Hasta La Ideas

London studio Loop.pH mimicked the molecular structures of carbon atoms to generate the form of this illuminated wiry dome (+ movie).

Named the SOL Dome, the structure was built using Archilace, a lightweight composite fibre developed by Loop.pH, and made up of carbon and fibreglass.

The stiff woven fibres, which can be bent into almost any surface, have been shaped into circles to create a rigid structure based on the chemical and molecular bonds between carbon atoms.

“It is an entirely new way of constructing architectural spaces based on textile principles,” creative director Rachel Wingfield told Dezeen.

The studio created the installation as part of the Fall In… Art and Sol Festival in Michigan, USA, an annual art and science exhibition that this year is focussing on solar-powered art.

Solar cells at the base of the dome store energy during the day and are then used to power an animated lighting sequence that is projected over the surface of the structure after dark.

“The rotational breathing rhythm of the light is driven by an onsite CO2 sensor and is part of our studio’s ongoing research into creating environments that allow people to experience cycles of environmental data in public space,” said Wingfield.

Wingfield also compares the structure to the experimental architecture of Buckminster Fuller.

“It’s a further development on Buckminster Fuller’s work on geodesic domes where the solid rods are replaced by a single tubular membrane,” she added.

Other projects by Loop.pH that use Archilace include an illuminated installation created for a festival in Germany and an umbrella-like canopy installed at the entrance to London’s Kensington Palace. See more Loop.pH projects »

Photography is by Mathias Gmachl.

Here’s a project description:

The SOL Dome

The SOL Dome is a lightweight dome structure, 8 metres in diameter, 4 metre high and weighing only 40 kg. Its fabricated onsite over 3 days from thousands of individually woven circles of composite fibre. The structure is animated and part of a responsive lighting system, lit by a circular matrix of solar powered LED floodlights.

The rotational breathing rhythm of the light is driven by an onsite CO2 sensor and is part of our studio’s ongoing research into creating environments that allow people to experience cycles of environmental data in public space. The underlying geometry and construction technique of the dome is based on chemical, molecular bonds between carbon atoms. When each fibre is bent into a circle it is like charging a battery, creating a taut energetic structure.

Our work at Loop.pH speculates on what the future of renewable energy could be and how it may alter both the urban and rural landscapes. We create environments that question what new behaviours, work forces and activity might emerge in an abundant renewable energy future.

Ultimately, we have a vision for an entirely new type of architecture that responds and adapts to its environment, similarly to a plant and its surrounding ecosystem. We dream of a living architecture that photosynthesises, moves and orientates in accordance to the sun. It is an architecture whereby the inhabitants can actively participate in its shape, form and function.

The underlying geometry and construction technique is based on chemical, molecular bonds between carbon atoms. The taut structure of the SOL Dome embodies a kinetic energy whereby each fibre bent into a circle is like charging a battery. Large scale solar energy supply will only be possible if we can find an inexpensive storage mechanism. Transferring solar energy into chemical energy (chemical bonds) is one of the most promising approaches. The dome structure is an example of this type of stored energy.

Archilace is a pioneering and unique method to craft space and has been developed by Loop.pH over the past 10 years. It can simply be described as lace-making on an architectural scale and will be the principle technique behind the SOL Dome.

Archilace encourages designers, architects and citizens to intervene and re-construct the built environment, promoting the idea that architecture is a process and in a state of constant transformation. Archilace combines a cutting edge parametric design process with a hands-on crafting technique. Weaving with composite fibres allows for virtually any imaginable surface to be created from a small number of parts. Where many individual fibres are weak when singular, great strength is created in unison as they interlink and cross one another. Recently discovered structures that were previously unbuildable can be fabricated by hand using a textile, curvilinear approach – breaking the rectilinear geometry that dominates our built environment.

Fall In…Art and Sol is a celebration of art, culture and science throughout Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region featuring the world’s first major solar art exhibition with International artists in October 2013.

Project: The SOL Dome by Loop.pH
Location: FirstMerit Bank Event Park, Saginaw, Great Lakes Bay Region, Michigan, USA
Date: 28 September – 31 October 2013
Client: Fall In… Art and Sol Festival

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by Loop.pH appeared first on Dezeen.

A museum of contemporary art designed by Zaha Hadid for Michigan State University opened to the public this weekend (+ slideshow).

As shown in photographs revealed last month, Zaha Hadid designed the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum with a pleated facade of stainless steel and glass that contrasts with the surrounding red brickwork of the university’s Collegiate Gothic north campus.

