DESIGN 2: 2011

Thursday 29 September 2011

Gifting (7)

I tried uploading the matrix photo. It says file is corrupt so it won't upload.

Will try again later.

Gifting (6)

Finished!

A picture taken from the side of the building. Focus on the form of the building as it progresses from left to right.

A picture taken from directly above the building, the floor plan (sort of).

Gifting (5)

The front of my building. The sticks in the middle are rotating and are scripted to move down underground when one says "Open". In this picture they are in the process of opening.

Another angle of the building, from the back.

Wall has been included! I'd like to point out the contrast between the dark and bright colours, in particular the gradual change from the dark grey colour of the building to the white colour of the circular gathering room.

Building nearly completed! Interior of the top floor meeting/gathering area has is finished. As you can see, there is a bridge/extension that will be connected the the Nokia building at the site allowing for easier access.

Added a rotation script as well as glow and shining effects to the circular area. Creates a sense of open-ness and good-feel where people can gather together and share ideas at ease. In my opinion, this looks aesthetically pleasing, drawing closer to the "positive" aspect that i am trying to show in my design.

I've relocated the stairs to the other side of my building. The stairs will be wedged between my building and the BNZ building at the site. It allows for easy access for clients. They have access to the meeting/gathering room without having to enter the building from the front entrance. Just another detail.

I tried experimenting with different types of prims. Don't think this really works.

Currently working on the front side of my building. I am trying to represent it with a more distinct obtrusive form to portray the negative aspects that i gathered from the "Gifting" video. Looking quite weird at the moment.

Finished this area! Alot of prims has been used. Don't think Judy was very impressed.

My original idea was to have this as my door or entrance to my building.

However, the circular form of this structure lead me to think that i may be more appropriate to use this area as a place for gathering and gifting of ideas for the five inhabitants of the building.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Gifting (4)

An outer gathering area that I've been working on.

Stairs that I built. This is for access to the second floor of the office space, without having to enter the building from the first floor.

Initial stage of building.

As you can see, i have my own stash of prims dotted around the floor. They are from my old media building. I did not hoard.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Gifting (3)

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stacey_kramer_the_best_gift_i_ever_survived.html

The link i provided leads to a video from Ted. com.

It is about a woman who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, but is fortunate enough to survive such a horrible ordeal. She speaks of the many new "experiences" that she gains as a result of this brain tumor. The amount of happiness and new things including well wishes and gifts as a result of having the brain tumor allowed her to realize that things may not always be bad even if it may seem so; her outlook on life had been changed due to this brain tumor.

The main message that she was trying to bring across is that one should never only look at things negatively even if it may seem so at the beginning. Instead one should take this "bad gift" and look for opportunities from it look for the positives that can be gained from it; where the bad gift will end up gifting you with good experiences.

For my design which we have to incorporate the idea of "Gifting" with our last week's project of "Gathering", i decided to show the message from the "Gifting" through the form of my building.

I want to show the contrast between the negative and positive aspects; where one end of my building will take more of a distinct obtrusive form similar to that of the brain tumor and as we progress, the building takes on a more friendly form. (I will discuss this idea further later)

Gifting (2)

Some photos i took on Secondlife.

This is the "Red Carpet" where we displayed our Sculpties and their "special feature".

We could walk around and "take" whatever Sculptie that we liked to incorporate in our own project.

This reminds me of a marketplace, however everything was free as long as the owner of the object was willing to share.

Quite a neat idea!

An aerial view of Kaiako, that i took. As you can see, there are already very many designs built by first year students scattered everywhere.

This is a place for "Gathering" of fresh and creative ideas.

A screenshot of the Sculptie when uploaded on Secondlife.

This is supposed to be a chair. Will be adding scripts to this "chair" of mine so that it becomes a piece of reactive architecture.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Gifting (1)

Sculptie

Sunday 18 September 2011

Peer Reviews 3

Will get to this...

Gathering (2)

I have decided the five people that will be sharing the office/studio space.

There will be:

-Architect

-Building Constructor

-Accountant

-Advertisements Manager

-Draftsman

In terms of the space of the studio, i need to cater enough area for these people to work freely.

However, i have not specified as to what is required in each room, as i personally think that what these people want is a "space" for working, and more importantly, an area for them to "gather" ideas.

Therefore, there are going to be six rooms for general working in, 2 gathering areas, a toilet, a kitchen and 2 restings rooms.

Gathering (2)

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Gathering (1)

Our new project is to make a Stop-Motion animation video.

It is required of us to draw all ideas on an A1 sheet of paper and take photos as you progress.

The topic is "Gathering".

We were given a brief this time, and it required us to :

- Set up a office/studio for myself and four colleagues.

- Bring in five difference skill set and identify their needs and therefore create a suitable, appropriate space.

- Must have a front and back door.

- Every service within a walking time of ten minutes must be identified and mapped.

- Previous project designs/ideas are to be included in this new design.

"Gathering" in terms of this project, is simply creating a workplace where five people with difference backgrounds/jobs can work together and "gather" their ideas.

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Sustenance (4)

Project finished!

Here are some photos.

Sustenance (3)

Ideas

The newspaper/magazine stall allows people to access knowledge and information at ease. I am creating a place where knowledge is easily accessible. In our new day and age, information is so plentiful, especially with the world-wide-web. I would like to focus on this multi-faceted notion of information. Perhaps create a multi-layered wall where information can be displayed to the public, allowing for simple access and quick renewal/recycling of information.

This will be one of the walls of the stall. The information will be constantly changing on 3 different screens, creating depth and variety to the appearance of the stall.

Sustenance (2)

Surfing the internet for some ideas and inspiration.

Here are some pictures that i found of "newspaper stands/stalls" around the world.

