:00.000-08:00

Using plaster on MDF board, I began by studying patterns, textures and light/shadow effects on monochromatic surfaces. These initial studies later carried into the brick research, using a similar monochromatic material that also dealt with shadows and patterning.

The site model is made of milled foam, covered in plaster, then heavy primer and finally sanded smooth. After sanding, the model was textured using a flexible plaster applied with a putty knife and then this was sanded with 800 grit paper to smooth out inconsistencies.

More photos available :::: here

Winter Lineup

2008-01-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

First day of classes were today, and it looks like another hard hitting line up. For studio I have Hitoshi Abe and we will be travelling to Tokyo for ten days at the end of January/early February. The research studio with Kivi Sotamaa will also be continuing, but now we will be moving into digital and physical techniques and less research. As electives I will be taking theory with Sylvia Lavin, and possibly a directed study with Marcelyn Gow that will construct a small scale installation involving scripting, and computer controlled interactivity. To top everything off, there will be several short workships/seminars that I am looking forward to. In February there will be a week long design charrette led by several young Japanese architects, as well as an advanced rendering and scripting seminar led by a person from Neil Denari's office. More to come on that later...

installation final images

2007-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

I've never posted images of the final installation of "Eviscerated Gloworm" at the LACE Gallery in Hollywood. Below are a few images from opening night, memorial day weekend 2007.

chapel in the park

2007-12-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

Final presentation boards and renderings from Craig Hodgett's advanced topics studio, Fall 2007. Model photos coming soon...

soft monstrosities final exhibition: "Swoops of Glory"

2007-12-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

I won't publish the entire body of research here, but what follows is a brief description of the research conducted in Marcelyn Gow's "Soft Monstrosities" seminar.
Through a sampling of work dating from the late 17th century to the present, this exhibition builds an argument for atmosphere in design through the lens of Jean Baudrillard’s text, “The System of Objects”. This provided a background for the exhibition through its discussion of materiality, color and form as applied to what Baudrillard calls, “the system of objects”, that is the creation of atmosphere through the relationship between the objects composing the environment. Atmosphere as object level cultural connotations, becomes a holistic composition of parts in which each elements identity works towards developing a compositional identity.
The Swoops of Glory updates The System of Objects argument to include modern work, materials and techniques. Functioning both chronologically (time based) and categorically (relationship based), the entire exhibition is organized into five primary categories: relationships in the home, relationships of form to the body, materials and form, ornamentation and immersive environments. The first two rooms in the experience sequence present self-contained environments, designed to build up the historical background for the form/object relationships presented in the main exhibition space. The main gallery pivots around an open central space, surrounded by display nodes, allowing visual connections between projects located in separate nodes. Lastly, the rooms and corridors housing the “Immersive Environments” peel away from the floor surface of the exhibition as a spatially enclosed series of micro-environments presenting projects in a setting isolated from the rest of the exhibition.

Excerpts from the Exhibition Catalog:
Relationships in the home

Modernism marked a revolution against the strict hierarchy seen in classical architecture and design. The development of the open floor plan paved the way for an era of multipurpose rooms, folding dining furniture and hide-a-bed couches. Rooms no longer served one specific function, but had the capability to evolve throughout the day. Baudrilliard writes that the freedom of the modern interior “is accompanied by a subtler formalism and new moralism: everything here indicates the obligatory shift from eating, sleeping and procreating to smoking, drinking, entertaining, discussing, looking and reading. Visceral functions have given way to functions determined by culture”. The referential values held by color and materials were diluted as designers sampled from a wide range of stylistic options to create moods and themed rooms. Furniture and art were chosen not for the value of the individual artifact, but by how they fit into an overall composition.

