Sunday, January 30, 2011

Examples of Additive Buildware Processes...


A Stratasys 3D Printer at the AA Digital Fabrication Lab in London...

A few further video examples of, this time, additive Buildware processes...



A small scale, more 'domestic', additive printer at the AMRG at Loughborough University in the UK...

Further Examples of Subtractive Buildware Processes...


3-Axis milling machine at the AA Digital Fabrication Lab at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London...

Following the previous blog entry, some further examples of subtractive Buildware (CAD/CAM) processes...



A short video taken at the Metropolitan Works digital Fabrication Centre, London, of their large scale 5-axis CNC Milling machine...





Laser etching a pattern onto glass at the AA Digital Fabrication Lab in London...

Laser-Cutting & Etching at VCUQ...


Laser-cutting paper at the VCUQ Digital Fabrication Lab...

The Following videos (and blog submissions) are actually for a report on Digital Fabrication I'm in the process of preparing (I'll just add hyperlinks to this blog entry in the PDF formatted report), but, who knows, there might be others that might find these of interest as examples of available digital fabrication techniques...



Laser-etching on glass at the VCUQ Digital Fabrication Lab...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Turkish Airlines Sick-bag...


A short while back I had the opportunity to fly on a Turkish Airlines flight. Whilst somewhat underwhelmed by the flight itself (cramped seats, weathered interiors, short-staffed and somewhat chaotic service), the food was decent and I really liked the look of their sick-bags, with their egg-shell color tone which is subtly highlighted by the white sealing-wires attached at the top. The black serif font also adds a nice 'softness' to the composition. On future flights if I had a choice regarding what kind of bag I'd like to get sick in, this one would be at the top of my list...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Driving on Wintry Roads = Better Driving Sense..?!

A residential road in Grankulla, a town near Helsinki...

Today and yesterday evening we've had a bit of rain, well, some drizzle, here in Doha. It's been interesting driving to and fro work and seeing how the local drivers are either taking full advantage of the slightly less crowded roads by speeding and veering in and out between cars and lanes, or, conversely, driving excessively slow, usually in the middle-lane.

The driving conditions here in the Gulf are almost exclusively hot and dry, but there is some inherent value in driving in conditions that diverge from ones norm. Too often we become buffered, in our hermetically sealed car-cockpits, from both the speed and conditions in which we drive. Difficult driving conditions can awaken our awareness and sense of how fragile, exposed and indubitably impotent we are whilst in a moving car. Driving in challenging conditions, be these rain, snow, ice (black ice), sand or mist, provides us with an opportunity to become more aware of our own, and our vehicles, vulnerabilities, as ignoring them will very likely have dire consequences. It also forces one to drive beyond the usual spatiotemporal paradigm of driving usually practiced here in the Gulf, where ones attention span only reaches perhaps twenty meters and maximum two seconds into the future. Driving in snow, fog or a sand storm forces one to not only to be aware of the immediately adjacent lane and cars, but also to keep an eye out for what is happening further down the road and its vicinity, as well as, based on past experiences, plan ahead ones route, and consequently adjust ones choices and actions accordingly. Driving in demanding circumstances inevitably forces one to apply a form of oscillating range of considerations that provide a more well rounded and comprehensive perspective regarding driving that probably benefit ones more general driving habits.

Driving well at speeds, entails more such aforementioned (empirical) sensitivities than just having a heavy foot. So one can speculate that it's at least partly the Nordic driving conditions that have contributed to the vast number of world champion drivers (both Formula 1 as well as rally) that have originated from this northern tip of Europe.


The approach to a wintry intersection...

A residential street...

Länsiväyla - one of the main motorways connecting Helsinki to the suburbs...

A slip-road between motorways...

Pohjois Esplanaadi - a central (mainly pedestrian) shopping artery in Helsinki...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Gilded Building at the Cultural Village in Doha...


A few details from a building at the Cultural Village in Doha covered with gilded ceramic tiles...









Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Road Printing...


An interesting project from the Dutch company Tiger-Stone, which allows one to 'print' a brick (or other stone or concrete block) paving surface onto a sidewalk or street...

It certainly introduces a new take on Additive Fabrication (how could this be adapted into the Z-axis with added mortar?!)...

Original piece found at this Gizmag link. Image above and video below from the same source...