FLYING CARPET | Installed

September 18th, 2013

Pictures of the flying carpet project installed and in use — from the first week of school. See post below this one for a full description of the project and the process of its fabrication.

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PROJECT TEAM
DESIGN: Glenn Wilcox and Anca Trandafirescu
MODEL FABRICATION: Jake Newsum and Secil Taskoparan
FABRICATION: Glenn Wilcox, Troy Hillman, Megha Chandrasekhar and Anca Trandafirescu
PHOTOS: Glenn Wilcox and Troy Hillman

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FLYING CARPET | Fabrication

September 16th, 2013

The Flying Carpet is a piece of microarchitecture that converts a long, narrow volume of space in Angell Elementary School into a reading, writing, lounging, and play space for the children occupants of the building. Located on the second floor among the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms, the Flying Carpet was designed to retain the existing programmatic uses of the space but give them beautiful and lively accommodation. Folk stories in many cultures tell of a mythical flying carpet that transport their riders to distant places faster than the wind. Recalling these stories from our own childhood, the flying carpet became the apt poetic metaphor for the space’s primary activities: reading, writing, and imagining… the fastest ways we know to travel elsewhere.

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The computer script we wrote to generate the final form for the piece had to be able to produce widely varying sectional shapes, but also had to conform precisely to children’s body dimensions. Once written, we then could input conditional statements to control the table, bench, lounge, and variable “bump” heights.

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Our early variations explored the use of double curved surfaces and alternative leg supports.

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The final design responds to particular site conditions and utilizes the curvature and “landing” of the surface for self-support in addition to steel legs which follow the same geometry of the surface.

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Since we were also going to be the fabricators on the project we made a series of scale models to study and refine the geometry in greater detail, and also to understand the process of fabrication and assembly of the final full scale piece.

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For ease of fabrication, transport, and assembly, the final design is divided into seven sections. The steel support legs also serve a secondary role of joining the sections to each other.

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Each section is broken down into smaller elements which overlap to create a stronger bonding surface. Dowel holes are drilled in each part to facilitate alignment and rapid assembly.

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We developed cut sheets for CNC and Water-Jet cutting of both the wood and steel elements. It’s important to note that these were output directly from a 3D model to cutting files – no construction documents were made for the project.

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After CNC machining, elements are laid out in order prior to assembly. Sections are glued and clamped in stages.

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Parts are cleaned and sanded prior to section assembly.

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Final sanding and finishing of one of the sections.

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PROJECT TEAM
DESIGN: Glenn Wilcox and Anca Trandafirescu
MODEL FABRICATION: Jake Newsum and Secil Taskoparan
FABRICATION: Glenn Wilcox, Troy Hillman, Megha Chandrasekhar and Anca Trandafirescu
PHOTOS: Glenn Wilcox and Troy Hillman

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SUCKER PUNCH DAILY | LUMANOTUS

September 16th, 2013

The project LUMANOTUS was recently published on the Sucker Punch Daily blog. Check it here.

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PROCESS BOOK

September 16th, 2013

Four area.architecture projects are featured in the new book PROCESS, edited by Ulf Mejergren and Anders Berensson with Pyo Miyoung and published by Damdi. In addition, we discusses our design process and the use of scripting, parametrics, and fabrication technologies in relation to the rubric of variability and non-standard means of production. If you want to pony up the steep $250 to purchase the 7 volume tome – or just peek inside – click here. The projects featured are LUMANOTUS, AVA Lights, tetra | N, and CUTWORK.

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MODELS LOOKING AT MODELS

September 16th, 2013

Some of our work was featured – well for two seconds at least – in a new advertising spot for U of M. Happens between 46 – 48 seconds. Don’t blink! We have no idea who these admirers of our work are. The spot can be viewed here.

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CARBON FIBER LIGHTS

September 16th, 2013
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PROJECT TEAM:
DESIGN: Anca Trandafirescu and Glenn Wilcox
FABRICATION: Anca Trandafirescu, Glenn Wilcox and Troy Hillman
PHOTOS: Glenn Wilcox and Anca Trandafirescu

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LUMANOTUS | Double Torus Geometry

November 20th, 2012

Below is a sequence of slides showing how we constructed the double torus geometry in the LUMANOTUS project. The form actually starts as an ellipsoid. Much manually tweaking was done to the lines after they were derived from the surface form. The final geometry needed to be developable (i.e. having the ability to roll flat and be cut from flat stock) so the final curved sections are constructed through ‘pulling’ straight lines along curved paths. We used the same technique in the Falling Sky lights project.

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LUMANOTUS | Parting Shots

November 20th, 2012

A few final shots of the Lumanotus project by Mike Trandafirescu. The complete photo roll can be viewed here.

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(Photos: Mike Trandafirescu)

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LUMANOTUS | Opening Night

November 14th, 2012

The weather was cool – but the wind held off to make the opening night of LUMANOTUS a success. Tonight Anca and I give a talk on the project and our work at the Center for Design Innovation in Winston Salem, NC.

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(photos: area.architecture)

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LUMANOTUS | on site run-through

November 12th, 2012

We are on site with the team in Winston Salem setting up the project in Winston Square Park. Below are a few images from the initial run-through last night. Images and lights are sequenced and animated. There are 4 separate light shows from 4 designers. Another run-through this evening if the weather cooperates and then the installation opens to the public from November 13 – 17, 7pm-10pm.

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(photos: area.architecture)

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