The building is named after philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, who have spent four decades amassing two prominent collections of contemporary and postwar artworks.

Exhibitions will be dedicated to modern art, photography, new media and works on paper.

Double-height galleries are included within the museum’s 1600 square metres of exhibition space, which is split between three storeys that include two floors above ground and one basement level.

The plan of the building was generated by the directions of surrounding pathways and sight-lines, and the architects hope this will help the building to integrate with its surroundings. ”Cultural engagement is paramount,” said Zaha Hadid. “The design of the Broad invites dialogue with the university, the community of East Lansing and beyond.”

Hadid won a competition in 2008 to design the museum, which also contains an exhibition space, an education wing, study centre, cafe, shop and outdoor sculpture garden.

The museum’s inaugural exhibitions include Global Groove 1973/2012, an exploration of current trends in video art, and In Search of Time, which investigates the relationship of time and memory in art.

See the competition-winning designs for the building in our earlier story, or see the first photographs of the building revealed last month.

See more stories about Zaha Hadid Architects, including the recently completed Galaxy Soho, a 330,000-square-metre retail, office and entertainment complex in Beijing.

Photography is by Iwan Baan.

Here’s a project description from Zaha Hadid Architects:

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, located at the northern edge of the Michigan State University campus, is influenced by a set of movement paths that traverse and border the site.

The vitality of street life on the northern side of Grand River Avenue and the historic heart of the university campus at the south side generate a network of paths and visual connections; some are part of the existing footpath layout, others create shortcuts between the city and the campus side of Grand River Avenue.

The circulation travelling in an east-west-direction on Grand River Avenue, along the main road of East Lansing and also on the main approach street to the campus produce an additional layer of connections that are applied to this highly frequented interface between city and campus.

Generating two dimensional planes from these lines of circulation and visual connections, the formal composition of the museum is achieved by folding these planes in three-dimensional space to define an interior landscape which brings together and negotiates the different pathways on which people move through and around the site.

This dialogue of interconnecting geometries describes a series of spaces that offer a variety of adjacencies; allowing many different interpretations when designing exhibitions.

Through this complexity, curators can interpret different leads and connections, different perspectives and relationships.

These detailed investigations and research into the landscape, topography and circulation of the site, enable us to ascertain and understand these critical lines of connection.

By using these lines to inform the design, the museum is truly embedded within its unique context of Michigan State University, maintaining the strongest relationship with its surroundings.

The Broad Art Museum presents as a sharp, directed body, comprising directional pleats which reflect the topographic and circulatory characteristics of its surrounding landscape.

Its outer skin echoes these different directions and orientations – giving the building an ever-changing appearance that arouses curiosity yet never quite reveals its content. This open character underlines the museum’s function as a cultural hub for the community.

Above: site plan – click above for larger image

Above: basement plan – click above for larger image

Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image

Above: section A-A – click above for larger image

Above: section B-B – click above for larger image

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by Zaha Hadid Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

A day-long course with a private instructor behind the wheel of one of the world’s most beautiful cars

Though I’ve had the opportunity to test drive several Aston Martins over the last few years, I always left feeling unsatisfied. I wanted to go to fast, to push the car its limits. An occasional burst of speed passing a car on a city highway or suburban lane felt like a tease with concerns of traffic, speed limits and safety always trumping the thrill. That desire was met head on when Aston Martin invited us to spend a day at their Performance Driving Course, a day-long, one-on-one tutorial taught by one of their experienced performance driving instructors in your Aston Martin of choice. Best of all, while owning an Aston is a stretch for most of us, a day on the track is a fantasy that’s both educational and a lot more accessible.

The Course is currently offered in the U.S. at Ford’s 3,800-plus acre Michigan Proving Ground and in the U.K. at Millbrook Proving Ground, one of the largest facilities in Europe. Accompanied by CH editor-in-chief Josh Rubin, we arrived in Michigan first thing in the morning where we were met by our instructors Kevin Markham and Sal Gusmano.

Though Josh and I both consider ourselves fairly accomplished drivers, it’s humbling to spend a day with professional drivers who have over 50 combined years of test and performance driving under their belts. 
After an introduction to the PDC, going over the plan for the day and signing some waivers, we were eagerly escorted to our requested rides for the course, a 2011 V12 Vantage coupe with a six-speed manual transmission and a 2011 four-door Rapide sedan. Starting in the passenger seat of our respective cars while Kevin and Sal took the wheel, we headed out to our first stop.

