nullthing

Something I have been messing around with for a while in the computer, but a couple of weeks ago I was able to mock it up. The idea is a screen wall that would have a flexible “louver.” The basic unit is a clip. As the clip rotates the louver rotates with it. The video above shows the clip and how the louver would be controlled by multiple clips.

The openness/rotation of the louvers is controlled topographically by a surface. You can see how this works in the video above. The louvers could be controlled by the displacement of an image or by simply deforming the surface.

The model includes all of the tooling needed to produce the ribs+clips with a laser cutter.  In that sense the unit in Maya is not just representational, but contains all of the lines and tolerances need for production. We are proposing this for an office renovation that we are currently working on in the studio. The tooling will of course change and the structure will become a composite of CNC cut ribs/columns and laser cut clips. We hope it happens, it will be exciting to produce a completely tooled/labeled model. It would be great to not have to make any drawings. You can check out the model that was used for laser cutting below.

Source: screen.mb

More Images

This arrived at the studio a couple of weeks ago… still trying to figure out what it does. We’ve been cooking hot dogs with it, but we have a feeling it can be used for some pretty tricky stuff. Hopefully, once we figure out where it came from and how to aim it, the posts around here will get a little more physical!

The T-magazine invited the studio, along with a lot of other studios/artists, to create intro animations for their new online presence. My partner, Jose, created one of our animations using Maya Cloth. It will is featured this month for the launch of their Fall issue. Check out the animation here: T-Magazine

I almost forgot about the metaball plug-in in for Maya (was poking around the other day and re-found it… it was like birthday + xmas). You can download it here@ highend3d. It’s pretty fun to mess around with and the latest version works with Maya 8.5 . I remember messing around with this back @ Columbia. The polygon surface tessellates in real time… its very nice. Definitely entertaining! Don’t know if its good for making buildings, but I think we will find a use for it in the studio.

The beauty of the real world is that things have thickness. I don’t fall out of the studio onto 27th street because the walls and glass have thickness.

We are doing some experiments in the studio that require snap fit joints so we had a long discussion about tolerance the other day. It seems they don’t teach that in school. I know its not a button in Maya, but I would say its fairly important, maybe even more than smoothing polygons. I have learned my lessons about tolerance with grinders, power sanders, and sometimes a dremel. I know it is sort of an imaginary thing and you can’t see it Maya, Rhino, 3DS, 2nd Life, etc…. but its there and it can strike as soon as you make something real. We have made a lot of prototypes and we have a lot of parts that are broken or too loose, but we only have a few that have that notorious “exact fit.” From now on we will remember to invite tolerance to all of our building parties in the real world (well… until we forget again).

SOFTlab just finished the website design for Urban A&O, a design studio in the city focusing on parametric design at all scales. The site archives almost all of the images produced by the studio. There are a lot of interesting photos of the construction, installation, and fabrication of some of the projects. Check out the site and let us know what you think.

It seems like everyone had fun at the party. It looks like this piece of sci-fi fused nylon had the most fun. Still no clue as to whether it likes boys or a girls… seems like both.

In 2007 the Dom in Cologne installed a stained glass window designed by Gerhard Richter. The window is made of 11,500 “pixels” randomly generated by a computer. It was fairly controversial when it was installed. It seams that some of the church establishment would rather see a more figural image. I thought the design was interesting. The church is filled with other stained glass windows and everything is sort of revealed as you walk through the cathedral, because of the complexity of the space. The first thing you see is the light cast by the window, which is the same as the other windows. Then you see portions of the window and you might assume it is another pictorial image until you are in the transept and you see it in its entirety. Of course, it is also nice to see something generated through relatively modern techniques in such an old space. The building itself is one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen, and you could argue that any subversiveness of the window works simply because it can’t compete.

More Images

Well blogging in Germany is the same as in NY, either way you have probably had too many of something.  I figured since I took a wrong turn on Delancey and ended up in Cologne the other night, I don’t have to follow local custom.  So this post will go into the general category since it doesn’t contain any explicit lyrics or geek talk.

 The gallery (Galerie Brigette Schenk) that is organizing the logistics behind the sculptures in Cologne had a Marliyn Manson show last June. The gallery also has a couple of Warhol’s, of guess who!!!! Charles Monroe… wait I’m confused. Anyway I was there today and it was amazing to see these to pieces side by side leaning against the wall. All of Manson’s work is watercolor and actually pretty nice. Commodifiers unite!!!