Project Recap No. 3 - SaltWorks...

SaltWorks - White

In the SaltWorks a set of salt blocks (usually used to soften water), roughly 28 by 28 by 8 cm each, were manipulated through various dissolving and saturation techniques (water or ink drips, soaks, sand-blasting, laser-cutting, melting tar, to mention a few) into a variety of shapes and textures. The salt blocks, which feel both in weight and texture like white blocks of marble, were tough enough to resist an industrial laser (which only left the smallest of 'scars' on the surface of our test-block), but could be dissolved in two under a running hot tap within minutes...

SaltWorks - Red...

SaltWorks - Tar

SaltWorks - Black & Yellow...

We also showed a number of larger SaltWorks installation pieces in the courtyard of the nous Gallery's in London in April - May, 2008. They formed a more comprehensive expansion of the themes touched upon in the individual Saltworks discussed above. Here the salt blocks were assembled into a variety of compositions, which, when left exposed to wind and weather, resulted in the installations - which began as white, ascetic compositions - gradually decomposing and fragmenting into a weathered jumble of white boulders and textured puddles...

Beginning of week one...

Week Two...

Week Three...

Week Four...

Before (above) and After (below) pictures of the 'Long Salt' composition...

We also did a piece where we combined the salt blocks with tar, where two contrasting materials (white/ black, resists water/ dissolves in water...) were allowed to interact...

At the beginning of the exhibition...

A few weeks later...

Individuals involved in the realization and assembly of the SaltWorks were: Paul Brady, Joel Brady, Miguel Fonseca, Eisuke Kumagi, Melissa Woolford, Tina DiCarlo, Christian Derix, Paul Coates, Thomas Modeen and a group of students from the Department of Architecture at the University of East London.

Freeform Construction Update...

A large scale 3D reefrom Construction 'print'...

Before commencing our work here in Kuwait, we were involved in a number of R & D projects in the UK. Amongst these is one that I have special affinity to, dealing large scale version of Rapid Manufacturing called Freeform Construction, a more voluminous rendition of 3D Printing. Currently the project in being run by Dr. Richard Buswell (which he started a few years back in collaboration with Dr. Rupert Soar) at Loughborough University's Rapid Manufacturing Research Group (RMRG). This set-up is quite spectacular, particularly in comparison to the usual Rapid Prototyping machine (which are usually the size of a large photocopier), with the rig roughly 5 by 5 by 6 meters in size.
The accuracy and refinement of the test prints have also improved remarkably in the last year or so, in this discipline which entails a very gracious balance and logistic coreography between mechanical engineering, material science and architecture (to mention a few of the realted practices) in its realization.

The Freeform construction mega scale 'printer' (with Dr. Richard Buswell in black in the background)...

Additional examples of Freeform Construction prints...

A few examples of more recent test 'prints' (all images provided by Dr. Richard Buswell)...

Mark our words, this is where the 'magic is going to happen' (paraphrasing 'MTV Cribs') within the architecture and construction industry in a few years (perhaps decades) time...

Project Recap No. 2 - Contemporary Mashrabiyas...

Archipelago Mashrabiya

A set of contemporary renditions of Mashrabiyas, formed an expanded, and directly design related, larger scale adaptation of what was initiated by the PaperCuts project. These interpretations of a traditional mashrabiya differ, however, from the traditional mashrabiyas in that they, in these instances, were made out of paper or canvas (we've also now made a set out of steel, currently shading the windows at the la fontaine Centre for Contemporary Art in Bahrain, but more of those at a later date) and, unlike most mashrabiyas which are made out of a uniform, single layer (wood-dowel) patterns throughout, this set of mashrabiyas have three layers and have been customized to respond to the particular conditions and site they are intended to occupy. This might mean, for example, that the screens perforation pattern is customized provide maximum shading whilst simultaneously making the most of a locations view, or, alternatively, it could allow one to optimize the privacy of a space while still allowing light in to key areas of an interior. Most of the pieces included here are roughly 1800 mm tall, 700 mm wide and 50 mm thick, and were made by combining up to three layers of laser-cut paper of canvas with synchronized perforation patterns.
Included also are some images of a design, referred to as the 'Muscle-fibre Mashrabiya which we intend, some day, to get made by 3D printing (Rapid Manufacturing). The guiding principles and aims are the same as in the aforementioned mashrabiyas, however, in this case, as the design and fabrication process is three dimensional from the start, its formation has been somewhat different.

The mashrabiyas have been exhibited at the nous Gallery (London), la fontaine Centre for Contemporary Art (Bahrain), the Dar Al-Funoon Gallery (Kuwait), and are currently being used at a number of prominent residences.

The individuals involved in making the mashrabiyas were: Maysaa Al-Mumin, Paul Brady, Miguel Fonseca, Eisuke Kumagi, Carolyn Garden and Thomas Modeen.

The Archipelago Mashrabiya during two different times of the day...

The CAD file for the Archipelago Mashrabiya...

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The Bubble Mashrabiya...

