Core77 has had the pleasure of chronicling New Skins, a workshop led by designer Francis Bitonti, which took place from July 22 to August 8 at Pratt’s Digital Arts and Humanities Research Center in Brooklyn, NY. As a pioneer in the digital fashion design space, Bitonti’s practice is primarily concerned with the wearable applications of computationally-based design methodologies and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies. His efforts in the classroom are an extension of his work in the studio, a fast-paced, process-centric approach to new and emerging technologies and their potential to yield never-before-scene results.
We’ve previously published coverage of weeks one and two of the summer intensive, which was sponsored by the Pratt DAHRC, Makerbot and 3D NYC Lab. In addition to the report on the third week and final project, Bitonti has graciously allowed us to present the video documentation of the course as it unfolded this past summer.
By Francis Bitonti Studio
The third week of Francis Bitonti‘s New Skins: Computional Design for Fashion Workshop at Pratt Institute’s Digital Arts and Humanities Research Center brought the students together in the creation of their final garment: the Verlan Dress. All twelve of the students worked together throughout the final week to realize a new design, which integrated different components of the two garments previously selected by the jury at the end of the second week—designer Vito Acconci, fashion designer Jona from INAISCE, and representatives from MakerBot—as chronicled in our Week Two recap.
The students created the geometry for the dress using 3D anatomical models of the human body, then abstracted hidden lines and vectors of the human body (muscles, veins and arteries) into curves that could be manipulated in a 3D modeling environment. The inspiration for turning the body inside out, projecting the interior to the exterior of the body, creating a second skin from what lies underneath led to the name Verlan dress; the French slang word refers to reversing the first and last syllables, turning the word inside out.
Throughout the design process, the students focused on developing a unique formal language that would conform to the body through a procedural algorithm; finding a voice through a new emerging manufacturing paradigm. “We do not want to be teaching technology for the sake of technology,” explains Bitonti. “This isn’t about training technicians or draftsmen. We are trying to teach students to think through the computer as a medium and develop sensibilities for these new virtual materials.”
Non sans rappeler le projet Mila’s Daydreams d’Adele Enersen, le directeur artistique d’origine tchèque Marek Farkas a transposé cette idée à l’univers des animaux de compagnie à l’occasion d’une campagne « Life is Adventure » pour la marque Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Des clichés originaux à découvrir dans la suite.
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News: the world’s vainest skyscrapers have been revealed in the latest report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which reveals the unnecessary “vanity space” added to the top of the world’s tallest buildings.
Of the top ten tallest buildings in the world at present (pictured), at least 27 percent of each structure is superfluous, according the report.
Without its 244-metre spire, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa – currently the tallest building on earth – would drop to a substantially smaller 585-metre height without any reduction in usable space. As the report states, the spire “could be a skyscraper on its own”.
“We noticed in Journal 2013 Issue I’s case study on Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, [currently under construction] that a fair amount of the top of the building seemed to be an unoccupied spire,” reads the report. “This prompted us to explore the notion of ‘vanity height’ in supertall buildings, i.e. the distance between a skyscraper’s highest occupiable floor and its architectural top, as determined by CTBUH Height Criteria.”
Vanity heights, organised by country, date of completion, and architectural height.
The Ukraina Hotel in Moscow, Russia, is revealed as the world’s vainest skyscraper, with 42 percent of the building’s 206-metre height identified as useless space. Meanwhile the vainest “supertall” building – a term given to structures over 300 metres – is identified as the 321-metre Burj Al-Arab in Dubai, whose curving spire makes up 39 percent of the overall height.
The report identifies the United Arab Emirates as the nation with the highest number of vain skyscrapers, with an average of 19 percent useless height across all of its tallest buildings. However it also contains the world’s humblest skyscraper, as the 328-metre Index in Dubai has a vanity space of just four metres.
News: New York’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) has appointed Glenn Adamson, the present head of research at London’s V&A museum, as its new director.
Adamson, who started his career as an intern at the New York institution, will take up the post next month. He succeeds former director Holly Hotchner, who stepped down in April.
“Glenn has incredible vision and depth of knowledge in the field,” said MAD board chairman Lewis Kruger, who announced the appointment yesterday. “As we celebrate the fifth anniversary in our building at Columbus Circle, Glenn’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter in MAD’s trajectory, expanding the role the museum plays in New York, in the US, and around the world.”
“I am honored to have been selected to serve as the next director of MAD,” said Adamson. “I began my career in museums at this institution, working as an intern just after graduating from college, and I have closely followed MAD’s development and expansion in the years since.”
