Citrus Clock

New clock design by Florian Dussopt, Julie Gerard, and Jérémie Renaud. From their website:

"This clock runs on the energy of a lemon, which powers it for a week or longer. This pedagogic project is a kind of shortcut intended to remind ourselves that nature, in spite of the various transformations to which we subject her, is still our direct energy source.
The somewhat magical dimension of the operation is in fact simple electrolysis, like a conventional electric battery."

See their website.

Ermatinger Old Stone House

Currently working on a digital rendering of the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site, Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Working with Chris Tossell Architect, I'm composing a video as part of a promotional package. More details to follow (with respect to confidentiality), but here are some process images so far.

Shenkman Theatre Sculpture Competition

Jennifer and I have moved on to a new art competition. We are now designing a sculpture for the main entrance of the Orléans Arts Centre which is currently under construction. The building which includes a 500-seat theatre is being designed by Ottawa firm and Carleton alumni Lalande + Doyle Architects (website under construction). The centre is budgeted at around $37 million and features an intricate curving glass wall composed of hundreds of specially cut glass panels. The arts centre is part of a three-phase project that includes housing, office space, athletic facilities, and retirement homes in a $220 million development of the Orleans suburban centrum area. The space approaching the main pedestrian entrance will be landmarked by an artist's sculpture.



Not to give too much away, but here are some digital sketches of our work so far. No real peeks until the competition jury makes their decision... for now it's a SECRET!!!
(I promise to provide more information on what I'm talking about once the artist has been selected). However, I do want to mention that we are also working in collaboration with Martin Conboy, a very accomplished lighting artist originally from Ireland, but working in Ottawa. I recommend a quick look through his web folio. Here's a fairly big sample of his high-profile jobs:


To my surprise, his website also includes a whole section of renderings or light studies which are in large part done by our own Prof. Yvan Cazabon!


+++CBC 2006 Article
+++Orléans Online Article
+++Carleton Magazine Article on Lalande + Doyle Architects
+++Martin Conboy website

Wellington Street Art Competition 2

[image property of Richard Smith, of Jennifer Macklem + Kip Jones artists]

This past Wednesday Kip and Jennifer presented our art proposal to a jury of about a dozen multi-disciplinary critics at the Routhier Community Centre on Guigues Avenue. I played a low-profile role at the presentation, mainly to show supplementary views of our proposed sculptures. Both Kip and Jennifer did a great job presenting our ideas to the jury. Most of the questions were pragmatic in nature; none of those were directed at our conceptual position which is a long leap from my usual pedagogic critiques.
Will there be sharp edges? [no]
Can the etchings be aged? [yes]
Are those the actual plinths you envision? [in some cases, yes]
What material are they? [reinforced concrete plinth, aluminium + bronze sculpture]
What sort of longevity does it have? [1000 years]
Have you considered spotlighting? [for some, yes]
Have you done this before? [yes]
All these questions were expected by Jennifer and Kip and they answered each one with some persuasive flair (elaborations of the above yes/no answers). We walked out feeling good about the presentation. The results came back a couple days later however and we didn't win the project unfortunately.

TRACES:: We started with Jennifer's mock ups which involved translating them into FormZ on my computer:
Some of these mock-up schemes were abandoned because of major constructional issues. To form aluminum or bronze casts for sculptures as complex as these, there's a high chance of error in forming hard bends and curves. Even though the process of solid casting is over 5000 years old, a construction of this sort is by no means a quick process.

[image property of Richard Smith, of Jennifer Macklem + Kip Jones artists]

This initial development created numerous "sheddings" which formed a sort of junkyard of types which we were able to work with in FormZ:

[image property of Richard Smith, of Jennifer Macklem + Kip Jones artists]

With these pieces, we eventually evolved the project into a system of deforming a language of serial types which we had modeled out of our central idea of "weaving". Points, lines, and planes were shaped in an aesthetic way that eventually reached contextual sensitivity:


These surviving models were favoured for both their aesthetic quality, and their ability to be constructed. Different methods include water-jet cutting the aluminum, solid casting either aluminium or bronze alloy, or bending the solid planes of aluminum over a roller. All of the etchings would be done with a hand-held etching tool, and Jennifer had considered using public designs as a means of initial community involvement in the project.

Symposium Poster

This is the final panel as submitted today. When printed, the poster will be 5 x 3 feet tall and mounted on foam core. I'll be printing out a couple new collage images to accompany it as well. I'd like to hear your questions or criticisms of the poster - it'll help me prepare for the presentation.