Relationship of form to the body

As the formal organization of architecture relaxed into less-hierarchical spatial flow, furniture and other objects were designed to accommodate a multitude of positions and users. Coinciding with the hierarchical relaxation in architecture, came advances in fabrication techniques and materials such as plastics, fiberglass, and plywood allowing for a fluidity of design and a closer relationship to the human body. Objects have a use value or, objectness, associated with them, for example to distinguish a dining chair from a chaise lounge or a bed from a couch. The closer relationship of furniture to the human body allowed for more relaxed interaction between humans and generated objects which blurred the traditional use values.

Materials and Form

New social relationships led to new formal manifestations in design. The strict Cartesian sensibility of classicism made way for more formally expressive work. The traditional gestural system of effort has been replaced by a system of control. Humans no longer carve wood and stone through physical labor, but now control automated systems for shaping materials. New materials came into use, and more traditional materials were used in new ways.
Heat formed plywood and molded plastic later led to computer aided design and fabrication. Techniques for working with metal alloys and petroleum based composites became accessible enough that formerly space-age materials could now be used for everyday objects.
Through the work of installation artists such as James Turrell and Dan Flavin, light was treated as a material and served to generate and reinforce form. Transparent and translucent materials captured light in new ways. Techniques of casting, milling, rolling, or punching increase latent material potency and allow light to be reflected, diffused, bent, filtered, or collected by materials in new ways.

Ornamentation

Modernism's austere simplicity was partially a physical translation of the design techniques of the era. Designing through orthographic projections (plans and sections) was later innovated on by architects such as Peter Eisenman and Daniel Liebeskind, who layered drawing upon drawing, thus building up a linework richness implying spatial enclosure. The final design exposed the process. These sectional based techniques have further evolved into a design fluidity stemming from the use of computer modeling programs that display information three dimensionally rather than as flat linework. As the hand of the designer becomes less evident in the final product, many designers began to use traces from the fabrication process such as toolpaths, fasteners, or repetitive elements to convey physicality and reinforce form.
In a parallel fashion, applied ornamentation and materiality are another aspect of ornament which do not serve to display process, but embed substance into surfaces. Ornamentation differs from the classical idea of decoration: decoration is applied elements which carry the value of objects and function independently from form. Ornamentation serves to reinforce form, whether carved into the surface, or applied as a secondary graphical system. Pattern and texture take on the value of materials. The repetition of individual objects to create a larger form functions as a scale shift, blurring the distinction of object into a larger composition.

Immersive Environments

Baudrillard's text, System of Objects, describes atmosphere as "a systematic cultural connotation at the level of objects." The previous examples of architecture, art and design build upon each other towards the creation of immersive environments. Atmospheric design removes the individual nature of objects into a cohesive whole in which each elements works to develop a larger idea.
The notion of transitioning from objects to form takes place through a conceptual, and sometimes physical, scale shift. From a distance, the Limousine Yatai project by Atelier Bow Wow has the characteristics of a food cart, but when seated around the yatai, the user is enveloped in the atmosphere of a restaurant: the bustle of servers, the smells of food and a feeling of shelter. The yatai becomes immersive in that the individual characteristics of seating, counters, and food preparation space are integrated cohesively into the creation of a culinary experience surrounded by a changing urban milieu.

Exhibition Layout:

iterative rotate

2007-11-16T01:14:00.000-08:00

I'm going to post a few images of the "iterative rotation" that I have been working on with my brick design. These studies started out by looking at the properties of brick laying: how much rotation can you get with a standard mortar joint, and how much can a single brick cantelever. I have been working on perfecting an iterative rotation script where I can specify the number of bricks in a chain, the minimum and maximum rotation, and let the script "agitate" the surface accordingly. Still not perfected yet, but here a few images to show where this project is at.

no images...