MAD, which explores “the intersection of art, craft and design today,” moved to its new home on Columbus Circle in Manhattan in 2008. The building was designed by architects Roche-Dinkeloo with interiors by Fox & Fowle Architects.
Boston-born Adamson joined the V&A in London in 2005. Besides heading the museum’s reseach department he co-curated the 2011 exhibition Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 to 1990 as well as the forthcoming exhibition The Future: A History, which will inaugurate the V&A’s new temporary exhibition galleries when they open in 2017.
Models at a Norwegian fashion event walked along this looping wooden catwalk designed by Oslo studio Gartnerfuglen Architects (+ slideshow).
Gartnerfuglen Architects an a group of volunteers built the wooden structure for Up [øpp], a non-profit biannual fashion show promoting young Norwegian fashion designers.
Located in a nineteenth-century mechanical workshop, the studio designed the three-dimensional runway to make use of the generous space and create an evocative setting without detracting from the clothes.
“The concept was a three-dimensional walkway making use of both the loftiness and area of the room, creating a poetic and ambient fashion show, with organic motion, gradual transitions and spectacular photo opportunities without stealing focus from the outfits shown on the catwalk,” said the architects.
The models walked up the curving plywood ramp before circling down and underneath the structure in an almost figure-of-eight movement.
Two-by-two lumber sections created a frame with vertical elements that extended above the walkway and cross-bracing between them beneath. Thin rope cordoned the edges higher up for safety.
The length and shape of the catwalk allowed many outfits to be shown at once and gave the audience an unobstructed view wherever they were positioned.
Gartnerfuglen Architects send us the information below:
Up Catwalk, Fall 2013
The second Up fashion show was held in a 19th century mechanical workshop, currently used by a car dealership. Inspired by the spectacular catwalks and extravaganza of the biggest fashion companies, the ambition/challenge was to create the same X-factor at a non-profit event based on volunteer work.
Given the large volume of the space, it was necessary to take on the entire floor area to achieve the spectacularity wanted. We wanted to create a “perfect object”, focusing on construction and materiality.
The concept was a three-dimensional walkway making use of both the loftiness and area of the room, creating a poetic and ambient fashion show, with organic motion, gradual transitions and spectacular photo opportunities without stealing focus from the outfits shown on the catwalk.
Based on a simple, yet sturdy, sequence of frames made from 2×2 lumber, organised in crossing circles, the rigidness of the boards was softened by its organic composition and repetition.
Assisted by a hard working group of volunteers, this self-built centrepiece structure was finished after a three day workshop. The result was a visually striking object.
The catwalk’s gliding movement in three dimensions, its height and length, give the outfits good exposure. Several models can appear on the catwalk at the same time, with the different overlapping presentations creating an interesting dynamism.
Rendered plan
In addition to the aesthetic, the catwalk’s stretch provided the entire audience with front row seats. The models were also given enough time to show the designs, without making the show monotonous
Illustration
Spectators were allowed both inside and outside the catwalk circles. It also facilitated logistics to make a seamless event.
London studio Duggan Morris Architects has completed a community facility in south London that combines exposed concrete frames with raw brickwork and warm oak (+ slideshow).
Named ORTUS, the three-storey building provides an education and events centre for Maudsley, a charitable foundation that acts to promote mental healthcare and well-being, and is used to host workshops and exhibitions that involve the entire community.
Duggan Morris Architects drew inspiration from neighbouring Georgian architecture to formulate the proportions of the building’s facade. A precast concrete framework gives each elevation a strict grid, which is then infilled with a sequence of brickwork and glass.
“The building has a simple rectilinear form, with elevations composed to compliment the Georgian principles of proportion, scale, hierarchy and materiality,” said architects Joe Morris and Mary Duggan.
The brickwork appears to fade from the base of the structure to the top, changing from a typical London stock to a lighter greyish red.
Floors inside the building are staggered to create half storeys, helping to integrate activities in different spaces. These level changes are visible on the exterior walls and all centre around a grand top-lit staircase.
A cafe located near the ground-floor entrance is intended to entice visitors into the building. The first of several events spaces is positioned on one side, separated by a wide staircase that integrates an informal seating area.
“At ground level, the landscape is envisaged as a series of connected rooms, mirroring the internal configurations thus ensuring that learning activities can spill out in a controlled manner,” said the architects.
Flexible and sub-dividable spaces fill the two storeys above, plus there’s a concealed terrace on the roof.