Our instructors explained the goal of each of the six tracks as they drove the first lap of all six, giving detailed advice as they pointed out the details of the track and the car that would be put to test. The first lesson was to get a feel for the cars (we both drove both throughout the day) by accelerating as quickly as possible down the 2.5-mile straightaway, safely coming to a stop, turning around and doing it again. This in itself was about the most fun I’ve had in a long time. After a few laps, the instructors introduced an “emergency stop.” Once we were cruising at 100 mph, they called out “STOP!” and we slammed on the brakes, holding the pedal down as hard as possible to come to an incredibly quick and controlled stop.

Once we had a first-hand understanding of the term “assometer” (a word coined by Kevin meaning “your interaction with the car, the way you sit in it”), we were instructed to change lanes as we braked, simulating a real-life emergency braking and avoidance situation. The cars performed admirably (as did we) and with that experience under our belts, we headed to the Lommel track, modeled after a section of Belgian highway with rolling hills and sharp turns.

Lommel gave us the opportunity to test our skills and the car in a more common road setting. Kevin and Sal provided a better understanding of how to take turns properly—when to use the brakes and when to accelerate. Basically, this meant braking in a straight line before the turn, looking as far outside the turn as we could, and accelerating as we eased out of it. Each lap saw an increase in our skill and speed. Both Josh and I felt we took away valuable information that applies to day-to-day driving as well as track driving.

Next we headed off to the traction control (aka skid) pad, a wet track where we got to experience driving the cars with their multiple modes (On, Off or Track). Assometer ratings on high, this is the part of the day when you make funny faces and say “Wow! Awesome; let’s do that again!” over and over again as you spin the car into oversteer. It’s also the equally important moment when you understand the engineering involved in the cars and how to leverage it—whether you want the car controlled and tamed, loosened up, or completely left to your skill to master.

Continue reading…

After lunch, we headed out to the Gleneagles Cincinnati track, once again modeled after existing roads (this time in Scotland and Cincinnati). Longer and with the addition of a few straightaways between the turns, here we started to put the pieces together, using the skills we’d learned throughout the day. You realize that as much fun as you’re having, you’re also building up a set of skills, as well as a better understanding of the physics involved in driving. Next stop was the hills course where we put the cars through steep climbs, descents and nice wide turns. Kevin and Sal took us to the top of one of the hill tracks, among the highest points in that part of Michigan—perfect for taking in the beautiful countryside, the impressive facility and for the requisite Facebook shots of us posing with the cars.

Last stop of this thrill-seeking day was the five mile high-speed oval track, where we had the thrill of driving the cars to their maximum speeds. A gentleman’s agreement prevents us from mentioning any specific numbers, but let’s just say it was fast, really fast. It’s the kind of speed that you want, but never have the opportunity to achieve, every time you get behind the wheel of one of these beautiful machines. This is a good time to mention that we were on a closed racetrack, following all safety precautions with professional drivers in the car with us. The instructors will evaluate your skills, the weather and track conditions and take all of that into consideration when planning your day and determining how fast you can drive. Safety is always the first priority. One fun thing we learned is that by going 96 miles per hour around the track, gravity basically holds the car on course through the turns; you can lift your hands off the wheel and the stays perfectly in the lane.

Our full day of driving behind us, we headed back to the Aston Martin lounge, debriefed on the day and the guys answered our remaining questions. We shook hands with Rick and Sal and left with a whole new appreciation for physics, the cars, their skills as drivers and instructors, and grins from ear to ear.

Aston Martin Driving Experiences offer several different programs starting around $1,000; each of which offers what promises to be one of your best days ever. You can drive in the snow, on a race track, through the countryside or spend an entire day learning the ins-and-outs of performance driving like we did. Schools are located in the U.K., Australia, the U.S., and at Germany’s famous Nürburgring track. Aston owners are invited to bring their own cars; the rest of us get to use one provided at all of the courses, which you can specify when you make your reservation (they are always the current model year). The PDC is $2,500 in the U.S. and £1,164 in the U.K. They are very accommodating of sharing that time, so it’s possible to go with a friend and each chip in half, though the total driving time is still the same. Prices include a light breakfast, lunch, refreshments and the time of your life, but not travel. Drivers must have a valid license and be over 25—though if you’re the kind of person who gets an Aston for your 16th birthday you can probably work something out.