2007-11-07T03:25:00.001-08:00

Its been over a month since I last posted, so I figured it was about time to get something new up. Unlike in previous quarters, it seems I no longer produce much visual work to post. I need to download a java applet so I can post some of the animations I have been doing for programming class. We started dealing with user interaction a few weeks ago and I have created a few simple programs which generate pattern and colors based on mouse movement and clicking.
I've been able to use a similar programming syntax to script part of my studio projects. I've decided to focus in on two simple areas for the time being: brick patterns and a woven screen. The bricks were fairly easy to deal with using a simply flow command to array a primitive (brick) along a surface. The next step I have started to address is rotating the bricks based on surface curvature at a given point. I'm looking to use the brick as more of a screen rather than opaque wall, so as the brick rotates it creates small openings in the surface of the skin.
The screen uses user inputed variables, controlling starting and ending diameter as well as middle diameter in both vertical and horizontal directions. I would like to make the variables in one direction user controlled, and then control the variables in the other direction based on diameter size at the intersection points. I haven't been fully successful with this yet...
I will try to get images posted soon. Review is on Friday, so I am being forced to produce!
In other news... Architecture in Helsinki concert tomorrow night!

Fall Lineup

2007-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Classes began last Friday. This quarter I am taking Advanced Topics Studio with Craig Hodgetts, Research Studio with Kivi Sotamaa, Computer Programming, a seminar titled "Soft Monstrosities" by Marcelyn Gow, as well as TA'ing for the Introduction to Computers class. I think the lineup this quarter is one of the strongest yet and will allow me to work between a variety of topics and mediums. The research studio and Soft Monstrosities are heavily interested in a contemporary discourse on affect in architecture, and will develop ideas through both written and graphical means. The studio will focus on implied movement in architecture, working with computer animation software, particle fields, generative scripting as well as physical studies of form and material.
The Advanced Topics Studio has developed in a very hands on manner. Our first project, a large scale light study model, is due this coming Friday. Hopefully this contrast between analog and digital approaches to design will prove productive and not frustrating.
Meanwhile, in the Computer Programming class, I will learning how to write parametric design programs. This quarter presents a very broad spectrum of work and I hope to be able to merge these approaches as the year progresses.

Fall '06 - Purple Line Subway Terminal

2007-09-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

The terminal developed through the transformation of a single surface, embedded with program and funicular logic. The upper, exterior surface is walk-able and intended for primary circulation from bluff to beach. Sectionally, the “pocket” space is the interstitial condition created by the sandwiching of two materially dissimilar surface conditions.
The exterior surface is rendered with a uniform consistency and subtle texture. Linear flow is implied through surface line work created by planking/board formed concrete. This tactility is intended to delineate high-usage surfaces in a rugged manner. The intense sunlight will create small, but distinct shadow patterns which will shift throughout the day, creating subtle animation and highlighting the exterior condition.
Much attention was given to construction techniques. Where surface curvature is the most extreme, the surface was divided into two foot sections and individually pre-cast using a standard set of rubber inserts to create the window openings. This created a distinct cross grain to the project which was carried into the interior as well as immediate site for continuity.

...

the last weekend of freedom...

2007-09-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

The last year of graduate school begins in three days. I am sure the intensity levels will be much higher in previous years, but now that I am out of core classes the direction of my work and research will be much more self driven. This fall quarter I am hoping to be able to focus on smaller scales of detail and perfect the transition between digitally designed work and fabrication. I enjoyed the taste of fabrication which I experienced during the Superglow project, but the experience was lacking in many respects.
Last year's technology seminar was an exercise in futility. Sure, we learned to take a design from the computer screen to the storefront, but the methods to accomplish this were outdated, inefficient, and highly wasteful to non-renewable resources. The money that was spent on plastics, foam, lights and finishes would be enough to build a small house in many parts of this country.
The 3-axis CNC mill is yesterday's toy, and the process of vacuum forming plastic as we know it, came into use in the 1920's. I'm tired of hearing about "cutting edge" CNC fabrication; I am ready to experiment with new techniques and technologies. For example, when are architects going to stop describing their work through biological analogies, and instead actually learn to "grow" a building, if not literally in a biological sense, shouldn't we at least be focusing more energy on efficient means of design, construction and usage? Why do we devote so much effort to writing and speaking about the design of architecture, and so little on the physical ramifications of real design? Why was the full size 3d printer developed by a civil engineer and not an architect? Perhaps architectural education needs to focus less on learning the latest software package, and instead research physics and the biological sciences. Perhaps we need to pull our heads up from the computer screen and look around at the rest of the world. Perhaps innovation doesn't come from talking, but from doing.

