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

miami lounge

Lúcio, in collaboration with FXFOWLE, has designed a paper pavilion and art bar for the FXFOWLE VIP lounge in the Miami Project Art Fair, running from December 4-9, 2012. The pavilion creates a dialogue between advanced computational design techniques and low-tech fabrication methods of assembly. The pavilion was generated using rhino scripting as an assembly of similar but non-repetitive unique folded components, laser-cut entirely out of 2-ply museum board and assembled using elmer's glue, double-sided tape, and zip-ties. The art bar is designed as an amorphous curvelinear piece and is fabricated out of fiber-glass and carbon fiber composites, and functions as a serving station for private functions and daily lounge operations.  

bar fabricated out of fiber glass / carbon fiber composite.

bar fabricated out of fiber glass / carbon fiber composite.

bar mold. photo provided by SCRA.

bar removed from mold. photo provided by SCRA.

the bar is sponsored and fabricated by SCRA.
museum board is sponsored by A.I. Friedman
project is sponsored by 3M
furniture is sponsored by fatboy

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. 

pixels

using these pixelated screens in defining individual dining zones for a restaurant they also functioned as the main group areas with portals that allowed guests to use the screens as tables. the concept was to break the monotony of a flat surface by pixelizing the wall into modular boxes along the undulating surface, bringing an abstracted representation of the garden inside.

option one was intended to be a living green wall, each box containing soil for growing plants.

 option two used the same boxes as a frame in filled by smaller glass cubes of varying sizes.

experimentadesign lisboa 2009

digital primitive #2: iterative design
digital primitive - caterina tiazzoldi + eduardo benamor duarte

digital primitive extended is an installation that presents the work of a group of architects, designers and manufacturers in new york, representing a conceptual and productive reality in the city.

they are digital because they are the first generation of new york designers and architects graduated in a context characterized by digital modeling techniques and computer numerical control (CNC) manufacturing. they are primitive because they have to provide an answer to the limitations posed by a city like new york.

lúcio has been invited to present current research as part of the digital primitive installation in the cais do sodré underground metro station.

FACETED | FIBROUS | STRUCTURES is a research endeavor focusing on producing complex double-curved structural geometries using standard planar materials assembled together in linear strips. When a material is folded its bending strength is increased parallel to the fold. Using ancient paper folding techniques (origami) as inspiration, the concept of folding flat metal sheets allows one to triangulate geometries and generate long volumetric folded strips that can then be assembled together to create structural ribs.

The apertures and depth of the faceted system can be sized according to solar gain requirements as well as structural performance criteria and/or weight reduction necessity. Using standard CAD/CAM technologies, the folded strips can be easily manufactured from planar sheets using CNC, laser, or water-jet cutters.

Design of the FACETED | FIBROUS | STRUCTURES was developed in Rhino using Rhino Scripting. The structure is generated using a base surface onto which 3 layers of points are plotted. The top layer represents the exterior, the middle layer the center, and the bottom layer the interior. Surfaces are then created from the points using an elongated hexagonal pattern.

XO.S | PAVILION

The XO.S | PAVILION is a formal exercise emulating biomorphic exoskeletal systems, intended to be used as a temporary place of gathering. It funnels pedestrians from one end to the other, compressing at the center and then widening at both ends dividing space into two zones. The pavilion is fabricated from stainless steel folded strips, laser-cut from flat sheets and welded together. The exterior is painted with a high-gloss black car paint finish while the interior and inner faces are painted white.

faceted fibrous structures

here the faceted linear strips have been given depth (voxelized) to function as a fully capable self-supporting, exoskeletal, structural system. the faceted strips, or fibres, can be easily manufactured from planar sheets and assembled together to produce these structural fibres.

"Fibre is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread. They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissues together. " --Wikipedia