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.

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.

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"

Architecture Design (Semester 2)

Semester 2 has started. We are getting back into things now. It is required of us to blog our developments and ideas as we progress. So here we go...