...

Or maybe not. At any rate, I feel there is still much to be learned, and I am hoping to find some answers this year. This marks the culmination of many years of schooling and I hope to be able to pull together some meaningful research and cap my education off with an innovative project.

I'll leave you with an image from a recent trip to San Fransisco:
...

St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, by Pier Luigi Nervi 1971

Oakland Airport and the end of year two

2007-07-09T20:27:00.001-07:00

Finally finished up second year, and the Oakland Airport project. For the last half of the quarter we zoomed in to a smaller scale of work, concentrating on only five jetways and a portion of the support core. The initial circulation and program studies were heavily interested in developing a skeletal sort of architecture drawing from examples in nature. The airport's circulation core, and support program such as shopping, dining and restrooms nested within a central spine, branching out to connect to the jetways.
Since the beginning, a series of linework diagrams informed the design process. The plan became a layering of slabs, structure and systems, with each part complementing the next. On a macro scale, the linework flow is linear down the length of the building, but at a detail level the plan starts to work laterally with flows fingering out from spine.
The project was developed primarily through polygon modeling in Maya, with a couple scripts being used to automatically generate the secondary structural system based off surface isoparms. Looking back, it would have been nice to use some of the animation tools a bit more. The process was always initiated through 2D drawings which meant a greater degree of control over the linework and plan, but perhaps animation could have introduced some nice sectional variation and a smoother flow between surfaces.

Sunny Days, Millipedes, and Airplanes

2007-05-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

After an intensive couple weeks concentrating on wrapping up Superglow, I am finally back full time on the Oakland Airport Terminal. This past Monday the class took a short flight up to Oakland to get a behind the scenes tour of the facilities. We also were able to spend some time enjoying San Francisco on the nicest day so far of this year. The weather was sunny and in the upper 80's. Beautiful! The SF Federal building is nearly complete, and I was also able to see Pier Luigi Nervi's incredible church. It never ceases to amaze me what architects and engineers were able to accomplish fourty years ago using hand drafting and slide rules.

I've been studying examples of joints and scales in nature, looking a lot at millipedes and iguanas. Our airport terminal is developing around the idea of programmatic and circulation core from which grow jetways, much as many legs attach to a central skeletal system.

Pictures

2007-05-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

Apparently "this evening" really means 4 am... I am posting some images from the past week of our project. I have some higher quality images of the final installed pieces that I will try to get uploaded soon.

Time for a breather...

2007-05-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to post for a while, the past two weeks have been incredibly busy trying to get our installation ready. After many nights of three or four hours of sleep, plus a couple all nighters, we successfully installed our project in Silverlake yesterday for the Nokia photoshoot. This was a sort of warm-up run for the final installation on May 25th, but it allowed us to complete fabrication and work out kinks in the lighting and connections before the piece went up for public display.
I'll be posting photographs of the final construction process as well as the finished installation this evening.

Jetway Design

2007-04-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday marked the culmination of a very intense 1.5 week long project, the design on a prototypical jetway for the Oakland Airport. This was the first step in our quarter long project for designing a new Terminal Two for Oakland Airport. Our project through gradient interfaces between structure, aperture and graphical "control lines" applied to the jetway.

We started off the exercise by quickly looking at structural capacity needed to support the 115' long jetway as it spanned from terminal to airplane. The cladding was developed by studying movable surfaces such as escalators, tank tread, as well as examples in nature such as snake skin. After covering the jetway structure in a panel system, control lines were applied horizontally to the facade which split and joined together to create multiple rhythms working to accentuate the linearity of the space.