Sustenance (1)

Sustenance

Sustenance can refer to any means of subsistence or livelihood within a region or acountry;
food
any subsistence economy: see list of subsistence techniques
hunting-gathering
animal husbandry
subsistence agriculture
Any agricultural and natural resources

[Definition from Wikipedia]

My own interpretation of Sustenance : Something thatsustains you, whether material or immaterial. Something that is deemed absolutely necessary in our lives (depending on one's personal views of course).
Examples : food, clothing etc.

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These two weeks' project requires us to produce a laser cut model, based on the theme of "Sustenance".
The laser cut model will be a stall which we can sell what we consider as our own sustenance, the location has already been allocated to us.

For my own stall, i have chosen to sell newspapers and magazine. They represent my sustenance which is Knowledge.

Lasercut Project

New project!

For the next two weeks we will be focusing on lasercutting and learning to use Illustrator to make lasercutting files.

The theme for the next two weeks is "Sustenance".

Waking Up (5)

LOL

Waking Up (4)

Final Model

For my final 1:5 model i was looking to replicate the effect that i obtained from the draft model that i made inthe weekends. Dermott and Padma (my tutors) seemed to really like the idea of semi-translucency/opacity in the material of the walls. Therefore i was set upon a task to find an appropriate material that i could use to make the proper realistic 1:5 model.

I decided that i would use fibreglass for my final model. It fulfilled what i was looking for in the optimum material. Fibreglass is robust and does not break easily. It is also a relatively light-weight material, allowing for easy transportation. Also, i was under the impression that fibreglass is also slightly translucent; similar to the draft "wall" that i made.

Making the Model

As it is very difficult to manufacture fibreglass in such a short time, in a home environment, i went and summoned the help of a fibreglass making company to assist me with the making of my model. (AC Fibreglass)

After some scavenging and looking around, i was able to find a suitable mould for making the fibreglass out of.

My piece of fibreglass looked like this:

This piece of fibreglass is the base of my sleeping pod. As i stated earlier, for my augmented reality model the detail which i wanted to show was the wall (and the material of it) and its relationship to the "concealed door".

Therefore i decided to cut this model in half, and between the two halves, have the "door".

I took the model down to the workshop to cut in half, using the bandsaw.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Waking Up (3)

For the weekend, it was required of us to come up with a draft replica of a section of the model that we were going to make.

Material : I wanted the material of my sleeping "pod" to be strong and sturdy, providing protection for its inhabitant. Translucency is a point that i would like to stress. If i were able to provide natural lighting into the pod, this would mean electricity costs would be reduced. Therefore i would like the material of the wall of my sleeping pod to be slightly translucent yet not-too-translucent so to provide privacy for the inhabitant as well as being a robust material that will not break under pressure or be subject to the forces of nature.

Model : It is made out of clear perspex and thin shredded pieces of opaque white plastic. This is supposed to represent the wall of my sleeping pod. The smaller square that is encased by the purple lines represents the "detail" of my augmented model, which is a concealed "door".

An image that displays the translucent quality of the "wall" that i am trying to replicate. Sun rays are able to penatrate the clear perspex, however the majority of the sun rays are blocked by the thin shredded pieces of white plastic. This "wall" allows a portion of natural sunlight to penetrate into the interior of the sleeping pod, which will help save electricity costs as well as creating a facade that maintains the privacy of the sleeping pod's inhabitant.

Sunday 14 August 2011

Waking Up (2)

STRUCTURE DESIGN

Once we'd picked our location for waking up in. Our next task was to design the structure in which we would like to wake up in.

I wanted to further develop and use the idea of protection and shelter in creating the place in which i'd like to wake up in. One of the first objects that come up in my mind when i think of protection is the structure of a cocoon.

A cocoon.

A cocoon is a casing spun of silk by many moth caterpillars,^[6] and numerous other holometabolous insect larvae as a protective covering for the pupa.

Cocoons may be tough or soft, opaque or translucent, solid or meshlike, of various colors, or composed of multiple layers, depending on the type of insect larva producing it.

[Definition from Wikipedia]

A cocoon provides protection for the larvae while it is in transition from young to adult form. The larvae inside the cocoon is completely helpless and vulnerable during this time and relies on the cocoon casing to protect it.

I found this similar to the state when one is asleep; one is defenseless while sleeping. As humans are unable to spin silk to incase oneself. One must create or build walls to provide protection. This is where the structure of the cocoon comes into my design.

Waking Up (1)

For our 2 week project, we revolve around the subject of "Waking Up". We have to choose a particular location from the site where we would like to wake up in and augment the reality by drawing in a bed at that location.

PICKING MY LOCATION

For my location, i chose the old trainstation where Britomart used to be.

Nowadays it is a deserted platform, with 2 concrete shelters overgrown with moss and dirt.

Here are a few pictures i took of the location.

I chose this location mostly because of this shelter-like structure. I liked the idea of protection and having a barrier around myself when i wake up. It gave me a sense of safety and protection as well as the secluded nature of this location meant that there was little noise and no human interference; a perfect place for sleeping. I would wake up to an ambient environment, created by the greenery from the left of the shelter and the actual "shelter" shielding me from the sunlight and/or rain when i wake up in the morning.

Augmented Reality

Today, we were split into 4 groups and each group allocated a particular project.

Mine is called "Augmented Reality".

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented bycomputer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.

[Straight from Wikipedia]

In simpler terms (my own interpretation), it was required of us to find and draw a particular location onto a piece of paper, and take a photo of ourself holding the drawing in front of that location in which we drew the picture from. In this sense, we are "augmenting reality"; it would seem like a scene within a scene.

An example of "Augmented Reality"