Wind-Up Lamp

So many new 'green' products are coming out these days. Here's one I wish had been invented a long time ago. It's a wind-up lamp that turns itself off for people who fall asleep while reading their books at night. Check out the short article at treehugger.com.

Ark Magazine

Jess just found out that her winning pavilion design is featured in Ark, a major Finnish architectural review magazine! The magazine features all kinds of different work in Finland. You can find her under latest issue at the website and her project is shown as the main background too. Check it out!

2007 Murray & Murray Competition

Following the director’s address Tuesday afternoon, we received our annual brief for the Murray & Murray drawing competition. This project is always a good opportunity to playful with drawing and experimental in drawing medium. The competition is mandatory for first year students right through to master’s level and the winner of the competition usually receives a monetary prize and world-wide fame.

For this year’s competition, we are to design The Tower of Babel and Noah’s Ark from a ‘Neo-medieval’ approach to architecture. This project makes references to architects such as Piranesi, John Ruskin, and Carlo Scarpa. Scarpa’s Castelvecchio in Verona is a case for ‘Neo-medievalism’, as it was originally built as a simple stone-walled fortification but later modified prior to WW1 to give it a more robust castle-like appearance. Castelvecchio was bombed twice during the war and later restored by Carlo Scarpa. His treatment of the building follows structurally medieval principles in its orientation of beam spans, detailing, and treatment of light for example; the end result is a modern art gallery.

* * *

The Brief – as written by Director Marco Frascari

Architecture as the result of an infinite mirroring of translations began with the architectural dream of the Tower of Babel 1, i.e.: the human origin of ethnification, trans-nationalization. Since then architects moving from nation to nation from ethnic group to ethnic group are constantly translating human virtuality intertwined with the infra-ordinary fabric of our reality, dream stuff, into the built reality, the solid stuff, and vice versa. The dream stuff and the solid stuff are inseparable parts of our constructed solid stuff environment.

A dreaming but ‘incomplete’ Canadian Lady who owns a cottage located on exceptionally large piece of land facing the astonishingly great lake of Nimrod has decided to build two replicas of biblical constructions that can be considered as genetic primers since out of them originated two of the most fundamental building systems, the wet and the dry construction. The first construction will be located on a peninsula protruding within the lake and it is a replica of the Tower of Babel and its construction site during an early phase of the erection. The edifice will be in bricks and it will be surrounded with all the appropriate equipments and devices required for its erection. The second construction is a replica of Noah’s Ark that will be docked in a large bay near the tower.

Genesis 6:15 in the Bible tells us the Ark’s dimensions were at least 135 meters long (300 cubits), 22.5 meters wide (50 cubits), and 13.5 meters high (30 cubits) 2. That’s 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high! It could have been larger because several larger-sized cubits were used. But the 45-centimeter (18-inch) cubit is long enough to show the enormous size of the Ark. 3

In the Bible, the dimensions of the tower are not given, but remember the intention was to reach the top of the sky.

The Design must be presented with landscape orientation on a board 30 x 20 –inches.
Competition Deadline: boards must be pinned up by September 10th at 11:00 in the Pit.

A preliminary and selective judging will take place between 11:00 and 12:00

The judging of the finalists will take place at 16:45 in the Pit.

A celebrative reception will take place at 17:30



___________________________________________________________________
1. The Tower of Babel was, according to the Old Testament (see Gen. 11:1-9), a tower erected on the plain of Shinar in Babylonia by descendants of Noah. The builders intended the tower to reach to heaven; their presumption, however, angered Jehovah, who interrupted construction by causing among them a previously unknown confusion of languages. He then scattered these people, speaking different languages, over the face of the earth.
2. 14. “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
15. “And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16. “You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
3. A cubit was the length of a man’s arm from fingertips to elbow.

Coolest thing of the day: Wooden Memory Sticks.









OOOMS

Hooray for Architecture in Helsinki!

After much sweat, blood and tears, Jessie and her team of student designers in the Wood [Design-Build] Program have completed building Jessie's winning pavilion design! There is going to be a big gallery showing in Turku this Thursday with all kinds of architecture hipsters drooling over the new wood design. The whole team involved in its planning and design will be shining in their moment of fame. Check out Jess's Blog for more pics/stories etc. Hooray for J!