It was a short, but very intense exercise. Personally I found it a bit difficult to get started as the project was lacking in any real programmatic or conceptual depth, but it was mainly designed to be a modelling exercise so you have to judge it at face value.

Now we are moving on the real terminal design. Massing studies are due tomorrow...

Superglow Soiree!

2007-04-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

Photos courtesy of Umberorama

it's been a while...

2007-04-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

Life has been on the busy side lately. In studio I am working on an airport terminal design for the Oakland Airport. The project is developing in a somewhat unusual fashion, starting at a small, detail scale and then working towards the complete building design. I've been working on developing gradient relationships between structure and skin in the design of the jetway. My Maya skills have progressed significantly in the past week as I've gone from surface/polygon modeling to using IK handles, animation and scripting to develop this project as an interweaving of multiple mesh structures operating on separate gradients. Everything is looking a bit overwhelming at the moment: we have a review on Friday which is going to require an animation, drawings, renderings and a detail scale model. I've posted a few process images below.

This past Friday, our tech seminar group held the Superglow Soiree, in the Silverlake-Korea town area at Liz's loft. The party was a great success... we actually had a number of passerby's take a peek inside to see the work and then just donate money towards our installation. I think we had somewhere along the lines of 150 people drop by, including SCI-Arc and UCLA students, as well as a number of people in music industry. Pictures will be posted soon.

Final Milling

2007-04-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Most of the re-modelling has been completed and last night we began to mill our final molds. The process has been divided into three parts, 1) testing several new pieces for fitting a structural capacity, 2) vacuum forming previously tested substrate panels to test vertical connections on our existing mockup, and 3) to begin milling some of our final molds that have already been tested for lighting, connections etc.
We have decided to do a fitting test with one complete "tube" segment, comprising of six separate parts, and attaching this to a yet untested iteration of the substrate panel. If everything goes together smoothly, the parts can be used for the final production, but if changes need to be made everything should be able to be tested using this mockup.
As I write we are in the process of milling, I'll post images as soon as the job is finished. Following are a few images of the milling files which have been set up.

Superglow Soiree_04.13.2007

2007-03-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you are in the Los Angeles area, please come to our "Superglow Soiree" being held on Friday, April 13. Yes we know it is an unlucky day, but come anyway. Open bar, live DJ and mock-ups/drawings being exhibited. All proceeds will go to help cover our fabrication cost.

Elaine Krown-Klein Scholarship

2007-03-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

Started off the day by getting a phone call from Elaine Krown-Klein to find out I was awarded the Elaine Krown-Klein Fine Arts Scholarship for the College of Arts and Architecture. This was something I interviewed for back in early March and wasn't supposed to officially find out the results until May. It's going to be a good day...

Revisions...

2007-03-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

During production for the final review, we noticed some problems with the fit between panels and surface topography needed for vacuum forming. Some of our geometry was too extreme to get a good pull with the PETG plastic.
Today has been spent re-modeling and re-scaling everything so as to achieve a precise fit between panels. Everything was given a 1/8" tolerance to take into account the initial 1/16" ABS layer on the form as well as the 1/16" PETG final pull. The revisions should be pretty much complete by tomorrow, so actual construction will begin shortly.

Also we are getting ready to send out invites for the "Superglow Soiree", our pre-opening fundraising celebration. The invite will be posted soon.

In the meantime, I am posting a video of our lighting behavioral model. Two streams of light travel through the "tubes" from door to mullion which then set off two separate reactions at the mullion. This was a programmed behavior, but we are currently re-writing the script to allow the behavior to be controlled through proximity sensors which will actually create an interactive condition as people approach the installation.

