AutoCAD Art

After much hassle, I am finally teaching myself AutoCAD Architectural desktop. Wow. Sometimes I come across something that is like an extension of my mind.

Apart from all the cool building design I am doing right now, it seems some people are right into using Autocad 3D extensions to do art. How good can it possibly be?

Check out this picture (click on it to go to full size):

Here is the link to it, and others: http://www.creative-3d.net/GalleryDisplay.cfm?ID=19908

Update: I just noticed how weird that pic looks due to the wide angle perspective. The vertical edges look like they are tilting in. Interesting.

Bamboozled

It amazing what you come across online when you are mindlessly bored and randomly clicking shit doing productive research. Today I was looking for a pic of a bamboo forest for the new incarnation of frashcards.com (yes it's a real domain - I bought it last night for $8.95, what a bargain).
Anyway, I should get to what I discovered....

This site: http://www.bmeres.com/bambooframe.htm which is about a bike a guy made out of bamboo. Looks pretty neat. He's got a review of how it performed over a whole year. Very nice job.

Living Homes

Wow. It's not that often that a website blows me.....away, but here it is: Living Homes.net
It's another modular building company, but as you'll see these guys are hitting it hard. Serious eco responsibility theme going on here. This is architecture, design and technology blended together perfectly. Awesome.

Go and check out that website tho, seriously. It's really cool. The front page is made up of timelapsed sequences showing the house through out the day.
There is a video showing a cool time lapse sequence of the house being erected on the site in 8 hrs.

It worth having a poke around at other things, particularly take the tour.

LivingHomes.net

Trailer Trash

I like retro caravans, and mark my words they will make a comeback. Vintage caravans are where it's at.

Anyway, I came across this interesting site that is all about making you own retro travel trailer. $60 USD gets you all the plans and info you need to make your own caravan.
http://www.desertteardrops.com/

Plug + Play Construction

This interesting article in wired magazine reminds me of something I have thought about for years: Modular housing. The concept itself isn't new, but previously it's been done only to a certain level.

This "Loblolly" house by kierantimberlake.com is a prototype of a true plug and play house which incorporates wiring, communications, plumbing, heating etc into the wall, floor and roof modules.

"THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY to construct a house is to build it in a factory. This reduces a home's "embodied energy" – the amount of power expended in its fabrication and construction. And conventional homebuilding is dirty work. From the fuel used by commuting workers to onsite diesel generators, the construction and operation of homes and other structures generates 40 to 50 percent of all the greenhouse gases in the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration."

Wired Magazine Article
Loblolly House homepage

Juxtaposed: Religion

As far as Art goes, I quite like this....

5,084,000,000 people 5,360 pages 3,700 years 243 countries 7 books 1 shelf

San Francisco designers Mike and Maaike have created JUXTAPOSED:Religion the first in a series of Juxtaposed curated bookshelves for blankblank.
“For the first time, the world’s most influential religious texts are brought together and presented on the same level, their coexistence acknowledged and celebrated.”
(I don't agree with that emotional fluff, but I like the resulting art)The shelf is made of reclaimed hardwood and is offered in a limited edition of 50.

mikeandmaaike.com
blankblank.net

Sketch Furniture

This year I am going to be busy, so I will write less, but post more. Mainly interesting things I find online.

First up is Sketch Furniture.

The four FRONT members have developed a method to materialise free hand sketches. They make it possible by using a unique method where two advanced techniques are combined.

Pen strokes made in the air are recorded with Motion Capture and become 3D digital files; these are then materialised through Rapid Prototyping into real pieces of furniture.

I really like the concept. Just not sure I'd like to look at a scribble in my living room for any length of time. (unfortunately, the youtube video is no longer up - that would have been interesting I am sure)

http://www.frontdesign.se/sketchfurniture/