Hasta La Ideas

Combining 30 years of Industrial Design and Machining experience and a passion for Vintage Motorcycle Racing, Chuck Kraeuter spent 166 consecutive days (approx. 2-3 hours a day) building this jaw-dropping 1/2-Scale RC166 from scratch. While it was built for his 3 year old daughter Anna to bring to the Portland Vintage Races (a 3 year old is 1/2 the height they will be as an adult), it can be pushed to tech inspection. It doesn’t run but does have a 1st gear so that the clutch spins like it would if bump starting.

Comprised of over 625 separate parts, not including screws, bolts and nuts, the model was first drawn completely in Solidworks. Cast parts were patterned from laser sintered nylon, while silicon molds were used to create rigid and flexible urethane parts. Chuck did all the machining himself, both manually, “a surprising amount of manual lathe time,” and with CNC.

(more…)

Architects Denton Corker Marshall designed this spaghetti-like bridge for Hangzhou in China. Unfortunately the competition it was shortlisted for has now been cancelled.

The 500 metre-long bridge would have comprised three entwined metal ribbons, winding across the Jinsha Lake.

The route for cyclists would be level, while the pedestrian bridge would climb up to a viewing platform.

A third, sculptural ribbon would weave around the two.

Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw Architects were also shortlisted in the abandoned competition.

Denton Corker Marshall previously won a competition to design a bridge in Auckland, New Zealand, which has been delayed and won’t complete until 2016  – see the project on Dezeen here.

We’ve published a few loopy bridges for China on Dezeen – see a foot bridge for Xinjin here and another called Pearl River Necklace by NL Architects here.

Stories about bridges are always popular on Dezeen – see them all here.

Here are some more details about the project from the architects:

China bridge, international competition abandoned

A limited international design competition, for which Denton Corker Marshall was shortlisted, has been abandoned. Also shortlisted for the 400m-long pedestrian bridge at Jinsha Lake, Hangzhou, were Zaha Hadid and Grimshaw.

Denton Corker Marshall’s sculptural solution is a modern and energetic interpretation of the traditional local culture. Sinuous and dynamic, it responds to the requirement for a bold and distinctive icon. The thin profile of a long, non-vehicle bridge risks appearing insubstantial. Rising elegantly above the skyline, Denton Corker Marshall’s solution attains a signature presence amid the modern building scale of New Hangzhou.

The architects teamed with Arup to develop the concept, described by director Neil Bourne as “truly memorable and distinctive”. Three ribbon elements – the lower deck, upper deck and arched support structure – combine into an integrated object, in harmony both structurally and visually.

“It’s a powerful concept offering numerous interpretations: ribbons, dragons, landscape, calligraphy or simply abstract sculpture,” said Mr Bourne.

Importantly, the concept is very buildable using standard construction techniques, and structurally very efficient for its geometric complexity. It was on the acclaimed Webb Bridge scheme more than 10 years ago that Denton Corker Marshall and Arup pioneered the use of 3D CAD modelling and design in geometrically challenging bridge design.

Arup’s John Bahoric says the development and intelligent use of a digital model for Jinsha Lake Bridge has created a powerful tool for efficient delivery of the project, and which has been fundamental to the achievement of the design. Denton Corker Marshall understands that the competition organisers will now conduct a local design competition.

See also:

.

Nanhe River Landscape Bridge by WXY	Pearl River Necklace by NL Architects	Melkwegbridge by NEXT and Rietveld Landscape

Reader K submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

Even though I keep my wallet tidy, it is always packed with debit cards, credit cards, ID, insurance cards (dental, health, vision), auto insurance, business cards etc. I’ve consolidated loyalty cards into my iPhone, but do you have other tips like consolidating insurance cards? Is it okay to put all the insurance ID/phone # etc on one homemade card and get it laminated?

I’m glad to read that you have consolidated your loyalty cards. It is such an easy task and saves a good amount of space in your wallet and/or on your keychain. For other readers, if you have a smart phone, all you need to do to put your loyalty cards on your phone is use a digital camera with better than 2 megapixels and a micro focus to take closeup pictures of the bar codes on your cards. Then, transfer the pictures to your smartphone and store them in a folder in your photos titled “loyalty cards.” Barcode scanners should be able to read the barcode image and the number also can be manually typed into a keypad if the scanner doesn’t work.

In theory, keeping all of your insurance information on a single card should be enough for your medical provider. However, every doctor I’ve ever visited wants the physical card so they can photocopy it and check the name printed on the card against a photo ID. The reason they photocopy the card and check the name is to help prevent against insurance fraud (someone, not you, using your card to cover their care). Seeing as someone determined to commit fraud could easily make a fake card with their name on it, I’m not sure how valuable this process of checking identity really is. Regardless, it’s what the medical providers currently do to show their due diligence.

I get around the big wallet problem by only carrying the bare minimum cards on me when I am just running around town — driver’s license, debit card, and my primary health insurance card. I’ll only take other cards with me if I know I’m going to the specific place that requires that card. In fact, my entire wallet is nothing more than a business card case. My method isn’t for everyone, though, especially people who live in remote locations where accidentally forgetting a card could be an hour trip home from the doctor’s office to retrieve the card. In these situations, I’d recommend a credit card holder that could be locked in the car’s glove box.

Thank you, K, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column. Please check the comments for even more suggestions from our readers.

Do you have a question relating to organizing, cleaning, home and office projects, productivity, or any problems you think the Unclutterer team could help you solve? To submit your questions to Ask Unclutterer, go to our contact page and type your question in the content field. Please list the subject of your e-mail as “Ask Unclutterer.” If you feel comfortable sharing images of the spaces that trouble you, let us know about them. The more information we have about your specific issue, the better.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Skeletons, shadow puppets and more in an illustrator’s new line of playful wall adhesives

When Megan Herbert was renovating her apartment she found herself drawing “pictures and little things straight onto the walls themselves.” Now the Reykjavik-based illustrator has a better option in her eight different removable wall decals by The Wall Sticker Company.

With Art Deco style, “Waterfall” wraps around door frames and other corners, complete with stylized swimmers. An all-over print consisting of birds, butterflies and flowers depicted as if cross-stiched fulfills Herbert’s longstanding goal of designing wallpaper. Like her DIY originals, which she says aren’t “immediately obvious or dominating,” when you look twice her designs add “character and humor to the room.”

Whether a single focal feature or large-scale repeating pattern, each of the carbon-neutral wall adhesives comes in a few colors for versatility. The PVC-free reusable adhesives are “pretty much indestructible,” the native Australian adds, making it easy to transfer them to a different room or reconfigure their placement several times over. Herbert told us they are already dreaming of future motifs, but the current crop sells online from The Wall Sticker Company‘s shop, with prices spanning $55-145.

Also on Cool Hunting: Commonality and Vinarþel

Dezeen wire: media company News International has cancelled the remodelling of its London headquarters by Amanda Levete Architects.

In 2009 the architect was awarded planning permission for a new campus that would bring together the offices of News International, Harper Collins, MySpace, Dow Jones and Fox. The proposal included new public spaces, accessible walkways and a restaurant, with a series of atria providing natural light and ventilation to the former print works.

News International has decided to sell the site in Wapping, its home for 25 years, and will relocate to nearby Thomas More Square. The company has recently been embroiled in the phone-hacking scandal.

See our previous story on Amanda Levete Architects’ winning V&A Exhibition Road proposal here and their design for the Huntingdon Estate in London here.

Back to Dezeenwire »
Back to Dezeen »