ORTUS, home of Maudsley Learning is a 1,550sqm pavilion housing learning and event facilities, cafe and exhibition spaces. The central focus of this unique project, initially coined ‘Project Learning Potential’, is to create a totally immersive learning environment generating a series of interconnecting spaces to encourage intuitive learning activities either in groups or individually and also to create possibilities for digital learning via social media.
Site plan
The project was initially developed through an 18 month immersion process involving research and consultation workshops with user groups, Kings College Hospital, the Institute of Psychiatry and community groups, with Duggan Morris Architects commissioned to develop the client’s brief. This process was ultimately captured through a series of ‘Vision Statements’, which guided the wider team through the project providing a constant reference point during the design development stages.
The building is now home to Maudsley Learning, a Community Interest Company which has been set up to run the building. It’s vision is to raise knowledge and awareness of mental health and wellbeing which it intends to achieve through the building, through the development of a virtual learning environment and the creation of learning events focusing on mental health and wellbeing across a broad audience.
In response to locally evident contextual influences the building has been conceived as a free standing pavilion, regular in both plan and volume.
The building has a simple rectilinear form, with elevations composed to compliment the Georgian principles of proportion, scale, hierarchy and materiality. A 1200 mm vertical grid, of precast concrete fins, articulates the contrasting materials of brick and glass, whilst floor slabs are expressed in the same material ensuring the stagger of the floor plates is abundantly clear to even the casual passer-by. Terraces at ground, inset balconies above, and a large roof terrace further articulate the simplicity of the building, whilst creating positive connections between internal spaces and the abundant landscape which sits in and around the project.
At ground level, the landscape is envisaged as a series of connected rooms, mirroring the internal configurations thus ensuring that learning activities can spill out in a controlled manner. A cafe at the ground floor is intended as a marker near the building entrance, aiming to help de-stigmatise preconceptions of mental health and well being, by making the building more accessible to the wider community, sharing with the campus a vision which includes doctors, nurses, teachers, service users and carers in promoting an integrated learning environment; ‘Learning for anyone, anywhere, at anytime’.
Spatially, the building is planned as a series of flexible, sub-dividable spaces positioned around a central multifunctional tiered space, navigated by a grand ‘open’ staircase. In cross-section, these floor plates stagger across the section by a half storey, thus the grouping of learning spaces appears to extend from the half landing of the open stair; the aim being to create a stronger visual link between floors enhancing the ethos of an immersive learning environment. The open staircase with its shortened connections across the plan is intended to encourage a domestic scale circulation system and is set away from the lift core to encourage movement and visible activity.
The central space is key to controlling the environmental performance of the building, which is uniquely passive, by introducing abundant natural light from a glazed roof into the heart of the plan, feeding each floor plate. In turn automated glazed vents throughout the building envelope introduce cooling air as required at each level throughout day and night, feeding the central stack of the void.
The building was delivered through a PPC 2000 Partnering project, tailored for Construction Management procurement. It was delivered on time and on budget. As a highly sustainable building it is designed to BREEAM excellent standard and has an ‘A’ energy rating.
Craft theorist and historian Glenn Adamson has been tapped to direct the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. He comes to MAD (beginning October 15) from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where he serves as Head of Research, a role that has encompassed initiating and shaping major exhibitions (he co-curated the V&A’s recent Postmodernism show), managing partnerships with museums and universities, and leading academic fundraising, among other responsibilities. Adamson succeeds Holly Hotchner, who stepped down at the end of April.
It’s a pivotal moment for MAD. In addition to a directorial changing of the guard, chief curator and VP of collections David Revere McFadden will retire from his position at the end of 2013, capping off a 16-year tenure at the museum. Meanwhile, plans are well underway for next year’s fifth anniversary celebration (can it be that long since MAD moved into its quirky Columbus Circle home?), which will include “Inspired,” an exhibition showcasing works that have joined the museum’s collection since the opening of its new building in 2008.
Derek Vincent Smith, aussi connu sous le nom de Pretty Lights a demandé récemment à Anthony Dickenson, en collaboration avec l’agence Strawberry Frog et la marque LG, de réaliser le clip du morceau « Around the block ». Une création utilisant avec intelligence des effets de caméra dans les rues de New York.
The Dual Cleaner is a unique combination of a vacuum cleaner at one end and steam cleaner at the other end. It’s process is such that it vacuums the area at first and then wipes cleanly with the steam cleaner. Designed to be a wall mounted appliance, the cleaner fits aesthetically into a home environment. A neat cleaner to have around!
Designer: Jung Hyun Min
– Yanko Design Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world! Shop CKIE – We are more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the CKIE store by Yanko Design! (Clean Both Ways was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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Photo: Christrini