More on Lieshout and the Vienna Actionists

2007-03-24T22:59:00.000-07:00

The traditional notion of an “Atelier” being an artist’s workshop is continued in the craft oriented practice of Atelier van Lieshout. In similar fashion to the art and industry collaborations of the Art and Technology program of the 1960’s and 70’s, AVL functions as a self contained design and manufacturing corporation. While not pushing the limits of technology in the way that the earlier A+T collaborations did, Lieshout conduct their own research and have the facilities and equipment necessary to construct everything from mobile homes to automatic weapons. Their work is interested in the total work of art, both in the affect of the final piece as well as in production.

When AVL-Ville was envisioned, it attempted to bring together all previous projects into a cohesive political event. Joep van Lieshout, the founder of Atelier van Lieshout considers the AVL-Ville to be a Gestamtkunwerk or total work of art, saing "Perhaps, one could say that I create a new world or an enormous Gestamtkunwerk. I produce a piece of art as a unique work but, in fact, each piece is always connected to another, much like a story. Each piece of sculpture is either a change or an addition. For example: At the beginning, for our free state, I constructed a sewage system for our own toilets; this has something to do with the idea of freedom... Following this was the biogas construction and the sex toilet, in connection with the works that dealt with excrement and which, in turn, finally led to the Technocrat. This had more to do with restrictive systems than with freedom." (1)

This interest in a gestamtkunwerk stems directly from a group of artists in the 1960’s-80’s known as “Wiener Aktionismus” or the Vienna Actionists, who dealt with the creation of a new art form to engage all five senses of human perception. The Actionist’s, including artists, Gunter Brus, Alfons Schilling, Rudolf Schwarzkogler, Hermann Nitsch and Otto Mühl, conducted performance art designed evoke outrage and disgust from the viewer. Brus was known to publicly slice open his thigh and then urinate in the wound, while Mühl “painted” using blood and feces.

In 1984, over a period of three days, Hermann Nitsch conducted the “Orgien Mysterien Theater” (The Orgy Mystery Theater), a spectacle involving hundreds of participants consisting of live music, ritualistic slaughter of animals and the covering of human actors in animal blood, entrails and feces. The “Aktionen” were a perversion of both Catholic and pagan traditions to register familiarity and revulsion with the participants. The audience for such performances were participatory, and became more witnesses of the dramatic and violent productions than passive viewers. In the production, actors representing Oedipus and Dionysus enact a three day “feast” at Nitsch’s own castle, Schloss Prinzendorf. The performance marked a coming to terms with the nature of mortal life: in the midst of fertility and abundance, there is also death and destruction. (2)

Lieshout’s work stays away from blatant religious references and stays within a more secular, political realm. Conceptually they borrow heavily from the Actionists, but aesthetically the references are less apparent. The work attempts a subversion of material culture through the familiarity of industrial design techniques mixed with political ideology.

References:
1. Noever, Peter. Atelier Van Lieshout: The Disciplinator. Verlag Der Buchhandlung Walther Konig; Bilingual edition 2006
2. Munchen, Fred Jahn. Hermann Nitsch: Die Architektur Des Orgien Mysterien Theaters (The Architecture of the O.M. Theatre) Verlag Fred Jahn 1987

Atelier van Lieshout
Herman Nitsch
Writings of the Vienna Actionists

images from tech final 2007.03.14

2007-03-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

Following are a few images from final review on March 14

spring break?

2007-03-23T12:55:00.000-07:00

The winter quarter is finally winding down. On march 14 we had the final review for technology seminar with David Erdman. Four separate presentations and reviews in one day including people from Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Intel Corporation, ETH in Zurich as well as UCLA faculty. Next step... double checking fitting on the computer then we jump into final fabrication for May 25 installation at LACE gallery.

Week following (march 21) were final reviews for studio. Somehow everyone in my tech group managed to throw down very well thought out and complete projects considering we had less than a week to work. Reviews went well.
Now with reviews over, I'm just finishing up a paper on Atelier van Lieshout and their influence by the work of the Vienna Actionists. Pretty disturbing imagery, but it is interesting and thought provoking. More on that later.