The light is visible through the adjacent levels' perforations...

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The Flap Mashrabiya - in this instance the flaps can be folded inwards or outwards (or just left as is) allowing one to control the level of light or view...

A canvas rendition of the Flap Mashrabiya where three cuts in the pattern came out 'extra crispy'...

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The Muscle Mashrabiya, intended to be made through 3D Printing technology...

The Mashrabiya is made out of twenty-eight interlinked (and numbered) components...

Breakdown of the justifications for the design's various pattern features...

Project Recap No. 1 - PaperCuts...

A detail from tri-colour 'Red' series PaperCut

We though it might be in order to provide somewhat of a recap of some of our existing projects which previously have been mentioned, but usually within the context of an event or exhibition. Here they are summarized as a single entity. This initial Project Recap is of the PaperCuts Design(s).

PaperCuts

The Papercut Collection are a (still ongoing) attempt to fuse the more tactile (hands-on) crafts to those using computers. Three main stages are involved in their realization - 2D digital design, laser-cutting, and assembly. The initial stage involves the making, usually through a CAD (Computer Aided Design) programme, of the initial cutting pattern. As the laser cutter can be very accurate and precise in its cutting the patterns can, if one wishes, be very intricate (depending partly on which material one decides to cut the pattern out of). In the second phase the CAD designed pattern is cut out of different types of paper or canvas. The final stage involves the assembly of the cut paper or canvas sheets into more layered or volumetric compositions. Each of the three stages is dependent and influenced by the other phases, and need to be simultaneously considered in the overall design. What they all also have in common is an attempt to use some of the particular qualities of the processes involved - properties that are unique to cutting something by laser or folding (and weaving, and assembling a design by hand - in the eventual outcome. This might entail using the burnishing marks from the laser-cutting process as key features in a design; or 'playing' with the focusing of the laser-beam to produce a variety of different types of cutting lines. More of these types of 'interventions' are included and described in the captions of the images below.

Above and below, samples from the PaperCuts 'Gray' series...

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Some pieces from the 'White' series...

In this PaperCut the paper was crumpled-up before the, in this instance simple grid-pattern, of crosses was cut out. As the laser has a set focal length anything too close to the laser's tip will get burnished, resulting in a wider (and more burnt) cut. When the paper was re-flattened the variation of the paper-sheet's uneveness is still apparent...

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The 'Black' series...

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A CanvasCut...

The PaperCuts have been exhibited at the Asia House (London), nous Gallery (London), la fontaine Contemporary Art Centre (Bahrain), and Dar Al-Funoon (Kuwait).

The individuals involved in the design and making of the pieces were: Maysaa Al-Mumin, Paul Brady, Miguel Fonseca, Eisuke Kumagi, Carolyn Garden, and Thomas Modeen.

The Kuwait School Manifesto in the Al-Watan Newspaper...

Last Thursday the Al-Watan newspaper, one of the country's leading English newspapers (affiliated with the Herald Tribune) included an almost a full page article about the Kuwait School Manifesto, which is great, and we sincerely hope it will introduce some of the presented ideas to a wider audience. Whether it will catalyse a discussion regarding the related issues remains to be seen. Let's hope it will...

In regards to the article itself, if a bit of criticism is allowed, the piece would have benefited from including the headings of the eight maxims in the text. As it stands, the pacing of the text is quite difficult to decipher as the manifesto's eight maxims aren't partitioned form each other, resulting in the points being read as a continuous extended paragraph. The inclusion of the pictures from the presentation help with conveying the overall message, but as their locations within the piece aren't synchronized with the text, they end up adding to the confusion.
It brings to mind Kenya Hara's (the Japanese graphic designer's) dictum found in his book 'Designing Design' (2007), in which he informs us that, "verbalizing a design is another act of design" - the composition of the message is not complete until its reconfigured into its final format (in this instance the framework of the newspaper page). The layout and the pictorial structure of a written piece plays a fundamental part in how successfully it will communicate its intent.

Please click here for a link to the Al-Watan article.

(A rendition of this blog entry was initially published on the Kuwait School blog.)

Holland Park Restoration by 4M Group...

Our sister company, the 4M Group, has recently completed a flat restoration in London's exclusive Holland Park. Included below are some photos of this contemporary renovation in a traditional building...

The Kuwait School (Manifesto) Blog...

A separate blog, specific to the Kuwait School Manifesto, has now been set up. We though it important to do so as, whereas this blog mainly deals with interests and activities particular to us (smArchitecture for mainly Kuwait related happenings and Small Architecture for UK & Europe related events), the Kuwait School blog aims to deal and discuss design related issues and interests specific to (contemporary) Kuwait and the Gulf region in general. This will, for example, allow it to include work by other practitioners and thinkers, something this blog usually won't do, as well as dwell upon more general interests that perhaps aren't directly related to design or architecture, but nevertheless can impact in how such disciplines are practiced.
To view the blog please click here. Read, react & comment - the more interaction we have with the raised issues, the more compelling and affecting the eventual results will be...