Pixelator!

fun short exercise in making a dull empty warehouse wall in the Netherlands into something a bit more interesting, link

some other great proposals here. 

miami lounge

Photos of the completed VIP lounge for the Miami Project Art Fair, designed by Lúcio in collaboration with FXFOWLE.

Client: artMRKT Productions

Locaion: Miami, FL

Project Team: Lúcio Santos, Sarah Gerber, Karen Bookatz, Kazuhiro Adachi, Miwa Fukui

Assembly Team: Lúcio Santos, Kazuhiro Adachi, Camila Borges, Lacey Bingham, Paolo Arce, Yamile Leon
Sponsors: A.I. Friedman, SCRA, fatboy, NRI, 3M, Moris Moreno Photography

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

moris moreno photograhpy

cat shelter model

1:4 scale laser cut chip-board model done before fabricating the full scale cat shelter. great for figuring out the assembly sequence of the ribs and struts as well as presenting any problems in the notch connections. 

photo by Coe Will

photo by Coe Will

photo by Coe Will

cat shelter

Lúcio, in collaboration with FXFOWLE, designed a feral cat shelter to be donated and located somewhere in the 5 boroughs of New York City. The cat shelter serves as a kitty ‘pod hotel’ containing 3 fully insulated pods varying in length to be used primarily in the colder winter months and 2 non insulated pods for the summer with the interstitial space and plywood frame serving as a kitty jungle gym. Each pod contains a pair of hinged doors to allow entry from either end, as well as to provide two means of egress in case of a threat. The pods are easily removable from the plywood frame for maintenance and repair, and can be retrofitted or swapped out to accommodate growing colonies or different seasons.

Using the concept of a vacuum flask (thermos), each insulated pod was fabricated by placing a tube within a larger tube and filling the void between the two with insulation. A 10” PVC tube wrapped with recycled plastic insulation was placed into a 12” PVC tube and the two ends were filled with expanding foam insulation and capped with a laser cut white acrylic ring onto which the cat doors were fixed. All joints and seams were filled with silicone sealant to make the pods water resistant. Each non insulated pod was produced using a 10” PVC tube wrapped in ½” sisal rope and capped at each end with cat doors. The sisal rope provides a scratch surface for sharpening claws and a textured surface for cats to climb and lounge on.

The frame was painted using a polyurethane based wood stain to seal the plywood and give it rich walnut color. Each of the vertical ribs and horizontal struts were fastened together using brad nails and flat-head screws.

2.5m long x 1.1m wide x .8m high

25 vertical ribs – 33 notches/rib

33 horizontal struts – 25 notches/strut

(10) ¾” sheets baltic birch plywood

(4) ½ pint Minwax American Chestnut Gloss Polyshade

(1) 10 foot 12” PVC tube

(1) 10 foot 10” PVC tube

(1)  Roll recycled plastic insulation

(2) Expanding Foam Insulation spray cans

(10) Glaztec Catwalk cat doors

400 feet ½” sisal rope

More information on the event:

Giving Shelter is a one-night event that benefits the Mayor Bloomberg’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals. Participating architectural firms design, build and donate creative and fun outdoor winter shelters to provide NYC’s homeless cats with refuge from the cold/freezing temperatures. At the event these shelters are on display to the public, and then donated to caregivers who work with the NYC Feral Cat Initiative.

According to current estimates, tens of thousands of homeless, stray and free-roaming cats live on the streets and in alleyways, back yards, and abandoned lots throughout the city. Many of the cats live in groups known as “colonies.” The winter months are particularly difficult for these cats, when inclement weather creates serious and life-threatening challenges, including finding food, water, and shelter. Shelter is vitally important and that is where the architectural community comes in. Giving Shelter is a competitive event in which the architectural and design industries will showcase their talents while improving the lives of NYC’s outdoor & homeless cats.

Links:

http://architectsforanimals.com/

http://www.facebook.com/mayorsalliancenyc

http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54612307@N06

Thanks to Philip Anzalone, Brigette Borders, & Ray Ho from Columbia University GSAPP Laboratory for Applied Building Science, for CNC milling the plywood (http://www.arch.columbia.edu/labs/fablab). Thanks to Nobu Arai and Gerardo Sustaeta for assembly and fabrication of the pods and many thanks to Brien McDaniel for organizing the initiative. 

faceted metal ceiling

here are a few renderings of the folded ceiling system applied in the lobby. about 300m2 total surface area which would require about 100 modules similar to the mock-up from the previous post.

folded metal ceiling

below are some photos of a 1:1 mockup of a faceted metal ceiling system. this 1.6m x 1.6m panel is fabricated entirely out of 1/16" thick stainless steel and weighs around 90 kilos. the module is comprised of 8 continuous folded strips, laser cut from flat sheets, welded together, with a metallic golden lacquer finish. the primary structural ribs are laser cut following the angles of the folded facets providing a seem for welding the strips together, with 16 sub-frames for lateral stability.

pixelization

here are a few images of experimenting in creating a large ceiling as an aggregation of pixels.

Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion Opens

finally the bridge pavilion opened last friday 13 june, along with the international expo2008 in zaragoza, spain. Here are some shots by photographer luke hayes via dezeen.

DRL TEN Pavilion

following the DRL_TEN exhibition opening 22 February at the Architectural Association in London i'm revisiting my proposal for the pavilion. below are the submission sheets. [C]Space the winning entry, designed by alan dempsey and alvin huang, is on site and well under way. scheduled to open to the public 13 March.